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Samurai Archives Japanese History Podcast

 

Follow your hosts on a trek into Japanese history, from ancient Japan to the end of the Samurai and all points in between - culture, warfare, literature, and interviews. Simply stated, our mission is to bridge the gap between the popular and the academic, and to bring the world of academic Japanese history accessible to a wider audience through discussion of topics and authors in an informative but informal manner. We encourage those listeners who want to know more to seek out works by the historians and authors we reference and interview, and to contribute to the conversation. Conversely, we hope scholars can view us as a way to reach a broader, non-specialist audience and raise the bar for general understandings of Japanese history. The Official Podcast of the Samurai Archives Japanese History page.

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  1. All Episodes
  2. EP80 Grinding the Kanji

EP80 Grinding the Kanji

Jan 12, 2014

In this episode Nate and Travis are back with Chris to discuss the arduous task of learning Japanese kanji - the Japanese writing system.  The episode was inspired by a Samurai Archives blog post on the subject, but your hosts also expand the conversation to examine the Japanese language's simplistic grammar contrasted with the complex ties that the language has to Japanese culture and society.

Mentioned in this episode:

Read the Kanji: https://www.readthekanji.com/

The Well-Trod and Annoying Path of Learning Japanese Kanji: http://www.theshogunshouse.com/2012/11/the-well-trod-and-annoying-path-of.html

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Show Archived Comments

William
over ten years ago

Hey guys,

Enjoyed this podcast. Some of my favorite episodes are when you examine some aspect related to studying Japanese history, rather than dealing with an actual subject from the history of Japan. The episodes where you interviewed Trevor Absolom about Japanese armor were particularly fun to listen to.

Definitely enjoy both types, so I'm happy to see the variety you're introducing. If you haven't already, I think it'd be great to hear how you got into Japanese history in the first place. I've always wondered what it was about this specific country/people that has intrigued you enough to devote so much of your lives to studying it in particular. The fact that it's a path less traveled? Did you start with samurais, ninjas, and other pseudo-subjects? Was it modern Japanese culture that got you into it?

Also, any plans to explore post-Meiji era Japan? Even post-WWII?

Thanks,
Will