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.
this line must have felt irresistible
"...a nationwide surge of aggression by bears that is testing Japan’s traditional belief in harmonious coexistence with nature."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/w...
"...a nationwide surge of aggression by bears that is testing Japan’s traditional belief in harmonious coexistence with nature."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/w...
The Hunt Is On for Bears in Japan After Deadly Attacks
www.nytimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:01 AM
this line must have felt irresistible
"...a nationwide surge of aggression by bears that is testing Japan’s traditional belief in harmonious coexistence with nature."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/w...
"...a nationwide surge of aggression by bears that is testing Japan’s traditional belief in harmonious coexistence with nature."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/w...
in case anyone is in Leiden tomorrow
www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/20...
www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/20...
National(ist) Media: Platform, Participation, and the Rise of Digital Populism in Japan
How did new digital forms of activism integrate with existing forms of activism and far-right media work in Japan? This talk introduces the media ecosystem inhabited by far-right activists at the turn...
www.universiteitleiden.nl
November 17, 2025 at 1:17 PM
in case anyone is in Leiden tomorrow
www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/20...
www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/20...
they said it couldn't be helped, but someone kept believing
November 9, 2025 at 5:04 AM
they said it couldn't be helped, but someone kept believing
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
Call for nominations for the Richard J. Samuels Dissertation Award in Japanese Studies from the United States-Japan Foundation (USJF). us-jf.org/en/news/usjf...
USJF Now Taking Nominations for Second Annual PhD Dissertation Award in Japanese Studies
USJF is accepting nominations for the 2026 Richard J. Samuels Dissertation Award in Japanese Studies, honoring excellence in social sciences research on Japan.
us-jf.org
November 7, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Call for nominations for the Richard J. Samuels Dissertation Award in Japanese Studies from the United States-Japan Foundation (USJF). us-jf.org/en/news/usjf...
ketchup, catsup
November 7, 2025 at 5:14 AM
ketchup, catsup
local academic types:
looking for a Kansai local who can teach Intro to Anthropology spring/fall 2026 term in English here at Ritsumeikan in the College of IR (Kinugasa campus NW Kyoto). flexible on which day of the week. students are very international and eager. enrollment ranges from 20-40.
looking for a Kansai local who can teach Intro to Anthropology spring/fall 2026 term in English here at Ritsumeikan in the College of IR (Kinugasa campus NW Kyoto). flexible on which day of the week. students are very international and eager. enrollment ranges from 20-40.
November 4, 2025 at 1:47 AM
local academic types:
looking for a Kansai local who can teach Intro to Anthropology spring/fall 2026 term in English here at Ritsumeikan in the College of IR (Kinugasa campus NW Kyoto). flexible on which day of the week. students are very international and eager. enrollment ranges from 20-40.
looking for a Kansai local who can teach Intro to Anthropology spring/fall 2026 term in English here at Ritsumeikan in the College of IR (Kinugasa campus NW Kyoto). flexible on which day of the week. students are very international and eager. enrollment ranges from 20-40.
nice condensed McLuhan clip for class this evening
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pco...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pco...
Marshall McLuhan 1965 - The Future of Man in the Electric Age
YouTube video by mywebcowtube
www.youtube.com
October 27, 2025 at 12:22 AM
nice condensed McLuhan clip for class this evening
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pco...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pco...
enjoyed this new-ish (but finally read by me) piece from Chigusa Yamaura
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
October 25, 2025 at 11:10 AM
enjoyed this new-ish (but finally read by me) piece from Chigusa Yamaura
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
stumbled into an 80s ambient industrial goth experimental music kissa in the Kyushu countryside
Nocturnal Emissions? Current 93? Throbbing Gristle? Controlled Bleeding?
✔️, ☑️, ✔️, and ☑️
(jazz too!)
Nocturnal Emissions? Current 93? Throbbing Gristle? Controlled Bleeding?
✔️, ☑️, ✔️, and ☑️
(jazz too!)
October 25, 2025 at 5:28 AM
stumbled into an 80s ambient industrial goth experimental music kissa in the Kyushu countryside
Nocturnal Emissions? Current 93? Throbbing Gristle? Controlled Bleeding?
✔️, ☑️, ✔️, and ☑️
(jazz too!)
Nocturnal Emissions? Current 93? Throbbing Gristle? Controlled Bleeding?
✔️, ☑️, ✔️, and ☑️
(jazz too!)
「激論」に激が多過ぎた論
October 25, 2025 at 5:22 AM
「激論」に激が多過ぎた論
one of the better sunsets I’ve seen of late
October 22, 2025 at 1:09 PM
one of the better sunsets I’ve seen of late
multi-year Blackwater mercenary seems bad enough, honestly
Ahh yes. The impossible standard of “don’t be a nazi.”
October 22, 2025 at 1:23 AM
multi-year Blackwater mercenary seems bad enough, honestly
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
Ishiba's address on the eightieth anniversary of the end of the war is really worth reading:
japan.kantei.go.jp/content/0001...
japan.kantei.go.jp/content/0001...
japan.kantei.go.jp
October 10, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Ishiba's address on the eightieth anniversary of the end of the war is really worth reading:
japan.kantei.go.jp/content/0001...
japan.kantei.go.jp/content/0001...
added to the list
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/b...
These New Yorkers Hated Fascists Before It Was Cool
www.nytimes.com
October 5, 2025 at 9:51 AM
added to the list
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/b...
oh woe the pain of booking hotels in Europe as someone paid in yen
October 4, 2025 at 11:58 PM
oh woe the pain of booking hotels in Europe as someone paid in yen
good workplaces host good deathmetal concerts
October 1, 2025 at 10:26 AM
good workplaces host good deathmetal concerts
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
Part of ICE’s efforts will be setting up random traffic stops and checkpoints throughout the city and making educated guesses about who to detain and who not to detain. These 'Guess Stops' will be staffed by special agents known as Guess Stop Officers, or 'Guess-Stop-O for short.
ICE’s Training Manual for Determining Who to Terrorize
“The Supreme Court on Monday lifted a federal judge’s order prohibiting government agents from making indiscriminate immigration-related stops in t...
buff.ly
September 27, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Part of ICE’s efforts will be setting up random traffic stops and checkpoints throughout the city and making educated guesses about who to detain and who not to detain. These 'Guess Stops' will be staffed by special agents known as Guess Stop Officers, or 'Guess-Stop-O for short.
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
The article @robfahey.net and I wrote on Sanseito is finally out (open access). We describe the party’s conspiracy worldview and how it shapes its policies and organizational features. I may do a thread to include the work I have done since finalizing the draft.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Fighting the Cabal from the Diet: Sanseitō and the Role of Conspiracy as Political Ideology | Asia-Pacific Journal | Cambridge Core
Fighting the Cabal from the Diet: Sanseitō and the Role of Conspiracy as Political Ideology - Volume 23
www.cambridge.org
September 24, 2025 at 12:03 PM
The article @robfahey.net and I wrote on Sanseito is finally out (open access). We describe the party’s conspiracy worldview and how it shapes its policies and organizational features. I may do a thread to include the work I have done since finalizing the draft.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
your balcony view (if you were the U.S. consul in Osaka)
September 19, 2025 at 12:26 PM
your balcony view (if you were the U.S. consul in Osaka)
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
The Republican reaction to Kirk’s murder has been a campaign of state repression that ends with Trumpist toadies deciding what Americans are allowed to think, do and say. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
September 18, 2025 at 3:38 PM
The Republican reaction to Kirk’s murder has been a campaign of state repression that ends with Trumpist toadies deciding what Americans are allowed to think, do and say. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
This is ofc a far greater attack on free speech than Kimmel going off the air
Immigration judge orders Mahmoud Khalil to be deported to Algeria or Syria
“It is no surprise that the Trump administration continues to retaliate against me for my exercise of free speech," Khalil, a former Columbia University grad student, said in a statement.
www.nbcnews.com
September 18, 2025 at 11:35 AM
This is ofc a far greater attack on free speech than Kimmel going off the air
towel‘s hot, summer‘s over
September 17, 2025 at 1:11 AM
towel‘s hot, summer‘s over
(for Kansai-area architecture nerds)
there is a neat house by Wakabayashi Hiroyuki for sale in southeast Kyoto:
suumo.jp/chukoikkodat...
there is a neat house by Wakabayashi Hiroyuki for sale in southeast Kyoto:
suumo.jp/chukoikkodat...
September 15, 2025 at 3:30 AM
(for Kansai-area architecture nerds)
there is a neat house by Wakabayashi Hiroyuki for sale in southeast Kyoto:
suumo.jp/chukoikkodat...
there is a neat house by Wakabayashi Hiroyuki for sale in southeast Kyoto:
suumo.jp/chukoikkodat...