Oliver is joined by Dr Rumi Sakamoto , Senior Lecturer in Asian Studies at the University of Auckland, to discuss remembering the kamikaze and the role of affect in war memory. Rumi shares with us how the image of the kamikaze has gone from one of shunned fanaticism to self-sacrificing heroism in popular culture through Japan’s post-war history. Looking at their representation in the Yūshūkan Museum of War at Yasukuni Shrine, Rumi also unpacks how affect can draw out a desired emotional response...
Oct 13, 2021•30 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Oliver is joined by Dr Igor Prusa , lecturer in Media Studies at the Metropolitan University Prague, who will discuss “Ritualising Scandal”. Igor takes us through the surprisingly structured social phenomenon of scandal in Japan, the necessity for tears in a televised confession, and how those who confess can actually come out better for it. Read Japanese Scandals and their Ritualization (2019) Image and audio credits Intro audio: Ryutoro Nonomura, 47, a Hyogo Prefectural assemblyman breaks down...
Oct 06, 2021•47 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Oliver is joined by Dr Philip Seaton , professor in the Institute of Japan Studies at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, to discuss “Contents Tourism”, travel behaviour motivated by narratives, characters and locations from pop culture. Philip explains how contents tourism stands out from film or literature tourism through its transmedia approach, the term’s origins in Japan and the global nature of the phenomena. Keen to know more? Read Contents Tourism and Pop Culture Fandom: Transnational T...
Sep 29, 2021•48 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Oliver is joined by Maiko Kodaka , PhD candidate at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, the challenges that come with researching such a contentious subject and the insights we can gain from it. Maiko will also share her research on josei-muke (女性向け) pornography, or “porn for women”, being produced in the Japanese Adult Video industry and how this new genre has challenged mainstream pornography shot for the heterosexual male gaze. Keen to know more? Web...
Sep 22, 2021•30 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Oliver is joined by Caleb Carter , Assistant Professor of Japanese Religions and Buddhist Studies at Kyushu University, to discuss power spots, or pawā-supotto as they are known in Japan. Caleb walks us through how a global movement which began in 1960s USA and UK claiming the healing energies at key sites of natural beauty came to be embraced in Japan, peaking in popularity as recently as 2010. We explore how this communal term has been applied at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples to a mixed ...
Sep 15, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Welcome back to the second series of Beyond Japan ! This week the tables are turned as Professor Simon Kaner, Director of the Sainsbury Institute, interviews host Oliver Moxham on the topic of his recently completed master’s thesis, Reinterpreting Difficult Heritage. The case study of Oliver's research is Mimizuka, the Hill of Ears, a burial mound containing tens of thousands of pickled ears and noses taken from Joseon Korean and Ming Chinese soldiers in Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s 16th century invasio...
Sep 08, 2021•30 min•Season 2Ep. 1
For the series finale, Oliver is joined by Toshio Watanabe, Professor of Japanese Art and Cultural Heritage at the Sainsbury Institute , to discuss gardens of war memory, going over his latest project of transnational gardens across the Pacific with ties to the Asia-Pacific War (1937-45). Toshio invites us to consider gardens as spaces of memory and healing, but also as reminders of colonialism past and present across former territories of the Japanese empire throughout Asia. We also look at gar...
Aug 05, 2021•55 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Oliver is joined by Amanda McGuire, PhD candidate at the University of East Anglia, to discuss the Ainu in Japan, exploring their historical and contemporary relationship with the peoples of mainland Japan and what the withdrawal of the Ainu dance from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Opening Ceremony says about the theme of "unity in Japan". For a comprehensive list of Japanese time periods, please see Japanese History: A Timeline of Periods and Events Image and audio credits Intro-outro audio: tonkori ...
Jul 22, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Oliver is joined by J. Alyssa White, PhD candidate in Archaeology at the University of Oxford , to discuss the prehistoric tragedy of the world’s oldest shark attack victim. The 3,000-year-old remains of Tsukumo No. 24 were first excavated in Okayama prefecture in the early 20th century covered in hundreds of small cuts to the bone which had baffled archaeologists until now after Alyssa, along with a team of researchers, compared the damage to that of contemporary shark attack victims. Join us a...
Jul 15, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Oliver is joined by Dr Mark Hudson , archaeologist in the interdisciplinary Eurasia3angle research group at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History , to discuss Bronze Age Globalization. Mark’s research of Jōmon-era Japan has indicated that socio-cultural exchange occurred between the Japanese archipelago and mainland Eurasia, followed by a re-Jōmonization where external cultures were rejected in a return to the local. I will be asking Mark what prehistoric globalization looked...
Jul 08, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Oliver is joined by Dr Christopher Hayes, Research Associate at the Sainsbury Institute , to discuss “Binaries of Representation: Japan in the British Media”. Chris will share his insights on British travel shows that see TV personalities like Paul Hollywood or Sue Perkins travel the archipelago and reduce it to binary tropes such as “traditional Japan” and “ultra-futuristic Japan”, or “traditional Japan” and “weird Japan”. Chris also explains how Japan’s own official tourism discourse is compli...
Jul 01, 2021•47 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Oliver is joined by Kanako NAKAMURA, General Manager of Digital Interactive Rehabilitation System (Digireha for short), to discuss tech, art and rehabilitation. Kanako will explain how technological innovations and digital art can revolutionise monotonous rehabilitation processes for disabled children, creating a joyful, customised experience and fostering interactive relationships with family members. Visit the Digital Interactive Rehabilitation System website . Image and sound credits: Digireh...
Jun 24, 2021•15 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Oliver is joined by Dr Daria Melnikova , Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Fellow at the Sainsbury Institute, to discuss the art movement of Futurism in the early 20th century and how collaborating Russian and Japanese artists within the movement challenged its founding principles and Eurocentric nature. Japanese time periods mentioned: Taishō period: 1912-1926 AD Image credits [L] Kinoshita Shūichirō, A Maiko Hitting a Drum (1921) painting, published as a postcard by the Arts and Crafts Association, To...
Jun 17, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Oliver is joined by Professor Fabio Rambelli , lecturer at the University of California’s Department of East Asian Languages & Cultural Studies as well as International Shinto Foundation Chair in Shinto Studies, to discuss gagaku (雅楽), a traditional form of Japanese music which has endured to the modern day largely unchanged for over a thousand years. Fabio shares with us the cultural significance of court music in modern Japan, who played it and why and the global interest in Buddhist cultu...
Jun 10, 2021•39 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Oliver is joined by Professor Nicole Rousmaniere , Research Director at the Sainsbury Institute and Professor of Japanese Arts at UEA , to discuss ‘Exhibiting Japan’. Nicole has curated multiple exhibits at the British Museum including their permanent Mitsubishi Gallery as well as temporary exhibits such as the Manga Exhibit and Crafting Beauty in Modern Japan exhibit. As we gear up to a summer of Japan-related exhibits at the Sainsbury Centre, this episode explores the challenges of presenting ...
Jun 03, 2021•43 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Oliver is joined by Dr Ryōko MATSUBA, Lecturer in Japanese Digital Arts and Humanities at the Sainsbury Institute , to discuss the digitisation process of cultural artefacts. Ryōko is a specialist on Edo printed culture with wide-ranging experience of scanning kabuki prints and many other museum artefacts to create digital copies. As well as allowing for greater accessibility, Ryōko explains how digitisation facilitates international research by broadening online resources and creating new persp...
May 27, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Oliver is joined by Dr Naonori Kodate , Associate Professor in Social Policy and Director of Research at University College Dublin, who will introduce us to the growing phenomenon of robotics in elder care. In super-aged Japan, robots are becoming more and more common in assisting care staff in a wide range of activities, from heavy-lifting to night-nursing, as the human workforce decreases due to depopulation and strict migration policies. Nao’s research indicates robots can be more than tools,...
May 20, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Oliver is joined by David Slater, Professor of Anthropology at Sophia University in Tokyo , to discuss Article 9 and Youth Politics. Following Japan’s defeat in the Asia-Pacific War and the dismantling of its empire, occupying US forces put a clause in their revised constitution that forbade Japan from engaging in war or having a standing army. This clause, Article 9 , has been the subject of much public debate in recent years as government leaders such as former PM Shinzō Abe have sought to rev...
May 13, 2021•40 min•Season 1Ep. 35
As museums across Japan celebrate the 1,400th anniversary of the death of Prince Shōtoku Taishi , the legendary figure who brought Buddhism to Japan, the Sainsbury Institute together with the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia is currently collaborating with major universities and museums in Japan to create a special exhibit commemorating the event. This Shōtoku Intervention will display the Sainsbury Centre’s collection of Japanese Buddhist and Shinto artefacts ce...
May 06, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 34
As museums across Japan celebrate the 1,400th anniversary of the death of Prince Shōtoku Taishi , the legendary figure who brought Buddhism to Japan, the Sainsbury Institute together with the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia is currently collaborating with major universities and museums in Japan to create a special exhibit commemorating the event. This Shōtoku Intervention will display the Sainsbury Centre’s collection of Japanese Buddhist and Shinto artefacts ce...
Apr 29, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 33
As museums across Japan celebrate the 1,400th anniversary of the death of Prince Shōtoku Taishi , the legendary figure who brought Buddhism to Japan, the Sainsbury Institute together with the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia is currently collaborating with major universities and museums in Japan to create a special exhibit commemorating the event. This Shōtoku Intervention will display the Sainsbury Centre’s collection of Japanese Buddhist and Shinto artefacts ce...
Apr 22, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Oliver is joined once more by Professor Simon Kaner, Executive Director at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts & Cultures, for a reflective episode on international research post-pandemic. Much has changed in international academic fields as Japanese Studies since March 2020 in response to restricted domestic and international movement. Academic institutes such as the Sainsbury Institute have drastically altered their approach to fostering international research projects w...
Apr 15, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Oliver is joined by Dr Enrico Crema of the University of Cambridge to discuss how big data is revolutionising our understandings of prehistoric societies, laying out shifts in demographics and cultural exchange that occurred with early migration from the Korean peninsula to the Japanese mainland. Enrico explains the breadth and range of the ENCOUNTER project he is heading and how by analysing the impressive archaeological record found in Japan allows for new depths to our understanding of immigr...
Apr 01, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Oliver is joined by Dr Andrew Littlejohn of Leiden University to discuss disaster heritage around the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. This heritage typically consists of ruins from catastrophic natural disasters that, while initially may be preserved for commemorative purposes, can end up being articulated to attract tourism to sites of mass death. Together we explore how disaster heritage fosters debate around the relationship between humans and their environments, as well as its potential...
Mar 25, 2021•46 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Oliver is joined by Professor David Rear of Chuō University to discuss the once-dominant discourse of nihonjinron , or “Japanese-ness”, which has shaped many aspects of Japanese society over the last century through its ideas of Japanese uniqueness and group-consciousness. David gives us a brief history of the discourse, how a discourse can shape society and new discourses of internationalisation and individuality which he argues have seen the decline, if not the end, of nihonjinron as the domin...
Mar 18, 2021•40 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Welcome to a special Japanese-language episode of Beyond Japan. For our English-speaking listeners, please follow this link where our episode with Professor Kikuchi Yoshio on the Kofun of Fukushima is available with English subtitles. 日本学を多角的な視点からアプローチするポッドキャスト「ビヨンド・ジャパン」をお聞きいただきありがとうございます。このポッドキャストはセインズベリー日本藝術研究所とイーストアングリア大学の日本学センターがお届けします。私はセインズベリー日本藝術研究所でプロジェクトサポートオフィサーを務めているオリバー・モクサムです。日本の戦争の遺産に関する研究をしています。よろしくお願いします。 今週のお話し相手は福島大学の菊地芳朗教授で、議題は福島県の古墳と東日本大震災以降の発掘調査です。古墳の文化的な意義、また大災害以降の修復について話し...
Mar 11, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Oliver is joined by Professor Wolfram Manzenreiter of the University of Vienna to discuss Japanese Diasporas, taking a look at what can be learned from diaspora communities both in the millions, such as those of Brazil, the USA and Peru, and in the thousands in areas like Mexico, Paraguay and Canada. We will also consider the connection between these communities and their indigenous roots in Japan, as well as the relationship between historic Japanese migration and the strategies of the Japanese...
Mar 04, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Oliver is joined by Aike Rots, Associate Professor of Japan Studies at the University of Oslo, to discuss Heritage-Making in Japan, examining how the process of ‘heritagisation’ can secularise and politicise religious sites, such as Shinto shrines and natural areas of religious significance to Okinawan and Ainu communities, and the role of nationalism within heritage. Aike's research profile Sacred Heritage in Japan edited by Aike Rots and Mark Teeuwen Image credits: [L] "Evening light, Kiyomizu...
Feb 25, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Oliver is joined by Dana Mirsalis, PhD candidate at Harvard University, to take a look at Shinto in Modern Japan. Together we unpack the tricky task of defining what Shinto is, whether it is an unofficial Japanese religion, a Japanese religion or even a religion at all. We also explore the ways Shinto shapes and is engaged with by contemporary Japanese as well as the shifting roles of women within the priesthood. Dana's research profile , website and Twitter (@DanaMirsalis) Image credits: [L] Pr...
Feb 18, 2021•42 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Oliver is joined by Nick Kapur, Associate Professor of History at Rutgers University, to discuss failed revolutions, drawing comparisons between the 1960 ANPO riots of Japan over US-Japan relations with the Capitol Hill Riot we saw on 6 January 2021. Although more than 60 years apart and in totally different contexts, Nick argues that there are several factors worthy of comparison, such as the role of polarising heads of state, the nationwide shocked response to televised political violence and ...
Feb 11, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 23
