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Go to audibletrial.com slash Japan to claim your offer. This week I'm going to recommend

viruses, plagues, and history past present and future by Michael B.A. Oldstone.

This is, I think, a fascinating text, both for its relevance to today's episode and its relevance to,

well, everything in the world right now. There has been a lot of interest, academic and non-academic,

in the history of disease in general

over the last couple years. And if you're one of those people, this is a great place to start.

Go to audibletrial.com slash Japan to claim your copy. Hello and welcome to the History of Japan podcast, episode 404, the Hesperia Incident.

When we talk about the history of the Meiji period, I think it's easy sometimes to engage

in a bit of narrative sleight of hand.

Often, you see, when we talk about one of the most salient features of this period, the fact

that the Japanese government was forced to honor treaties which heavily restricted its

freedoms and its ability

to act as an independent national government, we tend to jump immediately to, but starting

in the 1890s those treaties were done away with.

But the thing is, that means the unequal treaties were enforced for about 40 years from the

time Western gunboats began showing up to force them

...