Beyond Japan with Oliver Moxham
by Centre for Japanese Studies at UEA
Beyond Japan is an interdisciplinary podcast which invites you to take a look at the broad reach of Japanese Studies, both within and beyond Japan. The series is hosted and produced by Oliver Moxham (@OllieMox on Twitter), researcher of language and Japanese war heritage, and brought to you by the Centre for Japanese Studies at the University of East Anglia in collaboration with the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures.Visit https://JapanInNorwich.org/Beyond-Japan to get in touch, find more episode-related resources, watch with subtitles and get PDF transcriptions.
Episodes
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[Special] 🕊 UK-Japan WWII Reconciliation with Mary-Grace Browning, MBE
2025 marks the 80th year since the end of the Second World War. On the 50th anniversary in 1995, Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama announced “the Peace, Friendship and Exchange Initiative, consisting of two parts, promoting: support for historical research into relations in the modern era between...
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[S3E6] 🐳 Animal Agency with Prof Aike Rots
For Beyond Japan's final episode, Oliver is joined by Aike Rots, Associate Professor of Japan Studies at the University of Oslo, to discuss the agency of animals in influencing human society and cultures. Aike’s collaborative project, Whales of Power, explores how whales have affected ritual...
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[S3E5] 🪦 Memorialization with Dr Daniel Milne
Oliver is joined by Daniel Milne, Senior Lecturer at Kyoto University’s Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences (ILAS), to discuss what happens when we memorialise past conflicts through the Kyoto Buddhist temple Ryōzen Kannon. Daniel and I explore how the meaning of monuments to war dead change...
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[S3E4] 📚 History in Fiction with Prof Susan Furukawa
Oliver is joined by Susan Furukawa, Associate Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures at Beloit College, to discuss history in fiction through works on the iconic and problematic life of 16th century shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Susan and I look at how Hideyoshi sought to establish his own...
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[S3E2] ✍️ Manga: Comics as Art with Chie Kutsuwada
Oliver is joined by Chie Kutsuwada, UK-based manga artist, to discuss Japanese comics as art and the global spread of the genre’s art style and readership. Chie and Oliver look at what separates manga from other comic styles, the appeal to recurring themes found in the genre and the escapism it...
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[S3E1] 🤿 Underwater Archaeology with Dr Randall Sasaki
Welcome to the third series of Beyond Japan! In this episode, Oliver is joined by Randy Sasaki, researcher at the Kyushu National Museum, to discuss his specialism of underwater archaeology, otherwise known as maritime or nautical archaeology. Randy and I explore the window shipwrecks provide…
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[S2E30] 🏛️ Discovering Museums with Sophie Richard
Oliver is joined by Sophie Richard, art historian, museum specialist and acclaimed writer, as we explore art museums in Japan of every variety. From her training at École du Louvre, Sophie has visited museums across the archipelago, broadening her understanding of what a museum can be and…
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[S2E29] 🚔 Crime & Desistance with Adam Hunt
Oliver is joined by Adam Hunt, PhD candidate at the University of Sheffield, to compare crime between Japan and the UK and how factors such as attitudes towards former convicts affects “desistance”; that is, attempts to reduce the rate of reoffending. Read the Japanese Ministry of Defence's 2020...
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[S2E28] 🐫 On the Silk Road(s) with Prof Susan Whitfield
Oliver is joined by Susan Whitfield, Professor in Silk Road Studies at the Sainsbury Institute, to gain a new perspective on the mass of historic maritime and land-based routes known as the Silk Roads. Susan gives us a taste of the material and cultural impact of the enormous trade network...
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[S2E27] 🗺️ Maps & Imagined Travel with Dr Sonia Favi
Oliver is joined by Dr Sonia Favi, researcher at the University of Turin, to discuss the history of imagined travel. Sonia’s digital exhibition, ‘Travels in Tokugawa Japan (1603-1868): A Virtual Journey’, explores how late-Edo period maps indulged the imagination of those unable to journey across...
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[S2E26] 👩🦯 Infrastructure for the Blind with Maud Rowell
Oliver is joined by Maud Rowell, blind freelance journalist and author of Blind Spot: Exploring and Educating on Blindness, to discuss Infrastructure for the Blind. Maud’s upcoming James Holman prize-winning project, ‘Where Birds Won’t Go’, will see her independently travel to the most remote...
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[S2E25] 😸 Pets & Animal Cafés with Brittany Rapone
Oliver is joined by Brittany Rapone, PhD candidate at the School of Social Sciences at Oxford Brookes University, to discuss attitudes towards pets and animal cafés in Japan. Brittany walks us through the cultural commonality of human-animal relationships and the “rent-a-pet” model of animal…
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[S2E24] 💀 Public Opinion on Capital Punishment with Dr Viviana Andreescu
Oliver is joined by Viviana Andreescu, Associate Professor of Justice Administration at the University of Louisville, to discuss public opinion on capital punishment in Japan. Viviana’s 2020 article, ‘Public opinion and the death penalty in Japan’, took a look at over 2,500 responses of the...
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[S2E23] 👩🎨 Global Crafts: Woodblock Prints with Wuon-Gean Ho
Oliver is joined by Wuon-Gean Ho, printmaker and research associate at the University of West England’s Centre for Print Research, to discuss the place of mokuhanga, or woodblock printmaking, in the global spread of traditional crafts. Wuon-Gean Ho walks us through her path to mokuhanga, her...
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[S2E22] 👤 The Body Politic with Dr Andreas Musolff
Oliver is joined by Dr Andreas Musolff, professor at the School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies at the University of East Anglia, to discuss the body politic and how metaphors for nations vary across the world. Andreas shares the insights from his recent book, National...
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[S2E21] 😂 Humour in Art: Kawanabe Kyōsai with Dr Koto Sadamura
Oliver is joined by Dr Koto Sadamura, Robert & Lisa Sainsbury Research Fellow at the Sainsbury Institute, to discuss the place of humour in art through the works of the eccentric 19th century painter Kawanabe Kyōsai. Kyōsai’s specialty of kyōga, or “comic pictures”, have historically been...
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[S2E20] ⛩️ Global Shinto with Kaitlyn Ugoretz
Oliver is 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...
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[S2E19] 🤰 Family Planning Policy with Dr Aya Homei
Oliver is 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…
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[S2E18] ⚔️ Samurai in Cinema with Dr Jonathan Wroot
Oliver is joined by Dr Jonathan Wroot, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Greenwich, to discuss Samurai in Cinema. Together, Jonathan and Oliver take a look at the many faces of samurai in Japanese cinema and their global influence on film producers. Jonathan also focusses on...
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[S2E17] 🎨 Art & Cultural Exchange with David Elliott
Oliver is 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...
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[S2E16] 📚 Knowledge Production During Crisis with Dr Eiko Honda
Oliver is 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. As an historian of intellectual history, Eiko will explain...
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[S2E15] 👥 Japanese as "Other" with Dr Christopher Harding
Oliver is joined by Dr Christopher Harding, Senior Lecturer in Asian History at the University of Edinburgh, to discuss “Japanese as Other”. Drawing on his career as a cultural historian and his experience presenting a number of BBC productions on Japan, I ask Chris about how Japanese people have...
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[S2E14] 👩👦 Nostalgia & Motherhood with Dr Forum Mithani
Oliver is 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. I ask Forum about the seductive discourse of nostalgia, its popular...
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[S2E13] 🚇 Social Order: Tokyo's Manner Posters with Chris Schimkowsky
Oliver is joined by Chris Schimkowsky, PhD candidate at the University of Sheffield, where we will be discussing his research into the "manner posters" on the Tokyo rail network. Manner posters are public service adverts that can be found on trains and at stations across Japan which warn against...
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[S2E12] 🤬 Historians & Online Harassment with Dr Paula R. Curtis
Oliver is 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...
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[S2E11] ⚡️ Net-Zero Japan with Prof Hiroshi Ōta
Oliver is joined by Hiroshi Ōta, professor at the School of International Liberal Studies at Waseda University, to discuss Net-Zero Japan. With the COP26 gathering and a recently leaked document revealing the Japanese government as one of many lobbying for climate change to be taken off the UN...
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[S2E10] 📷 Reality or Fantasy? 19th c. Photography of Japan with Zoe Shipley
Oliver is joined by Zoe Shipley, graduate from our MA programme in Interdisciplinary Japanese Studies to discuss her thesis research, “Reality or Fantasy? 19th c. Photography of Japan”. Zoe’s research is based on a family heirloom, the Japan Album, collected by her ancestor Robert T. Rhode…
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[S2E9] 🧭 Capitals of Fate with Prof Ellen Van Goethem
Oliver is joined by Ellen Van Goethem, Professor in Japanese Humanities at Kyushu University, to discuss Capitals of Fate. Ellen’s research focusses on the history and archaeology of Japan’s early and frequently changing capitals from the Asuka to the early Heian period. We explore why these...
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[S2E8] 🌲 Landscapes of Empire with Prof David Fedman
Oliver is joined by David Fedman, Associate Professor of History at the University of California, Irvine, to discuss Landscapes of Empire. David will share his research on the legacy of the Japanese Empire’s foresting initiative on the Korean peninsula, taking a look at collaboration and…
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[S2E7] 👘 Dorozome Textiles: Traditional Crafts Today with Dr Charlotte Linton
Oliver is joined by Dr Charlotte Linton, Robert & Lisa Sainsbury Research Fellow at the Sainsbury Institute, to discuss dorozome (泥染め) textiles and traditional crafts today. Charlotte will share with us how her change from the fashion industry to academia over environmental concerns brought her…
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[S2E6] 🪖 Remembering Kamikaze: Affect & War Memory with Dr Rumi Sakamoto
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...
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[S2E5] 🙇♂️ Ritualising Scandal with Dr Igor Prusa
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...
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[S2E4] 📸 Contents Tourism with Dr Philip Seaton
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…
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[S2E3] 🔞 Studying Pornography with Maiko Kodaka
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)...
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[S2E2] 👐 Power Spots with Caleb Carter
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...
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[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. The case study of Oliver's...
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[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). Toshio...
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[S1E45] 👥 The Ainu in Japan with Amanda McGuire
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…
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[S1E44] 🦈 Prehistoric Tragedy: The Oldest Shark Attack Victim with J. Alyssa White
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...
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[S1E43] 🌏 Bronze Age Globalization with Dr Mark Hudson
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...
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[S1E42] 📺 Japan in the British Media with Dr Christopher Hayes
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…
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[S1E41] 👋 Tech, Art & Rehabilitation with Kanako Nakamura
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...
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[S1E40] 👨🎨 Futurism: A Global Art Movement with Dr Daria Melnikova
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....
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[S1E39] 🎶 Gagaku: Court Music Through the Ages with Professor Fabio Rambelli
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...
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[S1E38] 🏛️ Exhibiting Japan with Professor Nicole Rousmaniere
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…
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[S1E37] 📸 Digitising Cultural Artefacts with Dr Ryōko Matsuba
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...
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[S1E36] 🤖 Robots in Elder Care with Dr Naonori Kodate
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...
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[S1E35] 🕊️ Peace, Youth Politics & Article 9 with Professor David Slater
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...
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[S1E34] 📖 History & Myth in Ancient Texts with Professor Bryan Lowe
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...
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[S1E33] ♀️ The First Empress Jingū - Powerful Women in Ancient Japan with Professor Chizuko Allen
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...
About this show
Beyond Japan is an interdisciplinary podcast which invites you to take a look at the broad reach of Japanese Studies, both within and beyond Japan. The series is hosted and produced by Oliver Moxham (@OllieMox on Twitter), researcher of language and Japanese war heritage, and brought to you by the Centre for Japanese Studies at the University of East Anglia in collaboration with the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures.Visit https://JapanInNorwich.org/Beyond-Japan to get in touch, find more episode-related resources, watch with subtitles and get PDF transcriptions.
Hosted by
Centre for Japanese Studies at UEA
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