Ainu Tattoos: Sacred Protection, Then a Crime

Everyone knows Japan has a complicated relationship with tattoos — but most people blame the wrong group. Long before the Yakuza gave tattoos their modern stigma, Japan's indigenous Ainu people were being punished, shamed, and legally banned from practicing a tattoo tradition thousands of years old. In this episode: The origin story and animist religion behind Ainu tattoos How Ainu tattoos were actually done (tools, ink, and technique) The meaning behind Ainu women's mouth and arm tattoos Why and how the Japanese government banned Ainu tattooing How Ainu women preserved their traditions in secret Where the Ainu tattoo revival stands today We also cover the darker chapter of this history: how Japan's push toward Westernization and Meiji-era "civilization" campaigns led to Ainu tattoos being outlawed, practitioners being publicly shamed in newspapers, and generations of forced assimilation — and how Ainu women kept the tradition alive in secret until Japan finally recognized the Ainu as an indigenous people in 2019. Support Ainu artists: The Mirai Project Learn more about the Ainu: https://www.global.hokudai.ac.jp/catchup/21123/ https://www.biratori-ainu-culture.com/en/trip/nibutani-museum/ https://www.ainu-assn.or.jp/english/begin.html The Nibutani Ainu Museum / Upopoy Referenced in this episode: Experimental tattoo archaeologist Website (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📕 Find resources here!!📕 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch Store⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a teenager, she worked on floating brothels. By her 30s, she commanded a pirate fleet larger than the Spanish Armada and forced three national governments to negotiate on her terms. This is the true story of Zheng Yi Sao, also known as Ching Shih, the most successful pirate in history, male or female. What you'll learn in this episode: Who Zheng Yi Sao (Ching Shih) was and how she rose from poverty to power How Qing Dynasty floating brothels and the tanka people shaped her early life How a marriage alliance turned her into an equal partner in a pirate empire How she built and ran a 1,200-ship, 70,000-pirate fleet — and the pirate banking system that funded it The strict pirate code she enforced, including rules that protected captured women How she out-maneuvered the combined navies of China, Portugal, and Britain How she negotiated her own pardon and retired in peace and wealth If you love women's history, world history, and stories about the real people behind legendary reputations, this episode is for you!! Website (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📕 Find resources here!!📕 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch Store⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

She led 1,000 cavalry into battle, survived facing down 6,000 enemy warriors, and 800 years later, historians still can't agree on whether she was real. Meet Tomoe Gozen — the legendary female samurai commander at the center of Japan's most famous war. The British Museum's new Samurai Women exhibition has the internet arguing, some calling it revisionist and others calling it long overdue. So we're pulling this fan-favorite episode out of the archives to set the record straight: women didn't just witness samurai history; they fought it. In this episode: 🗡️ How the samurai class actually formed, starting with a scandal-prone emperor and 40+ kids ⚔️ The real Bushido code, and why the "way of the warrior" myth is mostly a modern invention 🐎 Onna-musha and onna-bugeisha: the real female warriors of feudal Japan 📜 The Genpei War, the Battle of Awazu, and the legend of Tomoe Gozen 🥋 The truth about the naginata — and why it was never "just a woman's weapon" 👑 What actually happened to Tomoe Gozen after her final battle (there are four competing legends — you decide which one you believe) Grab your snack, hop in the time machine, and let's get into it. Website (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📕 Find resources here!!📕 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch Store⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when women become the monsters of Japanese folklore? In this episode of For the Love of History, we dive into the terrifying world of Japanese yokai women, exploring the myths, legends, religion, and sexism behind some of Japan's most fascinating female monsters. From the Jorōgumo spider woman who lures men into her deadly web, to Hino-enma, the seductive demon associated with female sexuality and Buddhist morality, and the iconic Hannya demon mask, these stories reveal a complicated history of women, power, jealousy, sexuality, and revenge in Japanese folklore. We’ll explore Japanese yokai, Japanese mythology, Japanese ghost stories, Shinto, Buddhism, Buddhist hell, Edo-period folklore, Noh theater, and the history behind Japan's most famous female supernatural creatures. 👹 In this episode:• What exactly is a Japanese yokai?• The difference between yokai, ghosts, demons, and mononoke• Jorōgumo — the deadly spider woman of Japanese folklore• Why Jorōgumo are always portrayed as female• Hino-enma and the demonization of female beauty and sexuality• How Buddhism and Shinto shaped Japanese folklore• Hannya — the woman behind Japan's famous horned demon mask• Why female yokai so often become monsters through betrayal, suffering, and revenge If you love Japanese folklore, Japanese mythology, yokai, ghost stories, mythology, women's history, weird history, or the darker side of Japanese culture, this episode is for you. 📚 BOOK RECOMMENDATION:Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda, translated by Polly Barton — a feminist retelling of Japanese yokai stories with a modern twist. Website (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📕 Find resources here!!📕 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch Store⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Was she a teenage s*x worker or a young woman caught in the crossfire of history?! Let’s dive into how Empress Theodora became one of the most powerful women in history. This episode traces Empress Theodora's rise from poverty and the Byzantine Hippodrome to the imperial throne,e and the wave of laws she wrote protecting women-, from anti-rape statutes to marriage rights- that shaped the Western legal system for centuries. We separate the scandal (thanks, Procopius) from the facts, and ask: saint, sinner, or both? Website (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📕 Find resources here!!📕 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch Store⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A quiet fishing town. Cats dancing themselves to death on the wharf. And a company that knew exactly why. This is what happens when companies choose profit over people. This week we're covering the Minamata incident: how a chemical company called Chisso spent decades dumping mercury into the waters of Minamata Bay, poisoning fish, animals, and eventually thousands of people, including children. We're tracing the cover-up, the corporate and government betrayal, the fight for justice that dragged on for decades, and the resilience of the Minamata community that refused to be forgotten. ⚠️ Trigger warning: this episode discusses death, child loss, and a difficult environmental/health disaster. Take care of yourself, skip this one if you're not in the headspace for it today, and come back when you are. If you want more from For The Love Of History, join us on Patreon for bonus episodes, watch-throughs, TK reacts, and early releases. Website (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📕 Find resources here!!📕 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch Store⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For 2,500 years, her tattoos were invisible, hidden beneath mummified skin until infrared imaging revealed what no one knew existed. In this episode, we dive into the world of Scythian tattoos, tracing the history of the Pazyryk people, a nomadic culture from the Eurasian steppe, through one of archaeology's newest and most fascinating fields: tattoo archaeology. From the discovery of the famous "Ice Maiden" in 1993 to cutting-edge infrared research published in 2025, we explore how ancient nomads used tattoos to mark status, memory, and identity — and why every single preserved mummy from this culture was covered in ink. We'll also fact-check the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (again), debunk the internet's favorite "aliens made these tattoos" theory, and hear directly from the researchers and a tattoo artist who tattooed himself for 13 hours in the name of science. A huge thank you to Dr. Aaron Deter-Wolf and tattoo artist Daniel Riday for sharing their expertise for this episode. We also want to acknowledge Dr. Gino Caspari, whose 2025 research paper inspired this deep dive! ✨ Want more untold stories like this? Support the podcast and unlock bonus content over on Patreon. Website (⁠⁠⁠⁠📕 Find resources here!!📕 ⁠⁠⁠⁠) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch Store⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Japan gave us The Great Wave. It also gave us 34 feet of fart scroll! 💨 When archivists at Waseda University unrolled a 34-foot Edo-period scroll, they expected samurai, landscapes, or elegant courtly scenes. What they got was 10 meters of pure, unhinged fart battle art, and it's one of the most fascinating windows into feudal Japanese culture you'll ever find. In this episode: The 34-foot Waseda hēgassen scroll and what's actually in it How fart art dates back to 12th-century Japanese monks Why the Edo period (1603–1868) became a golden age of gag art How flatulence scrolls were used as political satire and anti-government commentary The fart scroll of Toba and its surprisingly pointed critique of Japan's civil war Why sometimes… a fart joke is just a fart joke For the Love of History is a history podcast covering world history, women's history, and weird history hosted by TK. New episodes regularly!! ✨ Want more untold stories like this? Support the podcast and unlock bonus content over on Patreon. Website (⁠⁠⁠📕 Find resources here!!📕 ⁠⁠⁠) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch Store⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if the pill you believed would save your life was slowly killing you? In the third century, the most powerful ruler in human history, Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, was secretly drinking mercury. His court alchemists called it the Elixir of Immortality. He called it hope. History calls it the thing that killed him. In this episode of For the Love of History, TK takes you on a journey through humanity's oldest obsession: cheating death. From the mercury-laced elixirs of ancient China to the gold tinctures of 16th-century French courts, to the blood plasma injections and cryonic freezing of today's Silicon Valley billionaires — the methods have changed, but the madness hasn't. In this episode, we cover: 🧪 Who was Qin Shi Huang, the man who unified China and built a tomb filled with rivers of mercury? 🧪The fangshi — the alchemist-magicians who promised emperors eternal life and delivered a beautiful, shimmering poison 🧪Why at least six Tang Dynasty emperors may have died the same way 🧪Diane de Poitiers, the French royal mistress who seemingly never aged — and the gold elixir scientists found in her remains centuries later 🧪The Philosopher's Stone, Isaac Newton's secret alchemy recipes, and how the hunt for immortality accidentally built modern chemistry 🧪Why billionaires like Bryan Johnson, Peter Thiel, and Jeff Bezos are just doing the same thing with better branding We've been chasing this white whale for 2,000 years. And the people with the most power have always been the ones holding the vial. Some things never change. For the Love of History is a world history, women's history, and weird history podcast hosted by TK (Tehya Nakamura). New episodes drop every week! Subscribe, leave a review, and join the history besties community. Support the show on Patreon for bonus episodes, behind-the-scenes content, and early access. ✨ Want more untold stories like this? Support the podcast and unlock bonus content over on Patreon. Website (⁠⁠📕 Find resources here!!📕 ⁠⁠) ⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch Store⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Men invented high heels. Men made them a power symbol. Then men decided women should wear them instead. Classic. In this episode of For the Love of History, we're uncovering the surprisingly bloody, surprisingly spicy history of high heels — and it starts not in a shoe store, but on a Persian battlefield. From the cavalry soldiers of the Safavid Empire who used heels to stay mounted while firing arrows at full gallop, to the Sun King Louis XIV, who weaponized fashion to control the French nobility, to the Victorian photographers who turned heels into a symbol of femininity and desire — this is the story of how one piece of military technology completely changed its meaning over 1,000 years. We'll cover: 👠 How Persian cavalry invented the heel as a tool of war (and empire-building) 👠Why European men adopted heels as the ultimate masculine status symbol 👠The androgynous fashion movement of the 1630s — and why men were furious about it 👠How Victorian erotica transformed heels into something else entirely 👠The engineering problem that took centuries to solve: the stiletto 👠Why heels disappeared after the French Revolution — and what brought them roaring back Plus: why did men's fashion get so boring? And who is really to blame for uncomfortable shoes? Whether you're a fashion history lover, a weird history fan, or just someone who has ever cursed at a pair of stilettos, this one's for you. For the Love of History is a world history, women's history, and weird history podcast hosted by TK. New episodes every week. Leave a rating or review if you love the show, it helps more history besties find us! ✨ Want more untold stories like this? Support the podcast and unlock bonus content over on Patreon. Website (⁠⁠📕 Find resources here!!📕 ⁠⁠) ⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch Store⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices