Ways of Looking: Alternative Encounters with Art and Artifacts
“When we encounter something beautiful, we usually experience two kinds of reactions. One may be moved by learning the background of the work or the artist, while the…
Tag: Japan
Claire Maree on her book, queerqueen
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/queerqueen-9780190869618 Laura Miller: Although there is a growing literature on queer sexualities and identities in Japan, there are fewer studies …
Patrick Galbraith discusses his book, Otaku and the Struggle for Imagination in Japan
Interview by Xiao Xe https://www.dukeupress.edu/otaku-and-the-struggle-for-imagination-in-japan Xiao Ke: It was an absolute joy reading this provocative and rigorous book on Japanese “otaku…
Franz Boas und die Schule der Rebellinnen. Eine andere Geschichte der Anthropologie
Ist die Geschichte der Anthropologie einfach nur Ausdruck von Kolonialismus und Rassismus? Mit dem aufregenden Buch „Schule der Rebellen“ des Historikers Charles King lässt sich diese trotz allem…
Eat, Drink, and Stand in Japan
Japan’s standing bars offer respite from the daily grind with drinks, lively company, and a feast of small dishes. Image description: People walk down a corridor in front…
Mattias van Ommen takes the page 99 test
Page 99 of my dissertation contains a theoretical discussion on fantasy, situated in arguably the least ethnographic of chapters. The dissertation itself is about Japanese players of the…
Society 5.0 – new evolutionism towards more inclusive well-being?
Listening to the presentation of Ms Kanae from the Japanese cabinet office at the Japan-Finland Joint Committee meeting on Cooperation in Science and Technology, I was impressed how…
Umkämpfte Erinnerung. Die „Trostfrauen“-Statue in Berlin und der Umgang mit sexueller Kriegsgewalt
Die Aufstellung einer Bronze zur Erinnerung an die Opfer sexueller Gewaltverbrechen durch die japanische Armee im Zweiten Weltkrieg sorgt für diplomatische Spannungen zwischen Berlin und Tokio. Aber e…
Mit Pilzen denken
Wie kommen wir aus der ökonomischen und ökologischen Sackgasse heraus? Indem wir lernen, mit Pilzen zu denken – und uns unsere Geschichte(n) auf eine andere Weise zu erzählen.…
Those Who Come Early: Reflections on the Social Standing of Senior Citizens in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan by Erika Takahashi
Morning Queues The drugstore opened at ten in the morning in a Tokyo suburb. Despite it being a cold, rainy Monday at the beginning of April, seven people…
Platypus Celebrates AAPI Heritage Month
In celebration and recognition of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, take a look back at some of our favorite past posts from and about the region.…
Ramesh Sunam: The Precariousness of Migrant Workers in Japan amidst COVID-19
Ramesh Sunam, Waseda University, Tokyo Suraj (name changed), arrived a year ago from Nepal to study at a Japanese language institute in Nagoya, Japan. He was working part-time…
The potentials and challenges of citizen science: 9 years of experience from post-Fukushima Japan by Aya H. Kimura
The Fukushima nuclear disaster took place nine years ago, but the current situation does not allow us to put it behind us completely. The site is producing up…
Top Articles of 2019
Another year almost done! Sit back, relax, and read some of the most-clicked articles on the website in 2019. With thanks to everyone involved with Anthropology News this…
Inventing the Way of Tea in Taiwan
Photo by David Boté Estrada One never knows how to read the NY Times when it comes to their reporting on the lifestyles of the one-percenters, but not…
Indigenous Survival Politics in the Promotion of a National Discourse
In January 2018, 10 members from an Ainu traditional performance group, Sapporo Upopo Hozonkai (Sapporo Upopo Preservation Society, hereafter SUH), traveled from Sapporo, the capital city of Hokkaido…
The Future of LOVOT: Between Models of Emotion and Experiments in Affect in Japan
Aya is anxiously waiting for a future in which humans coexist with robots. She didn’t think this was possible in her lifetime, but when she learned about LOVOT,…
In Japan wird ein neues Zeitalter begrüsst
Japan ist mit einem neuen Kaiser auch in eine neue Epoche und Zeitrechnung eingetreten. Was aber bedeutet es, im Jahr 2019, in einer Zeit zu leben, die sich…
Greeting the New Era in Japan
Japan has a new emperor and a new era. But what does it mean, in 2019, to live in a different time from the rest of the world?…
Jennifer Robertson on her new book, Robo sapiens japanicus
https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520283206/robo-sapiens-japanicus Interview by Daniel White Daniel White: In addition to the variety of topics you have explored in Japan over your career, you have be…
Gramps and the Gangster visit the memory clinic by Jason Danely
“Are you free tomorrow?” “Sure, what’s going on?” “It’s a big day for Gramps! I’m taking him to the doctor. I guess someone from the ward office said…
What are the Prospects for a US War with China?
Was Barack Obama’s “pivot to Asia” the signal for a coming US war on China? Is the current clash between the US and China a confrontation between an…
Japan’s Emerging Emotional Tech
Are we developing emotional machines with all-too-human capacities for care? An interactive scene from Gatebox Inc.’s promotional video. Gatebox Inc. There is a moment in Spike Jonze’s film…
Risk is Your Business: Citizen Science after Fukushima by Maxime Polleri
I began to sweat profusely when my Geiger counter registered a radiation level of 13 microsieverts per hour—a number that indicated a high level of radioactivity. Worried, I glanced…