Meanwhile elsewhere, a politician accepted a $400M plane from a foreign gov't, launched a crypto coin to accept million dollar bribes, had charges of a $50K cash-in-a-bag bribe dropped for one of his officials, and on and on (not to make light of sour grapes...)

Cosmos on the autumnal equinox, Fukuoka, Japan

Nuts! Fuji is one of those iconic mountains that has long attracted new climbing records (I've found a range of them from the late 1800s and early 1900s). I never thought I'd read this. www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2025/8/...

“The meek compliance of military leadership with the ban sends a chilling message to all service members — namely, that our ranks are open only to those who fit a specific ideological mold, regardless of their ability to serve.” www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/o...

No regrets on missing this for the No Kings Boston Pride parade

the story today is of a profoundly low energy military parade being met with millions of americans in nationwide protests denouncing the dictatorial pretensions of the president

🚫👑🚫

ICE arrested an Albuquerque man. He ended up in the hospital. Now no one knows where he is. sourcenm.com/2025/06/11/i...

Another cornerstone of American education and research severely damaged. I benefited from a Fulbright grant in 2012 that allowed me to research and later write a book about mountain religion in Japan. So much will be lost in knowledge production and international ties www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/u...

2023年に星野靖二先生と平藤喜久子先生が私を國學院大學でのシンポジウム「見られることで何が変わるのか--ツーリズムと宗教文化」に招待下さいました。なかなか魅力的なテーマで、やはりそれぞれの発表は大変面白かったです。 今月その報告書が出ました：https://k-rain.repo.nii.ac.jp/records/2001633 その中で私は修験道の事例を上げ、どのようにツーリズムと交錯しているのかを考慮しました。⬇️ tinyurl.com/3z7v7w6m

A courageous guest essay. Intimidation of faculty and threats to academic freedom should concern all Americans. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/07/o...

Alleged relics of the Buddha up for auction at Sotheby's dating back to Asoka's era, if not earlier. These are priceless to Buddhist communities across Asia, not to mention world cultural heritage. Looted by British colonialists, now going to the highest bidder... www.sothebys.com/en/buy/aucti...

We’re not going to change our history. #ScrubNothing news.artnet.com/art-world/mu...

Go Harvard! This is what every university needs to be doing. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/u...

SAVE THE PENGUINS. STOP TRUMP’S TARIFFS.

Arlington, MA #HandsOff

The time for only shock, dismay, and despair is over. It’s time to get out in the streets. This Saturday.

As we slide toward autocracy, isn’t that $50 billion endowment meant to give you a buffer of independence? Use it. Stand up not just for Harvard but for our entire university system. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/u...

#HandsOff #April5 #rally #protest This is for everyone! Hands Off: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Veterans, Education, National Parks, Federal Workers, Unions, the Environment, the Post Office and more! #Boston #NYC #DC #MoveOn #Indivisible #DemCast #SEIU #CWA

there's a rally near tufts today for any boston area people. i'd be there if i could

Shouldn’t faculty everywhere be out in the streets protesting in support of Columbia, academic freedom, and freedom of speech?

Inspired by this essay to do more than short-term boycotts (which are just symbolic if you return). Where are the boycott lists covering which companies to avoid and which to support on diversity issues? So far, I’ve switched from Whole Foods to Trader Joe’s 🛒 www.nytimes.com/2025/03/23/o...

If you're an early bird at the Association of Asian Studies this year, come visit us on Thursday eve! There's something for scholars of religious studies, art history, anthropology, and environmental history. And oh yes, mountain lovers. #AAS2025

For my birthday, I’m ‘ungifting’ myself a Twitter/X account. After 13 years, I’ve just deleted it—cathartic 🤩. I’m salvaging this one 🧵, which introduces my book from 2022.

A site with info and resources to help anyone fearing possible deportation from the US. “Know your rights” is a valuable starting point. Please share widely and send to anyone you know who might need it www.wehaverights.us

Stoked to share the publication of my first article, a short piece about literary legacies and Miyazawa Kenji in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Out now in Review of Japanese Culture and Society!🤙 muse.jhu.edu/article/919573

Applications for Kyushu University's International MA Program and Doctorate in Japanese Humanities (IMAP / IDOC, 広人文学コース) Fall 2025 enrollment are coming up, March 3-17! For those interested, visit www.imapkyudai.net/apply

Sheffield is an important centre of expertise on East Asia, both within the UK and internatiinally! Please share and sign to support our colleagues!

I'm thrilled to share my new article, "The Metamorphic Spirit: Mountaineering, Secularity, and Spirituality at the Turn of Japan’s Twentieth Century." 🧵doi.org/10.1080/0048721X.2024.2443842 (for open access, see below)

I just came across this article about my painter friend, Prudence Whittlesey. I first sat for Pru at the age of 17. We looked at the canvas afterwards and noticed one eye was very dark. I mentioned a migraine I had and we realized she had picked that up subconsciously. tinyurl.com/4x5zwyad

Happy New Year! Here’s an interview that’s just come out. I talk with Peter Carnell about religion in the mountains of Japan and my 2022 book, A Path into the Mountains: Shugendo and Mount Togakushi (where he regularly guides!) podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/o...

A few weeks ago, I introduced one of my current research projects (mountaineering, spirituality, and nature in Japanese modernity) for new followers. Here’s the other—these votive slips pasted on shrines and temples in Japan. They’re called senshafuda 千社札. I think of them as sacred graffiti🧵

Last week at Harvard I talked about the modern intellectual history behind mountaineering, spirituality, and nature. In her comments, moderator (Shinto scholar) Helen Hardacre reminded us that Emerson and Thoreau advanced these ideas not far from the campus. Today, I visited Walden Pond.

I am in love with the Keitora Garden Show held every summer in Nagai Park in Osaka, where professional landscapers compete to create a miniature garden planted in the bed of a pickup truck (軽トラ). The annual PDF guide created by the judges is a treasure: www.zoenren-osaka.jp/image/keitor...

Volume 83/1. Special issue - "Rethinking Regions: Locality and Circulation in South Asia" Open access. Volume 83/2, featuring articles on Japanese Buddhist families, rock fights in early modern Canton, ritual whips in contemporary Taiwan, and others coming soon. asianethnology.org/volume/83-1

An easter egg discovered—my book came out in 2022 with an unusual challenge. Find the easter eggs in the index and I’ll send you an amulet from Togakushi Shrine. Well, the first egg has been found! Big congrats to @averym.bsky.social If you wanna a crack, follow the tips below.

Lots of new followers in the last several days, so between that and the rollout of the new threading feature, this seems as good a time as any to plug a new book that I co-edited with @mcmullen.bsky.social. It’s the New Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions. uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/the-ne...

Super helpful

Big development in the small world of senshafuda (woodblock-printed votive slips). The main woodblock studio (Sekioka Mokuhan) is inviting foreigners to their biannual meetings (remotely). I was lucky enough to join one last October. It was impressive! www.sekiokamokuhan.jp/internationa...

It may be an imperfect system, but it still feels damn good to be a part of it

Leaving Providence with fresh ideas after a wonderful visit to Brown’s Department of Religious Studies. A big thanks to Janine Sawada and Jason Protass for inviting me to share my research—Alpinism, Nature, and Ecospirituality at the Turn of Japan’s Twentieth Century.

I've gotten some new followers this week, so here's a re-intro of my current research. I've got two main projects these days: 1) intersections between the sport of mountaineering and religion, and 2) a form of traditional religious graffiti in Japan. For today, here's a few words about the first 🧵

A question for folks in heritage studies, religious studies, and contemporary Japan: do you know of policies managing or curtailing certain religious practices in favor of tourism or cultural heritage agendas at temples, shrines, or other religious sites? I'd love to hear if you do! I'm looking at..

In my research on senshafuda (votive slips for pasting on shrines and temples in Japan), I've been given access to some cool private collections (thanks 千あき). These from the early 20th c. aren't for pasting but wink at the shenanigans involved. While some priests were cool, others ya best avoid.

Associate/full professor job directing Japan Centre at University of Alberta: apps.ualberta.ca/careers/post...

I’m researching mountaineering and interested in what motivates people to climb mountains. What gets you out in the mountains?

Resurfacing here after a big move to the Boston area, where I’m a visiting scholar at the Harvard Yenching Institute. My project—"Numinous Topographies: Mountaineering, Nature, and Spirituality in Modern Japan." Thrilled to be here and to catch up with my peeps stateside this year!

We have two exciting lectures coming up at Kyushu University over the next month. If you're in the area, come hear Paride Stortini (July 1) and Ernils Larsson (July 19) present on their latest projects. Hosted by IMAP/IDOC, in-person only.