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.
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
(1/7) Keisuke Kinoshita’s 1957 film 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘰𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 (喜びも悲しみも幾歳月), also known as 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦, was shot at ten lighthouses across Japan. Kannonzaki Lighthouse, Kanagawa below on right, and more screenshots from the film in thread…
February 5, 2026 at 2:53 AM
(1/7) Keisuke Kinoshita’s 1957 film 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘰𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 (喜びも悲しみも幾歳月), also known as 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦, was shot at ten lighthouses across Japan. Kannonzaki Lighthouse, Kanagawa below on right, and more screenshots from the film in thread…
end of an era 😨
There won't be a conference tote bag for #AAS2026 in Vancouver—a rise in costs has put them beyond our budget. Instead, we'll be providing more refreshments for conference participants and encourage you to bring a bag of your own. Who has the most vintage AAS tote?
February 3, 2026 at 10:37 PM
end of an era 😨
Morishita Group, an absolute giant of the Japanese sex work and nightlife industry (soaplands, telekura, video boxes, Robot Restaurant etc) suddenly calls it quits (likely to avoid major legal jeopardy)
coki.jp/article/colu...
coki.jp/article/colu...
歓楽街の帝王・森下グループ「マリン」全店閉店の怪 総工費10億円の宮殿を捨ててまで撤退する理由 - coki (公器）
1月30日午後9時、列島を縦断するソープランドチェーン『マリングループ』が、たった一通のLINEメッセージでその歴史に幕を下ろした。運営するのは、かつて新宿・歌舞伎町のあらゆる利権を飲み込み、「史上最も成功した闇紳士」と呼ばれた男が率いる森下グループだ。
coki.jp
February 1, 2026 at 11:57 AM
Morishita Group, an absolute giant of the Japanese sex work and nightlife industry (soaplands, telekura, video boxes, Robot Restaurant etc) suddenly calls it quits (likely to avoid major legal jeopardy)
coki.jp/article/colu...
coki.jp/article/colu...
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
‘China’s gaokao factories and America’s college-industrial complex are not accidents. They are the logical outcome of a global system that has mistaken education for investment and human life for capital.’
@izading.bsky.social on China’s university entrance exam.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
@izading.bsky.social on China’s university entrance exam.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Iza Ding · Studying is harmful: China sits the Gaokao
In a country plagued by corruption, China’s national college entrance exam, the gaokao, is remarkably clean. ‘Open...
www.lrb.co.uk
January 30, 2026 at 7:57 PM
‘China’s gaokao factories and America’s college-industrial complex are not accidents. They are the logical outcome of a global system that has mistaken education for investment and human life for capital.’
@izading.bsky.social on China’s university entrance exam.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
@izading.bsky.social on China’s university entrance exam.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
Last week in Minnesota, I watched ordinary people risk their lives to protect their neighbors. In the process, they not only won a significant—though not final—victory against authoritarianism, they proved virtually every MAGA social theory wrong. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
January 27, 2026 at 1:06 PM
Last week in Minnesota, I watched ordinary people risk their lives to protect their neighbors. In the process, they not only won a significant—though not final—victory against authoritarianism, they proved virtually every MAGA social theory wrong. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
I can't vote, but this was fun
【衆院選2026】あなたにマッチする政党・候補者は？|朝日新聞「ボートマッチ」公開中
www.asahi.com/senkyo/votem...
☑️ 時限的又は恒久的に消費税率を引き下げるべきか？
☑️ 社会保険料を引き下げるべきか？.......etc
各候補者が回答したアンケートと同じ質問に答えることで、
1️⃣ 各政党との「一致度」をチェック
2️⃣ 各候補者の考え方との「一致度」をチェック
2026年衆院選は、2月8日投開票です。ぜひ投票時の参考にしてみてください。
www.asahi.com/senkyo/votem...
☑️ 時限的又は恒久的に消費税率を引き下げるべきか？
☑️ 社会保険料を引き下げるべきか？.......etc
各候補者が回答したアンケートと同じ質問に答えることで、
1️⃣ 各政党との「一致度」をチェック
2️⃣ 各候補者の考え方との「一致度」をチェック
2026年衆院選は、2月8日投開票です。ぜひ投票時の参考にしてみてください。
政党・候補者マッチング | 衆院選2026 朝日新聞ボートマッチ
朝日新聞ボートマッチでは、簡単な質問に答えることで、あなたの考え方とマッチする政党・候補者が分かります。2026年衆院選の候補者のアンケートのデータは、朝日新聞と東京大学・谷口研究室の共同調査を元にしています。
www.asahi.com
January 27, 2026 at 10:46 AM
I can't vote, but this was fun
glad Colbert is still on the air (for at least a little while longer)
youtu.be/ky5B7xrontY
youtu.be/ky5B7xrontY
Masked Secret Police Are Not Victims | The Truth About Alex Pretti | What Would The Founders Do?
YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
youtu.be
January 27, 2026 at 8:18 AM
glad Colbert is still on the air (for at least a little while longer)
youtu.be/ky5B7xrontY
youtu.be/ky5B7xrontY
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
I said this last time but their real position is “if you disagree with us we can kill you.”
January 24, 2026 at 11:56 PM
I said this last time but their real position is “if you disagree with us we can kill you.”
huh, looks like Typepad finally bit the dust. I guess WordPress is still going? too late to import my long dormant blog/galleries, but I may try manually via wayback machine
January 24, 2026 at 12:53 AM
huh, looks like Typepad finally bit the dust. I guess WordPress is still going? too late to import my long dormant blog/galleries, but I may try manually via wayback machine
nice new piece -- thanks, Paul!
My declaration for (particularly) Japan studies as the world burns.
If Japan is the future, why aren’t we more upset? - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
[…]
apjjf.org
January 24, 2026 at 12:46 AM
nice new piece -- thanks, Paul!
"...this idea of pushing for self-deportations has been popular for a really long time among people like Stephen Miller. And it was once just a fringe idea, and now it isn’t."
I recall Mitt Romney in 2012 saying it's his ideal strategy.
Good read on bad stuff tho...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/o...
I recall Mitt Romney in 2012 saying it's his ideal strategy.
Good read on bad stuff tho...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/o...
Opinion | Minneapolis Reveals Where Trump’s Deportation Agenda Is Going
www.nytimes.com
January 24, 2026 at 12:37 AM
"...this idea of pushing for self-deportations has been popular for a really long time among people like Stephen Miller. And it was once just a fringe idea, and now it isn’t."
I recall Mitt Romney in 2012 saying it's his ideal strategy.
Good read on bad stuff tho...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/o...
I recall Mitt Romney in 2012 saying it's his ideal strategy.
Good read on bad stuff tho...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/o...
one of the more aggressive earworm supermarket theme songs
January 14, 2026 at 1:21 PM
one of the more aggressive earworm supermarket theme songs
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
a few thoughts youtu.be/lERS4kJIQR8
Abolish ICE
YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie
youtu.be
January 8, 2026 at 1:42 AM
a few thoughts youtu.be/lERS4kJIQR8
maaan I still wish Bluesky let us turn off reposts for individual users (not just globally). some people incessantly re-up their own stuff but I don't want to completely mute or unfollow them -- I just don't need to see it over and over and over and over
January 8, 2026 at 8:43 AM
maaan I still wish Bluesky let us turn off reposts for individual users (not just globally). some people incessantly re-up their own stuff but I don't want to completely mute or unfollow them -- I just don't need to see it over and over and over and over
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
I wrote a book about January 6 and what I called the "slow civil war" in which it was a battle, called The Undertow. In 2022 Vanity Fair published an excerpt of the in-progress called "January 6 Was Only the Beginning." I think we really nailed that headline...
www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/06...
www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/06...
January 6 Was Only the Beginning
To Trump’s true believers, the insurrection was an act of faith, Ashli Babbitt is a martyr, and white is not only a race, but a spiritual state.
www.vanityfair.com
January 6, 2026 at 2:07 PM
I wrote a book about January 6 and what I called the "slow civil war" in which it was a battle, called The Undertow. In 2022 Vanity Fair published an excerpt of the in-progress called "January 6 Was Only the Beginning." I think we really nailed that headline...
www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/06...
www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/06...
holding strong at my personal ‘best lunch in Kyoto’ for a few years now
December 12, 2025 at 3:46 AM
holding strong at my personal ‘best lunch in Kyoto’ for a few years now
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
Ronald Purser in "Current Affairs": "AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself."
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself
Students use AI to write papers, professors use AI to grade them, degrees become meaningless, and tech companies make fortunes. Welcome to the death of higher education.
www.currentaffairs.org
December 5, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Ronald Purser in "Current Affairs": "AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself."
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
My first book, The Narrowing Sea: Fukuoka, Pusan, and the Rise and Fall of an Imperial Region is officially out today (Dec 2). It’s an urban history of empire, an imperial history of urbanization, and contains the histories of many people who moved across the Tsushima Straits btw 1876-1953.
December 2, 2025 at 8:50 AM
My first book, The Narrowing Sea: Fukuoka, Pusan, and the Rise and Fall of an Imperial Region is officially out today (Dec 2). It’s an urban history of empire, an imperial history of urbanization, and contains the histories of many people who moved across the Tsushima Straits btw 1876-1953.
Reposted by Nathaniel M. Smith
found someone for anthro, but looks like we also need someone for メディア文化論, another class thats been done by me or Oyama Shinji in the past. undergrad level, in Japanese. can be either spring or fall next year. please get in touch if you'd like to pick up a class in Kyoto!
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 25, 2025 at 10:55 PM
found someone for anthro, but looks like we also need someone for メディア文化論, another class thats been done by me or Oyama Shinji in the past. undergrad level, in Japanese. can be either spring or fall next year. please get in touch if you'd like to pick up a class in Kyoto!