Japan Explained Stray Toki

Saigo Takamori, the Great Saigo or the Last Samurai is the ideal Japanese man and one of Japan's most beloved historical characters. In popular imagination, Saigo is THE perfect samurai. His image is so heavily embellished that it is sometimes hard to see where reality meets fiction. But let's try to separate them anyway. 
Support the show: https://japanexplained.com/#support
Cover art: @justlavi

Happy Halloween everyone!
We started this October with kitsune, and I thought it would be great to finish it with tanuki. So let's see how tanuki and kitsune influenced each other, what tanuki has to do with the 150th anniversary of Japan Railways and how this powerful yokai ended up as a chubby sake-loving goody of today.
Support the show: https://japanexplained.com/#support
More info on https://japanexplained.com/tanuki/
Cover art: @justlavi

Kitsune – Japanese foxes, who are they? Multi-tailed shapeshifters, companions of the god Inari, animals that bring good luck or beasts that inflict madness?
Let's find out!
Bonus episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/72879450
Support the show: https://japanexplained.com/#support
More info on https://japanexplained.com/kitsune/
Cover art: @justlavi

This time let's have a look at the Japanese art of flower arrangement also known as Ikebana. When did the first flower compositions appear in Japan? How did it evolve into complex art with sets of rules and artistic competitions? And which styles of ikebana are there to try your hands on? Let's figure it out.
 
More info on https://japanexplained.com/ikebana/
Support the show: https://japanexplained.com/#support
Cover art: @justlavi

To help me break down the many myths about sake, this time I am joined by Dick Stegewerns, the founder of Yoigokochi Sake Importers. We talked about how sake came to Europe and America, how to choose and drink sake, what are the similarities between sake and other alcoholic beverages, how come sake is still mostly produced in tiny breweries, and which sake can be rightfully called the most unusual.
More info on https://japanexplained.com/sake/
Yoigokochi Sake Importers: https://yoigokochi.eu/
Bonus episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/66208266
Support the show: https://japanexplained.com/#support
Instagram: @japanexplained
Cover design: @justlavi

Continuing to uncover the truth about sake, let's see how this beverage is made, which types of sake you can find in the shop and how to drink it properly. Or maybe there are no rules at all?
More info on https://japanexplained.com/sake/
Bonus episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/66208266
Support the show: https://japanexplained.com/#support
Instagram: @japanexplained
Cover design: @justlavi