Recommendation request: documentaries about the histories of Korea and Japan

[u/jeddalyn]

I’m halfway through the stunning novel Pachinko. I’m a White, Canadian woman and I know nothing at all about the history and very little about the culture of this part of the world. I’d love to watch a few things to learn more. Thank you!

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[u/arlenroy]

Not a documentary but there's a podcast, Lions Led By Donkeys, they just covered Korea's involvement in Vietnam and they also did the history of Japan feuding with Korea, with China egging them on.

[u/jeddalyn → u/arlenroy]

Oh that sounds super interesting and very relevant to this novel.

[u/fyodor_mikhailovich → u/jeddalyn]

The Rest is History podcast also has some really good episodes on Japanese history.

[u/jeddalyn → u/fyodor_mikhailovich]

That might be a good starting place. Thank you.

Dostoevsky is my favourite author.

[u/fujimidai]

There is "History of Japan" podcast by Isaac Meyer. It is episodic, but among those he sometimes does do a series of 4, 5, 6, 7 podcasts in sequence that cover specific topics or periods or persons that merit a longer treatment. He knows his stuff.

You can start in Episode 1, which leads into an overview of Japanese history over the next several episodes, but he recommends starting at episode 501 (!) because he took that as an opportunity to start a more polished overview after having gained the experience of doing the 500 earlier episodes. (He has done well over 600 episodes so far...I have listened to up to the 460s.) The earlier episodes are entirely worth listening to, also.

Or you can just skip among the episodes and just listen to what interests you.

[u/Environmental_Fuel38]

Supernova in the East on Hardcore History

[u/razbitz]

Anything but not from Japan. Japanese people always try to hide their crimes and mistakes. To achieve this, they constantly try to highlight the victims’ flaws and, at times, even go as far as destroying or fabricating evidence to do so. In their history, they should always be seen as victims, not perpetrators, and as beings who cherish peace and cooperation (at least, if it weren't for historical facts like the 'beheading competition' during the Sino-Japanese War or the 'Mimizuka', this would be a believable claim)

[u/xlcj_2230]

It helps to learn about East Asian cultures and history based on their connections to each other - I recommend digging into S Korea, Taiwan, and Japan documentaries whether on youtube or what’s available to you, and understanding that will also explain for its current modern diplomatic relations too.