Hello, the episode you're about to listen to is part of a multi-part series introducing an overview

of Japanese history.

This is a repeat of one of the original projects the History of Japan podcast was built on,

and is intended to serve as an update and supplement to these original works.

After 10 years, my hope is to return to this approach and to do it a little bit better,

given the skills that I have improved in the intervening years.

If you haven't been doing so already, you should listen to these episodes sequentially,

starting with episode 501.

Without any further ado, enjoy the episode.

Hello, and welcome to the episode. Hello and welcome to the history of Japan podcast, episode 528, Bakumatsu, part one.

The year was 1851, and President Millard Fillmore of the United States had a problem.

Well, honestly, he had quite a few problems.

In addition to having what I think it is fair to say is the most objectively ridiculous name

in the history of the American presidency, I mean, Millard?

President Fillmore had inherited a country deeply divided.

The question of slavery had profoundly split American society with increasingly violent

clashes between pro and anti-slavery groups over the future of an institution that, in

retrospect, represented one of the most profound stains on America's moral legacy in its history.

Fillmore's own party, the Whigs, was deeply split along the issue as well.

And so, President Fillmore decided to take a courageous moral stance and tackle the issue

head on in the name of moral rectitude and standing up for what is right.

No, I'm just kidding. Of course, he decided to pursue an overseas foreign

...