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.

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...

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 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.

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

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…

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).

Today is the anniversary of the Castle Bravo thermonuclear weapon test at Bikini Atoll. The bomb was bigger than expected and the fish vessel Daigo Fukuryumaru was caught up in its fallout. The test also helped lead to the creation of #Godzilla. #OnThisDay #OTD hoodcp.wordpress.com/2020/03/24/t...

From today's class visit to the Benjamin Smith Lyman collection, some pages from _Tsuredzuregusa eshō_ 『徒然草絵抄』 , published in Genroku 元禄 4 (1691) -- a beautifully clear printing, carefully conserved in 1991 when it came to UMass. Illustrator is Namura Jōhaku 苗村常伯 #WoodblockWednesday

On March 2nd! Lynne K. Miyake (Pomona College) on her recent book “The Tale of Genji through Contemporary Manga”, in conversation with Jan Bardsley (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and Sara Kang (Princeton U). Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-6314342

Call for applications: Chinese Object Study Workshops, summer program for graduate students in Chinese Art History. Apply by March 2 for 2026 workshops at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Royal Ontario Museum. https://umma.umich.edu/projects/chinese-object-study-workshops/

JPP is pleased to announce the launch of A World of Edo Art. This web portal, spearheaded Linda Hoaglund (director, Edo Avant Garde), brings together 200+ captivating Edo-period (1603–1868) artworks related to animals and nature from around the world. edoart.japanpastandpresent.org

Come see me speak on the “Mining Pasts of the Nintendo Game Boy” at Harvard on Monday, February 23rd! Grateful to my hosts @eastasiascitech.bsky.social and @harvardusjapan.bsky.social.

🔓 Melissa Ann Kaul: Animals in Premodern Japan. The Encyclopaedia of Andô Shôeki 安藤昌益 (1703-1762), 2026 doi.org/10.1007/978-...

Really cool work by historian Dr. Seal! The BBC story doesn't mention them so worth checking out here. wellcomecollection.org/stories/medi...

It's evidently the day for #SuperbOwl pics -- here's one from UMass's W. E. B. Du Bois Library's wonderfully decorated stairwells (just don't ask me which floor!)

At least four fresh inches of the white stuff this morning, plus a wild wind -- srsly cold but ran anyway as the trails offer some shelter, & snowmobiles had gone through & reduced depth. Didn't take pics today, but here's a couple from a run a few w/ends ago, much nicer snow then! #AmRunning

Molt content de sentir que ja ha sortit _Especulacions sobre l'escena_ (Ed. Institut del Teatre), una antologia de textos de teoria dramàtica per a la que vaig traduir una secció del tractat sobre Noh _Fūshikaden_ de Zeami.

Job Opportunity: Harvard Art Musuems are hiring for a position of Associate Curator for Asian Art, specialising in Japan. Please help us circulate widely! careers.harvard.edu/job/abby-ald...

It's hard to believe good things can still be happening, but if you are in the Boston area between now and May 1st, there is an free-to-the-public exhibition on women's type labor in literature and the arts (co-curated by me and the great Dale Stinchcomb). library.harvard.edu/exhibits/tha...

大英博物館で「サムライ展」始まる 世界初公開も多数 www.msn.com/ja-jp/news/o...

マルチカラム対応Blueskyクライアント「羽衣 -Hagoromo- v0.58.0」のリリースです。 更新内容 ・ポストダイアログを表示中にその他の操作ができるように変更 ・ポストダイアログを移動できるように変更 ・ポストダイアログを複数同時に開けるように変更 ・キャッシュタグ（株式ティッカーシンボル）に対応 ・投票ボタンの動作を修正

Applications for our rare books librarian position at the University of Arizona are open until Feb 9 (next week) We have a fab diverse collection, great people to work with, and amazing Mexican food. arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree... I'm not on the search, please feel free to reach out w qs!

Deadline 2 weeks away! ⬇️

Still below freezing here, but two sunny days this weekend -- got out into the trails finally for a snow run yesterday. Deep enough that even after snowmobiles had passed through it was still hard work; maybe time to invest in some Yaktrax? #AmRunning #Winter2025-2026

Happy birthday to Kenzaburo Oe (1935-2023). Oe was awarded the 1994 Nobel Prize in Literature for creating "an imagined world, where life and myth condense to form a disconcerting picture of the human predicament today". Learn more about Oe (and Yukio Mishima) with the RJL podcast.

Thank you, HAMbot, for turning up a perfect addition to the intro to Heian-era Buddhism I'm prepping for Tuesday! (and there's a much higher res. image on the site if you click through)

MJHA is delighted to announce that the 2026 Modern Japan History Association Book Prize has been awarded to Simon Partner (Duke University) for "Koume's World: The Life and Work of a Samurai Woman Before and After the Meiji Restoration" (Columbia University Press, 2024)!

Fun with frozen soap bubbles: if it's zero F (-17.8 C) or below, soap bubbles freeze in the air. They shatter like plastic when they land, or roll around like little balls (If you search "frozen soap bubbles" on YouTube, you'll come up with way better videos, but this is mine from this morning :-)

Today, on Fred Korematsu Day, we honor the man whose refusal to comply with the mass removal and confinement of Japanese Americans during World War II became one of the most significant challenges to government authority in U.S. history.

Getting shovelled out ready for campus tomorrow and first classes on Thursday -- spring semester here we come! (no I am not ready for so much people time but will adjust somehow) I love the rounded shape of the car when it's snow-covered, like a manga version of itself! #Winter2026-26

Next week Seth Jacobowitz & Jonathan E. Abel will be launching the new book "Modern Japanese Literary Studies" at the University of Pittsburgh. Register for the virtual conversation at pitt.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Today is Handwriting Day, and we are celebrating it in a truly fitting manner: our new colleagues present their research in a flash talk marathon using 25 written artefacts. This marks the end of two intensive kick-off weeks in our new old cluster of excellence. More info here: uhh.de/csmc-uwa2

Drove to campus yesterday to pick up some books (class prep- -still way too much left to do!) It was an almost monochrome afternoon, but happily not too cold, and the roads were mostly clear. #Winter2025-26

I was very fortunate to have the chance to speak at @sainsbury-institute.org in Norwich last week, and the recording is now online. I really appreciate the invitation, and all of the great questions and comments following the talk. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDGo...

It's with profound sadness that we share this post about JAA Stockwin, who passed away on 7/1. He took part in many Daiwa Foundation events over the years & was on the Daiwa Scholarship interview panel. A fabulous academic & a kind & generous man, we'll miss him! www.nissan.ox.ac.uk/article/arth...

a rich harvest of sportsballs gathered from woodland skirting a nearby baseball field--collected while cooling down after doing some sprint intervals there yesterday (couldn't be bothered to drive to the high school track) Good seedstock for next season? #AmRunning

Really looking forward to this, and to being back in Norwich!

I recently did an interview with the New Books Network about my book, Poet-Monks. I can't stand to hear my own voice, so I won't listen to it, but in case you wanted to, here it is: newbooksnetwork.com/poet-monks. @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social

@asakiyume.bsky.social 👀

"What's the last car you stopped to take a photo of?"