This week: Chad Rowan, who will be the first non-Japanese yokozuna in history, is the subject for the rest of our episodes. How did he come to sumo? What was his early career like? And how did he come to be known by the name Akebono-the rising sun? Show notes here.
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36:01
Episode 576 - The Kings of the Ring, Part 3
This week: after Taiho, the floodgates open as more non-Japanese rikishi begin to enter the sport. One of them, Takamiyama, has a good but not great career. But two of the rikishi he recruits to train under him after retirement--Konishiki Yasokichi and Akebono Taro--will change sumo forever. Show notes here.
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39:35
Episode 575 - The Kings of the Ring, Part 2
This week: Taiho begins his grand sumo career, and quickly proves to be one of the best ever to do it. We'll use his career to discuss: what does greatness look like in a sport like sumo? What were the highlights of one of the greatest careers in sumo history? And what were the small number of cases where Taiho didn't prove able to come out on top? Show notes here.
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Episode 574 - The Kings of the Ring, Part 1
This week, we're beginning a new miniseries on the legends of Japan's most ancient sport: sumo. What can we learn about Japan and Japanese identity by looking at the lives of some of the most famous competitors in the national sport? We'll begin investigating that question with a look at the life of one of the greatest ever to enter the ring: Taiho Koki. Show notes here.
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38:55
Episode 573 - The Revolutionary, Part 8
For our final episode of this miniseries: Miyazaki Manabu faces down with the National Police Agency as he finds himself the prime suspect in Japan's highest profile criminal case of the 1980s. After he comes out on top, where does he go next? Why, the natural place for any high profile criminal suspect: into media, and then politics! Show notes here.
This podcast, assembled by a former PhD student in History at the University of Washington, covers the entire span of Japanese history. Each week we'll tackle a new topic, ranging from prehistoric Japan to the modern day.
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