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Episode 566 – The Revolutionary, Part 1
This week: the start of a multi-part “modernized biography” intended to help us explore postwar Japan through the lens of a single, fascinating life. This episode is mostly focused on introducing our subject–Miyazaki Manabu–and his unique and fascinating circumstances as the scion of a small yakuza family.
Sources
Miyazaki, Manabu. Toppamono: Outlaw,, Radical, Suspect. My Life in Japan’s Underworld. Trans. Robert Whiting.
Images
<img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-9764" data-tf-not-load src="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/war_s20_08-253x300.jpg" alt="" width="253" height="300" srcset="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/war_s20_08-253x300.jpg 253w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/war_s20_08-768x912.jpg 768w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/war_s20_08.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 253px) 100vw, 253px" />Aerial view of Fushimi in August, 1945. You can see the amount of bomb damage from the American air raids clearly.
<img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-9766" data-tf-not-load src="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/after_the_war_minami-300x180.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="180" srcset="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/after_the_war_minami-300x180.jpg 300w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/after_the_war_minami-768x462.jpg 768w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/after_the_war_minami.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />The southern section of Fushimi in the aftermath of WWII.
<img decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-9767" data-tf-not-load src="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Arrest_of_JCP_member.jpg" alt="" width="220" height="166" />A member of the Sanson Kosakutai is arrested by the police, c. 1955.
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This week: the start of a multi-part “modernized biography” intended to help us explore postwar Japan through the lens of a single, fascinating life. This episode is mostly focused on introducing our subject–Miyazaki Manabu–and his unique and fascinating circumstances as the scion of a small yakuza family.
Sources
Miyazaki, Manabu. Toppamono: Outlaw,, Radical, Suspect. My Life in Japan’s Underworld. Trans. Robert Whiting.
Images
<img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-9764" data-tf-not-load src="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/war_s20_08-253x300.jpg" alt="" width="253" height="300" srcset="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/war_s20_08-253x300.jpg 253w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/war_s20_08-768x912.jpg 768w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/war_s20_08.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 253px) 100vw, 253px" />Aerial view of Fushimi in August, 1945. You can see the amount of bomb damage from the American air raids clearly.
<img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-9766" data-tf-not-load src="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/after_the_war_minami-300x180.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="180" srcset="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/after_the_war_minami-300x180.jpg 300w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/after_the_war_minami-768x462.jpg 768w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/after_the_war_minami.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />The southern section of Fushimi in the aftermath of WWII.
<img decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-9767" data-tf-not-load src="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Arrest_of_JCP_member.jpg" alt="" width="220" height="166" />A member of the Sanson Kosakutai is arrested by the police, c. 1955.