Japan Castles Changing Narratives | Historians Oleg Benesch & Ran Zwigenberg
Channel: Seek Sustainable Japan | JJWalsh
Date: 2022-07-20

Historian-authors Oleg Benesch and Ran Zwigenberg give us insights from their interesting book about Japanese castles which is now in paperback format:  BOOK: Japan's Castles - Citadels of Modernity in War and Peace (3/2020 - Cambridge University Press) | PODCAST version here: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/73b67aa5-c5cf-40bb-9655-179746e1f9c1

Japan's castles have had interesting transitions in how they were rebranded throughout history- especially in post WW2 Japan. The changes were due to shifts in public perspectives of the role of the military and how the government wanted to represent Japan's military past. Changes were also due to domestic and international tourism narratives which change over time. 

Interesting shifts in how the castles were used as military headquarters, but are presented without representation of their wartime uses, reflecting older, feudal histories instead. 
The repurposing of military facilities into art museums, libraries, schools and sports arenas is another interesting point. The conflict between private and public land as well as the necessities to retrofit the castles to be more accessible and barrier free are also addressed. 

More information about the book: https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/history/east-asian-history/japans-castles-citadels-modernity-war-and-peace

Oleg & Ran's Japan's Modern Castles YouTube Channel has awesome videos with deep insights about Japanese Castles: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPRrUo9ORKSNp9uwP_XUoPg

Oleg Benesch - Research on East Asian History, Culture, and Thought
https://www.olegbenesch.com

Ran Zwigenberg - Research on modern Japanese and European history, with a specialization in memory and intellectual history.
https://asian.la.psu.edu/people/ruz12/

Ran Zwigenberg's talk on Seek Sustainable Japan talkshow about his book HIROSHIMA 
https://youtu.be/NwLAJeTXUR0
podcast version (episode 401) on any podcast player or here:
https://www.inboundambassador.com/ssl-podcasts/

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