I keep forgetting social media is a thing. Maybe I should try harder at it.

Tweet from Chiitan: I'm chiitan.Japanese crazy mascot☺️ For example, even if negative opinions are expressed, Chiitan will respond to them with love. The most important thing Chiitan needs to avoid is becoming extreme or spreading hate. Chiitan is non-binary. She is an ally and family to all transgender people. The walls of the world are still high for transgender people, but let's all climb to the top together. And when we reach it, let's all share in the joy together. I love you all. Chiitan needs your support to continue her activities, so please lend me your strength.

Chiitan, a genderless fairy baby otter, has a worldwide following, with over two million followers on social media site X. The character has received a lot of support and love in particular from the LGBTQ community after coming out affirmatively for transgender rights.

Naomi Shihab Nye came to campus and helped us write poems and I cried because she spoke the truth of the world. What an incredible evening.

Science at risk: The funding pause is more damaging than you might think Research that helps drive our economy is on hold and may face new ideological limits.

If you're wondering why scientists are freaking the fuck out about what's being described as a pause in spending, I have written an article just for you:

I needed this laugh today.

A screenshot of the text details of the event, featuring a black-and-white book cover with a medical professional wearing a surgical face mask.

In one week!

Michiko Suzuki (University of Tokyo) on her new book “Humanitarian Internationalism Under Empire: The Global Evolution of the Japanese Red Cross Movement, 1877–1945”, in conversation with Jessamyn Abel (Pennsylvania State University).

Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-5763612

PSA to my friends in California near the fires: breathing in wildfire smoke is really bad for you (even if it’s not super thick where you are) but if you have face masks (N95, KN95, etc) those can help a lot

If you need a timeline cleanse, here is my cat enjoying a post-dinner happy wiggle.

Happy 84th birthday to Hayao Miyazaki :-]

Hello to all my new followers! I have not been super active this winter due to reasons but I aim to remedy that by posting more about science, Japan, and history this year!

Jeff Bezos never wanted this cartoon to become public.

He killed it, and as a result, pulitzer prize editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes quit.

Make sure everyone sees this cartoon.

It’s today! I’ll be there (on Zoom)!

Screenshot as described in tweet from a bot user on Twitter. Caption: 元号が並ぶ瞬間

A funny screenshot of sponsor names on a Japanese TV broadcast with companies whose names contain the names of the previous four major imperial eras of Japan (Meiji, Taisho, Showa, Heisei) - and in order to boot.

This looks amazing!

Check it out!

An image featuring the textual details of the event, with a book cover featuring many brightly-recolored images of the same image of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

On Thursday!

Susan Westhafer Furukawa (Beloit College) on her new book “The Afterlife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi: Historical Fiction and Popular Culture in Japan” in conversation with Rebecca Copeland (Washington University in St. Louis).

Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-5768210

for anyone trying to extricate yourself from the clutches of Amazon: bookstores make more than a third of their money between now & New Year’s, & most bookstores ship nationwide 💌

Hi to my new followers! You scared me for a moment there!

Kind of incredible how easy it is to identify what he means by each of these

Such an amazing lineup!!!

Smith literally wrote the book on Shōgun & history ("Learning From Shōgun," 1980), Pitelka wrote a book on Tokugawa Ieyasu (the model for "Toranaga"), Berry wrote a book on Ieyasu's predecessor Hideyoshi (the "Taikō"), and Hubbard wrote a book on English sailors c.1600.

A screenshot of the event description for "Dream Super-Express" featuring a book cover depicting a large blue-and-white bullet train engine.

On Thursday!

Jessamyn R. Abel (Pennsylvania State University) on her new book “Dream Super-Express: A Cultural History of the World's First Bullet Train” in conversation with Yuting Dong (University of Chicago), 7-8:30 pm ET.

Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-5595362

Me, rising from the dead, an extra huggable zombie. What's new, friends?

Mark your calendars!

MJHA presents a roundtable of historians reflecting on the history of James Clavell's novel Shōgun and film adaptations past and present, May 2 from 7-8:30pm EDT, featuring scholars of both early modern Japan and England.

Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-5672414

Facebook reminded me of this meme I made two years ago so I'm reposting it again because my opinion hasn't changed

My article on the 1953 International Conference of Theoretical Physics in Kyoto (and Tokyo) will appear soon (sometime next year?)

May we all live our lives so that social media sites don’t rejoice like Ewoks at the end of Jedi upon news of our death.

Kissinger is Dead, Finally Something Good Has Happened in 2023 - Lawyers, Guns & Money One of the most vile individuals to ever befoul the United States, Henry Kissinger is dead. A man responsible for the deaths of millions of people around the world and yet the most respected man withi...

The only Kissinger obituary you need to read.

www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2023/11/kiss...

A brown tabby cat with large green eyes maintains a pleading expression.

Mother, the breakfast, please mother, I yearn…