[S2E20] ⛩️ Global Shinto with Kaitlyn Ugoretz

This week we are joined by Kaitlyn Ugoretz, anthropologist of religion and a PhD candidate in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies at UC Santa Barbara, to discuss the global appeal of Shinto in the digital era. Kaitlyn introduces us to online Shinto communities as old as the internet itself, as well as the many international faces of Shinto, from official shrines in the USA to localised rituals and Marie Kondo’s brand of spiritualism.

[S2E19] 🤰 Family Planning Policy with Dr Aya Homei

This week we are joined by Dr Aya Homei from the University of Manchester to discuss family planning, looking at how Japan’s history of medical science has influenced policy and its impact on the current aging population. Aya unpacks historical attitudes in Japan towards child-bearing held by individuals and the nation and explains that through scientific thought of the time, such as eugenics, much can be understood about attitudes today in Japan and East Asia.

[S2E18] ⚔️ Samurai in Cinema with Dr Jonathan Wroot

his week we are joined by Dr Jonathan Wroot, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Greenwich, to discuss Samurai in Cinema. Oliver and Jonathan take a look at the many faces of samurai in Japanese cinema and their global influence on film producers. Jonathan also focusses on Zatoichi, the lone blind swordsman that has graced film and TV in Japan and elsewhere for over 50 years.

[S2E17] 🎨 Art & Cultural Exchange with David Elliott

This week we are joined by art historian, curator and writer David Elliott to discuss art as a means of cultural exchange. David shares with us his experience of challenging the Euro-American concept of Modern Art by exhibiting contemporary Asian, African and Latin American artists, as well as his new approach of looking at art history through trousers.

[S2E16] 📚 Knowledge Production During Crisis with Dr Eiko Honda

This week we are joined by Dr Eiko Honda, Research and Teaching Associate in History at the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies and former Robert & Lisa Sainsbury Fellow at the Sainsbury Institute, to discuss Knowledge Production During Crisis.

[S2E14] 👩‍👦 Nostalgia & Motherhood with Dr Forum Mithani

This week we are joined by Dr Forum Mithani, British Academy Post-doctoral Fellow at the School of Modern Languages at Cardiff University, to discuss her research on the role of nostalgia in shaping expectations of motherhood.

[S2E12] 🤬 Historians & Online Harassment with Dr Paula R. Curtis

This week we are joined by Dr Paula R Curtis, Postdoctoral Fellow with the Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies at UCLA, to discuss Historians and Online Harassment. Paula will share with me her experiences of being harassed by netto-uyoku (ネット右翼), online far-right nationalists who seek to hassle and discredit historians for their critical approach to Japan’s war history, as well as offer advice for researchers of controversial history who run afoul of nationalist netizens.