Roger Brown
@rbjapan.bsky.social
1.2K followers 600 following 280 posts

Marine & Historian. Research modern Japanese political & intellectual history, also interested in military history & US-Japan relations. 専門は日本近現代政治思想史、軍事史と日米関係史にも興味がある。   researchmap.jp/Roger_Brown

Roger H. Brown is an American businessman, philanthropist, and academic administrator and former president of Berklee College of Music. Brown is also the co-founder of Bright Horizons and founder and chairman of the Salt Lick Incubator. .. more

Political science 38%
Engineering 28%
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rbjapan.bsky.social
Intro: I’ve written on the importance of Confucian concepts to Japanese nationalism & politics, culminating in a book (Yasuoka Masahiro and the Confucian Path Through Twentieth-Century Japan; under review); now working w/two colleagues translating & annotating Hirohito’s 1946 "monologue" on the war.

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

emilymatson.bsky.social
Next Friday at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies! @gwu1821.bsky.social

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

iwanami.co.jp
【本日発売】1940年夏、天皇の政治顧問である内大臣に木戸幸一が就任、11月には長年天皇を支えてきた英米協調派の元老西園寺公望が亡くなった。悪化する日米関係のなか交渉に最後の望みをかけた天皇が次第に開戦に傾いてゆく様を木戸と百武は複雑な思いで見守る。1941年秋、ついに天皇は交渉を断念、対米開戦を決断する。

百武三郎/古川隆久、茶谷誠一 編/NHK 編集協力
『百武三郎日記 侍従長が見た昭和天皇と戦争 2』

「百武三郎日記」(全三巻)特集ページ☞ www.iwanami.co.jp/news/n114334...

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

dfeds.bsky.social
A new essay from me synthesizing the rich body of media criticism in Japanese focused on the practice of "August journalism" (八月ジャーナリズム): the tendency for rehearsed, compressed, and hollowed-out coverage of war memory each August.

apjjf.org/2025/9/fedman
“August Journalism” Studies: Lessons in World War II Reporting from Japan’s Season of Remembrance - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
[…]
apjjf.org

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

emilymatson.bsky.social
“(WWII is) a really important part of the Communist Party’s legitimizing narrative as the leader of the Chinese people,” said Emily Matson, a scholar of modern Chinese history who teaches at Georgetown and George Washington universities.” apnews.com/article/chin...
China's military parade is a show of strength from a country devastated in World War II
Yang Huafeng, a 92-year-old Chinese army veteran, recalls the modest military presence at the founding of communist China in 1949.
apnews.com

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

dbfenthusiast.bsky.social
Took a walk around the navy yard today #photography

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

rbjapan.bsky.social
"In my mind, I'm gone ..."🎵

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

iwanami.co.jp
戦犯とは何だったのか?

8/25(月)19時より、ジュンク堂書店池袋本店にて、内海愛子『スガモプリズン――占領下の「異空間」』(岩波新書)刊行記念トークイベントを開催します。
戦後80年の節目、まさにスガモプリズンのあった池袋を会場とする本イベントへ、ぜひともお越しください。

お申込みはこちら
onlineservice.maruzenjunkudo.co.jp/products/j70...

emilymatson.bsky.social
I'm excited to share that my first monograph, "China's Date Debate: How Manchurian Scholars Rewrote World War II," is available for preorder through the University of Michigan Press, China Understandings Today series!

China’s Date Debate press.umich.edu/Books/C/Chin...
China’s Date Debate
China’s Date Debate is an in-depth investigation of the Chinese Communist Party’s remapping of China’s World War II timeline from eight years (1937-–1945) to fourteen years (1931–1945). Instead of the...
press.umich.edu

rbjapan.bsky.social
Historians hawking their wares...😊
iwanami.co.jp
二・二六事件直後の緊迫する政治状況のなか、侍従長に就任した百武三郎が、在任中に記録し続けた日記。昭和天皇は激動の時代にどう向き合ったのか?

先日おこなわれた紀伊國屋書店新宿本店での『百武三郎日記』刊行記念イベント時に収録した、編者の古川隆久さんと茶谷誠一さんのコメント動画を公開。同書の重要性の解説とともに、戦後80年を迎えたいま、あらためて読みたい書籍もご紹介いただきました。

動画本編☞ youtu.be/U65ORun69aM

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

iwanami.co.jp
二・二六事件直後の緊迫する政治状況のなか、侍従長に就任した百武三郎が、在任中に記録し続けた日記。昭和天皇は激動の時代にどう向き合ったのか?

先日おこなわれた紀伊國屋書店新宿本店での『百武三郎日記』刊行記念イベント時に収録した、編者の古川隆久さんと茶谷誠一さんのコメント動画を公開。同書の重要性の解説とともに、戦後80年を迎えたいま、あらためて読みたい書籍もご紹介いただきました。

動画本編☞ youtu.be/U65ORun69aM

rbjapan.bsky.social
Thanks. Yes, change was afoot but expectations and opportunities were still pretty limited. It's too bad Title Nine came too late to broaden your options.

rbjapan.bsky.social
It worked out for me, i.e., it wasn't my GPA that helped me get admitted to college. And it's another way to learn to fulfill your responsibilities (if done right).

rbjapan.bsky.social
Indeed. I didn't realize it wasn't a nationwide practice until I read your story and the one on the ourstate website. And it was a pretty cool gig for a teenager, as well as a good way to learn responsibility. But rather than follow my brother's example, I went from paperboy to jock.

rbjapan.bsky.social
My brother did this in High Point in the mid-70s (minus the camouflage); this brings back some memories, and it's interesting to learn the historical context for something we took for granted as normal.

rbjapan.bsky.social
Of course, this is just my impression and not based on research, so perhaps there is evidence of someone considering morale. But given the horrendous casualty rates suffered by line units, I don't know who they'd think there were fooling.

rbjapan.bsky.social
And this would apply to wounded who died aboard ship. Soldiers would surely be treated the same. In short, I doubt morale played a role. All of the island campaigns included hasty cemeteries (photos are numerous), and everyone could see their friends being killed and stacked in designate areas.

rbjapan.bsky.social
I think burial at see for Marines killed in amphibious assaults would have occurred as a practical reaction to circumstances, e.g., Marines killed wading ashore at Tarawa whose bodies washed out to see, where recovered there, and then taken aboard ship where burial at sea for sailors was common.

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

rbjapan.bsky.social
Eighty years ago today, Emperor Hirohito made the first of two “sacred decisions” to surrender. Drafting of the imperial rescript announcing his decision also began on 10 August. This essay discusses that process in connection to the ideas of one of those involved.

researchmap.jp/Roger_Brown/...
Roger Brown - “'Desiring to Inaugurate Great Peace': Yasuoka Masahiro, Kokutai Preservation, and Japan’s Imperial Rescript of Surrender" - Papers - researchmap
researchmap is an information sharing platform for the researchers. researchmap is provided by Japan Science and Technology Agency.
researchmap.jp

rbjapan.bsky.social
The National World War II Museum hosted a symposium on the 80th Anniversary of the end of the war in the Pacific with several solid panels, including this one with my once and (hopefully) future panel-mate Noriko Kawamura.

www.c-span.org/program/amer...
Gen. MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito's Relationship
Historians explored the relationship between Emperor Hirohito of Japan and American General Douglas MacArthur, and how that relationship changed during the American occupation of Japan (1945-52). The ...
www.c-span.org

rbjapan.bsky.social
Of course, a lot of the primary sources were also burned in 1945, so even if you use Japanese materials things have to be reconstructed. Good luck!