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Featured image for Artist as Performer: Third Thursday Lectures – Spontaneous and PlayfulBackground image for Artist as Performer: Third Thursday Lectures – Spontaneous and Playful

Artist as Performer: Third Thursday Lectures – Spontaneous and Playful

Last month’s Third Thursday Lecture (TTL) was given by the wonderful Dr Sadamura Koto, a fellow at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures…

The Muta Weekly

Featured image for CJS Seminar-Enduring Crisis: North Korea & Postwar Japan’s TransformationBackground image for CJS Seminar-Enduring Crisis: North Korea & Postwar Japan’s Transformation

CJS Seminar-Enduring Crisis: North Korea & Postwar Japan’s Transformation

In early March this year, we were treated to highly informative, if somewhat complicated and controversial, lecture given by Dr Sebastian Maslow as part of the Centre for…

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Featured image for Which Calligraphy? A Discussion of Post-War Avant-Garde Calligraphy Led by Dr Eugenia Bogdanova-KummerBackground image for Which Calligraphy? A Discussion of Post-War Avant-Garde Calligraphy Led by Dr Eugenia Bogdanova-Kummer

Which Calligraphy? A Discussion of Post-War Avant-Garde Calligraphy Led by Dr Eugenia Bogdanova-Kummer

Last week, we were treated to a special class by our own Dr Eugenia Bogdanova-Kummer, whose most recent publication Bokujinkai: Japanese Calligraphy and the Postwar Avant-Garde (2020) provided…

The Muta Weekly

Featured image for The JAFC and Dissertation ResearchBackground image for The JAFC and Dissertation Research

The JAFC and Dissertation Research

In its earliest days, film was a perishable art form. Some conservative estimates place the percentage of lost live-action silent films, the majority from the earliest days of…

The Muta Weekly

Featured image for Edmund de Waal and ProvidenceBackground image for Edmund de Waal and Providence

Edmund de Waal and Providence

I first encountered Edmund de Waal in the seventeenth century. More precisely, from the “cute,” to use his words, collection of two-hundred and sixty-four netsuke (根付). The journey…

The Muta Weekly

Featured image for Spectacle and Art: A Case Study of the 2011 Tōhoku Earthquake and TsunamiBackground image for Spectacle and Art: A Case Study of the 2011 Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami

Spectacle and Art: A Case Study of the 2011 Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami

Last week marked the 11th anniversary of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami (otherwise known as the ‘Great East Japan Earthquake’), a devastating event that resulted in the…

The Muta Weekly

Featured image for Japan as Continuity: the Ashmolean Museum at OxfordBackground image for Japan as Continuity: the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford

Japan as Continuity: the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford

“Wow! It’s so dark in here.” “Yes. Yes, it is.” We had arrived at the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Anthropology, the University of Oxford’s official university mu…

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Featured image for In the Shadow of the Emperor: Napoleon in the Japanese Imagination and ‘Kaigai Jinbutsu Shoden’Background image for In the Shadow of the Emperor: Napoleon in the Japanese Imagination and ‘Kaigai Jinbutsu Shoden’

In the Shadow of the Emperor: Napoleon in the Japanese Imagination and ‘Kaigai Jinbutsu Shoden’

*Image: Wikimedia commons Shadows are an apt metaphor as if they were made for the pretensions of students such as myself. Shadows, created when light is blocked by…

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Featured image for The Role of Resistence in Colonial PhotographyBackground image for The Role of Resistence in Colonial Photography

The Role of Resistence in Colonial Photography

There is something to be said of the need to photograph. Whether it is today where social media apps such as Instagram, which was set up with an…

The Muta Weekly

Featured image for Yuri!!! On ICE and the importance of identityBackground image for Yuri!!! On ICE and the importance of identity

Yuri!!! On ICE and the importance of identity

For the final article of the year, I wanted to turn my attention towards something more personal than what I usually write about. However, I’ll admit that when…

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Featured image for Hokusai’s The Great Picturebook of Everything – A Review of The British Museum Exhibition and Dr Alred Haft’s TTLBackground image for Hokusai’s The Great Picturebook of Everything – A Review of The British Museum Exhibition and Dr Alred Haft’s TTL

Hokusai’s The Great Picturebook of Everything – A Review of The British Museum Exhibition and Dr Alred Haft’s TTL

For SISJAC’s final Third Thursday Lecture of 2021, I and an estimated one-hundred people attended from around the world in order to hear Dr Alfred Haft talk about…

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Featured image for Missing the Point: The Art of Translating Mishima Yukio – A CJS Online LectureBackground image for Missing the Point: The Art of Translating Mishima Yukio – A CJS Online Lecture

Missing the Point: The Art of Translating Mishima Yukio – A CJS Online Lecture

On the 9th of December, I was invited to join another CJS lecture hosted this time by Dr. Hannah Osborne and given by Professor Stephen Dodd, a professional…

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Featured image for Time and Space in Leiko Ikemura’s ‘Usagi in Wonderland’ ExhibitionBackground image for Time and Space in Leiko Ikemura’s ‘Usagi in Wonderland’ Exhibition

Time and Space in Leiko Ikemura’s ‘Usagi in Wonderland’ Exhibition

This week, I want to talk about the relevance of time and space in the work of renowned artist Leiko Ikemura and, more specifically, her ‘Usagi in Wonderland’…

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Featured image for Establishing the Shogun: Art and Power in the Official Visits of Tokugawa Ienari – RIJS Postdoctoral fellow Hiraki Shiori Lecture ReviewBackground image for Establishing the Shogun: Art and Power in the Official Visits of Tokugawa Ienari – RIJS Postdoctoral fellow Hiraki Shiori Lecture Review

Establishing the Shogun: Art and Power in the Official Visits of Tokugawa Ienari – RIJS Postdoctoral fellow Hiraki Shiori Lecture Review

In one of my very first blog posts, I discussed the SCVA’s saragaku mask and its importance to the development of Japan’s artistic, cultural, and social history during…

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Featured image for Sainsbury Institute Third Thursday Lecture – The Bridge to Heaven: Comparing UK-Japan HeritageBackground image for Sainsbury Institute Third Thursday Lecture – The Bridge to Heaven: Comparing UK-Japan Heritage

Sainsbury Institute Third Thursday Lecture – The Bridge to Heaven: Comparing UK-Japan Heritage

One of the great benefits of doing an MA in Japanese Studies at the University of East Anglia is an invitation to the Third Thursday Lectures hosted by…

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Featured image for Centre and Periphery: Challenges to Traditional Interpretations of HistoryBackground image for Centre and Periphery: Challenges to Traditional Interpretations of History

Centre and Periphery: Challenges to Traditional Interpretations of History

History is defined by power. Traditionally speaking, power resides and is wielded by those who possess great political and economic influence. Consequently, certain locations and institutions – Tok…

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Featured image for Edge of Empire: Thoughts on “Siberia Under Snow” by Kuroshima DenjiBackground image for Edge of Empire: Thoughts on “Siberia Under Snow” by Kuroshima Denji

Edge of Empire: Thoughts on “Siberia Under Snow” by Kuroshima Denji

Kuroshima Denji’s Siberia Under Snow is, on the surface, a powerful critique of Japanese expansionism and warfare. Denji uses the theme of isolation to highlight war’s unforgiving nature…

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Featured image for ‘Securing Japan: Tokyo’s Grand Strategy and the Future of East Asia’ – A Chapter ReviewBackground image for ‘Securing Japan: Tokyo’s Grand Strategy and the Future of East Asia’ – A Chapter Review

‘Securing Japan: Tokyo’s Grand Strategy and the Future of East Asia’ – A Chapter Review

What can a book published fourteen years ago tell us about Japan’s international relations and security? Can it tell us anything, and if it can how relevant are…

The Muta Weekly