Podcasts about postwar japan

"Postwar Japan. From zero. To Minus."

On this episod eof Japan Station, Dr. Robert D. Eldridge returns to talk about natural disasters in Japan, his work on Operation Tomodachi during the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, Japan's ability to respond to natural disasters and more.

This week, we're continuing last week's footnote on the postwar ultraright. How did the fall of the Soviet Union affect the anti-communist focus of the extreme right? How has its rhetoric been shaped by an odd relationship with the left? And how does modern extreme rightism manifest in the ideas of men like Kobayashi Yoshinori and groups like Nippon Kaigi? Show notes here.

This week's footnote: the first of two parts on the postwar extreme right. This week, we're mostly focusing on the extreme right in the first few decades of the Cold War, and in particular on the story of Akao Bin and his Aikokuto. How did a convicted socialist end up as one of Japan's foremost violent anticommunists--and how did his ideas shape a new reality for the postwar right? Show notes here. 

‘Oppenheimer' is expected to win big at the 2024 Academy Awards. But one point of controversy is that the director did not depict any images of the devastating aftermath of the dropping of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Getting those images out to the public was a longtime quest for Herbert Sussan, then a 24-year-old filmmaker who filmed in Japan at the time.

With Godzilla Minus One tearing up the American and global box office, it's time for another EMERGENCY PODCAST. This week we are joined by two amazing scholars of Japanese social and cultural history in Bill Tsutsui and Akiki Takenaka. We talk about our first impressions of the film, where it fits into Godzilla and WWII lore, and the history of Godzilla himself. This is such a cool conversation and I'm so excited to bring it to you.About our guests:Bill Tsutsui is an award-winning scholar and teacher, an experienced academic leader,and an outspoken supporter of the public humanities, international education,and more inclusive, accessible colleges and universities.  He researches, writes, and speaks widely on Japanese economic and environmental history, Japanese popular culture (especially the Godzilla movies), Japanese-American identity, and issues in higher education.  He is highly opinionated about BBQ, proud to have once driven the Zamboni at an NHL game, and slightly embarrassed to be Level 40 in Pokemon Go. Find him at https://www.billtsutsui.com/ Akiko Takenaka specializes in social and cultural history of modern Japan. Her research involves memory and historiography of the Asia-Pacific War, gender and peace activism, and history museums. Her teaching interests include gender, war and society, nationalism, memory studies, and visual culture. Prior to coming to UK, she has taught as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan.Professor Takenaka's first book, entitled Yasukuni Shrine: History, Memory, and Japan's Unending Postwar (University of Hawai'i Press, Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University), explores Yasukuni Shrine as a physical space, object of visual and spatial representation, and site of spatial practice in order to highlight the complexity of Yasukuni's past and critique the official narratives that postwar debates have responded to. Her second book project Mothers Against War: Gender, Motherhood, and Peace Activism in Postwar Japan is under advance contract with the University of Hawai'i Press. Her research has been funded by long-term research fellowships by Fulbright and the Japan Foundation. Find her on twitter at @ata225

On this day in 1954, the King of the Monsters made his big screen debut when the original “Godzilla” premiered in Nagoya, Japan. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

01:56:14: Time stamp to skip the Madoka Magica and Fate/Zero spoilers You can write into future Question Buckets at ghostdiverspod@gmail.com and don't forget to follow us on Twitter! The Show: @ghostdiverspod (twitter) Niamh: @FoxmomNia (twitter) Connor: @rabbleais (twitter) Export Audio Network: exportaud.io Ghost Divers: exportaud.io/ghostdivers Pondering Pootan: exportaud.io/pootan Ornate Stairwells: exportaud.io/ornatestairwells Around the Long Fire: abnormalmapping.com/longfire Check out our official schedule at exportaud.io/divingschedule! Works Cited in this Discussion Sorgenfrei, Carol Fisher. Unspeakable Acts: The Avant-garde Theatre of Terayama Shūji and Postwar Japan. University of Hawaii Press, 2005. Content Warnings for this Discussion Pedophilia Sexualization of young women Rape Violence Violence against women Gendered violence Sexualized violence Racialized violence Gun violence Police brutality Sex work Homophobia Food Alcohol (post-ED section) Find out more at https://ghost-divers.pinecast.co

This week your favorite ghouls are discussing two kaiju films! Mothra is a an actual goddess and Hedorah... well, let's say she's got some toxic tendencies. Oh and Godzilla is totally gay. In fact, all the kaiju are gay. We're here for it! Content Warning: menstruation, menstruating while trans, possible hints of body dysmorphia. BLM: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/ TLM: https://translifeline.org/ Resources: Mothra: A Love Letter by Victoria Potenza https://www.cinema76.com/home/2019/6/7/mothra-a-love-letter Why are so many people so obsessed with Mothra? What's so cool about her? Answered by Barney Buckley https://www.quora.com/Why-are-so-many-people-so-obsessed-with-Mothra-Whats-so-cool-about-her MOTHRA IS THE ONLY GIRLBOSS THAT MATTERS Chingey Nea https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/mothra-girlboss-queer-icon Why Mothra Remains the Queen of the Monsters by Up From the Depths https://youtu.be/-zG0Cn-E8zU Godzilla: King of the Monsters – A History of Mothra by Don Kaye https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/godzilla-king-of-the-monsters-mothra/?amp Mothra: Yin to Godzilla's Yang by Robert Ito https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/movies/mothra-godzilla-king-of-the-monsters.html No, Seriously: Mothra as a Feminist Icon by Matt O'Connell https://doctoroffisticuffs.wixsite.com/moconnell/post/no-seriously-mothra-as-a-feminist-icon Mothra vs Godzilla (1964) Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothra_vs._Godzilla Godzilla vs Mothra (1964) Review by Tim Cook https://lalafilmltd.wordpress.com/2016/03/22/review-godzilla-vs-mothra-1964/ There Goes Tokyo: Mothra vs Godzilla (1964) https://horrorflora.com/2018/01/12/there-goes-tokyo-mothra-vs-godzilla/amp Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) Review by Paul Aronofsky https://godzillavs.net/2021/05/28/mothra-vs-godzilla-1964/amp/ 'Godzilla' was a metaphor for Hiroshima, and Hollywood whitewashed it by Kimmy Yam https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1236165 An Analysis of Postwar Japan and the Japanese Nuclear Consciousness Through Godzilla Films by Nalvic https://nalvicreviews.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/an-analysis-of-postwar-japan-and-the-japanese-nuclear-consciousness-through-godzilla-films/amp/ https://archive.org/details/mothra-vs.-godzilla-japanese-version-criterion-collection https://archive.org/details/godzilla-vs.-hedorah-japanese-version-criterion https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2311286/#:~:text=The%20incidence%20of%20chronic%20obstructive,is%20known%20as%20Yokkaichi%20Asthma. Hedorah Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedorah Godzilla vs Hedorah (1971) Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla_vs._Hedorah Japan's Green Monsters: Environmental Commentary in Kaiju Cinema by Brooke McCorkle Okazaki and Sean Rhoads: 2017058867, 9781476663906, 9781476631349. https://dokumen.pub/japans-green-monsters-environmental-commentary-in-kaiju-cinema-2017058867-9781476663906-9781476631349.html Godzilla vs Hedorah (1971) Criterion Collection https://www.criterion.com/films/30102-godzilla-vs-hedorah When Godzilla Found His Hippie Heart Battling A Smog Monster by Brad Gullickson https://filmschoolrejects.com/godzilla-vs-hedorah/?amp Godzilla Is a Radical Environmentalist by Daniel Oberhaus https://www.vice.com/amp/en/article/kz7w9w/godzilla-is-a-radical-environmentalist Godzilla: evolution of a monster BY LAU KA-KUEN AND ADOLFO ARRANZ https://multimedia.scmp.com/infographics/culture/article/3012245/godzilla/index.html?src=social 50 YEARS LATER: ‘GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH' IS STILL A RELEVANT ENVIRONMENTAL MESSAGE By Stephen Rosenberg https://www.horrorgeeklife.com/2022/04/01/godzilla-vs-hedorah-retro/ Guest Review: Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (1971) by Andrew Price http://commentaramafilms.blogspot.com/2015/04/guest-review-godzilla-vs-smog-monster.html?m=1 Godzilla vs Hedorah (1971) for TCM.com By Pablo Kjoseth https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/813030/godzilla-vs-hedorah#overview

TCW Podcast Episode 154 - Nintendo Playing with Controversy   In part two of our look at the history of Nintendo, we cover the aftermath of Hiroshi Yamauchi's father abandoning the family. He ended up growing up under the care of his grandparents. Unfortunately, after a stroke suffered by his Grandfather, Hiroshi Yamauchi had to take over control of Nintendo in his early twenties. Because of this early ascension to power, Hiroshi Yamauchi was subject to a controversy that was the greatest challenge to his authority. The strike of employees at Nintendo.   A Brief History of US Troops Playing Cards: https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/a-brief-history-of-us-troops-playing-cards-and-a-magicians-trick-honoring-veterans/ Vintage Playing Cards from Postwar Japan: https://globalvoices.org/2020/11/30/newly-found-vintage-playing-cards-shine-a-light-on-post-war-occupied-japan/ Abroad in Japan Love Hotels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fso4yjbgceY Disney Playing Cards: https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/Disney_playing_cards Nintendo Playing Cards Advertisement: https://twitter.com/nintendomemo/status/797612245266157568?lang=he Nintendo Popeye Trump Cards: http://blog.beforemario.com/2013/07/nintendo-popeye-trump-cards-sano-popeye.html Walt Disney Character Dominoes: http://blog.beforemario.com/2016/05/nintendo-mickey-mouse-card-ca-1961.html   New episodes on the 1st and 15th of every month!   TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com  Twitter: @tcwpodcast Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com Alex's book is available for preorder and should be released through CRC Press in December 2019: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1     Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode -  Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download:http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode  Outro Music: RolemMusic - Bacterial Love - http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love    Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Today we explore the origin and early history of the Yasukuni Shrine. What is Yasukuni? Simply put it is a shrine dedicated to peace and the soldiers of Japan. It's name translates to Peaceful Land Shrine (Yasukuni Jinja) and despite the name it is the most controversial Shinto Shrine there is. This is because is has continuously been at the center of post war / post Japanese colonization politics. How did it come about? Was it always the center of Japanese militant nationalism? Lets find out!   In Credible Discourse WebsiteKyoto Memorial Shrine  Further Reading: Yasukuni Shrine (Book) A Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine  Music Credits: New Intro: http://shw.in/sozai/japan.php  Tsuzdumi Japan 3 

Christopher Wong is joined by Robert Evans to discuss Nobusuke Kishi. FOOTNOTES: Machiavelli's Children Leaders and Their Legacies in Italy and Japan by Richard J. Samuels Chinese Comfort Women Testimonies from Imperial Japan's Sex Slaves by Peipei Qiu, with Su Zhiliang and Chen Lifei Yakuza Japan's Criminal Underworld by David E. Kaplan and Alec Dubro Asian Labor in the Wartime Japanese Empire: Unknown Histories By Paul H. Kratoska The Prime Ministers of Postwar Japan, 1945-1995 Their Lives and Times Edited by Akio Watanabe  Absolute Erotic, Absolute Grotesque:The Living, Dead, and Undead in Japan's Imperialism, 1895-1945 By Mark Driscoll Zengakuren: Japan's Revolutionary Student by Stuart J. Dowsey Planning for Empire Reform Bureaucrats and the Japanese Wartime State by Janis Mimura Sovereignty and Authenticity: Manchukuo and the East Asian Modern by Prasenjit Duara https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F1994%2F10%2F09%2Fworld%2Fcia-spent-millions-to-support-japanese-right-in-50-s-and-60-s.html https://www.e-flux.com/journal/100/268783/the-imperial-ghost-in-the-neoliberal-machine-figuring-the-cia/ https://asiatimes.com/2020/08/inside-story-of-us-black-ops-in-post-war-japan/ https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.economist.com%2Fessay%2F2015%2F08%2F15%2Fthe-unquiet-past https://lausan.hk/2021/japans-colonial-legacy/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2020/07/13/commentary/japan-commentary/assassination-attempt-nobusuke-kishi/ https://www.awf.or.jp/pdf/h0004.pdf Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

"From Up On Poppy Hill" analysis & discussion podcast. Welcome to our 21st podcast on the films by Studio Ghibli. An interesting and messy ride into the politics and cultural transformation of 60s Japan: From Up On Poppy Hill, directed by Goro Miyazaki. Join us as we explore the ongoing career of Hayao Miyazaki's son. Your hosts today are: Nyard, PlatonSkull and TheThunderer Discord: https://discord.gg/n8puKa4 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nausicaast MP3 Download: https://nausicaast.libsyn.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/34MmVkEL5041HH4iaXZ2Ts Youtube: https://youtu.be/cCieUbEUmW0 Sources: Articles: - Ghibli Fandom Wiki Entry: https://ghibli.fandom.com/wiki/From_Up_on_Poppy_Hill - JP language interview with the original manga author: https://flying-fantasy-garden.blogspot.com/2016/08/blog-post_12.html - Reuters - Miyazaki father and son team up for "From Up on Poppy Hill" film: https://cn.reuters.com/article/entertainment-us-poppyhill-miyazaki-idINBRE92D11V20130315 - Film4 - Goro Miyazaki on From Up On Poppy Hill: https://medium.com/@Film4/goro-miyazaki-on-from-up-on-poppy-hill-e94acd1f88f1 - NYTimes - Grounding a Romance in Memories: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/movies/studio-ghiblis-from-up-on-poppy-hill.html - GIZMODO - Pessimistic Optimism: Goro Miyazaki on His Post-Nuclear Romance, From Up On Poppy Hill: https://gizmodo.com/pessimistic-optimism-goro-miyazaki-on-his-post-nuclear-453752467 Video: - Materials featured on the German Bluray version of the film, including a press conference and an interview with Goro Miyazaki - NHK Documentary, Part3: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/3004593/ - STEVEM - Son of Miyazaki (A Gorō Miyazaki Retrospective): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srx3aBcodok Paper: - Abel, Jessamyn R. - "Japan's Sporting Diplomacy: The 1964 Tokyo Olympiad" - https://www.jstor.org/stable/23240822 - Gluck, Carol - "The Past in the Present" appears in: Gordon, Andrew (Ed.) - "Postwar Japan as History" - Yang, Danqing - "Living Soldiers, Re-lived Memories? Japanese Veterans and Postwar Testimony of War Atrocities" appears in: Jaeger, S.M. and Mitter, Rana (Eds.) - "Reputured Histories - War, Memory, and the post-cold war in Asia" - Seraphim, Franziska - "War Memory and Social Politics in Japan, 1945-2005" - Igarashi, Yoshikuni - "Bodies of Memory: Narratives of War in Postwar Japanese Culture, 1945-1970"

In this episode of the Books on Asia podcast, show host Amy Chavez talks with Robert Whiting about his just released memoir Tokyo Junkie: 60 Years of Bright Lights and Back Alleys . . . and Baseball (Stone Bridge Press, April, 2021). Whiting is known for his numerous books on Japanese baseball: The Chrysanthemum and the Bat, You Gotta Have Wa, The Samurai Way of Baseball, and The Meaning of Ichiro. He's also penned a book about gangsters called Tokyo Underworld. In this episode of the podcast, Whiting talks about all these books as well as what it's like to write a memoir. Show NotesThe show starts out as Whiting tells how he came to Japan in 1962 and worked for the CIA. At the time, Japan was preparing for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He elucidates the transformation of Tokyo as the city prepared to host the Games. He contrasts that with the upcoming 2021 Tokyo Olympics to show how far Tokyo has come in 60 years.Whiting talks about attending Sophia University where he studied politics, and why he returned to the U.S. His homecoming led to his first gig writing The Chrysanthemum and the Bat and after that, a chance to come back to Japan with Time/Life.While working in Tokyo, he started hanging out with gangsters at the bars, and this eventually led to his writing Tokyo Underworld.Lastly, Whiting talks about his life with his long-time wife, Machiko, and how he followed her career around the world in her position as Officer for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.Whiting shares some writing advice as well as his favorite books on Japan:Japan Diary by Mark GaynFive Gentlemen of Japan: The Portrait of a Nation’s Character by Frank GibneyTyphoon in Tokyo: The Occupation and Its Aftermath by Harry Emerson WildesMacArthur’s Japan by Russell BrinesEmbracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II by John W. DowerTokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan by Jake AdelsteinJapanamerica by Roland KeltsAnything by Alex Kerr, Richard Lloyd Parry or Peter Tasker.See Books on Asia's review of Robert Whiting's memoir "Tokyo Junkie" here.The Books on Asia Podcast is sponsored by Stone Bridge Press, publisher of fine books on Asia for over 30 years.  

Dennis Frost's More than Medals: A History of the Paralympics and Disability Sports in Postwar Japan is a history of disability sports in modern Japan. The 1964, 1998, and upcoming Paralympics are important case studies, but Frost's interests go far beyond this pinnacle of international, competitive disability sports. More than Medals explores the history and development of disability sports, highlighting Japan as an international actor, Oita prefecture as a domestic and international disability sports mecca, and most of all the ongoing tension between two visions of the purpose of disability sports: one which is primarily rehabilitative and the other which emphasizes elite athletic competition. This, as Frost shows, is fundamental to understanding the dynamics of accessibility and inclusivity in disabled sports. More than Medals will appeal to readers interested in the history of Japan, sports, and mega-events such as the Paralympics, as well as to those interested in disability studies. Nathan Hopson is an associate professor of Japanese and East Asian history in the Graduate School of Humanities, Nagoya University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dennis Frost’s More than Medals: A History of the Paralympics and Disability Sports in Postwar Japan is a history of disability sports in modern Japan. The 1964, 1998, and upcoming Paralympics are important case studies, but Frost’s interests go far beyond this pinnacle of international, competitive disability sports. More than Medals explores the history and development of disability sports, highlighting Japan as an international actor, Oita prefecture as a domestic and international disability sports mecca, and most of all the ongoing tension between two visions of the purpose of disability sports: one which is primarily rehabilitative and the other which emphasizes elite athletic competition. This, as Frost shows, is fundamental to understanding the dynamics of accessibility and inclusivity in disabled sports. More than Medals will appeal to readers interested in the history of Japan, sports, and mega-events such as the Paralympics, as well as to those interested in disability studies. Nathan Hopson is an associate professor of Japanese and East Asian history in the Graduate School of Humanities, Nagoya University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies

Dennis Frost’s More than Medals: A History of the Paralympics and Disability Sports in Postwar Japan is a history of disability sports in modern Japan. The 1964, 1998, and upcoming Paralympics are important case studies, but Frost’s interests go far beyond this pinnacle of international, competitive disability sports. More than Medals explores the history and development of disability sports, highlighting Japan as an international actor, Oita prefecture as a domestic and international disability sports mecca, and most of all the ongoing tension between two visions of the purpose of disability sports: one which is primarily rehabilitative and the other which emphasizes elite athletic competition. This, as Frost shows, is fundamental to understanding the dynamics of accessibility and inclusivity in disabled sports. More than Medals will appeal to readers interested in the history of Japan, sports, and mega-events such as the Paralympics, as well as to those interested in disability studies. Nathan Hopson is an associate professor of Japanese and East Asian history in the Graduate School of Humanities, Nagoya University. Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/japanese-studies

Dennis Frost’s More than Medals: A History of the Paralympics and Disability Sports in Postwar Japan is a history of disability sports in modern Japan. The 1964, 1998, and upcoming Paralympics are important case studies, but Frost’s interests go far beyond this pinnacle of international, competitive disability sports. More than Medals explores the history and development of disability sports, highlighting Japan as an international actor, Oita prefecture as a domestic and international disability sports mecca, and most of all the ongoing tension between two visions of the purpose of disability sports: one which is primarily rehabilitative and the other which emphasizes elite athletic competition. This, as Frost shows, is fundamental to understanding the dynamics of accessibility and inclusivity in disabled sports. More than Medals will appeal to readers interested in the history of Japan, sports, and mega-events such as the Paralympics, as well as to those interested in disability studies. Nathan Hopson is an associate professor of Japanese and East Asian history in the Graduate School of Humanities, Nagoya University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sports

Dennis Frost’s More than Medals: A History of the Paralympics and Disability Sports in Postwar Japan is a history of disability sports in modern Japan. The 1964, 1998, and upcoming Paralympics are important case studies, but Frost’s interests go far beyond this pinnacle of international, competitive disability sports. More than Medals explores the history and development of disability sports, highlighting Japan as an international actor, Oita prefecture as a domestic and international disability sports mecca, and most of all the ongoing tension between two visions of the purpose of disability sports: one which is primarily rehabilitative and the other which emphasizes elite athletic competition. This, as Frost shows, is fundamental to understanding the dynamics of accessibility and inclusivity in disabled sports. More than Medals will appeal to readers interested in the history of Japan, sports, and mega-events such as the Paralympics, as well as to those interested in disability studies. Nathan Hopson is an associate professor of Japanese and East Asian history in the Graduate School of Humanities, Nagoya University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Dennis Frost’s More than Medals: A History of the Paralympics and Disability Sports in Postwar Japan is a history of disability sports in modern Japan. The 1964, 1998, and upcoming Paralympics are important case studies, but Frost’s interests go far beyond this pinnacle of international, competitive disability sports. More than Medals explores the history and development of disability sports, highlighting Japan as an international actor, Oita prefecture as a domestic and international disability sports mecca, and most of all the ongoing tension between two visions of the purpose of disability sports: one which is primarily rehabilitative and the other which emphasizes elite athletic competition. This, as Frost shows, is fundamental to understanding the dynamics of accessibility and inclusivity in disabled sports. More than Medals will appeal to readers interested in the history of Japan, sports, and mega-events such as the Paralympics, as well as to those interested in disability studies. Nathan Hopson is an associate professor of Japanese and East Asian history in the Graduate School of Humanities, Nagoya University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In 1953, in the coastal town of Minamata in Japan, locals noticed some cats were acting strangely—twitching, spinning in circles, almost dancing. The reality was far darker. What looked like dancing was really convulsions. The cats drooled, spun in circles, and flung themselves into the sea. The cause of this strange behavior, residents discovered, was mercury. Mercury—a silvery liquid, named for a quick-footed Roman God—has captivated humans since ancient times. It’s found in Egyptian tombs that date to 1500 BCE, and the first emperor of unified China believed it was the elixir of life. But what happens when it invades a town, and seeps into our brains? Footnotes & Further Reading:  For this story, we relied heavily on the book Minamata : Pollution and the Struggle for Democracy in Postwar Japan.Learn how mercury played a pivotal role in pinpointing a key campsite location in the Lewis and Clark expedition. Credits:  This episode of Science Diction was written by Kaitlyn Schwalje, and produced by Elah Feder and Johanna Mayer. Elah is our editor and senior producer. Daniel Peterschmidt sound designed this episode and composed all the music, except The Timbo March which is by Tim Garland, from the Audio Network. We had fact checking help from Danya Abdelhameid and Robin Palmer. Nadja Oertelt is our chief content officer. The season of Science Diction is sponsored by Audible.

Hello, kaiju lovers! “FRONKENSTEEN! FRONKENSTEEN!” In what has to be a providential “accident,” our Halloween episode is the perfect kaiju film for the spookiest time of the year: Frankenstein Conquers the World. Nathan is joined by Travis Alexander, co-host of Kaiju Weekly and the biggest Baragon fan we know (#Justice4Baragon), to discuss this wild if uneven Toho classic directed by Ishiro Honda. We discuss the film's relation to the hibakusha, the discriminated survivors of the atomic bombings, because Frankenstein's plight in the film mirrors their real-life struggles. Also, Travis gets to meet Godzilla's bumbling nephew, Godzooky (he's practically Travis's spirit animal), who helps Jimmy From NASA in the producer booth because he's still reeling from his beatdown at the hands of Daimajin. Episode image created by Michael Hamilton. We'd like to give a shout-out to our Patreon patrons Travis Alexander (of course) and Michael Hamilton (co-hosts of Kaiju Weekly); Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Eli Harris (elizilla13); Chris Cooke (host of One Cross Radio), and Bex from Redeemed Otaku! Thanks for your support! You, too, can support us on Patreon and get this and other perks starting at only $3 a month! This episode is approved by the Monster Island Board of Directors. Read Jimmy's Notes on this episode. Podcast Social Media: Twitter Facebook Instagram Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD #JimmyFromNASALives       #MonsterIslandFilmVault © 2020 Moonlighting Ninjas Media Bibliography/Further Reading: “Gendered Bodies in Tokusatsu: Monsters and Aliens as the Atomic Bomb Victims” by Yuki Miyamoto (The Journal of Popular Culture, Oct. 2016, vol. 49, no. 5) “The grave is wide: the Hibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the legacy of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission and the Radiation Effects Research Foundation” by Gerald F. O'Malley (Clinical Toxicology, Taylor & Francis Group, 21 April 2016, vol. 54, no. 6) “Hibakusha” by William J. Hall (MD) (Annals of Internal Medicine, 5 Feb. 2008, American College of Physicians, vol. 148, no. 3) “Hibakusha: The Intricacies of Memory in Postwar Japan” by Jordan Ricks (Graduate Research Journal, Indiana University Southeast, winter 2018, vol. 8) Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godzisewski “Japan's hibakusha still battle the effects of US nuclear bombs” by Jonathan Watts (The Lancet, 16 Sept. 2000, vol. 356, no. 2934) Kaijuvision Radio, Episode 49: Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965) (Ryuichi Shimoda et al. v. The State) Kaiju Weekly, Episode 09: Frankenstein Conquers the World “Prejudice haunts atomic bomb survivors” by Hiroshi Matsubara (The Japan Times, 8 May 2001) The post Episode 27: ‘Frankenstein Conquers the World' (feat. Travis Alexander) appeared first on The Monster Island Film Vault.

In 1942, Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle led an audacious one-way bombing raid to hit targets in Japan which many thought impossible. With nowhere to land their planes, eight American airmen who were captured afterward by Japanese troops in occupied Chinese territory, and later subjected to trials and death sentences. In his fascinating new book, "Last Mission to Tokyo: The Extraordinary Story of the Doolittle Raiders and Their Final Fight for Justice," Columbia Law Professor Michel Paradis takes the reader deep inside the first postwar war crimes tribunals organized by the Allies in Shanghai, which included trials of lawyers involved in the prosecution of the captured Doolittle airmen. In speaking with Robert Amsterdam about the book, Paradis remarks that much of the prosecutions that took place following the war were quite flawed examples of "victors' justice," but nevertheless set important precedent. "When we fall short in upholding justice, and we fall into the trap of victors' justice and revenge and show trials, you end up creating really unpredictable outcomes," Paradis says. "Now, here in 2020, 75 years later, Yamashita's trial is remembered as an outrage. (...) And we don't remember Yamashita as the really horrible fascist war criminal that he was. This is an issue that I try to explore in the book."

Hello, kaiju lovers! An artsy Japanese horror film about mushrooms based on a British short story? That's sounds insane enough to work! Despite getting slapped with the schlocky English title, “Attack of the Mushroom People,” Matango ranks as one of director Ishiro Honda's greatest achievements in tokustasu filmmaking. Screenwriter Takeshi Kimura considered it to be his magnum opus. It's a story replete with subtlety and symbolism, an indictment of Japan's newfound opulence and decadence in the early 1960s, and it's as relevant now for any audience as it was back then. It's such an important film, Nathan and his intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA, interview the only scientist on Monster Island's who's brave and/or crazy enough to study the Matango—with frightening results!  Featuring Daniel DiManna as the voice of Dr. Dante Dourif. Episode image created by Michael Hamilton. Check out his podcast, The Kaiju Groupie. This is meant to supplement this episode of Kaijuvision Radio: Episode 45: Matango (Attack of the Mushroom People) (1963) (Westernization and Globalization) We'd like to give a shout-out to our Patreon patrons Travis Alexander and Michael Hamilton (cohosts of Kaiju Weekly); Danny DiManna (Godzilla Novelization Project); elizilla13; and Chris Cooke (host of One Cross Radio)! Thanks for your support! You, too, can support us on Patreon! This episode is approved by the Monster Island Board of Directors. Podcast Social Media: Twitter Facebook Instagram Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD www.MonsterIslandFilmVault.com #JimmyFromNASALives       #MonsterIslandFilmVault © 2020 Nathan Marchand & Moonlighting Ninjas Media Bibliography/Further Reading: “Attack of the Mushroom People: Ishiro Honda's Matango William Hope Hodgson's ‘The Voice in the Night'” by Anthony Camara (Monsters and Monstrosity from the Fin de Siécle to the Millennium, edited by Sharla Hutchinson and Rebecca A. Brown) “The history and current state of drug abuse in Japan” by Kiyoshi Wada (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Jan 2011, vol. 1216, no. 1, p 62-72) Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godzisewski “Ishiro Honda-thon Ep. 5: Matango (1963) Review” by Adam Noyes (AN Productions) (YouTube) Kaijuvision Radio, “Episode 8: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)” “Methamphetamine Solution: Drugs and the Reconstruction of Nation in Postwar Japan” by Miriam Kingsburg (The Journal of Asian Studies, Feb. 2013, vol. 72, no. 1, p. 141-162) Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda by Peter H. Brothers The post Episode 21: ‘Matango' (Mini-Analysis) appeared first on The Monster Island Film Vault.

Eiko Maruko Siniawer’s Waste: Consuming Postwar Japan (Cornell University Press, 2018) is an absorbing look at the multiple and changing ways that waste—of resources, possessions, time, money, etc.—has been conceptualized in Japan since 1945. More than a history of garbage and waste disposal, Waste is a look at the aspirations and discontents of a rapidly changing society in which waste has been everything from an existential threat to a critical part of the “bright,” good life of the affluent and aspirational middle classes. Siniawer is attentive to the socioeconomic contexts of waste, from the poverty of the first postwar decade to the boom years of the 1960s, from the traumatic oil shocks of the 1970s to the roaring and opulent bubble years of the 1980s, and then into the post-bubble reckoning with waste in a slow-growth era and beyond. The book ranges widely, beginning with early postwar admonitions against waste, following the development of an ideology (and economy) of leisure and “affluence of the heart,” and tracing both the rise of ecological consciousness and Japan’s progressive recycling and solid waste management systems and the coming of the post-2000 decluttering movement. Peppered throughout with delightful and illustrative examples from period sources and always conscious of historical continuities and discontinuities, Waste is not just a story about waste consciousness in postwar Japan, but a story about the ways that we make meaning in our lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eiko Maruko Siniawer’s Waste: Consuming Postwar Japan (Cornell University Press, 2018) is an absorbing look at the multiple and changing ways that waste—of resources, possessions, time, money, etc.—has been conceptualized in Japan since 1945. More than a history of garbage and waste disposal, Waste is a look at the aspirations and discontents of a rapidly changing society in which waste has been everything from an existential threat to a critical part of the “bright,” good life of the affluent and aspirational middle classes. Siniawer is attentive to the socioeconomic contexts of waste, from the poverty of the first postwar decade to the boom years of the 1960s, from the traumatic oil shocks of the 1970s to the roaring and opulent bubble years of the 1980s, and then into the post-bubble reckoning with waste in a slow-growth era and beyond. The book ranges widely, beginning with early postwar admonitions against waste, following the development of an ideology (and economy) of leisure and “affluence of the heart,” and tracing both the rise of ecological consciousness and Japan’s progressive recycling and solid waste management systems and the coming of the post-2000 decluttering movement. Peppered throughout with delightful and illustrative examples from period sources and always conscious of historical continuities and discontinuities, Waste is not just a story about waste consciousness in postwar Japan, but a story about the ways that we make meaning in our lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eiko Maruko Siniawer’s Waste: Consuming Postwar Japan (Cornell University Press, 2018) is an absorbing look at the multiple and changing ways that waste—of resources, possessions, time, money, etc.—has been conceptualized in Japan since 1945. More than a history of garbage and waste disposal, Waste is a look at the aspirations and discontents of a rapidly changing society in which waste has been everything from an existential threat to a critical part of the “bright,” good life of the affluent and aspirational middle classes. Siniawer is attentive to the socioeconomic contexts of waste, from the poverty of the first postwar decade to the boom years of the 1960s, from the traumatic oil shocks of the 1970s to the roaring and opulent bubble years of the 1980s, and then into the post-bubble reckoning with waste in a slow-growth era and beyond. The book ranges widely, beginning with early postwar admonitions against waste, following the development of an ideology (and economy) of leisure and “affluence of the heart,” and tracing both the rise of ecological consciousness and Japan’s progressive recycling and solid waste management systems and the coming of the post-2000 decluttering movement. Peppered throughout with delightful and illustrative examples from period sources and always conscious of historical continuities and discontinuities, Waste is not just a story about waste consciousness in postwar Japan, but a story about the ways that we make meaning in our lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eiko Maruko Siniawer’s Waste: Consuming Postwar Japan (Cornell University Press, 2018) is an absorbing look at the multiple and changing ways that waste—of resources, possessions, time, money, etc.—has been conceptualized in Japan since 1945. More than a history of garbage and waste disposal, Waste is a look at the aspirations... Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/japanese-studies

Eiko Maruko Siniawer’s Waste: Consuming Postwar Japan (Cornell University Press, 2018) is an absorbing look at the multiple and changing ways that waste—of resources, possessions, time, money, etc.—has been conceptualized in Japan since 1945. More than a history of garbage and waste disposal, Waste is a look at the aspirations and discontents of a rapidly changing society in which waste has been everything from an existential threat to a critical part of the “bright,” good life of the affluent and aspirational middle classes. Siniawer is attentive to the socioeconomic contexts of waste, from the poverty of the first postwar decade to the boom years of the 1960s, from the traumatic oil shocks of the 1970s to the roaring and opulent bubble years of the 1980s, and then into the post-bubble reckoning with waste in a slow-growth era and beyond. The book ranges widely, beginning with early postwar admonitions against waste, following the development of an ideology (and economy) of leisure and “affluence of the heart,” and tracing both the rise of ecological consciousness and Japan’s progressive recycling and solid waste management systems and the coming of the post-2000 decluttering movement. Peppered throughout with delightful and illustrative examples from period sources and always conscious of historical continuities and discontinuities, Waste is not just a story about waste consciousness in postwar Japan, but a story about the ways that we make meaning in our lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Kristine Dennehy is a history professor at California State University Fullerton, with a specialization in Japanese and Korean history. A Connecticut native, Dr. Dennehy majored in Japanese language at Georgetown University, completed her M.A. in Asian Studies at Sophia University in Tokyo, and received her Ph.D. in history at UCLA (2002) with a dissertation entitled “Memories of Colonial Korea in Postwar Japan.” In 2008-09, Dr. Dennehy served Historical Adviser for an oral history project interviewing over 80 Japanese-American veterans who had served in the Military Intelligence Service during the Allied Occupation of Japan (1945-1952) as interpreters and translators. She is a lifetime member of the Orange County Historical Society and the Fullerton Sister City Association and regularly presents her work to local and international audiences, including the Fullerton Public Library Town & Gown Series and the Asian Association of World Historians. Dr. Ester E. Hernández earned her Ph.D. in Social Science at UC Irvine and is a professor Chicana/o Latina/o Studies at CalStateLA. She has published on Salvadoran migration and remittances in social science journals such as the Journal of American Ethnic History and Economy & Society. She received a Rockefeller Humanities Fellowship, 2003-2004, CSULA on the theme of “Families and Belonging in the Multi-ethnic Metropolis.”  Born in El Salvador, she serves on the board of directors of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) and is the co-editor of the anthology U.S. Central Americans:  Reconstructing Memories, Struggles and Communities of Resistance (University of Arizona Press) about 1.5 and second generation Centroamericanas/os and U.S. Central Americans.  Her current research is linked to immigrant rights, economic development and cultures of memory among children of immigrants. 

Laura Neitzel’s The Life We Longed for: Danchi Housing and the Middle Class Dream in Postwar Japan (MerwinAsia, 2016) is a chronicle of the large, government-sponsored housing projects called danchi that were built during Japan’s high-growth years, roughly 1955 until the first oil shock in the early 1970s. Though only a minority of Japanese lived in the danchi, they took on an outsized place in the public imagination of and aspirations for the ideal new “bright life” of postwar Japan. The danchi, built by the Japan Housing Corporation (JHC) to accommodate the rush of families relocating to the cities during this transformational period, were the symbol of a new “democratic” middle-class life freed from the “feudal” past, a great social and architectural experiment, and the source of enormous social cathexis. Drawing on a wide range of sources from government white papers to popular women’s magazines, and paying close attention to the danchi as an everyday revolution of the everyday, to both the positive and negative views of the danchi, and to their relationship to contemporaneous social imaginaries of democratic-capitalist affluence around the world, Neitzel paints a clear and concise portrait of the danchi as aspiration, but also paradoxically as a kind of nostalgia a longed-for life that never really was. The book provides a clear and sensitive look at danchi as modern design and design for modernity, as a fantasy of middle-class life and a middle-class fantasy, warts and all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura Neitzel’s The Life We Longed for: Danchi Housing and the Middle Class Dream in Postwar Japan (MerwinAsia, 2016) is a chronicle of the large, government-sponsored housing projects called danchi that were built during Japan’s high-growth years, roughly 1955 until the first oil shock in the early 1970s. Though only a... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura Neitzel’s The Life We Longed for: Danchi Housing and the Middle Class Dream in Postwar Japan (MerwinAsia, 2016) is a chronicle of the large, government-sponsored housing projects called danchi that were built during Japan’s high-growth years, roughly 1955 until the first oil shock in the early 1970s. Though only a minority of Japanese lived in the danchi, they took on an outsized place in the public imagination of and aspirations for the ideal new “bright life” of postwar Japan. The danchi, built by the Japan Housing Corporation (JHC) to accommodate the rush of families relocating to the cities during this transformational period, were the symbol of a new “democratic” middle-class life freed from the “feudal” past, a great social and architectural experiment, and the source of enormous social cathexis. Drawing on a wide range of sources from government white papers to popular women’s magazines, and paying close attention to the danchi as an everyday revolution of the everyday, to both the positive and negative views of the danchi, and to their relationship to contemporaneous social imaginaries of democratic-capitalist affluence around the world, Neitzel paints a clear and concise portrait of the danchi as aspiration, but also paradoxically as a kind of nostalgia a longed-for life that never really was. The book provides a clear and sensitive look at danchi as modern design and design for modernity, as a fantasy of middle-class life and a middle-class fantasy, warts and all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura Neitzel’s The Life We Longed for: Danchi Housing and the Middle Class Dream in Postwar Japan (MerwinAsia, 2016) is a chronicle of the large, government-sponsored housing projects called danchi that were built during Japan’s high-growth years, roughly 1955 until the first oil shock in the early 1970s. Though only a minority of Japanese lived in the danchi, they took on an outsized place in the public imagination of and aspirations for the ideal new “bright life” of postwar Japan. The danchi, built by the Japan Housing Corporation (JHC) to accommodate the rush of families relocating to the cities during this transformational period, were the symbol of a new “democratic” middle-class life freed from the “feudal” past, a great social and architectural experiment, and the source of enormous social cathexis. Drawing on a wide range of sources from government white papers to popular women’s magazines, and paying close attention to the danchi as an everyday revolution of the everyday, to both the positive and negative views of the danchi, and to their relationship to contemporaneous social imaginaries of democratic-capitalist affluence around the world, Neitzel paints a clear and concise portrait of the danchi as aspiration, but also paradoxically as a kind of nostalgia a longed-for life that never really was. The book provides a clear and sensitive look at danchi as modern design and design for modernity, as a fantasy of middle-class life and a middle-class fantasy, warts and all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura Neitzel’s The Life We Longed for: Danchi Housing and the Middle Class Dream in Postwar Japan (MerwinAsia, 2016) is a chronicle of the large, government-sponsored housing projects called danchi that were built during Japan’s high-growth years, roughly 1955 until the first oil shock in the early 1970s. Though only a minority of Japanese lived in the danchi, they took on an outsized place in the public imagination of and aspirations for the ideal new “bright life” of postwar Japan. The danchi, built by the Japan Housing Corporation (JHC) to accommodate the rush of families relocating to the cities during this transformational period, were the symbol of a new “democratic” middle-class life freed from the “feudal” past, a great social and architectural experiment, and the source of enormous social cathexis. Drawing on a wide range of sources from government white papers to popular women’s magazines, and paying close attention to the danchi as an everyday revolution of the everyday, to both the positive and negative views of the danchi, and to their relationship to contemporaneous social imaginaries of democratic-capitalist affluence around the world, Neitzel paints a clear and concise portrait of the danchi as aspiration, but also paradoxically as a kind of nostalgia a longed-for life that never really was. The book provides a clear and sensitive look at danchi as modern design and design for modernity, as a fantasy of middle-class life and a middle-class fantasy, warts and all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura Neitzel’s The Life We Longed for: Danchi Housing and the Middle Class Dream in Postwar Japan (MerwinAsia, 2016) is a chronicle of the large, government-sponsored housing projects called danchi that were built during Japan’s high-growth years, roughly 1955 until the first oil shock in the early 1970s. Though only a... Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/japanese-studies

Laura Neitzel’s The Life We Longed for: Danchi Housing and the Middle Class Dream in Postwar Japan (MerwinAsia, 2016) is a chronicle of the large, government-sponsored housing projects called danchi that were built during Japan’s high-growth years, roughly 1955 until the first oil shock in the early 1970s. Though only a minority of Japanese lived in the danchi, they took on an outsized place in the public imagination of and aspirations for the ideal new “bright life” of postwar Japan. The danchi, built by the Japan Housing Corporation (JHC) to accommodate the rush of families relocating to the cities during this transformational period, were the symbol of a new “democratic” middle-class life freed from the “feudal” past, a great social and architectural experiment, and the source of enormous social cathexis. Drawing on a wide range of sources from government white papers to popular women’s magazines, and paying close attention to the danchi as an everyday revolution of the everyday, to both the positive and negative views of the danchi, and to their relationship to contemporaneous social imaginaries of democratic-capitalist affluence around the world, Neitzel paints a clear and concise portrait of the danchi as aspiration, but also paradoxically as a kind of nostalgia a longed-for life that never really was. The book provides a clear and sensitive look at danchi as modern design and design for modernity, as a fantasy of middle-class life and a middle-class fantasy, warts and all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is real life Well, partially. Lcuky Dragon #5. Hydrogren bomb testing. Real life and movie deaths. Press censorship. Giant movie monsters Godzilla and his ilk. The Lost World. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. Oxygen destroyer ¯(ツ)/¯ Science and regret Oppenheimer. Eyepatch guy. Suicide to save the world. Analogies. Goodbyes Let them fight. Godzilla: Half Century War by James Stokoe: Amazon King of the Monsters: History of Japan Podcast Double Blasted: Radiolab After the Gold Rush: After the Gold Rush Support the show!

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. The inaugural lecture of The Tetsuo Najita Distinguished Lecture Series in Japanese Studies, by Professor Tetsuya Takahashi, University of TokyoProfessor Takahashi's writings, including his 2005 bestseller, The Yasukuni Issue, make unmistakably clear that the role of the Shrine is antithetical to democratic values in Japan and to reconciliation with Asia, which requires acknowledgment of the harms inflicted through colonialism and war. The subject of his lecture is Japan at a crossroads today, its hard-won postwar democratic values at stake as never before.Professor Takahashi teaches philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tokyo. He specializes in contemporary European philosophy and has been particularly interested in the ethical aspects of the work of Jacques Derrida.

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. The inaugural lecture of The Tetsuo Najita Distinguished Lecture Series in Japanese Studies, by Professor Tetsuya Takahashi, University of TokyoProfessor Takahashi's writings, including his 2005 bestseller, The Yasukuni Issue, make unmistakably clear that the role of the Shrine is antithetical to democratic values in Japan and to reconciliation with Asia, which requires acknowledgment of the harms inflicted through colonialism and war. The subject of his lecture is Japan at a crossroads today, its hard-won postwar democratic values at stake as never before.Professor Takahashi teaches philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tokyo. He specializes in contemporary European philosophy and has been particularly interested in the ethical aspects of the work of Jacques Derrida.

Professor Takahashi's writings, including his 2005 bestseller, The Yasukuni Issue, make unmistakably clear that the role of the Shrine is antithetical to democratic values in Japan and to reconciliation with Asia, which requires acknowledgment of the harms inflicted through colonialism and war. The subject of his lecture is Japan at a crossroads today, its hard-won postwar democratic values at stake as never before. Professor Takahashi teaches philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tokyo. He specializes in contemporary European philosophy and has been particularly interested in the ethical aspects of the work of Jacques Derrida. Sponsored by the Japan Committee of the Center for East Asian Studies and the Center for International Studies.

Professor Takahashi's writings, including his 2005 bestseller, The Yasukuni Issue, make unmistakably clear that the role of the Shrine is antithetical to democratic values in Japan and to reconciliation with Asia, which requires acknowledgment of the harms inflicted through colonialism and war. The subject of his lecture is Japan at a crossroads today, its hard-won postwar democratic values at stake as never before. Professor Takahashi teaches philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tokyo. He specializes in contemporary European philosophy and has been particularly interested in the ethical aspects of the work of Jacques Derrida. Sponsored by the Japan Committee of the Center for East Asian Studies and the Center for International Studies.