Welcome! I’m Chris Harding, a historian and broadcaster based at the University of Edinburgh.

My weekly newsletter explores the histories behind everything people love about Japan, from food, film and famous names to ghost stories, sport and the big 21st-century challenges facing the country.

I’m also really interested in what happens when cultures and peoples meet for the first time - a combination of fascination with embarrassment and misunderstanding. My next book, Barbarians, is about the first century of encounter between Europe and Japan, the period in which Disney’s Shogun is set. I’ll be sharing ideas on that here, as I write the book.

You’ll find podcast versions of my essays and interviews HERE.

And from later this summer, you’ll also be able to find me on Instagram. Feel free to SIGN UP early!

If you have thoughts on my newsletter or would like to suggest a topic for me to cover, drop me a line: hello@historywithchrisharding.com. Or find me on BlueSky: @drchrisharding.bsky.social.

To get started on the site, have a look at my five-part series - What has Asia ever done for us? - beginning all the way back in ancient Greece, with dreams of strange beasts roaming India’s plains…