{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthe-rest-of-history.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2Fthe-librarian-who-broke-japans-heart-XiEsmRhX","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"The Librarian Who Broke Japan's Heart","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/96a10b54-3566-4ae1-87fd-fd8bff7bd182/0e4303a1-2092-491e-a49a-e18cf4c76606/the-20rest-20of-20history.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"<iframe src=\"https://player.simplecast.com/398c1277-d878-40af-84c2-ce22a05edf57\" height=\"200\" width=\"100%\" title=\"The Librarian Who Broke Japan&apos;s Heart\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"></iframe>","height":200,"description":"In 1853, a mild-mannered Massachusetts scholar accidentally triggered Japan's transformation from isolated medieval kingdom to modern superpower—all because he couldn't resist correcting what he saw as embarrassing mistranslations. The story of how Commodore Perry's secret weapon wasn't his gunboats, but his dictionary-obsessed interpreter who rewrote history one awkward conversation at a time."}