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This week I'm going to recommend The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir.

If you can't tell, I'm prepping a unit on existentialism for my philosophy class for next year,

and I've really been enjoying my time reading Simone de Beauvoir.

The Second Sex is probably one of her most famous works,

and compared to almost everyone else I've had to read to get ready for this unit,

she is very accessible.

So, if you're interested, go to audible trial.com slash Japan to claim your copy. Hello and welcome to the History of Japan podcast, Episode 392, The Lords of the Sea, part three.

By the second half of the 1500s, piracy was an established feature of Japan's civil wars,

and the powerful pirate lords who had managed to amass large fleets and build impressive protection rackets

were vying with landed lords for power and influence over the country.

For seaborne warlords, like the three Murakami families,

business was better than it had ever been. With powerful sponsors like the Daimyo, or landed

lord Mori Motonari, they not only had their protection rackets, but licensed to go after the enemies

of the Mori clan. And of course, all the while, they enriched themselves.

If you've ever heard the phrase privateering, this is functionally another role the Murakami

took on during this time.

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