KeywordsJapan, Tokugawa period, cultural exchange, Japan English Teachers (JET) Program, Jomon, Yayoi, Queen Himiko, Shintoism, Buddhism, Heian period, Emperor, Shogunate, Daimyo, Geisha, Commodore Perry, post-war JapanSummaryThis is a conversation about Lesley Downer's career as a writer about Japan. It begins with her background and how she first went to Japan as part of the first group of Japanese English Teachers (JET) Program. We also talked about how she came to write her first book about Matsuo Basho's Narrow Road to the Deep North. Two-thirds of the remaining conversation is about the themes of Lesley's book The Shortest History of Japan. We did about as good a job as we could have to cover 16000 years of history in 35 minutes. I enjoyed every minute of this conversation, but my favorite moment I wrote into the first Sound Bite, below. Sound Bites"Lesley Downer forced me to eat raw fish. It was disgusting!" "Japan has a rapid period of modernization.""I became a potter, I made pottery.""I wanted to write a book about real Japan."
Lesley DownerGuestTyrell Cameron EskelsonHost