Kurosawa Akira is one of the most celebrated filmmakers in modern times whose work continues to enjoy considerable influence today. Born at the end of the Meiji period, he witnessed a lot of change throughout his life and brought many changes of his own to the filmmaking landscape of Japan.

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This final regular episode of the podcast features the politics, economics, and cultural developments of 1980s Japan as the Shōwa Period came to a close in 1989. Thank you so much for listening, I hope you enjoyed this journey through Japanese history with me.

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The social extremes of the Oil Shock Period ranged from radical terrorism, ahistorical revision of the Pacific War, the emergence of several new genres of anime, and the birth of the video games industry.

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To help mitigate the damage to Japan's economy during the Oil Shock period, its government would engage in global economic forums, encourage conservation among consumers, and expand into new energy sources.

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The 1973 Oil Crisis had a devastating effect on Japan's economy and led to a period of rapid political turmoil as the ruling LDP, for the first time in the party's history, failed to obtain a simple majority of seats in the diet.

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After Japan's surrender in August of 1945, the Empire of Vietnam witnessed a revolution and its winners crafted a declaration of independence. However, forming a new nation-state during the Cold War would prove to be a long, bloody struggle.

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The Korean Peninsula was divided after the second world war as the Soviet Union occupied the north and the US occupying the south. Though this division was initially meant to be temporary, the subsequent Korean War and its aftermath cemented the divisions for both North and South as the Cold War brought troops from both the United States and the People's Republic of China into direct conflict.

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As the People's Republic of China sought to establish itself as a modern nation state, its government chose to imitate the Soviet Union's path to modernization as they collectivized agriculture, labor, and industry with unfortunately devastating results.

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After the Japanese Imperial Army evacuated China, any hopes of peaceful reunification were dashed as the Nationalists and Communists continued fighting the Chinese Civil War, the result of which would see the birth of the People's Republic of China.

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As incomes soared and standards of living likewise rising, the demand for entertainment in Japan also rose and the industries of film, television, and animation would produce some of the most innovative and influential works ever made.

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