When Japan began its drive toward monarchy in the aftermath of the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the leaders of the “New Japan” dusted off the monarchy and made it the axis of the national unity which they sought to achieve. The Meiji Constitution of 1889 placed the emperor at the center of the political process. […]
Meiji at 150 Kick-Off Party Date: Friday, September 29 Time: 5:30 – 7:30 PM Venue: C. K. Choi Building First Floor Foyer (1855 West Mall) Everyone is welcome! For more information, please contact Professor Shigenori Matsui at 604 822 4688 or cjr.iar@ubc.ca
Excrement was a hot commodity in the cities of nineteenth-century Japan. The widespread use of night soil as an organic fertilizer meant that residents of cities such as Tokyo and Osaka could sell their waste rather than simply dispose of it. Thanks to this trade, pre–twentieth-century cities Japanese cities enjoy a reputation as having been […]
Each New Year, Japan’s imperial court hosts a ceremony for members of the imperial family and general public to read waka poems they had composed on a preannounced theme. The Utakai hajime ceremony which had previously been conducted exclusively within the court began in the Meiji Period (1868-1912) to accept poems from the general […]
This talk starts from the premise that we should take synchrony seriously—that co-movements in places and social domains we have assumed to be separate may offer clues to unexpected unities. The global contexts of Japan’s Meiji revolution invite this type of approach. To grasp the co-development of global and domestic histories, this talk investigates three […]
This event has been cancelled, and will be rescheduled TBA. “Living in the Face of Death: Martial Mindfulness in Modern Japan” Christopher Goto-Jones Dean of Humanities Professor of Philosophy University of Victoria This event is jointly sponsored by the UBC Meiji at 150 Committee, Centre for Japanese Research, Department of History and Department of […]
Image: Kusakabe Kimbei, The Kusakabe studio on Honchō-dōri, Yokohama. ca. 1895. James Davidson collection (a033361). Courtesy of UBC Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, Canada Photography・Modernity・Japan ― 写真・モダニティ・日本 Wednesday, January 31, 2018 At the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver The history of photography in Japan is coterminous with that of modernity. It was […]
The social and political importance of families and family continuity transcended the Tokugawa-Meiji divide. This talk focuses on a common strategy for preserving a family line: the adoption of heirs, especially the adoption of sons-in-law. While the practice of son-in-law adoption remained frequent from Tokugawa to Meiji, the legal, ideological, and sociocultural context in which […]
“Illumination and its Discontents: Electricity Theft and the Political Economy of Japanese Energy” Ian J. Miller Professor Department of History Harvard University How did the world’s third-largest economy, Japan, become addicted to fossil fuels? The first non-Western nation to industrialize—a process driven by calories from coal and calories from bodies—the country […]
View of Ginza Main Street, looking north towards 3-chōme and 4-chōme, circa 1895, from atop the Hattori Clock Tower. Note the Kyōya Clock Co. Ginza clock tower and the Iwaya Shōkai tobacco store on the right. Image courtesy the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, James Davidson collection, Rooftop view of city […]
Lecture Series: “The Monarchy in Modern Japan, With a Special Focus on the Abdication Issue” by Dr. Ken Ruoff
History Colloquium: “Illumination and its Discontents: Electricity Theft and the Political Economy of Japanese Energy”
Faculty of Art