Author Archives: Oliver Moxham

[S2E1] 👂 Reinterpreting Difficult Heritage: Mimizuka, “Hill of Ears” with Oliver Moxham

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.

[S1E46] 🏞️ Gardens of War Memory with Prof Toshio Watanabe

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).

[S1E45] 👥 The Ainu in Japan with Amanda McGuire

This week 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”.

[S1E44] 🦈 Prehistoric Tragedy: The Oldest Shark Attack Victim with J. Alyssa White

This week 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 known shark attack victim.

[S1E43] 🌏 Bronze Age Globalisation with Dr Mark Hudson

This week 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 socio-cultural exchange occurred between Jōmon-era Japan and mainland Eurasia, followed by a re-Jōmonisation where external cultures were rejected in a return to the local.

[S1E42] 📺 Japan in the British Media with Dr Christopher Hayes

This week Oliver is joined by Dr Christopher Hayes, Research Associate at the Sainsbury Institute, to discuss his insights on British travel shows that see TV personalities travel the archipelago and reduce it to binary tropes such as “traditional Japan” and “ultra-futuristic Japan”, or “traditional Japan” and “weird Japan”.

[S1E41] 👋 Tech, Art & Rehabilitation with Kanako Nakamura

This week Oliver is joined by 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.

[S1E40] 👨‍🎨 Futurism: A Global Art Movement with Dr Daria Melnikova

This week Oliver is joined by joined by Dr Daria Melnikova 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 Eurocentrism.

[S1E39] 🎶 Gagaku: Court Music Through the Ages with Professor Fabio Rambelli

This week Oliver is joined by Professor Fabio Rambelli 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.