Welcome!
I’m Christopher Harding, a cultural historian and broadcaster based at the University of Edinburgh. I’m the author of Japan Story: In Search of a Nation, 1850 to the Present and A Short History of Japan.
I write for The Sunday Times and UnHerd, make documentaries for the BBC and contribute to podcasts and TV series including The Rest is History and BBC Civilisations. Japan and the World is where I bring all this together: weekly essays that take Japan as a starting point for exploring our world.
What you’ll discover here
What connects the samurai to modern Japanese politics? Why does Japan approach artificial intelligence so differently from Silicon Valley? What can a country ageing and emptying faster than any in history tell the rest of us about our own future?
Each Friday essay follows a question like this outward from Japan to the world - how we live, how we make meaning, where we’re headed.
You don't have to be a Japan specialist to feel at home here. Some readers come for the traditional culture, some for East-West encounters, others for the themes and big questions that matter all around the world. You’ll find food, film and famous names; ghosts, sport, turning-point moments and the social challenges facing us all - some of which have hit Japan earliest and hardest.
Featured Essays
Why is Japan’s Population Shrinking So Fast - and Is It Really a Crisis?
Hidden Lives of the Samurai - Beyond Bloodshed
Renovation and Romance in Rural Japan
Bin Lorries and the Fraying of Japan’s Social Contract
Questions? Topic suggestions? Email me directly: chris@christopher-harding.com. You can also find me over at Instagram and YouTube.
