Organizations hold steady, individuals are held accountable (scapegoats, ritualistic)

Looking for something out of the ordinary to read this summer? This story appeared today via Linkedin.

It is about scandal in organizations or Japanese society: perpetrator apologizes, is banned, finally is rehabilitated. But the organization continues they same as before they scandal.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Here is the link to the 35-minute interview with Dr. Igor Prusa, author of "Scandal in Japan: Transgression, Performance and Ritual" (Routledge, 2024): 

Beyond Harmony: What Japanese Scandals Reveal About Us All with Dr. Igor Prusa

Blurb from interview summary page:

These performances—featuring deep bowing, tears, and formal apologies—serve as a form of scapegoating that temporarily satisfies society's need for justice while protecting corrupt systems.
... ...
While Japan maintains its traditional rituals, figures like Donald Trump have disrupted Western scandal narratives by refusing expected contrition, instead transforming potential disgrace into demonstrations of strength. 

Social isolation (hikikomori) of shut-ins & one program's responses in central Japan

Something like 1.5 million people around the Japanese islands isolate themselves from general social interaction by some estimates. This news story describes a school/training program in the middle of the country for people ages 14 to 46 who seek structure and guidance to return in some way to independent living in wider society.

Outside of Japan, too, other countries are recognizing a similar phenomenon of social isolation. So the approach detailed in this story may be of interest outside of the Japanese context.

Usually the online Japan-Times only shows 1 or 2 paragraphs, unless you subscribe.

But this article if for everyone to read. So they do not block the full text.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2025/05/31/lifestyle/hikikomori-shut-ins-rehabilitation-nagano/

clips of 1920s to 1980 film recording in Japan

Via the Travel Film Archive, search string "Japan" gives many results

https://www.travelfilmarchive.com/results.php

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bits of Life In Japan

Length: 3:22     Year: 1921     Sound: Silent

Description: A visit with an all female orchestra in Japan in the 1920's by Burton Holmes

Rice Growing in Fujiyama

Length: 03:12     1920s     Sound: Silent 

Description: Growing rice in Fujiyama, Japan in the 1920s.

Nikko Temples, Kyoto, Japan

Length: 13:59     1920     Sound: Silent

Description: Street scenes in Kyoto and the shrines and temples of Nikkō, Japan.

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Japan In Cherry Blossom Time

Length: 6:56     Year: 1932

Description: A tour of Japan in the 1930's

The Island Empire

Length: 7:09     Year: 1932

Description: A tour of Japan in the 1930's

New York World's Fair

Length: 9.32     Year: 1939     Sound: Silent

Description: A tour of the 1939 New York Worlds Fair

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Farmers and Fishermen of Japan

Length: 9:00     1950s

Description: Farming and fishing in a small Japanese village at the foot of Mt Fuji

Japan

Length: 7:55     Year: 1953

Description: A film about Japan in the 1950's from the Carl Dudley series This World of Ours.

Japan's Rising Sun

Length: 35:01     Year: 1953     Sound: Silent

Description: A silent travel lecture film made by Mrs Deane Dickason about Japan in 1953.

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New Horizons - Japan

Length: 13:04     Year: 1960

Description: A Pan Am tour of Japan in the 1960s. Narration is in German.

Journey Through Tokyo

Length: 21:30     1960s

Description: A journey through Tokyo in the 1960s.

Japan- An Independent Nation

Length: 23:49     Year: 1980

Description: Explores the cultural, agricultural and industrialization of Japan, from traditional cultural practices to the nation's ever increasing modernization.

radio story "Japan Rail & shinkansen safety during earthquakes"

about 4 minutes (disaster prevention system), https://theworld.org/stories/2025/02/06/how-japan-keeps-its-trains-safe-from-earthquakes

How Japan keeps its trains safe from earthquakes Japan experiences more earthquakes than any country. But its transit system remains remarkably safe. The bullet train, for example, has never seen a death or serious injury due to an earthquake or tsunami. Japan may offer lessons to other countries as climate change causes more natural disasters globally. theworld.org

drone 360 snowy view in south central Echizen-city (Fukui-ken), rural west Japan

February 2025 fresh blanket of snow in Hokuriku after recent wintry weather: Thanks to the blanket of white, many of the buildings and lanes stand out. The snow certainly adds a new dimension to verbal portraits of a place. And like any still photo, it captures a specific moment in time, making it possible to revisit again and again in future generations, thus contributing to a long-term view for understanding a place and its people.

He flies a DJI-Mini as his UAV, https://tinyurl.com/snowy2025daihoji

arranging marriages in Japan

crossposting from Media Anthropology, MediAnth, listserv

Erika Alpert answers questions about her book, The Relationship People, posted by Robert Marshall.

https://campanthropology.org/2025/01/20/erika-alpert-on-her-book-the-relationship-people/ 

Press blurb: 

Japan has often been portrayed as a mysterious, sexless, troubled land. Birth rates and marriage rates have been decreasing for decades, and national surveys show that Japanese people are simply having less sex overall. But Japan is not so different from anywhere else—it's simply on the leading edge of worldwide demographic shifts. Because of rigid norms around gender, marriage, childbearing, and work, and relatively strict immigration policies, Japan is also experiencing these shifts more acutely. In The Relationship People, Erika R. Alpert starts by exploring some of the factors that have contributed to later and less marriage and childbearing in Japan and elsewhere. Alpert then goes on to explore the disjuncture between what Japanese singles report as preventing them from getting married and popularly proposed solutions to this problem. Japanese singles point to economic factors, such as low income, as one of their most significant barriers to marriage. However, much of the popular discourse aimed at Japanese singles elides these economic concerns; instead, it encourages them to exert more personal effort to meet people in order to get married. These "marriage activities" (konkatsu) may take the form of signing up with a professional matchmaker, using an online dating site, or going to singles' parties. By examining konkatsu from the perspective of matchmakers, clients, and online daters, Alpert looks at the linguistic processes of connection that underpin konkatsu and its successes—or more often, failures. Institutions of matchmaking and technological structures such as databases and online profiles give shape to the ways singles connect. As this research shows, understanding this linguistic connective tissue enables us to answer questions about what constitutes "attractive" and "marriageable" in Japan, what kind of consciousness konkatsu is supposed to instill in singles, and what role Japan's various partner matching industries might be able to play in alleviating the country's demographic crisis.

Halloween - "super ordinary" dress-up

via Twitter: "Halloween dress-up to look like 'super ordinary' situations"

https://x.com/nick_kapur/status/1850535311694057598
-see screenshot examples.

illustrated postcards of Japan & Empire mid-1945 into 1946

Excerpt from full announcement, https://networks.h-net.org/group/discussions/20045539/pacific-war-postcards-east-asia-image-collection-resource-scholars

... Originally, Digital Scholarship Services at Lafayette College scanned, annotated, and posted only the illustrated cards, or less than ten percent of the collection. Thereafter, a digital copy of the whole collection was sent to the National Showa Memorial Museum in Tokyo. Their staff researched the conditions of their production and circulation, transcribed them, and also translated all of them into English. The "Pacific War Postcards" were subsequently the subject of an NHK feature, which aired in December, 2023 (https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20231220/k10014293911000.html). 

They are now available in an open-access format, as the latest subcollection of the East Asia Image Collection (https://ldr.lafayette.edu/collections/dz010q56p).

Ruins of Ichijodani from 1500s frozen in time

Book review: Medieval Ruins is an important contribution to the English-language field of medieval history and archaeology. It is very readable—I have already used excerpts in my undergraduate classes-and provides a much-needed spotlight on some of the lesser known perspectives of common people during the Warring States period.

Citation: Michelle Damian. Review of Pitelka, Morgan. Reading Medieval Ruins: Urban Life and Destruction in Sixteenth-Century Japan. H-Japan, H-Net Reviews. October, 2024.

URL for complete book review: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=60292

Smartphones and Ageing in Japan (pdf, Open Access book) - free download

Ageing with Smartphones in Japan | UCL Press

[kudos from reader-reviewers]

Praise for Ageing with Smartphones in Japan
'An excellent and thoughtful book on ageing in Japan, focusing on the use of smartphones, but not limited to it. The truly innovative use of graphic and multimodal ethnography is not only effective but also showcases such methods for others.'

Iza Kavedžija, University of Cambridge

'Highly original, extensively researched and thought-provoking, Haapio-Kirk rewards the reader with lively story-telling and beautifully crafted images that invite another level of sensory and emotional engagement – an impressive achievement.'

Jason Danely, Oxford Brookes University

fatherhood in 2024 Japan (radio segment June 5)

https://theworld.org/stories/2024/06/05/japanese-dads-struggle-to-reform-fatherhood

Compact story on the daily radio show, The World, that introduces the changing meaning and shape of fatherhood in Japan.

Watching "Walks Japan" on YouTube

Looking around the streetscapes while reading/hearing the commentary (in large font size), this channel on YouTube is good for adjusting visual experience and hearing experience to daily life in Tokyo.

https://www.youtube.com/@WALKSJAPAN

WALKS JAPAN Welcome to "Walks Japan" Welcome to our YouTube channel dedicated to helping you learn Japanese effectively and confidently! Whether you're a beginner or aiming for JLPT proficiency, our content is tailored to enhance your Japanese language journey. Dive into our easy Japanese lessons, where you'll master kanji, improve your speaking skills, and explore the nuances of Nihongo. Join us as we guide you through how to learn Japanese efficiently, making your language learning experience enjoyable and rewarding! www.youtube.com

Sanja Matsuri 2024 in 2-minutes

via Twitter today, Tokyo expat with camera(s) and an eye for visual interest shares this short video; suitable for students of Japanese society and language at all levels: both for visual exposure and for reflection, too.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= https://x.com/i/status/1792129216588460098

Kyoto since the 1850s

crossposting from H-Japan humanities network (listserv, h-net.org)

Modern Kyoto Research, a new digital resource for researchers, students, visitors, and general readers interested in debating, analyzing, and learning about change and continuity in Kyoto from the 1850s to the present day.

Building on up-to-date scholarship, and making full use of visual and other primary sources, various thematic units investigate not only how Kyoto's image was constructed in the modern period but open a window on people and places often excluded from popular histories and public promotions. Users will hopefully find the site accessible and visually appealing, as well as critical and diverse in its perspectives on the city/region over the last 170 years. 

At present, there are uploaded units on inbound tourism in Kyoto, 1872-1941 (Andrew Elliott), Kyoto and the Asia-Pacific War (Oliver Moxham), Kyoto tourism during the Allied Occupation (Riichi Endo), and war-related sites in contemporary Kyoto (Daniel Milne).

Other units in the pipeline include punk in Kyoto, interwar Geisha in Kyoto, and Kyoto vegetables and food-related regional branding.

Please follow this link to find the site: www.modernkyotoresearch.org

grants for Japan research (online database)

The External Grants database provides a filterable list of non-JPP affiliated funding opportunities related to Japan Studies.

URL, https://japanpastandpresent.org/en/funding/external-grants

documentary film, 100 years after Kanto (earthquake and Korean) massacre

crossposting from Association for Asian Studies - Korean Studies googlegroup

======================

...If you happen to be in Korea or Japan this month, I would like to invite you to a new historical documentary film screening event at the legislature in Seoul or Tokyo (free admission with ID for entrance). 1923 Kanto Massacre is the very first Korea-produced documentary film on the historical event of the massacre of Koreans following the Great Kanto Earthquake in Japan in 1923 which was produced on the occasion of its centenary last year. 

The event at the Korean National Assembly building in Seoul starts at 6:30 pm on Tues May 7 (TODAY in KST), followed by that at the Japanese Diet building in Tokyo at 4 pm on Mon May 13 (this coming Monday). Director KIM Taeyong (renown long-time documentary filmmaker) will be present along with the members of the respective Congress. 1923 Kanto Massacre will be released to the public later this summer both in Korea and Japan as well as selected areas in Europe, Australia, and the U.S. (starting in Paris in Nov). Free of charge, but due to limited seating, please RSVP at jlee@eiu.edu.

Event: 1923 Kanto Massacre Documentary Film Screening

(Directed by Kim Taeyeong, Korea,118 minutes)

Date and Location: 

6:30 PM May 7 (Tues)

The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea (Members' Office Building), Seoul

4:00 PM May 13 (Mon)

The National Diet of Japan (House of Councillors), Tokyo

The experience of violence has powerful consequences in the transformation of culture. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 marked a moment of unprecedented material destruction and cultural rupture in the Japanese empire. The disaster soon became subject to human interpretation and political manipulation, for the trauma of earth tremors and subsequent fire produced not only physical chaos but also rumors and violence against the colonized in the metropole. Such violence manifested itself in the massacre of Koreans immediately following the earthquake--triggered by rumors of arson, murder, rape, and rebellious riots by Koreans in the Tokyo-Yokohama area. Despite the shock of the rumors and the violence, the lack of critical evidence and the contradictions in the testimonies has rendered the incident a historical enigma, panic-driven aberration, or conspiracy in modern Korea and Japan. After a century, film 1923 Kanto Massacre traces the ways in which the historical narratives and memories of the colonial violence have been constructed haunting those whose lives were never the same after encountering the manmade mayhem.   

See the detailed schedule and the film excerpt here (click).

Sincerely,

Jinhee Josephine Lee, Creative Producer of "1923 Kanto Massacre"

History Professor and Asian Studies Chair

Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL

Long ago photos in Japan

MeijiShowa pictures, https://meijishowa.com 

and Old Photos of Japan, https://oldphotosjapan.com

are two places to browse lives and livelihoods from lifetimes ago in and around Japan, together with some interpretive commentary.

visual "look" in Japanese Webpages

Essay from Medium.com 

Why Japanese Websites Look So Different by Mirijam Missbichler

8 min read from May 1, 2023

https://medium.com/@mirijam.missbichler/why-japanese-websites-look-so-different-2c7273e8be1e 

Why Japanese Websites Look So Different & how to analyze design choices without jumping to conclusions medium.com

Over the years, I have had many encounters with Japanese websites — be it researching visa requirements, planning trips, or simply ordering something online. And it took me a loooong while to get used to the walls of text, lavish use of bright colors & 10+ different fonts...

collection of old Japan photos at MOPA - San Diego, Calif.

Browsing and thinking of long-ago camera work and people in the frame compared to today, see these albums at the Museum of Photographic Arts:

Japan album (50 pictures), https://www.flickr.com/photos/mopa1/albums/72157631883582807/with/6950790428 

KUSAKABE Kimbei (d.1934) album (39 pictures), https://www.flickr.com/photos/mopa1/albums/72157629862241333/ 

Felice Beato (d1907) & Antonio Beato (d1906) album (12 pictures), https://www.flickr.com/photos/mopa1/albums/72157631883934006/

disaster photo-archive 1923 Kanto Earthquake (September 1)

Of interest to those learning Japanese language and life: Announcement on the humanities H-Japan listserv today about a photo-archive. What if each disaster also could have a photo archive like this? Studying the photos can give you new ideas from the scenes and people you re-view (in this case 100 years ago). So much change in Emergency Management can be seen from 1923 to 2023. But maybe some things have not changed very much.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 

I'm pleased to announce the launch of the Earthquake Children Image Archive. This archive, containing over 500 images, serves as a companion to my book Earthquake Children: Building Resilience from the Ruins of Tokyo (Harvard University Asia Center, 2020).

Please visit www.earthquakechildren.com

The images contained in this website visually document children's experiences of the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake and daily life in 1920s Tokyo. Sources range from postcards, children's drawings and photographs, to maps, architectural drawings and memorabilia. In addition to images of and by children, the collection depicts teachers, imperial family members, government officials, policemen, doctors, nurses, foreign tourists, and other adults involved in providing relief, education and care of children in the aftermath of the Great Kantō Earthquake. 

Today, as Japan marks the 100th anniversary of the Great Kantō Earthquake on 1 September 2023, I hope your visit to this website also encourages you to review your own knowledge of what to do in the event of a future earthquake, wherever you are in the world.

Janet Borland

International Christian University

www.janetborland.com

URL http://www.earthquakechildren.com

Pictures and Words from Ise Jingu & the study program based on it

The 13 international Japan researchers of diverse fields just wrapped up the 2023 cycle of the "Ise and Japan Study Program." The range of subjects included linguistics, humanities and social science: language, culture, society past & present. Much of this connects to Shinto now and at earlier points in history, too. That is a lot of history and a lot of new things to know in three weeks. The capstone to the seminar was the Kumano SanZan: 正式参拝 (seishiki sampai) to the 3 Taisha - first to Hayatama in Shingu, then Nachi (and waterfall), and finally to Hongu.

Some parts of the experience were lucky: like the chance arrival just as the annual gathering of Izumo association members was beginning (Osaka branch) at the Hana-no-Iwaya mountain face at the city of Kumano. Another time was happening to meet the Shinto priest in charge of turning the seawater into salt for use at the Ise Jingu ceremonies. This lucky meeting resonates with the "ichigo ichie" insight.

Kogakkan University hosts and administers the lectures and field trips, while Ise city sponsors its cost. It has been going more than 10 years, but owing to Covid there were breaks until resuming in person this time.

Participants were asked to create comments and pictures online to attract wider awareness, interest, and knowledge of Ise Jingu, the city, and the connection to Japan overall. Some of those pictures and words (Creative Commons, freely usable to one and all) are collected at https://tinyurl.com/ise2023gw

Watch for next year's cycle this fall or browse the 1-page summaries from previous participants at http://ise-japan.kogakkan-u.ac.jp/report/

Powerful views - the edges of economy in Japan these days

The long-form essays of photo + video from Brian Storm's workshop, MediaStorm.com, will cause you to think.

Subtitles for the 日本語 audio.

Here are 3 episodes that play together as chapters (in total 25 minutes all together).

Japan's Disposable Workers by Shiho Fukada

 - Death by overwork

 - Depression (not to be discussed)

 - Internet cafe refugees

 - Homeless living

https://www.mediastorm.com/clients/japans-disposable-workers 

Early letters from U.S. Ambassador to Japan, 1862>

Cross posted from H-Japan, Oct 28, 2022.

The transcribed and annotated personal letters of Robert H. Pruyn, second U.S. minister to Japan (1862-1865), are now available as an open-source .pdf document on the University at Albany's Scholars Archive at https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/eas_fac_scholar/19/.

Pruyn was a prolific correspondent to his wife, Jane Ann Lansing Pruyn. The letters--600 pages in all--cover the three years that Pruyn spent in Japan while his wife and youngest son remained in Albany. The content covers Pruyn's activites in Japan, the expatriate community in Yokohama and Kanagawa, diplomatic issues, life in Albany, New York state politics, and Pruyn family history. I hope that they will be of interest to a broad community of scholars, both of Japanese and American history.

Questions about the resource may be sent to sfessler@albany.edu.

Susanna Fessler, Professor, State University of New York at Albany

recent articles from Asian Anthropology (regarding Japan)

(click the OPEN ACCESS tab)

https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/raan20 

Asian Anthropology /21(1)

Special Issue: Rural Japan as heterotopia, guest edited by Paul Hansen and Susanne Klien

--Introduction: Introduction: Exploring rural Japan as heterotopia, by Paul Hansen & Susanne Klien

--'The young, the stupid, and the outsiders': urban migrants as heterotopic selves in post-growth Japan, by Susanne Klien

--Agriculture corporations in rural Japan: fractured mirrors of past, present and future, by Nancy Rosenberger & Ayumi Sugimoto

--Success and succession: agritourism, heterotopia and two generations of rural Japanese female entrepreneurs, by Ayumi Sugimoto

--Japanese rural resettlers: communities with newcomers as heterotopic spaces, by Ksenia Kurochkina

--Rural emplacements: linking heterotopia, one health and /ikigai /in central Hokkaido, by Paul Hansen

Asian Anthropology/ 20(4)

--From tragedy to triumph: tsunami mitigation and Bōsai (disaster prevention) tourism in Tarō, Japan, by Christopher Thompson

--Book review of Skateboarding and urban landscapes in Asia: endless spots, Cosmopolitan rurality, depopulation, and entrepreneurial ecosystems in 21st-Century

Japan

short videos, "Japan Video Topics" channel

In the newsletter from the Consulate General for Michigan & Ohio this link to the "Japan Video Topics" was given, https://www.youtube.com/c/JVTen/videos

The Youtube channel has a few dozen short videos (less than 5 minutes).

radio segment, Gold leaf makers of Japan are thinning out

Nice radio segment this morning, July 26, on National Public Radio (link to audio and transcript, below) from Kanazawa, home of feudal giant and lord of the Kaga clan.

One of the aging craftsmen says only about 20 of the former 300 small makers continue to produce the thin sheets of gold. The report goes on to say 97% of the nation's economic activity is from small and medium-sized companies. With a country-wide loss of children who take over the family business, the whole economy is heading for trouble.

=-=-=-=-= Excerpt

In Japan, decades of declining birthrates have put tens of thousands of family-owned businesses in crisis. Many have to shut down because there's no one to take over from the aging owners. Now the government there is trying to reverse the trend. NPR's international affairs correspondent Jackie Northam reports from Kanazawa, Japan.

LINK, https://www.npr.org/2022/07/26/1113615316/how-japans-low-birth-rate-threatens-centuries-old-traditions-and-skills

Japanese modern language and society - the example of Metal & Hard-core Rock music

This video on Youtube documents modern life in Japan - and interesting discussion about Metal and Hard-core Rock music there & the emotional meaning for performers and audiences, https://youtu.be/q49kG0pV0Bg (about 11 minutes).

recorded lecture 4/2022 , "Robo-Sexism: Gendering AI and Robots in Japan and ..."

"Robo-Sexism:  Gendering AI and Robots in Japan and the United States (and Elsewhere)" HYBRID event from April 22, 2022. recorded at https://vimeo.com/703001303 

DESCRIPTION

In humans, gender constitutes an array of learned behaviors that are cosmetically enabled and enhanced. Gender(ed) behaviors are both socially and historically shaped and are also contingent upon many situational influences, including individual choices. How is gender assigned in actual (as opposed to fictional) robots? Robertson will explore the sex/gender stereotypes and operational functions informing the design and embodiment of artificial intelligence (AI) and robots, especially humanoids and androids.

Robots have been imagined, designed, and deployed in rhetorical and tangible forms alike to reinforce conservative models of sex/gender roles, ethnic nationalism, and "traditional" family structures. Robertson considers the ramifications of "retro-tech" and also nascent efforts to redress robo-sexism.

SEE ALSO

Robo sapiens japanicus: Robots, Gender, Family, and the Japanese Nation [2017 U. California Press]

https://www.amazon.com/Robo-sapiens-japanicus-Robots-Japanese/dp/0520283201 

Jennifer Robertson, Professor Emerita, Anthropology and History of Art, University of Michigan

https://professorjenniferrobertson.com/interviews-podcasts-and-blogs-selection/

article, Fictitious Images of the Ainu

Fictitious Images of the Ainu : Ishū Retsuzō and Its Back Story

by SHIRAISHI Eri

in Japan Review : Journal of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies 36: 89-109 (2/2022)

permalink, http://doi.org/10.15055/00007772

Crossposting from H-Japan listserv that may interest those with humanities or social science interests; a good opportunity to tickle your ears with scholarly discussion in Japanese.

https://networks.h-net.org/node/20904/discussions/9890109/japanese-language-podcast-book-lounge-academia

   excerpt from announcement:

BLA is a podcast channel where authors of scholarly books in the humanities and social sciences talk about their books through interviews in Japanese. BLA is operated by an independent, non-profit group that is not affiliated with any organization or institution.
It is available 2-4 Wednesdays a month via Youtube, spotify, google podcast, apple podcast, and stand fm.

This is the best audio media for those who want to know what's going on in Japanese humanities and social sciences. It may also be used for training in academic spoken Japanese. 

You are very welcome to talk about your own book written in English, but interview must be conducted in Japanese.

Short docu by 2 teens in Tokyo fitting into 2 cultures

"Ark & Maya: All Mixed Up" is almost 15 minutes and describes the growing up experiences of these two young women, dividing their time and their lives between USA and Japan, sometimes speaking more comfortably in English; other times in Japanese. The documentary appeared at the December screening for the Tokyo Documentary Film Festival, https://youtu.be/NWeg34noE0Y

"Salaryman" retrospective on workspace in Japan

Video (2 minutes) to show changes in middle-class work across ten decades.

The clips (from anime) portray some of the features that appeared and then disappeared.

Blurb for https://youtu.be/kNQMX--3E5Q

_________

It's been almost 100 years since the "salaryman" type of office worker first appeared in Japan back in the 1920s. As our society faces a major turning point, SmartHR decided to create a brand film to reflect upon how work styles have changed with time over the past century. We hope that by looking back on history, we inspire people to think about how they want to work going forward.

To learn more about each scene, visit our special brand film website Hataraku no hyakunenshi [A Century of Work] (Japanese language webpage) https://100years-movie.smarthr.jp

short videos - temple introduction, part by part

These 1 to 2 minute videos from a Pure Land (Jodo-shu) Buddhist temple in Echizen-city, Fukui-ken give a good overview of the buildings, gardens, and special features of the place. All content is recorded in Japanese.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnFE-oiX-bWyAHX5JraeE8A/videos

親縁山大寳寺 (Daihou-ji is the ordinary name; its Sanmon name is Shinen-zan) was begun in 1603 when the local daimyo, Honda Tomimasa, was installed by the regional Matsudaira clan. In the 1700s and again in the 1800s the main hall burned down. The current hondo is from the 1850s.

Lessons from Okinawa's Shuri Castle tunnels of WWII

Article about a local citizen's movement to reopen the sealed tunnels as world (negative) heritage site.

EXCERPT

More than 75 years have passed since the Battle of Okinawa, but that has made this reckoning more urgent, not less. As Hojun Kakinohana put it, "The human lessons we can learn from this headquarters are vastly more important than what Shuri Castle has to teach us. It's about the value of life and the uselessness of war. I'm in a hurry to see it reopened and hope it will be designated a world negative heritage site. There are not many of us who experienced that war left to tell our stories. We'll be gone soon. So I'm in a hurry."

Full story with photos, https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/wwii-bunker-shuri-castle-okinawa

virtual exhibition, Traveling in Tokugawa Japan

launch of the online exhibition "Travels in Tokugawa Japan (1603-1868): a Virtual Journey": https://t.co/2bGgqJKAjn?amp=1

I curated the exhibition in collaboration with the John Rylands Research Institute and Library of the University of Manchester. The exhibition is based on items from the Japanese Maps collection (you can browse the now complete collection on Manchester Digital Collections: https://www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/collections/japanesemaps/1).

Best regards, Sonia Favi