1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy be Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. Today we 4 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:20,759 Speaker 1: are going to talk about to Knock, a gay who 5 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: was an inventor, a craftsman, and an artisan. And he 6 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 1: also lived during a time that Japan went through just 7 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: enormous cultural and scientific and technological changes that like directly 8 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:38,239 Speaker 1: affected his life and his work. So his story is 9 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: about creating amazing and intricate works of engineering and craftsmanship, 10 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: but it's also about witnessing and being part of just 11 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: a dramatic shift in Japan as a nation and Japan's 12 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 1: place on the world stage. Tanakahisashiga was born in September 13 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: eighteen sevent in Karuma, on the island of q Shu 14 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: in the southwestern part of the Japanese archip hele Ago. 15 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: This was in a later part of the Edo Period, 16 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: also known as the Tokugawa Period. We talked about this 17 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:09,959 Speaker 1: period in Japanese history a little earlier this year. We 18 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: did the Saturday Classic on Hokusai, which came out in 19 00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: January for a really quick recap. Though this lasted from 20 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 1: about sixteen oh three to eighteen sixty seven, and it 21 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: was a period that was known for its relatively prosperous stability. 22 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:28,959 Speaker 1: Japan had an emperor, but the nation was controlled by 23 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:33,120 Speaker 1: the Tokugawa Shogunate and its provinces were ruled by feudal 24 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: lords known as the daimyo, and Japan was also pretty 25 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 1: isolated from the rest of the world Beyond Asia. Japan 26 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:42,679 Speaker 1: issued a series of edicts in the sixteen thirties that 27 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:46,919 Speaker 1: expelled Christians and Westerners from its borders and restricted trade 28 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: with other nations. It maintained trading relationships only with the 29 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: Chinese and the Dutch. Japan's only international trading port was 30 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: in Nagasaki. Tanaka's father was a craftsman who made accessories 31 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: and naments from tortoise shells, and as the oldest son, 32 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: Tanaka's involvement with this business and the skills and techniques 33 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 1: that were involved with it that would have started at 34 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: an early age, but tortoise shell carving really was not 35 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:17,120 Speaker 1: what inspired him at heart. He was really an inventor. 36 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 1: When he was nine, Tanaka took one of his first 37 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 1: inventions to school. It was an inkstone case with a 38 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: locking drawer. It's locking mechanism involved a chord that had 39 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:30,240 Speaker 1: to be twisted in a very specific way to release 40 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 1: the lock. At fourteen, he built a loom used to 41 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:37,079 Speaker 1: make a type of patterned fabric known as karumi kasuri. 42 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:39,640 Speaker 1: As the name suggests, this is a style of cloth 43 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:42,640 Speaker 1: that's specific to the Karume region and was developed by 44 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: a twelve year old girl named Inu a Den in 45 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: about eighteen hundred. It is woven with indigo dyed cotton 46 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:53,080 Speaker 1: thread with intricate patterns, usually in white as part of 47 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:57,679 Speaker 1: the weaving. Another source of fascination for Tanaka was Karricari 48 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:02,680 Speaker 1: puppets are dolls. Karat create essentially means mechanism, and it's 49 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: a term that's used to describe various complicated devices. Terricreate 50 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 1: dolls or puppets could also be called automeda. They have 51 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: a lot in common with the automeda that we talked 52 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: about in our previous episode called five Historical Robots. They 53 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: used things like strings, pulleys, cams, gears, gravity, air pressure, 54 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:27,359 Speaker 1: and hydraulics to move around and perform various tasks. They 55 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 1: were both beautiful and complex, and they combined long established 56 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: traditions of puppetry and clockmaking in Japan. These contraptions were 57 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:38,400 Speaker 1: really popular during the Edo period, and there was an 58 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: annual festival held for them at a shrine where Tanaka lived. 59 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: He also read about and studied them through a work 60 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: called The Illustrated Compendium of Clever Machines by Hosakawa Hanzo 61 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: your Now. This has been published in sevent and it 62 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 1: included all kinds of illustrations, descriptions, and diagrams of things 63 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:02,440 Speaker 1: like mechanical clocks, toys, and curac repuppets. Tanaka was building 64 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: these himself by the time he was twenty. Some were 65 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: based on designs that other people had created, like the 66 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: ones in this book. One of them was a tea 67 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 1: serving doll. It would carry a full cup of tea 68 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: from one end of a table to another, and then 69 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:19,120 Speaker 1: after the recipient drank the tea and put the empty 70 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: cup back onto the doll's tray, it would turn around 71 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:24,360 Speaker 1: and go back to where it started. This is one 72 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 1: of the devices that was described in The Illustrated Compendium 73 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:32,159 Speaker 1: of Clever Machines. I want this Illustrated Compendium. Others of 74 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:35,800 Speaker 1: Tanaka's karakuri dolls were from his own design. He had 75 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 1: studied and made a replica of a Dutch air gun, 76 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,359 Speaker 1: and he used the same principles of air compression in 77 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:44,599 Speaker 1: some of his designs. His best known device was the 78 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: yumihiki Dozy, or little archer. It's a figure on a 79 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:50,719 Speaker 1: box that has a bow with a fan like stand 80 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:53,600 Speaker 1: of four arrows in front of it. It shoots each 81 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,719 Speaker 1: of the arrows at a nearby target. The little archer 82 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:59,600 Speaker 1: is often described as being a boy, but in Tanaka's 83 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: notes it's described as a girl. The head and the 84 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: face are very lifelike, and every time it hits the target, 85 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: the head moves in a way that makes it look 86 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:13,360 Speaker 1: like the archer is smiling in a pretty satisfied way. 87 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:16,480 Speaker 1: But one of the four arrows always misses, and when 88 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 1: that happens, the head instead moves away that it makes 89 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:23,359 Speaker 1: it seem crestfallen and defeated. To add even more to 90 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: the complexity, if you remove the sides of the box 91 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:28,920 Speaker 1: that the archer sits on, you can see the gears 92 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 1: at work inside, along with another figure that appears to 93 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: be winding the lower gears to keep the whole thing moving. 94 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: It's kind of almost like cartoon physics, kind of situation 95 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:42,559 Speaker 1: where there's a machine and inside the machine is something 96 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,679 Speaker 1: that's like making the machine do. All of the archer's 97 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 1: motions are really precise and exact. It grasps every arrow 98 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 1: between a thumb and the finger, It moves its head 99 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: while it aims, and it shifts the bow when it 100 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: releases the arrow. At this point, this little archer is 101 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:02,040 Speaker 1: more than two two hundred years old and it still works. 102 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:05,360 Speaker 1: You can see videos of it online. Tanaka's other automata 103 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:08,400 Speaker 1: included sake cups, which behaved a lot like the tea 104 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:12,600 Speaker 1: serving dolls that we talked about earlier. Another was Kobodaishi's 105 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: Secret ink Brush. It depicted the Japanese Buddhist monk Kobo Daishi, 106 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 1: who was known as ku Kai during his life in 107 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:22,600 Speaker 1: the late eighth and early ninth centuries. The figure of 108 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:25,840 Speaker 1: Kobodaishi uses a brush to draw a character in the air, 109 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 1: and the character that he's drawing simultaneously appears on a 110 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:34,039 Speaker 1: separate Japanese sliding door. Tanaka often left some of the 111 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 1: automata's inner workings visible so observers could get a hint 112 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: of all the complex gears and pulleys and other systems inside. 113 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: By the age of twenty four, Tanaka was considered to 114 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,919 Speaker 1: be a master and making these automeda. He was nicknamed 115 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:55,080 Speaker 1: Karakuri Gaiman. Guiman was another version of the name He's Ashige, 116 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:59,040 Speaker 1: and he was hoping to make his living by creating 117 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:02,799 Speaker 1: these a tamata and then also entertaining people with them. 118 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,159 Speaker 1: This was a career that combined being an engineer and inventor, 119 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 1: a craftsman, and an entertainer all into one. He was 120 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:13,360 Speaker 1: so eager to do it and so clearly skilled at it, 121 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 1: that he convinced his father to let one of his 122 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 1: younger brothers take his place in the family business, and 123 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 1: then Tanaka started touring Japan with his automata. There's some 124 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:27,040 Speaker 1: debate about whether the techniques and innovations that were used 125 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: in Karakuri influenced other Japanese technology and innovations, but when 126 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 1: it comes to the people who made them, it's clear 127 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:38,080 Speaker 1: that some went on to make technological advances in other fields. 128 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: One example Tanaka, he'sas she Gay, who we will talk 129 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 1: about more after a sponsor break Tonka spent a few 130 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 1: years touring Japan with his Karakuri automata. He became famous 131 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: in this process, but Unfortunately, this care or did not last. 132 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 1: As we noted at the top of the show, the 133 00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 1: Tokugawa period in Japan was known for its stability, but 134 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:09,880 Speaker 1: at the same time it was something of a financial 135 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 1: house of cards. The daimio were required to keep one 136 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:16,840 Speaker 1: home in their province and another and edo, and then 137 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:20,760 Speaker 1: to travel back and forth between them. Both households and 138 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: the travel were expected to be expensive and opulent, the 139 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:26,760 Speaker 1: idea being that if the daimio were spending all their 140 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 1: money on all this lavish upkeep, they'd never have enough 141 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:32,640 Speaker 1: money to be able to raise an army and rise 142 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:35,560 Speaker 1: up against the shogunate. At the same time, because the 143 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:39,839 Speaker 1: Tokugawa period was also relatively peaceful, the samurai class had 144 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 1: evolved from being warriors to being administrators and bureaucrats, with 145 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: most of them living on small stipends that weren't really 146 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: enough to get by. Many were impoverished and dissatisfied with 147 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:55,199 Speaker 1: the shogunate and the daimyo. These and other factors led 148 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:58,719 Speaker 1: Missuo Tatakuni, who was an advisor to the Showgun, to 149 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:02,880 Speaker 1: institute a seer use of reforms starting in eighteen thirty 150 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 1: during what was known as the Tempo era, they emphasized 151 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 1: austerity and frugality in all areas of life. Many officials 152 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 1: and bureaucrats lost their positions, and expensive styles of artwork, clothing, 153 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: and entertainment were discouraged or outright outlawed. This included the 154 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:24,640 Speaker 1: karakuri automeda that Tanaka, he says she gay had been 155 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:27,719 Speaker 1: designing and making. Tanaka turned out to be one of 156 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:31,120 Speaker 1: the Edo period's last karakuri masters, and many of the 157 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:34,720 Speaker 1: surviving pieces that still exist today are ones that he created. 158 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:38,679 Speaker 1: With his career as a Karricori craftsman no longer possible, 159 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:42,520 Speaker 1: Tamaka moved to Osaka in eighteen thirty four and started 160 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:46,199 Speaker 1: focusing on more practical uses for his skills and invention 161 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:50,440 Speaker 1: and engineering. He developed a water pump that firefighters put 162 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 1: to use. He also created a collapsible candle stand that 163 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:57,600 Speaker 1: became very popular among doctors, who could fold it flat 164 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:00,520 Speaker 1: to carry with them when they visited their patients. He 165 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 1: also drew on the technology of that Dutch air gun 166 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: to improve on the oil lamps that were being used 167 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:09,840 Speaker 1: for illumination. These lamps generally used a type of oil 168 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 1: that didn't move up the lamps wick very easily, which 169 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 1: meant that the light tended to be dim and kind 170 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:19,079 Speaker 1: of flickery. Tanaka used compressed air to force the oil 171 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,079 Speaker 1: through the wick, which made the lamp burn brighter, longer, 172 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:25,720 Speaker 1: and more reliably. This lamp was called the mugento, and 173 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:28,640 Speaker 1: Tanaka made them in different sizes and styles to suit 174 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:31,679 Speaker 1: different tastes and needs, and soon they were being used 175 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:36,560 Speaker 1: all over Osaka. However, those tempo reforms had not returned 176 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:39,880 Speaker 1: Japan to a state of prosperous plenty the way they 177 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:44,520 Speaker 1: were intended. A famine developed alongside the austerity measures and 178 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:47,640 Speaker 1: other reforms, and that famine spiked in eighteen thirty six 179 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:51,360 Speaker 1: and eighteen thirty seven and Osaka. This led to food 180 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:55,880 Speaker 1: riots and an uprising against the local leadership. Tanakashi and 181 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:59,679 Speaker 1: his family fled, leaving behind a workshop that was burned 182 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:02,640 Speaker 1: to the ground in the uprising. They moved to the 183 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:06,640 Speaker 1: Fushimi district of Kyoto. In Kyoto, Tanaka opened a shop 184 00:11:06,679 --> 00:11:09,840 Speaker 1: where he made and sold candle stands and mugento lamps. 185 00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:14,600 Speaker 1: He branched into new areas of study, including mathematics and astronomy. 186 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 1: He also became interested in Western style clocks that were 187 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 1: being imported to Japan from Europe. He started making clocks 188 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 1: on his own, including one that used a tycho drum 189 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:27,240 Speaker 1: as an alarm. He also got back to making devices 190 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:31,520 Speaker 1: that were not strictly practical, this time they were incredibly 191 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:36,560 Speaker 1: intricate time pieces. One was called the Shumi Senghi, which 192 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:39,880 Speaker 1: he finished in eighteen fifty. This was requested by a 193 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:43,600 Speaker 1: Buddhist monk named Fumon in Su and it represented the 194 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:48,920 Speaker 1: universe as explained through Buddhist cosmology rather than through Western astronomy. 195 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 1: The Earth is at the center, with the Sun and 196 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:55,760 Speaker 1: the moon orbiting Mount Sumuru. It also indicated the twenty 197 00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:59,240 Speaker 1: four seasons of the year in the Buddhist calendar. This 198 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:01,480 Speaker 1: was a table top device that was wound up with 199 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: a key, and sometimes it's described as Japan's first planetarium. 200 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:08,679 Speaker 1: His most famous creation during this time was the man 201 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:12,000 Speaker 1: named Jimmy, a show chronometer or the myriad year clock, 202 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:15,520 Speaker 1: sometimes called the million year clock. He started on it 203 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:18,080 Speaker 1: in eighteen forty eight and he finished it in eighteen 204 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:23,600 Speaker 1: fifty one. This clock measures about sixty three centimeters or high, 205 00:12:23,679 --> 00:12:26,680 Speaker 1: and at weighs thirty eight kilograms. It's about eighty three 206 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:30,679 Speaker 1: pounds and the words of Julia Frumer, author of Making 207 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:35,880 Speaker 1: Time Astronomical time measurement in Tokugawa, Japan. Quote while constructing 208 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:39,040 Speaker 1: the ultimate clock, he says, she gave aspired to a 209 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:42,679 Speaker 1: perfection and beauty that we're not only technical, but also 210 00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:47,559 Speaker 1: aesthetic and material. This time piece is intricate, and it's 211 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:51,280 Speaker 1: also beautiful, with an ornate surface that's covered in tiny 212 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:54,120 Speaker 1: mother of pearl inlays that are patterned in a style 213 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:58,840 Speaker 1: that's known as raiding. They're also painted enamel inlays around 214 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:01,920 Speaker 1: the base depicting things like a tortoise, a rooster, a drum, 215 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:06,680 Speaker 1: and a rabbit. This device has approximately a thousand pieces 216 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:10,440 Speaker 1: and its internal working parts. This clock has six faces, 217 00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 1: each with a unique purpose. The first is Awake or 218 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:17,400 Speaker 1: a traditional Japanese clock that was used during the Edo period. 219 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:20,880 Speaker 1: In western time keeping, everything is a fixed length. There 220 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:23,240 Speaker 1: are twenty four hours a day, sixty minutes an hour, 221 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:26,079 Speaker 1: sixty seconds in a minute, and the lengths of those 222 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 1: increments do not change. But in traditional Japanese timekeeping, the 223 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:33,880 Speaker 1: length of an hour varies by the season. Each day 224 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:37,320 Speaker 1: is divided in half, with one half being daylight hours 225 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 1: and the other being darkness. During the summer, when the 226 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 1: days are longer, the daylight hours are longer, and the 227 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:46,640 Speaker 1: nighttime hours are shorter during the summer when the nights 228 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:49,680 Speaker 1: are longer. It is, of course the opposite that sounds 229 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 1: to me both beautiful and hard to keep up with, 230 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:57,520 Speaker 1: just because we didn't grow up with it. If it 231 00:13:57,600 --> 00:13:59,480 Speaker 1: were your normal thing, you'd be like, Yeah, now is 232 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:01,079 Speaker 1: the time when the hours you're longer? What are you 233 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 1: talking about? You'd be like, why are all hours the 234 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:08,960 Speaker 1: same number of length all the time? Uh So. Clockmakers 235 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:12,280 Speaker 1: in Japan made clocks that told time this way for 236 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:15,400 Speaker 1: about two hundred years. They used a variety of methods 237 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 1: to count for these seasonal variations. For example, they might 238 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:23,400 Speaker 1: have interchangeable faces or pulleys that people adjusted as the 239 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:27,200 Speaker 1: seasons changed. In the Myriad year clock, the hours were 240 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:31,240 Speaker 1: represented by twelve moving silver pieces, six for the day 241 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:34,400 Speaker 1: and six for the night, with the clock's inner workings 242 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:38,040 Speaker 1: adjusting the widths between them over time. So during the summer, 243 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:40,160 Speaker 1: the pieces on the top half of the clock face 244 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:43,200 Speaker 1: would slide farther apart to account for the longer hours, 245 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 1: while the pieces on the bottom half would slide together, 246 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: and then in the fall that would reverse the myriad 247 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:52,080 Speaker 1: year clocks. Second face shows the twenty four traditional seasons 248 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 1: in a Japanese year, which were originally taken from the 249 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:58,600 Speaker 1: Chinese calendar. This calendar starts in the early spring, and 250 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 1: it includes the spring and all equinox, as well as 251 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 1: the summer and winter solstice, but it also contains other 252 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 1: seasons in between those markers, like rainwater which is between 253 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 1: the beginning of spring and the spring equinox, as well 254 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: as lesser heat and greater heat, which are between the 255 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:18,360 Speaker 1: summer solstice and the beginning of autumn. The third phase 256 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:20,240 Speaker 1: shows the days of the week and the hours of 257 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 1: the day, and the fourth shows the date using the 258 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:27,160 Speaker 1: Chinese sex of generary or sixty year cycle. The fifth 259 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:30,080 Speaker 1: displays the lunar month and the phases of the moon, 260 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:34,240 Speaker 1: and the sixth includes a Western style pocket watch, probably 261 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:37,520 Speaker 1: of French or Swiss origin, which shows the hours, minutes, 262 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:42,120 Speaker 1: and seconds according to Western timekeeping. This pocket watch also 263 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 1: acts as a regulator for the rest of the clock. 264 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:47,400 Speaker 1: In addition to those six faces, the top of the 265 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: clock is seen from above, also shows a map of 266 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 1: the Japanese archipelago with a model of the sun and 267 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 1: moon on arms above it, showing the position of the 268 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 1: Sun and the Moon in relation to the Earth. There 269 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:02,800 Speaker 1: are four main springs inside this clock, connected to one 270 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:05,320 Speaker 1: another with chains to keep them in sync with each other. 271 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:08,440 Speaker 1: Each spring is housed in a barrel that's small enough 272 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:10,760 Speaker 1: to fit in the palm of a person's hand, and 273 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:13,600 Speaker 1: when fully wound, the clock is meant to run for 274 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 1: a year. When Tanaka made this clock, he hoped to 275 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 1: sell it, but it was so complex and expensive that 276 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 1: he could not find a buyer, so he toured with it, 277 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:25,600 Speaker 1: as he had done with this Karakuri automeda earlier in 278 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:29,800 Speaker 1: his career. Today, the clock is designated as an important 279 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:32,600 Speaker 1: cultural property in Japan. We're going to come back to 280 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:36,040 Speaker 1: it later. When Tanaka finished the Myriad Year Clock in 281 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty one, Japan was about to go through massive 282 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:43,240 Speaker 1: changes that affected virtually every area of life, including timekeeping, 283 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:46,000 Speaker 1: and we will get to that after a sponsor break. 284 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:56,960 Speaker 1: Between sixteen thirty three and eighteen fifty three, Japan was 285 00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 1: relatively but not completely isolated from the rest of world, 286 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:03,880 Speaker 1: as we noted earlier in the show, Even after Japan 287 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:07,200 Speaker 1: closed its borders in the sixteen thirties that had continued 288 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:09,320 Speaker 1: to trade with the Chinese and the Dutch at the 289 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:13,240 Speaker 1: port of Nagasaki in southwestern Japan. People in and around 290 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: Nagasaki personally witnessed the new and changing technologies that were 291 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:20,040 Speaker 1: making their way to and through the port. The Saga 292 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:25,600 Speaker 1: Domain was responsible for Nagasaki security and defense. Now Massa Nabashima, 293 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:29,000 Speaker 1: who was the domains daimio, established a physics and chemistry 294 00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:33,240 Speaker 1: research institute in eighteen fifty two. He invited some of 295 00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 1: Japan's foremost inventors and engineers to the institute, and one 296 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:41,119 Speaker 1: of them was Tanaka Hisashiga. Another was Sano To Netamy, 297 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:45,440 Speaker 1: founder of the Japanese Red Cross Society. Then, on July 298 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:50,480 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty three, American commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Edo 299 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 1: Bay now Tokyo Bay to try to force Japan to 300 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:58,119 Speaker 1: start trading with the West, particularly with the United States. 301 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:02,159 Speaker 1: The US had been successfully trying to establish trade with 302 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:04,680 Speaker 1: Japan for about twenty years at this point, and this 303 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:07,960 Speaker 1: time Perry arrived with four ships from the U. S. 304 00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:11,359 Speaker 1: Navy as a show of force. Japan knew it had 305 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:14,640 Speaker 1: no way to defend itself from the steamships and their armaments. 306 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:17,919 Speaker 1: It had seen a similar situation play out in China 307 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:21,320 Speaker 1: during the First Opium War just a decade before, which 308 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 1: pitted British forces with steam powered warships against Chinese vessels 309 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 1: that were powered by sale. China's defeat had been disastrous, 310 00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:35,160 Speaker 1: so reluctantly Japan began negotiating with United States. After months 311 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:38,680 Speaker 1: of negotiation, the US and Japan signed the Treaty of 312 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:43,480 Speaker 1: Kanagawa on March thirty one, eighteen fifty four. This treaty 313 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:47,080 Speaker 1: established a US consulate in Japan and gave American ships 314 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 1: the right to buy supplies like coal and water into 315 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:54,920 Speaker 1: Japanese ports. It also provided protection for American sailors who 316 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:59,080 Speaker 1: were shipwrecked in Japanese waters. This treaty heavily favored the 317 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:02,520 Speaker 1: United States and interests. The only thing Japan really got 318 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:05,360 Speaker 1: out of it was not being attacked by Perry's warships. 319 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:09,040 Speaker 1: The Treaty of Kinagawa didn't open Japan up to commercial 320 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:11,600 Speaker 1: trade with the US. That was still a few years off. 321 00:19:12,359 --> 00:19:16,080 Speaker 1: But Perry had presented the emperor with several gifts, including 322 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:20,400 Speaker 1: working models of several technologies that included a steam locomotive 323 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:24,520 Speaker 1: and a telegraph. Perry's arrival in Japan, and these models 324 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:27,840 Speaker 1: had a huge impact on Tanaka's work at the institute. 325 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:31,639 Speaker 1: His earlier work had mostly been focused on technologies than 326 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:35,200 Speaker 1: an individual person might use at home, but now he 327 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:38,280 Speaker 1: and others started looking at technologies that a whole community 328 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 1: might use, like a railroad or a telegraph system. He 329 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:44,679 Speaker 1: became part of the team that built Japan's first working 330 00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:48,000 Speaker 1: model of a steam locomotive, and in eighteen sixty five 331 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:51,800 Speaker 1: he helped build Japan's first steamship. As we noted earlier, 332 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:55,720 Speaker 1: Japan's social and economic structure had already been struggling before 333 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:59,800 Speaker 1: Perry arrived, and attempted reforms had often made the situation 334 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:04,320 Speaker 1: worse instead of better. In eighteen sixty eight, two clans 335 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:08,360 Speaker 1: combined forces to stage Acupita, which took place on January 336 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:12,080 Speaker 1: three of that year. They overthrew the Tokugawa shogun and 337 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:15,720 Speaker 1: restored Emperor Meiji, who was fourteen at the time, to power. 338 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: Massive changes followed to virtually every aspect of Japanese life. 339 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:25,000 Speaker 1: The feudal system and the samurai class were abolished, as 340 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:29,840 Speaker 1: were the daimio's personal armies. The nation industrialized very rapidly. 341 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:33,480 Speaker 1: Even that Japanese system of timekeeping that we talked about 342 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 1: with the myriad year clock was replaced with the Western 343 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:39,520 Speaker 1: style twenty four hour day. Basically, the emperor and his 344 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:43,760 Speaker 1: advisers recognized that Japan was under serious threat from Western powers, 345 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:46,440 Speaker 1: and they believed that their best chance at retaining their 346 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:49,560 Speaker 1: independence was to make the nation of Japan more compatible 347 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:53,040 Speaker 1: with the Western world. This is often described as a 348 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:57,120 Speaker 1: process of westernization and modernization, but some sources really given 349 00:20:57,119 --> 00:21:00,080 Speaker 1: a slightly different nuance that Japan as a nation and 350 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:02,960 Speaker 1: was trying to find a more Western oriented way of 351 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:09,760 Speaker 1: being Japanese. This mindset affected Tanaka's work as well, as 352 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:12,800 Speaker 1: noted in a piece from the Saco Museum, he wanted 353 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:17,119 Speaker 1: quote to accept advanced Western technologies and integrate them with 354 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:22,120 Speaker 1: Japanese culture in ways useful for society. During this time, 355 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 1: Tanaka did some work on military technology, and eventually he 356 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:28,920 Speaker 1: moved back to his home province of Karumi to take 357 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:32,240 Speaker 1: over a factory. He kept on inventing things while they're 358 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:36,840 Speaker 1: including an artificial ice making machine. In eighteen seventy three, 359 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:39,680 Speaker 1: when he was seventy three years old, the Department of 360 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:44,440 Speaker 1: Industry appointed Tanaka to develop Japan's telegraph system. He moved 361 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,720 Speaker 1: to Tokyo at the government's request do this work. Two 362 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,320 Speaker 1: years later, on July eleventh, eighteen seventy five, he founded 363 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:56,960 Speaker 1: Tanaka says Oh Show or Tanaka Engineering Company. Tanaka Ghisashigi 364 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,080 Speaker 1: died in Tokyo on November seven, eight eighty one, and 365 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:04,320 Speaker 1: he had continued to create, invent, and refine until the 366 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:07,560 Speaker 1: end of his life. His adopted son took over Tanaka 367 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:11,240 Speaker 1: Engineering Company, which, after a series of name changes in mergers, 368 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:16,760 Speaker 1: became Tokyo Shibora Danki or Toshiba in nine nine. Today, 369 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:19,640 Speaker 1: Tanaka he Sashiga is seen as one of the founders 370 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:24,679 Speaker 1: of Japan's technology industry. The Myriad year clock stopped working 371 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:28,040 Speaker 1: sometime after Tanaka's death, then in two thousand and four, 372 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:31,280 Speaker 1: it was totally disassembled to make a replica for the 373 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:35,200 Speaker 1: Expo two thousand five World's Fair. The National Museum of 374 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:38,280 Speaker 1: Nature and Science and Toshiba Corporation were both part of 375 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:42,440 Speaker 1: this project, which was intended to analyze Eto period innovations 376 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:46,520 Speaker 1: and figure out their engineering. One hundred specialists worked with 377 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:50,000 Speaker 1: the Myriad year clock for an entire year, including the 378 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:53,399 Speaker 1: Saco Watch Corporation, calling one of their retired watchmakers in 379 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: for help. Just taking the clock apart and figuring out 380 00:22:57,119 --> 00:23:00,520 Speaker 1: what all the components did took five months, and the 381 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:03,600 Speaker 1: team discovered that two of the clock's original springs had 382 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:06,399 Speaker 1: warped and cracked, which was probably what caused it to 383 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:09,679 Speaker 1: stop running. Putting the clock back together was also an 384 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:14,639 Speaker 1: enormous undertaking, and in terms of the replica, microscopic analysis 385 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 1: of the original showed that every single piece was handmade, 386 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:23,119 Speaker 1: including individually filing every tooth of every gear. Some of 387 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:27,439 Speaker 1: these handmade pieces just could not be perfectly replicated. Today. 388 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:31,240 Speaker 1: Tashiba Corporation owns the original Myriad year clock, but it 389 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:34,200 Speaker 1: is on permanent display at the National Museum of Nature 390 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:37,800 Speaker 1: and Science in Tokyo. The replica is at the Tshiba 391 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:44,240 Speaker 1: Science Museum in Kawasaki. Also, the October silve Google Doodle 392 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:49,679 Speaker 1: honored to Knocks twote birthday. It depicts a charactery figure 393 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:52,440 Speaker 1: that uses calligraphy like strokes to make a G to 394 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,240 Speaker 1: complete the name Google. This is one of those people 395 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:59,040 Speaker 1: whose minds I so admire and feel like, yeah, um, 396 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:03,520 Speaker 1: just complete dumb dumb who can't do anything. When I 397 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 1: think about all that they're able to conceive of and process. Uh, 398 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:11,280 Speaker 1: do you have listener mail for us? I do. This 399 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:15,960 Speaker 1: is from Tea and the subject line of the email 400 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:20,040 Speaker 1: is in all capital letters, the green beans followed by 401 00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:24,159 Speaker 1: four exclamation points. Uh and Tia says dear Holly, Tracy 402 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:27,800 Speaker 1: and stuffy miss Staff. Yes. I resonated on a deep 403 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:31,840 Speaker 1: level with tracy experience of home canned green beans. I 404 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:34,160 Speaker 1: spent a week with my parents this summer helping pick, 405 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:36,879 Speaker 1: snap and canned green beans in order to share the bounty, 406 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:40,480 Speaker 1: because they are just that amazing. I too, find fresh 407 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:44,000 Speaker 1: green beans yucky to my palate. They squeak. Yeah. My 408 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:46,440 Speaker 1: parents still freeze and can a host of fruits and 409 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:49,760 Speaker 1: veggies from their gardens or from local farms. I appreciated 410 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:52,680 Speaker 1: learning about the origins of canning. I was surprised to 411 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:55,360 Speaker 1: learn it was so recent in the Grand Scheme. Thank 412 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:57,520 Speaker 1: you for all the work you do. I've been listening 413 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:00,720 Speaker 1: for several years now and so appreciate the breadth of 414 00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:05,520 Speaker 1: scope you ladies cover two other recent whims I especially appreciate. 415 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:07,320 Speaker 1: It made me so happy to hear the story of 416 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:12,639 Speaker 1: the goat statue and ensuring arson attempts and successes corroborated. 417 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:15,960 Speaker 1: I used to work as an occupational therapist with high schoolers, 418 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:18,280 Speaker 1: and yes, in this day and age, I had handwriting 419 00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:20,960 Speaker 1: goals for teenagers. Don't get me started on how irrelevant 420 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:23,520 Speaker 1: that was. I tried to find things that would interest 421 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:26,520 Speaker 1: students rather than having them copy boring sentences, and that 422 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:30,920 Speaker 1: vignette got some fun reactions. Especially appreciated the history of 423 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:33,800 Speaker 1: the Bureau of Home Economics episode as well. I'm now 424 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:36,480 Speaker 1: working as a homemaker, and I was fascinated to realize 425 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:39,120 Speaker 1: that there was an entire organization to help make guidelines 426 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:43,440 Speaker 1: and recommendations for the science of homemaking. I had a 427 00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 1: question I didn't submit in time for your question and answer, 428 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:48,000 Speaker 1: so but I'm still curious to know what was your 429 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:50,800 Speaker 1: personal ah ha moment when you realized or began to 430 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:53,560 Speaker 1: realize that not everyone shares the same privilege as yourself. 431 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:55,040 Speaker 1: I hope I worded that well. I know it's a 432 00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:58,840 Speaker 1: difficult question in a difficult time. One of you, Hollier Tracy, 433 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:01,400 Speaker 1: I don't remember which aired in conjunction with the James 434 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:04,159 Speaker 1: Baldwin episode that you heard his speech about the Pledge 435 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 1: of allegiance as a child, and that was the start 436 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:09,880 Speaker 1: of your AHA moment. For me, Unfortunately, that AHA moment 437 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:11,960 Speaker 1: didn't come, and until college, when I had a person 438 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:14,320 Speaker 1: of color as a gospel choir director, he would share 439 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:16,760 Speaker 1: stories about his life, and the light bulb started to 440 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:18,879 Speaker 1: click that my white middle class life had been very 441 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:22,240 Speaker 1: sheltered and very privileged. I'm still learning and growing, as 442 00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:25,320 Speaker 1: are we all, and I appreciate how you both highlight 443 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:28,000 Speaker 1: those people in groups in history that are so often overlooked. 444 00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:30,840 Speaker 1: Thank you for all you do. It is so appreciated, Tia, 445 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:33,640 Speaker 1: Thank you, Tia for this note. That was Holly who 446 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:36,800 Speaker 1: talked about the AHA movement while listening to James Baldwin. 447 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:42,560 Speaker 1: Since I grew up in like northwest North Carolina, in 448 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:48,680 Speaker 1: an area that had like a sizeable population, like a 449 00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:52,040 Speaker 1: sizable white population, assizable Black population, and then sort of 450 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:54,520 Speaker 1: like slightly outside of where we were directly living a 451 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:58,479 Speaker 1: sizeable Hispanic population. Um, like, my mom had to talk 452 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:01,600 Speaker 1: to me about racism from an early age. So I 453 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:07,680 Speaker 1: think the first conversation I remember having specifically about racism 454 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:12,120 Speaker 1: I was in elementary school, maybe as young as kindergarten. Basically, 455 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:15,359 Speaker 1: someone said a joke at school and I repeated that 456 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:18,800 Speaker 1: joke to my mom, and UM, this was like a 457 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 1: very child logic kind of joke but also racist, and 458 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:24,480 Speaker 1: my mom, in like the most age appropriate way I 459 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:27,600 Speaker 1: can think of, explained to me that that joke would 460 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:30,639 Speaker 1: be hurtful to some of my friends, and it was 461 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:33,240 Speaker 1: sort of it was obvious to me from an early age, 462 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:37,720 Speaker 1: like like that not everybody had the same advantages UM 463 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:42,680 Speaker 1: in terms of an AHA movement of the way one 464 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:46,159 Speaker 1: of the ways that racism works in society. Was actually 465 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:52,879 Speaker 1: working on this podcast UM after the Trayvon Martin case, 466 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:57,240 Speaker 1: after his murder, UM, I had put an article on 467 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:01,600 Speaker 1: our Facebook page UM that by a woman historian that 468 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:05,119 Speaker 1: I thought was relevant, and a whole lot of people 469 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:10,240 Speaker 1: came to leave implicitly racist comments that they did not 470 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:14,240 Speaker 1: comprehend were racist when they said them. And it was 471 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:17,119 Speaker 1: the first time that I had seen like that level 472 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:23,119 Speaker 1: of vitriol about something from people who had previously seemed 473 00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:29,560 Speaker 1: rational fans of the podcast UM, and I was totally 474 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:31,960 Speaker 1: unprepared for how to deal with it. It was like 475 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:36,800 Speaker 1: one of the worst days of managing our social media presence. 476 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:39,080 Speaker 1: And it was not long at all after we started 477 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:42,000 Speaker 1: working on the show, and so I like that that 478 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:44,960 Speaker 1: was sort of a different kind of ah ha moment 479 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:47,960 Speaker 1: than when I was a kid. Yeah. I mean I 480 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:51,320 Speaker 1: feel like even though I had that saying that reaction 481 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:54,080 Speaker 1: listening to James Baldwin when I was a child, like 482 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:57,920 Speaker 1: it was probably foundational, but it wasn't like I carried 483 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:00,560 Speaker 1: that daily and was like, I need to be thinking 484 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:02,800 Speaker 1: about this. I also did a lot of stupid stuff 485 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:06,040 Speaker 1: and said incredibly hurtful and ignorant things along the way. 486 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:08,520 Speaker 1: And I feel like I still have aha moments all 487 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:11,280 Speaker 1: the time. And there was the one that I think 488 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:16,000 Speaker 1: about from the show was when we had Jerry Hancock 489 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:21,120 Speaker 1: on talking about Sears and him mentioning that the reason 490 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:27,720 Speaker 1: that Sears was so popular from the beginning with black 491 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:30,240 Speaker 1: customers was because it was one of the first places 492 00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:33,280 Speaker 1: they could shop. I e. Threw a catalog and not 493 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:37,200 Speaker 1: be discriminated against, and it was just like, Oh, I 494 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:39,480 Speaker 1: never thought about it. And the fact that I never 495 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:42,680 Speaker 1: had to think about that was like, because you never 496 00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:47,080 Speaker 1: had to we have those all the time. Yeah, I 497 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:49,800 Speaker 1: definitely still have a ha moments and still learn things 498 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:51,880 Speaker 1: that I had never considered before, and still have moments 499 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:53,600 Speaker 1: where something comes out of my mouth and then I 500 00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:57,160 Speaker 1: kind of go, Tracy, right, did you just is that 501 00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:01,440 Speaker 1: what you just said? Yeah, it's hard, and it is. 502 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:06,960 Speaker 1: It's a lifelong process. It is, and I feel like 503 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:11,880 Speaker 1: a jerk so often, and I'm always trying to be 504 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:15,480 Speaker 1: better and examine things. But even so, there are times 505 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:16,960 Speaker 1: when I'm like, I don't know if I just screwed 506 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:22,760 Speaker 1: up or not. Um. I remember having a moment and thankfully, 507 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:25,680 Speaker 1: one of our colleagues, who was a black woman, is 508 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:27,480 Speaker 1: very patient with me, and she and I are close. 509 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:29,160 Speaker 1: And I had seen a woman that I did not 510 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:32,080 Speaker 1: know in the hallway of our office who had this 511 00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:35,520 Speaker 1: she's dark skin, and she had on this very beautiful 512 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:40,960 Speaker 1: light blue blouse and I just said that color looks 513 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:43,800 Speaker 1: spectacular on your skin, and she was like, oh, thank you, 514 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:45,520 Speaker 1: and she was very sweet. But then as I walked 515 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:48,520 Speaker 1: away from her, I was like, was that just inappropriate? 516 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:53,160 Speaker 1: It's so then I had this conversation with our colleague 517 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:56,160 Speaker 1: and with some of my other friends of color, um, 518 00:30:56,880 --> 00:30:59,560 Speaker 1: black and otherwise, and and kind of got their take 519 00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:01,360 Speaker 1: on it, and thankfully, like it is not their job 520 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:04,400 Speaker 1: to educate me, but because they have always been very 521 00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:06,400 Speaker 1: kind and we have a close enough relationship that I 522 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:08,280 Speaker 1: can go. Can I ask you this question? You can 523 00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:12,160 Speaker 1: tell me no. Um, luckily I got my gut checked. 524 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:16,200 Speaker 1: The consensus on that was no. But I still think 525 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:19,320 Speaker 1: about it and I'm like, I hope she didn't perceive it. 526 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:22,120 Speaker 1: And that's that's part of being privileged, is that, like 527 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:25,960 Speaker 1: you can say things that you may you might mean well. 528 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:28,320 Speaker 1: That's always the phrase like well they meant well, you 529 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:30,760 Speaker 1: might genuinely mean well and still hurt someone. And I 530 00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:33,680 Speaker 1: think that's where people get really caught up and defensive 531 00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:37,440 Speaker 1: is like, but my intention was, but that doesn't matter 532 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:40,400 Speaker 1: if somebody still gets hurt in the end. Yeah, that's 533 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:44,080 Speaker 1: kind of the lifelong aha of this show for me. Yeah, yeah, 534 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:50,520 Speaker 1: I will be lifelong time, I think. Uh so Tea, 535 00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:53,640 Speaker 1: thank you so much for this email. Um, if you 536 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:55,280 Speaker 1: would like to write to us about this or any 537 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:57,959 Speaker 1: other podcast for it History podcast I heart radio dot 538 00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:00,880 Speaker 1: com and we're all over social media. Missed in History. 539 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:03,760 Speaker 1: That is where you'll find our Facebook and Pinterest and 540 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:06,480 Speaker 1: Twitter and Instagram, and you can subscribe to our show 541 00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:09,000 Speaker 1: on the I Heart radio app and Apple podcast and 542 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:16,760 Speaker 1: anywhere else you get your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in 543 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:19,560 Speaker 1: History class is a production of I heart Radio. 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