Episode 143: Temmu's Monumental Projects — Sengoku Daimyo This episode talks about two projects that were started—but hardly finished—in the current reign. One of these was what Bentley describes as an “historiographical project” and the other was nothing l...

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This one goes a bit beyond the current narrative, talking about some projects that got their start during Ōama's reign, but which took time to come to fruition.

Episode 142: The Four Great Temples — Sengoku Daimyo This episode we are looking at the Four Great Temples… and a few others. These are the early “National Temples” that were directly administered by the state, receiving, in turn, state grants of suste...

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Talking about the Four Great Temples (of Asuka). And yes, that is a photo of modern Yakushiji because the original just doesn't photograph as well these days.

So is it a case of "material evidence or it didn't happen"? I'm now curious about why. I could see some argument for care in conflating linguistic and ethnic backgrounds, but just straight up denying that linguistics is a thing?

What about mass combat, instead?

Temmu's New Year's Traditions — Sengoku Daimyo Welcome back to your regularly scheduled podcast. This episode we are looking at the festivities around the New Year during the reign of the sovereign known as Temmu, aka Ōama. Much of this involved...

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Temmu's New Year's Traditions

New Year's Recap 2026 — Sengoku Daimyo Happy New Year! Welcome to our 2026 recap. This episode we look back on the past year, but also try to make sure that we prepare for the next year. We’ll cover the big events and then go into some ...

Happy New Year! The new year recap episode is up.

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Episode 139: Observing the Natural World — Sengoku Daimyo This episode we are talking about how the new court organized “science” learning and man of the observations—some of which we understand and some of which are much less clear.

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Comets, earthquakes, and omens. A look at some of the observations of the natural world in the Temmu reign as well as a brief discussion of science and learning at the time.

Crowd walking to whale.

Crowd

Bob rigging up *something*

Guy with a flag. Whale in bg.

#nokings Convergence on the whale in Juneau.

Episode 136: Kabane and Court Rank — Sengoku Daimyo This episode we look at “kabane”—ancient titles used in the Japanese archipelago that were often, though not exclusively, attached to the uji, the large corporate families, or clans, set up as part of...

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Perhaps a bit technical, but we look at the kabane system just as Temmu decides to rewrite the whole thing!

Episode 135: Year One — Sengoku Daimyo This episode we look at the first year of the reign of Ōama, aka Temmu Tennō, who formally ascended the throne in 673. We see feasts, and ceremonies associated with his ascension, as well entreaties ...

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Latest episode is up. We are looking at the first year of Ōama sitting in the throne, including discussions of rank, princely government, the creation of the Dajōsai, and more.

Episode 134: An Image of the Court at Kiyomihara — Sengoku Daimyo Ōama, aka Temmu Tennō, is also known as the Sovereign of the Kiyomihara Palace, but what was the Kiyomihara Palace? The Kiyomihara Palace is the reused and renovated (Later) Okamoto Palace. This was...

New episode up on Kiyomihara palace and the court there.

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There is plenty more, but this is setting the stage. Blogpost has diagrams to help as best I can, and goes a little bit more into the various palaces from the first Okamoto Palace to the Kiyomihara palace.

Episode 133: Reimagining Yamato — Sengoku Daimyo With the end of the Jinshin War, Oama, posthumously known as Temmu Tenno, came to the throne.  And though they would need a new Great Council of State, they continued to build up and bolster the ...

Latest episode is up! Bring your imagination because the war is over and it is time to start Reimagining Yamato:

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Episode 132: The Jinshin no Ran, Part 4: The Afumi Campaign — Sengoku Daimyo This episode is the fourth in our series on the Jinshin no Ran . We recommend that you start with Episode 129, The Jinshin no Ran Part 1 .

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Episode 132, Part 4 in our series on the Jinshin no Ran is up. This is the last episode in the series, covering the defense of Karafu Pass and then the attack on Afumi. I recommend taking a look at the map to have an idea of where everything was taking place.

Episode 129: The Jinshin no Ran, Part 1: Prologue to War — Sengoku Daimyo This episode we are starting a multi-part series on the Jinshin no Ran—the Jinshin Disturbance or the Jinshin War. Jinshin (壬申) is the on’yomi pronunciation of the two characters that mark the year 6...

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This month we kick off a new multi-part series covering the events of the "Jinshin no Ran", (壬申の乱), the war for the throne that kicked off with the death of Tenji Tennō.

Happy Pride Month! 🏳️‍🌈

Photo from our Half Moon Cay stop on JoCo Cruise 2025 (taken by Joshua Badgley)
.
#jococruise #jococruise2025 #lgbtq #pride #pridemonth

Episode 127: Time and Direction in Ancient Yamato — Sengoku Daimyo This episode we talk a lot about geomancy, yin-yang theory, wuxing, etc. Here are some articles on the site that may be helpful. In particular the second link gives a much more in depth look at all ...

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This episode we talk about time and direction... and a little bit about geomancy, onmyōdō, and some of the cosmological ideas that came over from the continent.

Also south pointing chariots and water clocks.

Episode 126: New Beginnings — Sengoku Daimyo Last episode we looked at much of what led up to the new reign of Naka no Oe, aka Tenji Tennō. This episode we look at the start of that reign. There was a lot going on, both in the archipelago and ...

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Latest episode, talking about the founding of Ōtsu capital on the shores of Lake Biwa, international relations, and Naka no Ōe (Tenji Tennō) actually ascending to the throne.

Episode 125: The Sovereign of Heavenly Wisdom — Sengoku Daimyo Takara Hime had passed away, and now Naka no Oe had finally become the sovereign. He would be be known as Tenji Tennō (天智天皇), and the posthumous name he was given by the Chroniclers means something li...

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Latest episode up. Starting in to the actual reign of Naka no Ōe/Tenji Tennō, as opposed to whatever he has been doing before...

Episode 124: The Battle of Hakusukinoe (aka the Battle of Baekgang — Sengoku Daimyo This episode we will talk about the Battle of Hakusukinoe (白村江の戦い), known in Korean as the Battle of Baekgang. This was a naval battle at the mouth of the Baek river where an overwhelming force of Ya...

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Episode 124 is up and we are talking about the Battle of Hakusukinoe, aka the Battle of Baekgang. This battle, and the larger conflict with the Tang empire and with Silla, would reshape the geopolitical landscape and have a huge impact on the Korean peninsula.

Episode 123: Embassy Interrupted — Sengoku Daimyo This episode, we’ll cover records of some of the missions to and from the continent, including a record from Iki no Hakatoko, who provided one of the first relatively in depth discussions of a mission...

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New post up: relatively short one looking at the embassy of 659 and the details provided by Iki no Hakatoko and then included in the Nihontō Shoki.

Episode 122: Journey to the West, Part 3 — Sengoku Daimyo After a long journey, Xuanzang finally made it to the Indian subcontinent. He traveled all across the land, visiting cultural and religious sites and studying at the feet of various masters. There a...

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Journey to the West, Part 3. This episode we follow Xuanzang as he finally enters the Indian subcontinent. We'll touch on some of the major sites he visited, as well as his time studying Buddhist Scripture at Kashmira and the famous Nalanda Monastery.

Episode 121: Journey to the West, Part 2 — Sengoku Daimyo This episode, we continue to cover the journey of the monk Xuanzang, aka Genjō in Japanese, founder of the Faxiang, or Hossō school of Buddhism. Xuanzang’s journeys would result in some of the most a...

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A little late posting this here, but we did get the next episode up, following Xuanzang's journey to India.

Looking edge on at one side of a masonry star fort. A small round turret at the edge. The walls extend to the left and right edges of the photo, diminishing in the distance. The foreground is black and the sky has a slight glow.

Photo of Castillo San Marcos in St. Augustine at night.

Xuanzang is known as "Genjō" (玄奘) in Japanese, and Yamato monks that trained with him, like Dōshō (道昭), Chitatsu, and Chiitsu, would bring back the teachings of his "Faxiang" school, known as "Hossō" (法相) in Japan.

Ruined walls of the city of Gaochang--sandy-colored bricks and earthworks make up ruined walls ranging from a few meters to multiple stories. A long wall running the length of the image in the background includes a form of scaffolding.

Concave rectangular niches include remnants of paint, including a void in the shape of what might have been a sitting Buddha figure, including a halo that would have encircled its head.

A scrap of fabric with vibrant colors showing two birds facing each other, surrounded by a circle of white roundels.

The multi-storied ruins of Yumenguan (Jade Gate Pass) are made of rough, eroded earth. Dry tufts of grass can be seen in the foreground.

Latest episode is out: Journey to the West, Part 1. We again travel afield, following in the footsteps of the monk Xuanzang (玄奘), aka Tripitaka Master of the Law (三蔵法師). In Part 1, we follow his journey from Chang'an (長安) out to the Kingdom of Gaochang (高昌國).

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The sky at dusk, pink clouds in a blue sky, viewed through leafless trees and reflected in a small pool of calm water. A smattering of snow on the ground.

Sunset in the woods.

years ago I knew elderly veterans at church who swore that Japan built a city called "Usa" in order to technically be correct in putting "Made in Usa" on their exports.

Given that I'm an adherent of the Hachiman faith, I find this *extra* wrong, because.... www.usajinguu.com/lineage/

Episode 119: The Question of "Tukara" — Sengoku Daimyo This episode we are taking a bit of a tangent as we look into the record of men said to be from “Tukara”. By the way, in modern Japanese this is probably either Tsukara or Tokara. As we’ve mentioned...

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So this episode we may have used a relatively minor reference to "Tukara" as a chance to virtually travel parts of the Silk Road.

Sakafune-ishi may be one of the stones most closely connected with Saimei, though it is hard to say for sure. The placement matches some of the work in the Nihon Shoki, though. Was this the result of the "mad canal" that upset so many people at the time?
(Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons)

A pillar of four carved stones is said to depict the Buddhist Mt. Sumera. Near the base, water can be seen flowing out of the pillar in a small stream.

The stone work that they've found includes things like this model of Mt. Sumera that is also a fountain. These weren't just images, these were feats of engineering using natural water pressure. These would have adorned gardens in mansions and temples.