1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,119 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: Japan is known for many things, Samurai and beautiful castles, 7 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:45,200 Speaker 1: cherry blossoms, and Mount Fuji. It's a very distinctive nation 8 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 1: that has stayed that way in part due to a 9 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: roughly two hundred year isolationist period which kept outsiders outside 10 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: and the Japanese in. Nowadays, that isolationist streak is long past, 11 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: and Japan is a commercial powerhouse for their massive corporations 12 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:03,960 Speaker 1: that exports all kinds of goods all over the world. 13 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: Look around you right now and you'll probably see an 14 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:11,040 Speaker 1: electronic device, car, camera, or other piece of machinery manufactured 15 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:15,080 Speaker 1: in Japan. But any nation is an amalgamation of its 16 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 1: past and its present, and the intersection of Japan's history 17 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: and the modern world can be very curious. Such is 18 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: the case at Okunaking Cemetery on Mont Koya in southern 19 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:29,480 Speaker 1: central Japan. Mount Koya is a temple settlement said to 20 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:33,040 Speaker 1: have been founded in eight nineteen by Kobodashi, an ancient 21 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:36,400 Speaker 1: Buddhist monk. Some refer to him as the Eastern Leonardo 22 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: da Vinci due to his many contributions across a variety 23 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:44,480 Speaker 1: of disciplines, including calligraphy, poetry, and philosophy, and he is 24 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:47,920 Speaker 1: also the founder of Japanese Esoteric Buddhism, which is a 25 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: Buddhist sect wherein the monks orally pass on instruction through 26 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 1: the generations using a variety of nature based wisdom. They 27 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: compare a clouded mind to the different phases of the moon, 28 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: for example. Many Buddhists there are also vegetarians and do 29 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: not believe in the taking of life. Kobodashi was so 30 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:08,639 Speaker 1: renowned that when he passed away, he was sealed in 31 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:11,400 Speaker 1: a tomb instead of cremated. This was so that he 32 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:14,680 Speaker 1: could continue to meditate on what is best for humanity. 33 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 1: The monks on Mount Koya still bring him two meals 34 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 1: each day. They believe his tomb isn't a tomb at all, 35 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: but a meditation chamber. As the centuries passed, the temple 36 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:29,639 Speaker 1: settlement experienced many ups and downs, especially in the isolationist 37 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 1: period that I mentioned earlier. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, showguns, 38 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: who were threatened by the popularity of Buddhism, occasionally attacked 39 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: the place or put several restrictions on the temple. Even so, 40 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,520 Speaker 1: they respected and even feared the legend of Kobo Dashi, 41 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: so much so that in sixteen forty three, Tokugawa ie Mitsu, 42 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 1: the third Tokugawa Shogun, had a shrine built on Mount 43 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 1: Koya to honor his father and grandfather. If this place 44 00:02:56,639 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: was holy, he said, he wanted their spirits to have 45 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 1: a home there, and surprisingly, that very ancient attitude has 46 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:08,360 Speaker 1: persisted to this day with curious results. If ancient Japan 47 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: was all about the loyalty and honor of samurai clans, 48 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 1: modern Japan is all about the loyalty and honor of corporations, 49 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: and some of those corporations revere Kobodashi and Mount Koya 50 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: just as much as their ancestors did. Okanoyan Cemetery has 51 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:26,800 Speaker 1: thousands of graves, many belonging to that samurai era that 52 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 1: I just mentioned, but they are now joined by graves 53 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: belonging to modern corporations. Including Panasonic Cannon and shin Maiwa 54 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:38,320 Speaker 1: an aircraft company. The graves are dedicated to their deceased 55 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: employees and feature unusual markers. You see. While most gravestones 56 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: at Okanoyan are in the shape of a pagoda, the 57 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:49,120 Speaker 1: more recent corporate ones can take any form. Shin Maiwa 58 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: has a large stone rocket ship as part of its 59 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: grave site. But the most unique memorial in the cemetery 60 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: probably belongs to the japan Pest Control Association. In nineteen 61 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: six eight, they erected a memorial on Mount Koya to 62 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 1: the thousands of termites they've killed as part of their work. 63 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: Remember I told you that the Buddhists are vegetarian and 64 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:11,839 Speaker 1: don't believe in the taking of life, and that makes 65 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 1: being a Buddhist exterminator very difficult. With this memorial, the 66 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:20,839 Speaker 1: Japanese Pest Control Association expressed regret that their existence was 67 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: incompatible with the existence of termites. It's a humorous coda 68 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 1: to a long history, but it also shows how much 69 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 1: the modern world is still very much informed by the past. 70 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: Mount Koya has existed for over a thousand years, but 71 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,279 Speaker 1: humans have only changed so much. They may have traded 72 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:41,920 Speaker 1: in their swords for smartphones, but they still feel sadness, guilt, 73 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 1: and a desire to honor the dead. So the next 74 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:47,680 Speaker 1: time you swat a bug in your house, the least 75 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 1: you can do is light a candle for the life 76 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: you just took. Or if that sounds silly, you can 77 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 1: just wait for Kobo Dashi to finally wake up and 78 00:04:55,320 --> 00:05:12,400 Speaker 1: lead us all into enlightenment. Eleanor Bull had not paid 79 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:15,360 Speaker 1: any mind to the four gentlemen staying in her house. 80 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:18,040 Speaker 1: Tenants came and went freely, and as long as they 81 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: paid for their food and lodging, they got no trouble 82 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:23,159 Speaker 1: from her. All day long, the three men had drank, 83 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:27,839 Speaker 1: eaten and spoken among themselves. Ingram, Nicholas, Roberts, and kitt 84 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:29,840 Speaker 1: were their names, but there were men like them at 85 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 1: every tavern across London. However, on May thirtieth of fifteen 86 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: ninety three, Eleanor Bull's place at Deptford bore witness to 87 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:40,719 Speaker 1: one of the era's most infamous tavern brawls. These four men, 88 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: having just had a meal, retired to a private room. 89 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 1: Not long after, raised voices came from within. Then whatever 90 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 1: argument the men were having became aggressive, commotion followed shouts, 91 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: chairs overturned, and violent exclamations. When the dust settled, one 92 00:05:57,240 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: of the four men lay dead upon the floor, a 93 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:01,680 Speaker 1: dagger through his head. It was the one that the 94 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: others had referred to as Kit. He was twenty nine 95 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,600 Speaker 1: years old. According to his companions. They had argued over 96 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 1: the bill. Kit, who was hot headed by nature and 97 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:14,359 Speaker 1: possibly drunk, had grabbed the dagger from Ingram's belt and 98 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,839 Speaker 1: attacked him. Although Kit had managed to stab Ingram twice 99 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 1: in the head, the wounds were shallow and Ingram was 100 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:23,560 Speaker 1: able to fight back and gain the upper hand. An 101 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:28,359 Speaker 1: investigation began almost immediately because Kit wasn't a nobody. He 102 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:32,839 Speaker 1: was Christopher Marlowe, a talented poet and author of seven plays. 103 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 1: These included Edward the Second, The Massacre at Paris, and 104 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:40,279 Speaker 1: Doctor Faustus, all of which would remain popular long after 105 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 1: his death. William Shakespeare would include references to Marlowe in 106 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 1: his own work, a sign of respect from one legendary 107 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:51,200 Speaker 1: playwright to another. The man who killed marlow Ingram Freser, 108 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 1: was pardoned on June first. The other two men spoke 109 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:56,599 Speaker 1: up for him, all agreeing that Marlowe had been the 110 00:06:56,640 --> 00:06:59,840 Speaker 1: aggressor and that the killing was self defense. But ever 111 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:02,719 Speaker 1: since that day, rumors have persisted that this was more 112 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 1: than just an argument gone wrong, because Kit Marlowe was 113 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:10,080 Speaker 1: an enigmatic man whose life seemed full of danger and mystery. 114 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: He'd long been a lifelong rebel, someone who got into 115 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 1: fights regularly and defied authority. As a matter of course, 116 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:20,120 Speaker 1: writings by others from the time condemned him for being 117 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: an atheist, a dangerous allegation at the time. Throughout Marlow's 118 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: short life, he was arrested multiple times for charges that 119 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 1: included counterfeiting money and heresy, but surprisingly none of these 120 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:35,040 Speaker 1: arrests ever stuck and honestly seemed as if someone was 121 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 1: in a high position of authority wanting to protect him, 122 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:41,120 Speaker 1: and this would be more or less confirmed by historians 123 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:44,679 Speaker 1: centuries after his death. You see, while he'd been writing 124 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:48,560 Speaker 1: his first plays as a student, Marlowe had communicated regularly 125 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: with Queen Elizabeth's Privy Council, seemingly as a spy or 126 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 1: counterspy for the British government. A letter from the Council 127 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: to his university referred to him as employed on matters 128 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:03,240 Speaker 1: touching the benefit of his country. It's an intriguing idea, 129 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 1: and helped out by the fact that the men who 130 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:09,840 Speaker 1: witnessed Marlow's death were not random people. Ingram Freiser, Nicholas Scares, 131 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: and Robert Polly all had suspicious reputations. Nicholas and Ingram 132 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:17,080 Speaker 1: were both conmen, and Robert Polly had been imprisoned in 133 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: the Tower of London five years earlier for his role 134 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,520 Speaker 1: in the Babbington Plot, a failed plan to assassinate Elizabeth 135 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: and replace her with her cousin Mary, Queen of Scott's. 136 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 1: Now to be fair men of ill repute were not 137 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 1: strangers in Marlow's life. However, their political affiliations and criminal 138 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:37,640 Speaker 1: histories cast doubt on their testimony against him. We may 139 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:40,000 Speaker 1: never know why these gentlemen were all in the same 140 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:43,200 Speaker 1: tavern on May thirtieth, if it was an arranged murder. 141 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: Scholars have proposed a number of theories, with suspects including 142 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:51,320 Speaker 1: Sir Walter Riley, various powerful critics of Marlowe's plays, or 143 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 1: even Queen Elizabeth herself. Had Marlow outlived his usefulness, had 144 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:59,200 Speaker 1: he seduced the wrong man and provoked a deadly response, 145 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,880 Speaker 1: had anti Christian themes in his work put a target 146 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 1: on his back? Or are we all just jumping at shadows? 147 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:08,599 Speaker 1: After all, when you have to invent a motive for 148 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:12,320 Speaker 1: a theory to work, you're writing fiction rather than searching 149 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:14,839 Speaker 1: for the truth. One thing we know for sure, though, 150 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:19,200 Speaker 1: this famous poet died as he lived, providing drama, entertainment, 151 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 1: and intrigue to us all living a life as adventurous 152 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: as any character in a play. To quote his doctor Faustus, 153 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:33,640 Speaker 1: he that loves pleasure must for pleasure fall. I hope 154 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:37,000 Speaker 1: you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 155 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:40,439 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 156 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:45,000 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 157 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:48,480 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how 158 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 159 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:56,000 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 160 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:58,680 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the Worldoflore 161 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:02,680 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.