History of Japan Isaac Meyer

In the penultimate episode of the Revised Introduction to Japanese History: the 1980s sees the rise of Japan's asset bubble and the peak of the high-rollin' postwar. But the new prosperity is built on faulty ground that is already beginning to creak...
Show notes here.

This week on the Revised Introduction to Japanese History: how did Ikeda Hayato and the LDP build a system that would redefine postwar Japan? And how did the political opposition utterly fail to rise to the challenge of matching them?
Show notes here. 

This week on the Revised Introduction to Japanese History: the Occupation comes to an end, but what happens next? This week is all about the 1950s, when clashing visions of Japan's future would culminate in one of the largest protests in the nation's history, laying the groundwork for the political world that has existed ever since.
Show notes here.

This week on the Revised Introduction to Japanese History: The US Occupation of Japan after World War II represented a truly massive undertaking. American military and civilian personnel spent just over a decade rebuilding Japan's government, economy, and society from the ground up. What did that look like in practice, and how does the legacy of the Occupation era remain with Japan today?
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This week on the Revised Introduction to Japanese History: the descent towards the Second World War. Why did the leadership of imperial Japan start a war many of them were aware they were unlikely to win? And how did the failures of the Meiji system enable the descent into militarism and defeat?
Show notes here. 

This week on the Revised Introduction to Japanese History: during the 1920s, Japan's political system became more democratic and representative--an "imperial democracy" that evolved out of the Meiji system. How did this happen, and why did those democratic gains prove to be so unstable in the long term?
Show notes here.