Nathaniel M. Smith
@nathanielmsmith.bsky.social
Anthropologist of Japan @ Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto. 立命館大学国際関係学部准教授。Writing/research on rightwing movements/politics/culture, US-Japan relations, and urban studies.
favorite daruma in Kyoto
October 1, 2026 at 11:34 PM
favorite daruma in Kyoto
my Suzuki Jimmy is now three years old (just did the mandatory shaken). I recommend it highly!
tiny enough for Kyoto streets and mountain trails, fun to drive, available with manual transmission, and fairly decent fuel economy for a 4x4 (about 15+ km per liter)
tiny enough for Kyoto streets and mountain trails, fun to drive, available with manual transmission, and fairly decent fuel economy for a 4x4 (about 15+ km per liter)
October 1, 2026 at 11:33 PM
my Suzuki Jimmy is now three years old (just did the mandatory shaken). I recommend it highly!
tiny enough for Kyoto streets and mountain trails, fun to drive, available with manual transmission, and fairly decent fuel economy for a 4x4 (about 15+ km per liter)
tiny enough for Kyoto streets and mountain trails, fun to drive, available with manual transmission, and fairly decent fuel economy for a 4x4 (about 15+ km per liter)
There’s a weird mark on the weather forecast for the next couple of days. Does anybody know what this circle surrounded by little lines thing is supposed to mean?
September 29, 2026 at 11:24 AM
There’s a weird mark on the weather forecast for the next couple of days. Does anybody know what this circle surrounded by little lines thing is supposed to mean?
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
Japan’s gender gap isn’t where the rankings say it is www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2...
Japan’s gender gap isn’t where the rankings say it is
The telling number is what happens to a 29-year-old woman after her first child — and whether the door is still open when she is ready to return.
www.japantimes.co.jp
September 24, 2026 at 4:27 PM
Japan’s gender gap isn’t where the rankings say it is www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2...
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
Hi friends, happy to share a labor of love: an essay in the latest issue of Environmental History on Tokyo's war-damaged trees (戦災樹木), the more than 200 hundreds trees scattered across the city that carry scars of wartime bombing in their morphology
www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/eh/0/0
www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/eh/0/0
September 9, 2026 at 4:37 PM
Hi friends, happy to share a labor of love: an essay in the latest issue of Environmental History on Tokyo's war-damaged trees (戦災樹木), the more than 200 hundreds trees scattered across the city that carry scars of wartime bombing in their morphology
www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/eh/0/0
www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/eh/0/0
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
2027 Summer Institute on "Global Asias' Cold War: Cartographies of Intimacy"
sites.psu.edu/vergeglobala...
sites.psu.edu/vergeglobala...
2027 Summer Institute — “Global Asias’ Cold War: Cartographies of Intimacy” – Global Asias Initiative
sites.psu.edu
September 13, 2026 at 12:51 PM
2027 Summer Institute on "Global Asias' Cold War: Cartographies of Intimacy"
sites.psu.edu/vergeglobala...
sites.psu.edu/vergeglobala...
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
I wrote and article and now you can read it (and I'm happy to share if you don't have easy access).
Fraught Narratives, Contrived Futures: Tokyo’s Techno-Utopian Erasure of the Unhoused
Mirai – future – is ubiquitously written into Tokyo’s cityscape. Yet the promises embedded in future-oriented government initiatives like Health Japan 21, Innovation 25, Society 5.0, and the Sustai...
www.tandfonline.com
September 13, 2026 at 2:11 PM
I wrote and article and now you can read it (and I'm happy to share if you don't have easy access).
Evil genius to release the revised visa renewal fees during the time of year when nobody wants to be in Japan anyway
August 25, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Evil genius to release the revised visa renewal fees during the time of year when nobody wants to be in Japan anyway
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
(dog) whistleblower
August 23, 2026 at 12:50 AM
(dog) whistleblower
Aaron is still very much missed.
Glad to see this come out, Lisa!
Glad to see this come out, Lisa!
Placing East and Southeast Asia in Convo, Forum In Memory of Aaron Stephen Moore got published! Writing "Agents of Development: The Roles of Insects + Entomological Expertise in Japanese Technical Aid in Southeast Asia"=next best thing to talking w ASM in person read.dukeupress.edu/journal-of-a...
Agents of Development: The Roles of Insects and Entomological Expertise in Japanese Technical Aid in Southeast Asia
Abstract. Japanese overseas development assistance intersected with sericulture in Southeast Asia especially during the 1970s and 1980s. Piecing together disparate entomological engagements as reporte...
read.dukeupress.edu
August 17, 2026 at 7:16 PM
Aaron is still very much missed.
Glad to see this come out, Lisa!
Glad to see this come out, Lisa!
come take a load off, my outdoor poly Amish friend
August 4, 2026 at 4:46 PM
come take a load off, my outdoor poly Amish friend
also enjoying Tucson cafe culture
August 3, 2026 at 3:03 PM
also enjoying Tucson cafe culture
Kansai academicians! looking for someone to cover my grad courses in the 2027 academic year (yay sabbatical):
Public Diplomacy
Intro to Japan Studies
Japan in East Asia
Shoot me a DM or email if you are interested. Each course is MA-level, sometimes PhD students auditing. Usually 8-15 students.
Public Diplomacy
Intro to Japan Studies
Japan in East Asia
Shoot me a DM or email if you are interested. Each course is MA-level, sometimes PhD students auditing. Usually 8-15 students.
August 1, 2026 at 7:27 PM
Kansai academicians! looking for someone to cover my grad courses in the 2027 academic year (yay sabbatical):
Public Diplomacy
Intro to Japan Studies
Japan in East Asia
Shoot me a DM or email if you are interested. Each course is MA-level, sometimes PhD students auditing. Usually 8-15 students.
Public Diplomacy
Intro to Japan Studies
Japan in East Asia
Shoot me a DM or email if you are interested. Each course is MA-level, sometimes PhD students auditing. Usually 8-15 students.
first sabbatical since 2019 has been confirmed. I'll be unfettered for a year starting April 2027. just in time for the weakest yen in 40-years 😅
July 23, 2026 at 2:58 PM
first sabbatical since 2019 has been confirmed. I'll be unfettered for a year starting April 2027. just in time for the weakest yen in 40-years 😅
unexpected but lovely that Tucson is significantly cooler than Kyoto (in addition to not being soup-thick humid)
bonus: hummingbird checking out a cactus flower
bonus: hummingbird checking out a cactus flower
July 21, 2026 at 2:39 PM
unexpected but lovely that Tucson is significantly cooler than Kyoto (in addition to not being soup-thick humid)
bonus: hummingbird checking out a cactus flower
bonus: hummingbird checking out a cactus flower
nice Kyoto job down at Ryukoku. "Global Ethics" with courses expected on human rights and governance (word on the street is that they pay very well too!)
www.ryukoku.ac.jp/employment/d...
www.ryukoku.ac.jp/employment/d...
www.ryukoku.ac.jp
July 17, 2026 at 2:09 AM
nice Kyoto job down at Ryukoku. "Global Ethics" with courses expected on human rights and governance (word on the street is that they pay very well too!)
www.ryukoku.ac.jp/employment/d...
www.ryukoku.ac.jp/employment/d...
Leipzig side quest:
spotting East German automotive history in the form of the charming Trabant
spotting East German automotive history in the form of the charming Trabant
July 10, 2026 at 8:50 AM
Leipzig side quest:
spotting East German automotive history in the form of the charming Trabant
spotting East German automotive history in the form of the charming Trabant
rather enjoying Leipzig cafe life
July 10, 2026 at 8:45 AM
rather enjoying Leipzig cafe life
this semester's set of graduating advisees had a cool collection of thesis topics:
July 2, 2026 at 11:32 AM
this semester's set of graduating advisees had a cool collection of thesis topics:
the evidence suggests these pages were *intentionally* left blank
June 16, 2026 at 12:59 PM
the evidence suggests these pages were *intentionally* left blank
the American Anthropological Association head's response to the embarrassingly poor Vanderbilt report
americananthro.org/advocacy-sta...
americananthro.org/advocacy-sta...
Setting the Record Straight on Anthropology - American Anthropological Association
The Report on the State of Scholarship in the Humanities and the Humanistic Social Sciences identifies anthropology as the single most extreme case of scholarly deterioration in the humanities and soc...
americananthro.org
June 13, 2026 at 3:15 AM
the American Anthropological Association head's response to the embarrassingly poor Vanderbilt report
americananthro.org/advocacy-sta...
americananthro.org/advocacy-sta...
i guess we’ve moved on from “eat the rich”
May 22, 2026 at 4:34 AM
i guess we’ve moved on from “eat the rich”