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...