Asian Ethnology Podcast

Interviewer: Ben Dorman, co-editor Asian Ethnology Recorded 8 June 2017, Nagoya, Japan Peter Knecht was the editor of Asian Folklore Studies from 1980 until 2007. The journal changed its name to Asian Ethnology in 2008. In this extended interview, Peter discusses his experiences working as the editor of Asian Folklore Studies. He talks about when he first encountered the journal working under founding editor, Matthias Eder, and what happened when he took over the journal in 1980. 

12/20/21 • 46:54

Interviewer: Ben Dorman In this episode, John Powers (Deakin University) discusses an interdisciplinary project involving historians, anthropologists, scientists, and folklorists concerning rivers that originate in Tibet, which play a key role in global hydrological cycles yet are in crises as a result of multiple threats.  

4/1/21 • 18:41

Interviewer: Ben Dorman, co-editor Asian Ethnology Recorded 11 March 2011 In this episode, anthropologist Susanne Klien discusses her recent book Urban Migrants in Rural Japan: Between Agency and Anomie in a Post-growth Society (SUNY Press, 2020). She touches on her motivations for doing the research, the reasons for migrants relocating to rural areas, and some of the challenges they face after relocation, amongst other issues. She also addresses some questions that were asked in a book talk given on 22 February 2021 that was part of the Asian Ethnology Series. 

3/11/21 • 43:57

Interviewer: Mark Bookman Recorded: Wednesday Feb 17th 2021 This episode features a discussion with Steven Fedorowicz, cultural anthropologist, visual anthropologist, and associate professor at Kansai Gaidai University. Steven will be giving a talk on “Representations of Deaf People in Japan: Inspiration, Outrage and Real Life,” as part of the “Disability and Japan in the Digital Age Series” via Zoom on May 14, 2021 (Details to follow). In discussing some of what he will be presenting, Steven talks about his ongoing project concerning media representations of deaf people and culture in Japan, and his introduction to his studies on and experiences with deaf communities. He also touches on his personal experiences that his understandings and approaches to deaf communities and disability studies. Music used with kind permission of the performer, shamisen master Koji Yamaguchi. Copyright 2021, Asian Ethnology Podcast

3/1/21 • 22:32

Interviewer: Mark Bookman Date recorded: 26 October 2020 This episode of Asian Ethnology Podcast features Frank Mondelli, a doctoral candidate at Stanford University. Frank recently returned from research in Japan and is currently working on his doctoral dissertation on the social, technical, and political history of assistive technologies for deafness and hearing impairment in 20th century Japan. Frank discusses his recent work on the history of hearing aids in 1950s Japan, how he became interested in assistive technology, and how thinking about assistive technology can help us think about accessibility and inclusivity during the COVID-19 pandemic. This episode is part of the "Disability and Japan in the Digital Age" project run through the Anthropological Institute, Nanzan University. Publications discussed in this episode Mills, Mara and Jonathan Sterne. “Dismediation – Three Proposals, Six Tactics” in Disability Media Studies, ed. Elizabeth Ellcessor and Bill Kirkpatrick

11/26/20 • 25:55

Interviewer: Ben Dorman Date recorded: 3 November 2020 In this episode, Mark Bookman discusses a new series of lectures entitled "Disability and Japan in the Digital Age," which is run through the Anthropological Institute, Nanzan University. He talks about the significance of the series at this time. Mark will also be presenting interviews with the participants in Asian Ethnology Podcast episodes. 

11/23/20 • 22:56

In this episode Yoshiko Okuyama talks about her most recent monograph, Reframing Disability in Manga (University of Hawai’i Press, 2020). Okuyama explains that her work examines representations of disabled people in manga serialized throughout the 1990s and 2000s, focusing on portrayals of deaf, blind, paraplegic, and autistic individuals, as well as those with gender dysphoria. Bookman asks Okuyama about the history behind her project and the logic that guided her decision-making regarding specific manga titles and disability identities. The two also unpack the contributions of Reframing Disability for scholars of gender, disability, and manga.

8/24/20 • 21:36

In this episode anthropologist Andreas Riessland discusses his research on Japanese biker gangs (bōsōzoku) and a project involving Shugendō Buddhist and Shinto groups that ended in failure due to various struggles between the groups. He also discusses how he came to terms with the failure, and offers advice to researchers who confront “failure” in fieldwork.

7/13/20 • 39:53

Interviewer: Thomas David DuBois In this episode, we speak with China historians David Faure and He Xi of the Chinese University of Hong Kong about historical anthropology. Faure discusses the university's Historical Anthropology of Chinese Society AOE, and assesses what it accomplished in its eight-year run. He Xi explains how fieldwork shaped her perspective on China's boat communities and her recent book on lineages in Jiangxi. Publications discussed in this episode He Xi, Lineage and Community in China, 1100-1500: Genealogical Innovation in Jiangxi, London: Routledge, 2020. The Fisher Folk of Late Imperial and Modern China: An Historical Anthropology of Boat-and-Shed Living, Xi He & David Faure eds., London: Routledge, 2016. Music used with kind permission of guqin performer Yan Yiqiao.

6/17/20 • 22:47

In this episode, Gopalan Ravindran, Professor and Head of Department of Journalism and Communication at the University of Madras, talks about media literacy in India in general, his initial interest in journalism and communication, and then discusses two specific initiatives related to media literacy and journalism among marginalized communities in Southern India.  

6/5/20 • 34:52

In this episode, we speak with Jin Feng, Professor of literature at Grinnell College, Iowa, and author of a new book on Chinese foodways. Jin discusses how the experience of leading a study trip to China and Russia helped shape her personal interest in food into a research program, how she expanded her circle of foodie friends into a professional network of chefs and restaurant entrepreneurs, and how themes of gender and nostalgia recur across centuries of writing about food. Publications discussed in this episode: Feng, Jin. Tasting Paradise on Earth: Jiangnan Foodways (University of Washington Press, 2019). Currid-Halkett, Elizabeth. The Sum of Small Things: A Theory of the Aspirational Class (Princeton University Press, 2017) Music used with kind permission of guqin performer Yan Yiqiao. Copyright 2020 by Asian Ethnology Podcast

4/30/20 • 31:39

This episode features Mark Bookman, a doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania and a visiting researcher at the university of Tokyo. Mark is completing his doctoral dissertation on the history of disability policy and related social movements in Japan. Mark discusses his personal challenges researching while using a wheelchair, changing research topics from Buddhism to disability in Japan, and accessibility issues related to COVID-19, including “transnational accessibility.” Discussed in this episode: Bookman, Mark, and Michael Gillan Peckitt. “Facing the COVID-19 crisis in Japan with a disability.” Japan Times, 30 March 2020. Bookman, Mark. “Paralympics as Possibility.” TEDxFulbrightTokyo, March 2019.  

4/4/20 • 32:38

This episode features historian Thomas David DuBois, who is currently Professor of Humanities at Beijing Normal University. Thomas discusses his original reasons for studying China, the application of historical anthropology in his work, his interest and work in Chinese food, the effect of the death of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain had on his thinking about human relations and food, and finally thoughts on living under the current circumstances of coronavirus and quarantine in Beijing.  Publications discussed in this episode: DuBois, Thomas David. Empire and the Meaning of Religion in Northeast Asia: Manchuria 1900–1945 (Cambridge, 2017). DuBois, Thomas David, and Jan Kiely, eds. Fieldwork in Modern Chinese History: A Research Guide (Routledge, 2019). Feng, Jin. Tasting Paradise on Earth: Jiangnan Foodways (University of Washington Press, 2019).

3/25/20 • 32:21

In this episode of Asian Ethnology Podcast, McComas Taylor, Associate Professor and Reader in Sanskrit at the Australian National University, discusses how his research lies at the intersection of contemporary critical theory and Sanskrit narrative texts. What makes these texts powerful? What makes them authoritative? What makes them worth copying out by hand century after century? In exploring these questions, he discusses how he applied an ethnographical approach to working on The Bhagavatapurana, interviewing audiences and performers and applying performance theory (published as Seven Days of Nectar: Contemporary Oral Performance of the Bhagavatapurana, Oxford University Press, 2016). He also talks about teaching Sanskrit as a living tradition, and teaching the language online. Publication discussed in this episode Taylor, McComas. Seven Days of Nectar: Contemporary Oral Performance of the Bhagavatapurana. Oxford University Press, 2016.   Music used with kind permission of the performer, shamisen master Koji Yamaguchi. Copyright 2020 by Asian Ethnology Podcast

3/4/20 • 10:55

This Asian Ethnology Podcast episode features Roald Maliangkay of the Korea Institute at the ANU College of Asia & the Pacific. In this episode, Roald talks about  his interest in anti-Japanese folksongs in Korea during the colonial period as well as K-Pop and the contemporary scene. He discusses about his monograph, Broken Voices: Postcolonial Entanglements and the Preservation of Korea's Central Folksong Traditions (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2017), and how Japanese colonial rule affected cultural policy, the system of preservation, and the way in which music is conceived and performed. He also talks about how he  applies the concept of “cultural cringe” in the context of Korean society.  

2/17/20 • 24:55

This episode’s guest is Tom Bauerle, the author of Kanashibari: True Encounters with the Paranormal in Japan. Although this is not an academic work, the author discusses the folkloric elements of ghost stories, in addition to presenting some of the content of his book. 

1/22/20 • 29:07

Interviewer: Ben Dorman, co-editor Asian Ethnology Recorded 22 March 2018, Washington D.C.   This episode's guest is Guha Shankar, Folklife Specialist at the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Asian Ethnology Editorial Board. Episode Summary   Intro :32 Association with Frank Korom, co-editor of Asian Ethnology 3:50 The story behind the film Hosay Trinidad 6:20 Graduate studies in anthropology 11:06 Work at the American Folklife Center; how the Center has evolved 16:15 Resources at the Center 28:00  Publications and films discussed in this episode Film Bishop, John and Korom, Frank J. Hosay Trinidad. Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources, 1999. Music used with kind permission of the performer, shamisen master Koji Yamaguchi. Copyright 2019 by Asian Ethnology Podcast

8/26/19 • 32:09

Intro :35 Religion in contemporary Japan since the publication of Religion in Contemporary Japan (1991) 4:15 Lack of evidence concerning “new spirituality movements”; the importance of considering decline in popularity of religion 5:45 Revisiting Agonshū since the death of the founder; work with religious studies scholar Erica Baffelli 11:39 Transformation of Agonshū founder and leader Kiriyama into “the second Buddha”; the aging of Agonshū 13:40 Problems with the category of Japanese “new religions” 15:15 Issues related to succession after the death of the founder; commemoration, veneration, and implicit nationalism in Agonshū 19:50 Work on Aum Shinrikyō and the impact of the Aum affair of 1995; religion and violence 25:05 Religions, mind control, and the “anti-cult” movement in Japan 28:08 Outro 28:36

12/16/18 • 28:37

This episode's guests are Ian Reader, professor emeritus of The University of Manchester, and Erica Baffelli, senior lecturer in Japanese Studies who is also at The University of Manchester. Ian Reader's work on Aum Shinrikyō is widely known in Japan and overseas. Erica Baffelli is also well-known for her work on media and post-Aum religions (Aleph and Hikari no Wa) as well as work with former Aum members. The interviews were conducted on 6 July, 2018, the day the Japanese government released news of the executions of the leader of Aum Shinrikyō, Asahara Shōkō, and 6 other major figures in the organization.

7/10/18 • 25:14

This episode's guest is Erica Baffelli, senior lecturer in Japanese Studies at The University of Manchester. Erica’s research interests include religion in contemporary Japan, new religions, religion and media, and religion, women and violence. She discusses her work interviewing members of Japanese new religions and the issues researchers face while producing research on these groups.    

7/4/18 • 41:59

In this second episode in the Editors’ Interviews, Ben Dorman discusses his research interest in Japanese new religions and media, and his experiences working as the associate editor for Asian Folklore Studies and Asian Ethnology.

3/26/18 • 24:09

Interviewer: Frank Korom, co-editor Asian Ethnology Recorded 24 March 2018, Washington DC Intro :59 Early interest in anthropology, folklore, and folklife; work at the Smithsonian Institution   2:23 Study at The University of Texas 3:42 Learning and speaking languages; return to the Smithsonian 11:18 Travel to Southeast Asia; programs at the Smithsonian; work on the Kammu  15:19 Move to Indiana University’s Research Center for Semiotics and Language Studies; Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and “Save Our Sounds” Project (Smithsonian) 21:10 Work at the office responsible for implementing UNESCO’s 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage 26:45 Negative “baggage” related to terms like folklore,” the introduction of “intangible cultural heritage,”and examples from different countries 34:55 Preserving intangible cultural heritage: Issues related to implementation 39:40 Outro 50:21                                                                                                    Music used with kind permission of the performer, shamisen master Koji Yamaguchi. Copyright 2019 by Asian Ethnology Podcast 

3/24/18 • 50:51

This episode's guest is Patrick McCartney, who is working on a post-doctoral project at the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, titled “Yoga Scapes: The Economics of Imagination and Utopian Aspirations of Transglobal Yoga in Japan.” Episode Summary Background on Patrick, his work and what it involves :37 Exploring Global Yoga or Yogaland 3:05 Comparing and Contrasting Yoga in Japan with Global Yoga 5:59 Yoga’s Influence Throughout the World 8:25 Why do People do Yoga 10:10 Defining Global Yoga 11:17 Yoga and Politics 13:15 What’s behind the names of Yoga Postures 15:12 Yoga in the Age of Social Media 17:11 Debate on Music Copyrights 18:52 Discussion on Yoga Facebook Groups 20:09 The Promise of Yoga 23:54 Yoga as a way of Life 26:19 Commercialization of Yoga 26:52 Researching Yoga in Japan 29:27 Copyright 2018 by Asian Ethnology Podcast

2/2/18 • 34:02

Interviewer: Ben Dorman, co-editor Asian Ethnology Recorded 10 December 2017, Kyoto, Japan This episode's guest is Joy Hendry, emeritus professor of anthropology at Oxford Brookes University. Joy discusses her experiences and research related to early childhood education in Japan in the early 1980s.  Episode Summary Intro 0:54 Reasons for doing research on early childhood education in Japan 2:05 Comparing Japanese and UK experiences, “Becoming Japanese” (see Publications listing below) 3:40 What is “Becoming Japanese”?; expectations on young children 11:25 Honne (“true face”) and tatemae (“façade”) 12:40 The role of teachers and differences experienced between Japan and the UK 16:09 “Special needs” 16:40 Outro 16:54 Publications mentioned in this episode Joy Hendry, Becoming Japanese: The World of the Pre-School Child (University of Hawaii Press, 1986) Kuroyanagi Tetsuko, Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window, Kodansha International (March 23, 2012)   Music used with kind permission of the performer, shamisen master Koji Yamaguchi. Copyright 2018 by Asian Ethnology Podcast

1/6/18 • 16:56

Interviewer: Ben Dorman, co-editor Asian Ethnology Recorded 9 July 2017, Nagoya, Japan This episode's guest is Clark Chilson, associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies, University of Pittsburgh. Clark discusses his experiences studying anthropology in Japan, his research interests that include secrecy and a form of Buddhist psychology called naikan ("introspection"), and his time working as the associate editor of Asian Folklore Studies, the predecessor of Asian Ethnology. Episode Summary Intro 0:41 Reasons for coming to Japan 2:23 Study in Japan 3:30 Approach to ethnographic fieldwork and the question of memory 4:20 Studying anthropology in Japan 5:49 Meeting and studying with Peter Knecht, professor of anthropology at Nanzan University and editor of Asian Folklore Studies; Peter’s influence 7:33 Move to religious studies at Lancaster University and study of secretive Pure Land Buddhist groups 11:00 Return to Japan to work at Nanzan as copy editor/associate editor of Asian Folklore Studies (and Japanese Journal of Religious Studies); the experience of journal work and the pursuit of the “perfect” issue 15:01 Reflections on journal experience in terms of personal scholarship and research 19:11 Move back to US; discussion on Secrecy’s Power (see Publications below); the consequences of secrecy 24:57 Work on the leadership of Ikeda Daisaku, leader of Sōka Gakkai; research and experience of psychotherapeutic practice of naikan (“introspection”) which grew out of Pure Land Buddhism 29:40 Work on special issue co-edited with Scott Schnell in honor of Peter Knecht; co-editing of Shamans in Asia with Peter Knecht 36:16 Outro 36:47 Publications mentioned in this episode Monograph Chilson, Clark. 2014. Secrecy's Power: Covert Shin Buddhists in Japan and Contradictions of Concealment. University of Hawai'i Press.  Edited volumes Chilson, Clark, and Scott Schnell, eds. Special Issue Honoring Professor Peter Knecht, editor of Asian Folklore Studies, 1980–2006. Asian Folklore Studies, vol. 66, 2006. Chilson, Clark, and Peter Knecht, eds. 2003. Shamans in Asia. Routledge.   Music used with kind permission of the performer, shamisen master Koji Yamaguchi. Copyright 2018 by Asian Ethnology Podcast    

1/6/18 • 36:48

The co-editor of Asian Ethnology, Ben Dorman, presents a brief history of the journal and the reasons for launching Asian Ethnology Podcast. Intro :22 History of journal :34 Former editor Peter Knecht Founding editor Matthias Eder, Folklore Studies Journal moves from China to Japan Support from Indiana University Folklore Institute, Asian Folklore Studies Move to Nanzan University Peter Knecht’s retirement; name change to Asian Ethnology  Reasons for launching Asian Ethnology Podcast 3:28 Outro 3:46 Music used with kind permission of the performer, shamisen master Koji Yamaguchi.

12/1/17 • 03:47

Interviewer: Ben Dorman, co-editor Asian Ethnology Recorded 29 June 2017, Nagoya, Japan This episode's guest is Keller Kimbrough, professor of Japanese at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Keller Kimbrough’s research interests include the literature and art of late-Heian, medieval, and early Edo-period Japan. He discusses, amongst other publications, his work in Asian Folklore Studies and Asian Ethnology. Episode Summary Intro 0:47 Reasons for studying Japanese literature 2:55 Discussion on “Preaching the Animal Realm in Medieval Japan” (see Publications listing below); how images of hells were used for financial gain 6:49 Challenges in obtaining permissions to print images 9:11 Discussion on “Bloody Hell! Reading Boys’ Books in Seventeenth-Century Japan” (see Publications listing below); “extravagant representational violence,” obsession with “media violence” going back centuries 14:46 Personal interest in “graphic” tales with action; the pleasure of “finding stories”; interest in kabuki and setsuwa (“spoken story”: genre of folktales, myths, legends); the story of “Little Yoshitsune Slays a Thousand”; parallels in contemporary literature and media 18:38 Discussion of Wondrous Brutal Fictions (see Publications listing below); late medieval oral tradition (sekkyō) adapted to puppet theatre (bunraku); “textual archeologist” 22:35 Current project – “samurai fiction” (kōwakamai warrior fiction); “pulp fiction” and the heroics of sacrifice 27:18 Future work – Monsters, Animals, and Other Worlds (see Publications listing below) and other projects 29:20 Interest in textual tradition and the culture of publishing 30:18 Outro 30:45 Publications mentioned in this episode Preaching the Animal Realm in Medieval Japan, Asian Folklore Studies 65-2. Bloody Hell! Reading Boys’ Books in Seventeenth-Century Japan, Asian Ethnology 74-1. Monsters, Animals, and Other Worlds: A Collection of Short Medieval Japanese Tales, Edited by Keller Kimbrough and Haruo Shirane, Columbia University Press (February 2018) Music used with kind permission of the performer, shamisen master Koji Yamaguchi. Copyright 2017 by Asian Ethnology Podcast  

11/30/17 • 30:43

This is the first of two episodes featuring interviews with the co-editors. Frank J. Korom discusses the influence of his immigration experience on his research, his work published in Asian Folklore Studies and Asian Ethnology, and the various research projects he has been involved with, including work as a museum curator.

11/27/17 • 39:45

Interviewer: Ben Dorman, co-editor Asian Ethnology Recorded 15 May 2017, Nagoya, Japan Peter Knecht was the editor of Asian Folklore Studies from 1980 until 2007. The journal changed its name to Asian Ethnology in 2008. Peter discusses the founding of the journal in China in 1942, when it was known as Folklore Studies. He talks about founding editor, Mathias Eder, and the journal's path from China to Japan.  Episode Summary Intro :37 Beginnings of journal; Mathias Eder's studies in Japan, Paris, and Berlin; Eder's move to China (Beijing) in 1938 4:46 Funding granted for small museum/editorial office 6:25 Eder’s sense of “mission” in terms of the journal; Wilhelm Schmidt and the founding of Anthropos; Eder’s acknowledgment of Schimdt; Schmidt’s contribution to anthropology 8:54 China under Japanese rule and Eder’s connections with Japanese folklorists; end of working in China for foreign missionaries in 1949; the journal going through a series of “rebirths” 19:10 Eder’s desire to return to China; SVD mission work; interest of Alois Pache (SVD and first president of Nanzan University) in the journal 25:07 1966 – Eder teaches at Indiana University; Richard Dorson proposes name change from Folklore Studies to Asian Folklore Studies 31:07 Funding from Indiana finishes; Eder moves to Nanzan; Peter’s initial connection to the journal 36:54 Peter’s personal justification for viewing journal work as “missionary work” – connection to the people and research interests 40:14 Involvement of Robert Reimer, SVD and former president of Nanzan University 44:07 For more information on Asian Ethnology, visit the site's About page.  Music used with kind permission of the performer, shamisen master Koji Yamaguchi.  Copyright 2017 by Asian Ethnology Podcast.

11/2/17 • 45:59

This episode's guest is Scott Schnell, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Iowa and the former co-editor of Asian Ethnology. Scott discusses his research interests and perspectives, his work on dissident writer and ethnographer, Ema Shū, and his research on matagi (bear hunters). Episode Summary Intro :43 Initial interest in Japan 1:54 Environmental issues, studies about mountain areas 3:43 Research in Furukawa, discussion about The Rousing Drum, rituals 8:20 Research on Ema Shū, published in Asian Folklore Studies 13:40 Local hunters as guides and intermediaries mountains as conduits female mountain deity (yama no kami) 17:00 Topic of matagi (traditional hunters) and their interest in environment represented through belief in yama no kami 20:07 Daily life of matagi 28:45 Ideas of Japanese people, environment, nature, limits of consumption 34:43 Aspects of current research Animism Attitudes toward matagi Ministry of Environment’s support of matagi Tourism 39:59 Doing fieldwork with bear hunters Skills of matagi used for search and rescue Research into matagi 47:16 Outro 47:40 Music used with kind permission of the performer, shamisen master Koji Yamaguchi. Copyright 2017 by Asian Ethnology Podcast

10/17/17 • 47:52