00:00But tonight, for the grand finale of our core roster, we travel to Edo period Japan, behind the heavy wooden
00:07gates and gilded sliding screens of Edo Castle.
00:12To the outside world, the Tokugawa shogunate was absolute.
00:17The shogun ruled Japan with a military iron fist, enforced by samurai, rigid class systems, and total isolation from the
00:27West.
00:27But within the castle complex lay a vast forbidden city within a city, a place where no male could set
00:33foot on pain of death, save for the shogun himself.
00:37Western historians often dismissed it as a simple harem.
00:41They could not have been more wrong.
00:45Today, we are stepping into the covert political machine of the Oku,
00:49specifically the senior matriarchs who turned a private sanctuary into the true intelligence nexus and policy hub of feudal Japan.
01:01Established in the early 17th century, the Oku grew to house of over 1,000 women,
01:09attendants, scholars, guards, concubines, and administrators.
01:13So, enjoy it.
01:15So, we'll be right back.
01:16So, guys, let's enjoy it.
