UW Japan Studies Program Affiliate Faculty Walter Hatch‘s latest book Ghosts in the Neighborhood: Why Japan is Haunted by its Past and Germany is Not, is now available.  In his book, Hatch debunks the conventional wisdom about why Japan remains haunted by its militarist past in Asia, but Germany does not face such ghosts in

Christine Marran addresses how Noriaki Tsuchimoto’s film Minamata Diaries (2004) and Levitas’ film Minamata (2020) tell the story of the poisoning of an inland sea and its fisherfolk by toxic methyl-mercury. Both films juxtapose still and moving images to depict the tragic damage visited on this place and its denizens by this disease, now called

Jakobina Arch takes a deep dive into risk mitigation practices on the high seas to expand our understanding of transport and travel into coastal waters, focusing particularly on adaptations to maritime hazards at different levels: from shogunal regulations protecting tax rice, to the practices of coastal villagers rescuing ships and sailors in danger. The far-reaching influence

SEE FILM online with your UW NetID Ainu: Indigenous People of Japan (2019, Directed by Naomi Mizoguchi) is an intimate series of interviews with Ainu people in modern day Japan. The main characters in this documentary are four Ainu elders, who were born in the 1930s. They remember their parents and grandparents spoke in Ainu

Martha Lane Walsh is nominated for the UW Distinguished Staff Award for her work starting as a senior in High School at the Journal of Japanese Studies (JJS) and the UW Japan Program. Here are some short excerpts from the much longer nomination, ending with a summary statement. “For almost the entire span of 48

Professor Izumi Matsuda-Kiami in the Department of Asian Languages and Literature was awarded the 2022 Outstanding Teacher Award (Post-secondary category) by the American Association of Teachers of Japanese.  You can read more about the organization and the award, as well as Professor Matsuda-Kiami’s acceptance message, at AATJ Teacher Award Recipients 2022.  Congratulations!

Manzanar, Diverted is a powerful documentary film on the linked histories of Indigenous dispossession, Japanese American incarceration, and struggles over water in the desertified Owens Valley of California, lands once known as Payahüünadü—the place where the water always flows. Join us for a screening of the film and discussion with director Ann Kaneko. Ann will be

Alice Tseng investigates the multiple demands on architectural design and expression at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Whereas architectural nationalism, which Mitchell Schwarzer defines as design that advances ideas of a nation, may have been a dominant concern for scholarship up to now, diplomacy, commerce, and amusement deserve in-depth investigation as well.

When the U.S. demanded Japanese “boots on the ground” to support its 2003 invasion of Iraq, Prime Minister Jun’ichiro Koizumi responded by deploying a small contingent of Self-Defense Forces in the first significant display of SDF force. On the day following deployment, three antiwar protesters demonstrated by walking the corridors of SDF buildings in Tachikawa.

Jackson School Professor Robert Pekkanen, an expert on Japan and electoral systems, has co-edited a new book, Japan Decides 2021: The Japanese General Election.  The essays in this volume analyze the October 31, 2021, national parliamentary election in Japan. Individual chapters focus on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the postponed Tokyo Olympics, monetary policy,