Native American tribes say their sacred sites are being damaged by federal contractors building more walls along the U.S.-Mexico border. The construction has accelerated after the Trump administration waived cultural and environmental laws.

Why are the stories of Filipino victims during Japan’s WWII occupation nearly invisible in Japanese media? This article uncovers a striking gap in war memory, and why acknowledging it matters for history, representation, and international relations. apjjf.org/2026/3/arroyo

At our 2023 next gen librarian workshop Fabiano Rocha (Japanese/Luso-Brazilian Studies Librarian @uoftlibraries.bsky.social) doing archival development, particularly with recent history. Refer to his slides for “Managing Japanese Canadian Archival Materials” at: guides.nccjapan.org/nextgenerati...

HR 7661, the Federal book banning bill, is unfortunately still alive. Please call your reps and say NO ON HR 7661! You can read the bill's full text here and see if your Congressperson is one of the 19 co-sponsors: www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...

www3.archives.pref.okinawa.jp/VBO/ Transcription and oral history audio from the Battle of Okinawa has been made available on the Okinawa Prefectural Archives website.

I see a lot of people saying this is "like the Nazis" but it's also very much in the US tradition of eugenics, forced sterilization, and medicalized torture of queer people; this tradition was mostly ended by the late 70s but conservatives have been trying to bring it back for decades & here we are

NEW: Bernie Sanders will introduce a bill Wednesday that aims to put a national moratorium on data center construction “until legislation is enacted that safeguards the public from the dangers of artificial intelligence.” From @mollytaft.com in @wired.com: www.wired.com/story/new-be...

The Hawaii State Department of Education is closing 13 schools across Hawaii Island, Oahu, and Molokai due to damage sustained from the second Kona low storm. 🔗: https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2026/03/23/hidoe-closes-13-schools-statewide-after-storm-related-damage/ 

Oral argument begins in a few minutes in a case involving the RNC’s attempt to override state laws that allow a grace period for the arrival of mail-in ballots. It’s a bait and switch designed to disqualify masses of mailed ballots. Last week this is how Republicans talked about mail delivery.

But seriously we are on the precipice of the demise of the USPS and too overwhelmed with crises to give it proper attention. The Constitution will not save it, the admin wants it dead, and Republicans in Congress are on permanent vacation. No one is coming to save it unless we show them it matters.

Our new open-access article “Land and Water Pedagogy in TESOL: Centering Indigenous Knowledges” is out! We introduce land & water pedagogy as an additive, place-based approach that centers Indigenous knowledges & accountability to local contexts. More ➡️ doi.org/10.1002/tesq...

Friends if you were NOT checking every single reference when peer-reviewing, you sure as hell better be doing it now.

I think about this Tony Benn speech much more than I used to

Dorothy Porter was a librarian at Howard University where she took a small collection of donated materials by and about Black Americans and curated it for 40 years into the 180,000 item Moorland-Spingarn Research Center. #BlackHistoryMonth www.historians.org/perspectives...

明日、2月17日は旧暦のお正月。 沖縄では旧暦で一年の行事を行う場合も多く、まめ書房でもこの時期に沖縄の方から年賀状をいただく事があります。 こちらは、ユニークな鳥の形のしめ縄。 (続く)→ #しめ縄 #民具 #まめ書房 #mameshobocrafts

Right, another key thing that historians do is working with important records that have not been digitized. And the vast majority of the world’s records *have not been digitized* and thus do not exist in any format that LLMs/AI can work with.

My colleague got into Trump's sprawling family detention camp, which is full of toddlers, kids, & teens. - Kids have cut themselves or talked about suicide -There's worms & mold in food -300 kids have been held for 30+ days, far longer court settlement allows www.propublica.org/article/life...

Being back in California has been interesting. Before leaving, I was sad to be going. Now that I'm back, I feel very lost? Not sure which way is the right way or even if I have professional or personal goals.

Some amazing blue corn tacos and small explorations of Grand Central Market and Angels Flight Railway a few days ago.

Read the Art Newspaper's piece about the growth of the Legacy Sites in Montgomery, Alabama.

Just a little coffee run and picnic last weekend.

CNN in Minneapolis: We are seeing thousands and thousands of people, we've been standing on the corner here for the past ten minutes. This this crowd has not let up. It's just continuous.

Shun Medoruma is one of the most important contemporary Ryukyuan writers, especially since his 1997 Akutagawa win. His novel In the Woods of Memory was the first full-length work from Okinawa translated into English. Today, he spends more time as an environmental and peace activist than as a writer.

From the 2024 inaugural issue of the journal "Language in Japan." Michinori Shimoji (roots from Miyako) writes a guest paper, addressing the issue of whether the "first person" inclusive is really a first person category by examining Ryukyuan languages. www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/lij/1...

Apparently there is another video of ICE murdering someone and so I will remind you, again, that you do not have to watch it in order to confirm the thing everyone already knows: ICE is a lawless group of thugs who are killing people who stand up for basic American rights.

ICE is sending these kids to the concentration camp in Dilley, Texas, where they're preparing to have so many children that they're opening a new school there. They're actively hiring teachers now. I reported on it last month. We have to get people out of there.

My new piece is up! open.substack.com/pub/sherrily...

Today let me draw your attention to another concerning passage in the IMLS NOFO. They want projects that "explore innovative alternatives to traditional credentialing and librarian education [and] explore cutting edge tools and fresh topics in the content and provision of continuing education."

What books do you consider to be Pacific Islander classics?

これは新たな名著です。 『戦後80年からのメッセージ 2045年のあなたへ 〜私たちは沖縄戦から何を学んだのか〜』(2025年刊)、沖縄戦を軸とする「平和学習」の最新テキスト。 授業での使用を想定した本ですが、世界で戦争が止まず日本も軍拡を進める今、私達大人こそが学ぶ内容が満載です。 (続く)→ #戦後80年からのメッセージ #2045年のあなたへ #新城俊昭 #東洋企画 #まめ書房 #mameshobobooks

From Okinawa to Singapore to NYC: Talk with Aya Rodriguez-Izumi, Jacqueline Kiyomi Gork, and Fang-Tze Hsu. JANUARY 14, 2026 at 5PM PST. www.aaa-a.org/programs/fro...

琉球孤の島々に伝わる風習、「針突(ハヂチ)」。 かつて女性が手の甲や指に施した刺青の事で、奄美・沖縄・宮古・八重山と地域ごとに様々な紋様がありました。 こちら『琉球孤の入墨 針突』(2025年刊)は、1936年の『奄美大島婦人の入墨研究』の復刻版で、当時の貴重な針突の42例の図版を収録。 (続く)→ #琉球孤の入墨針突 #鹿児島県立大島中学校 #南方新社 #まめ書房 #mameshobobooks

I'm having so much whiplash and want to throw up. 🙃

Better late than never! Here's me 2026 nengajo! 遅くなりましたが今年の年賀状です！ ゴムスタンプを一生懸命掘りました。でも、手作業ではこんなにきれいにスタンプが押せないので、まず、黒でスタンプしてGIMPで色付け、回転、配置してます。

first art of the year!!

Cecil Williams was a photographer from Orangeburg, South Carolina whose many photos recorded the Jim Crow south during the civil rights movement.

The last family in the Palestinian village of Yanoun left their home last week, joining a growing list of communities that have been erased from existence through the establishment of Israeli "shepherding outposts" in their place. mondoweiss.net/2026/01/this... #Palestine #Israel

It's crystal clear: a pending criminal indictment does NOT cure the clear illegality of this attack under int'l law. It violated the UN Charter in just the same way Russia's attack on Ukraine did. And unlike our 1989 Panama invasion, there seems not even a pretense of a threat to Americans there.

I have to better my Japanese, I'm sure I'd find a lot of interesting stories written. I found an article written by the missionary, Henry Bulter Scwartz, about Japan's colonial rule in Okinawa. The subtitle reads, "That she is civilizing power of Orient." From Nippu Jiji (Honolulu, HI), 1921.01.01.

I was trying to find if there was mention of Ryukyuan Hajichi in older newspapers. Still in the process of looking but thought this was interesting. 1920's Japanese Flappers getting tattoos. From Nichibei Shinbun (San Francisco, CA), 1928.07.11.

Did both my Flu and Covid vaccine today. Only an hour in and one arm is already in pain, but glad to have the opportunity to get my vaccinations.

My heart is telling me to go back to Okinawa. My brain is telling me it's not smart to go without a plan or job lined up. 🥲

Gingerbread 2025 Dumpster 🔥

'The use of military bases for immigrant detention is nothing new...but the land Camp East Montana sits on has its own sordid histories of occupation, dispossession, and militarization' www.bostonreview.net/articles/pro...

I'm really interested in the Kibei experience in post-war Japan and the Ryukyus. If anybody has any readings or oral histories to share, I'd be interested!

Kakigori at Uchina Cafe Bukubuku うちなー茶屋ぶくぶく and wanderings around Tsuboya.

New paper out in the Journal of Language Evolution, with @bonniemclean.bsky.social and Chieh-Hsi Wu: “Combined lexical and phonotactic data resolves uncertainties in the evolutionary diversification of the Japonic language family” doi.org/10.1093/jole... Summary below🧵1/8

We are pleased to announce the Digital Humanities and Digitization Workshop for Japanese Materials workshop, which will be held 3/13 during #AAS2026! Learn about text encoding, codicology, & more from field experts. 💻 The workshop is free, but please register by 2/15! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

A very cute and funny cat that I met in Okinawa.