El cap de setmana passat vam celebrar Sant Jordi amb el Casal Català Tokyo i em van demanar que llegís un poema. Vaig triar “Ano hito ga kite” de Tanikawa Shuntarō (1931-2024) i en vaig fer una traducció: “Has vingut”
1/4
Love it! I was out running just after sunset, and the mix of skies was really something else
New Book Announcement: “Observing the Unseen: Curiosity and Common Knowledge in Early Modern China” by Andrew Schonebaum @uwapress.uw.edu asianreviewofbooks.com/new-book-ann...
Photo of the cover of the Japan Review special issue in front of the entrance to the British Museum’s Samurai exhibit.
Delighted to join my co-contributors in celebrating the launch of the latest issue of Nichibunken’s Japan Review, Special Issue: Global Samurai I, at the British Museum and SOAS this weekend, including a visit to the museum’s blockbuster exhibit! Link to the special issue (open access) in the reply.
This Friday and Saturday (UK time) we'll be hosting a public symposium on "Global Samurai" at SOAS University of London, as part of the programme of the British Museum exhibition "Samurai"
Event page, including programme and registration information: www.britishmuseum.org/events/globa...
Saw a writhing ribbon snake mating ball today - very active with the warm weather! (Don’t watch if you have a snake phobia… it was a lot in person, 😝 🐍)
Peter Kornicki 2026 "Moveable Type in Japan and the World" @ www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-... (in OA [≠ Old Avestan] 🙏)
“WebinarTV, a company that bills itself as “a search engine for the best webinars,” is secretly scanning the internet for Zoom meeting links, recording the calls, and turning them into AI-generated podcasts for profit.”
We’re still reflecting on our Teaching “Difficult” Histories workshop that took place this past Saturday, co-hosted by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center.
A postcard with art on the front showing colorful flowering weeds. In the background is the brick front of a post office.
The next postcard for #FirstClassFiction has been mailed out! This postcard's poem is Blessing of the Weeds by @asakiyume.bsky.social. It's a beautiful poem to herald in springtime.
If you'd like to be mailed this card, or want to subscribe, visit nantucketlit.com/postcards
A ship from the 1281 Mongol invasion of Japan has been found in Imari Bay.
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
#shipwreck #maritimehistory #navalhistory
[Transnational Japanisms: Art, craft, design] Join us online for a two day conference in memory of Professor Toshio Watanabe (1945–2025) exploring the future of the study of art, craft and design in a transnational perspective. 15-16 May 2026. www.sainsbury-instit...
なるほど！ Fellow fan of the 117 here, though I never got the chance to drive one. Didn't know about this Simca -- fascinating!
And who would catch the squirrel?
Opening illustration from a scroll edition of the Huayan Sutra
A diagram of creation, from nothingness to all things
Title page from an edition of the Thousand Character Classic
Title page from a book on gods and immortals
Had a great time showing my students some of the Chinese collection at the John Rylands library today, makes a big difference seeing these artifacts in person @thejohnrylands.bsky.social
Calling researchers working on Japan! The Japan Past & Present (JPP) Library Services Team is interested in learning from you what services and benefits our team may provide to enhance the accessibility of Japan-related research and teaching resources in your region, language, institution, and/or discipline. https://bit.ly/JPPSurveyR By receiving your thoughts and input, we will be able to develop operations, strategies, programs, and activities to more optimally and more equitably serve Japan Studies librarians and scholars. This survey is intended for researchers, faculty, instructors, and graduate students. If you are a librarian, information specialist, archivist, or curator, please fill out the Librarian Survey (https://bit.ly/JPPSurveyL). The survey will close on March 31, 2026. It will take approximately 15 minutes to complete and your responses will remain anonymous. We thank you for your time and participation. Please also spread the word to your colleagues and graduate students!
Calling researchers of Japan! The JPP Library Services Team is interested in learning from you what services and benefits our team may provide to enhance the accessibility of Japan-related research and teaching resources in your region, language, institution, and/or discipline. 📋 bit.ly/JPPSurveyR
We are thrilled to launch the Densho Public Index of Japanese American Collections.
Densho, in partnership with the Henri & Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation, will identify, map, and connect archival materials related to Japanese American history across institutions and communities.
It seemed very good: special, but yes, not exceptional (well, not enough to convert me off the deeper flavours of darker roasts)
small box packet of civet poop roast coffee, with one individual sachet next to it
back of box with blurb: "Kopi luwak is a coffee that came from coffee cherries which have been eaten as it come throughenzymatic process of civet animal digestive system. Kopi Luwak Cikole have been appointed by the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture as a pilot model due to awareness and application of the principle animal walfare in production process. Kopi luwak Cikole production contains several steps which civet animal eats coffee cherries at first, and then through digestive undergoes a process of decomposition of the chemical content in the coffee beans, especially caffeine and protein levels of the luwak coffee beans. The special taste and aroma of the Kopi Luwak Cikole allows coffee lovers to enjoy the genuine taste of real kopi luwak. ENJOY YOUR HAPPY DAY WITH A CUP OF KOPI LUWAK CIKOLE."
back of sachet with instructions: "Coffee Serving Suggestion Brew 10g ground roasted bean of Kopi Luwak Cikole with 150cc of boiling water (90°C-95°C) Stir properly until completely dissolve. Wait around 2 minutes before your cup of coffee is ready to drink for the better taste. Enjoy the extraordinary taste and aroma of Kopi Luwak Cikole."
image of the special coffee grounds (an earthy brown) in a white cup waiting for added hot water.
Yes! Unexpected re-gift last summer from colleague who doesn't drink coffee -- this one was not my preference (which is for the darkest roasts), but it made a good fruity medium roast, I recall.
just in time for #aas2026 I wanted to post a link to my state of the field (of modern Japanese literature) essay updated from 2018 with more data: jabeljabel.github.io/japanese-lit.... For those interested in the AAS data specifically... jabeljabel.github.io/japanese-lit...
Today marks the anniversary of the 3/11 Tohoku disaster. As we reflect on the event and honor those lost, let’s also celebrate the beauty of Tohoku. This photograph of Shiogama Shrine dates to the 19th century and you can still visit today. #東北地震 #311Memory www.esbirky.cz/predmet/222556
Ouf, typo in the alt text: poem transcription should read "minAnezame" not minumezame
"From a long night's
distant dreaming
we all awaken--
how lovely the sound
of the boat upon the waves!"
(I don't *think* the book has been translated into English, but maybe someone's working on it? Would be great material for all sorts of undergrad courses)
Back to that poem in roman script, and what it's doing there: the text is a hiragana palindrome:
なかきよの とおのねふりの みなめさめ なみのりふねの おとのよきかな.
It's not original to Kanagaki's text or even time, it dates back to late medieval times at least, but it makes for an interesting fit with the image (and book)...
earlier page from same Japanese woodblock printed text, this time a full-page illustration. It shows a dragon-prowed boat heading directly toward the viewer, with seven passengers filling the center half of the scene, and a sail filling the top quarter. The passengers are tagged Russian 魯西亜, Prussian 普魯士, French 仏蘭西, Turkish 土耳其, Chinese 支那, Japanese 日本, and British 英吉利. The Japanese is a woman, the rest are men. The picture is labelled, Fellow Passengers from Seven Countries 七國人乗合. LINK to source: https://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kotenseki/html/he14/he14_01260/index.html.
...inscription for a preceding illustration. I didn't get a pic of the illustration when we were in the library, but here it is from a copy in the Waseda Kotenseki 早稲田古典籍 collection.*
(Between the two is a double-page spread of a #sugoroku board--must go back to that later!)
*see vol 11 pt 1
Japanese woodblock-printed book open to show the right-hand page, which has a decorative border with a strange (chimeric?) creature at the bottom and an eagle at the top. Text in Japanese reads, 題七国人乗合図 in a cartouche at top, then in roman letters a waka poem in five lines: nagaki yono tononemu lino minumezame naminorubuneno otonoyokikana.
... spending time with--each volume contains entertaining dialogue, a variety of illustrations by multiple artists (incl. the great Kawanabe Kyōsai), plus a range of inventive paratexts and decorative touches. For example, this poem (stylishly written in cursive roman letters), which is a detached..
Another book in the Benjamin Smith Lyman collection at #UMass is Kanagaki Robun's zany (and totally fictional) travelogue _Seiyō dōchū hizakurige_ 『西洋道中膝栗毛』 (Tokyo: Bankyūkaku, Meiji 3-9 [1870-1876]). It's an incomplete copy (13 of 15 vols, 26 of 30 booklets), but worth...
bsky.app/profile/sforre…
"expensive" というより、 high quality 高品質、かな？
Today in ARB: @irapley.bsky.social reviews “The Ryukyu islands” by Gregory Smits @uchicagopress.bsky.social & “The Legacy of The Ryukyu Kingdom” by Takara Kurayoshi (JPIC) asianreviewofbooks.com/the-ryukyu-i...
The Chinese character for laughing is written with the character for dog underneath a bamboo (technically it's not a dog, but it's a similar character).
