From Jōmon pots to bullet trains — the story of Japan, one concrete thing at a time.

Every Japanese film, game, meal and museum label assumes a timeline you have not been given — and this course hands it to you in three weeks.

By the end

You will be able to place any Japanese thing you meet — a shrine, a sword, a film, a factory — into a 14,000-year story, and know what happened, when, and why it still matters.

Who this is for

Curious adults who have never studied Japanese history, whether they are flying to Tokyo next month or will never leave their armchair.