I had the pleasure of reviewing two excellent books over the last few months. Both reviews are now available. As you’ll see, I thoroughly enjoyed both books, not only for the new lenses on modern Japanese history, but also because… Continue Reading
I’m excited to be giving a lunchtime address on January 16th to the World Affairs Council of the Monterey Bay Area. I’ll be speaking on Japan’s shifting defense policies, as well as my current book project on the history of… Continue Reading
December 17th @ 4pm PST I’m excited to join this conversation on Saturday, hosted by the Okinawa Prefecture DC Office. Lex McClellan-Ufugusuku (PhD student in History at UC Santa Cruz) and I will briefly introduce the Okinawa Memories Initiative. Feel… Continue Reading
I’m very excited to be rounding out the Lytton Center‘s spring speakers’ series with my talk, “Protest Nation: Anti-U.S. Base Struggle in Post-War Japan.” My talk focuses on the upwelling of local protest against American military bases in Japan during… Continue Reading
In 1970, Koza epitomized an American cold war basetown. Located in the center of Japan’s southernmost prefecture, the Okinawan community was a cauldron of bars and sex, rock and roll, fear and racial violence, militarism and Americana kitsch. Walking down… Continue Reading
December 2019 feels so distant that it might as well be a fever dream than an actual, lived, moment in time. The abrupt changes to our everyday lives in the last weeks, brought on by the global COVID-19 pandemic, ensure… Continue Reading
NHK News is reporting that Shuri Castle has apparently been nearly completely destroyed by a fire in the early morning hours of October 31. The cause is still unknown. A Japanese National Treasure and a UN World Heritage Site, the… Continue Reading
The fashionable Minatogawa Stateside Town sits just outside of Camp Kinser. Previously military housing for off-base contractors, the neighborhood has been slowly winnowed by private development and today hosts a small collection of boutique restaurants and shops ($300 handmade jeans,… Continue Reading
