Podcasts, Videos, and other Media
19 March 2024
I was consulted for and quoted in a NYTimes article on the FBI’s recovery of a number of Ryukyuan royal treasures which surfaced in Mass. after being missing since 1945. Statements of mine in this article were then requoted in a piece in Smithsonian Magazine.
Getting to Know Japan: The History of Okinawa and the Ryukyu Kingdom
22 June 2023
I was honored to be invited to present a brief overview of Ryukyuan history for YCAPS, the Yokosuka Council on Asia Pacific Studies.
May 2023
Article in e-Bulletin of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts & Cultures (SISJAC), summarizing a talk by Ayelet Zohar (Tel Aviv U.) on ‘The Agony of Okinawa: Mao Ishikawa’s “The Great Photographic Scroll of the Ryūkyū”’.
Hatoma-Bushi
Dec 2020
Transcription and translation of lyrics, and research for notes on song “Hatoma-bushi,” for music compilation Excavated Shellac: An Alternate History of the World’s Music (1907-1967) by Jonathan Ward.
Short presentation on Shuri Castle Kobikishiki and Ritual Traditions
6 Aug 2020
A short video I recorded and shared as a final project for the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures 2020 Online Summer Programme, reflecting on themes of cultural heritage in the particular case of the Kobikishiki 木曵式, or “Tree-Felling” ritual performed in conjunction with the 1989-1992 restoration of Shuri castle.
Podcast: Japan on the Record
12 Feb 2020
Dr. Tristan Grunow generously invited me to talk with him about the Oct 2019 destruction of Shuri castle in Okinawa and the devastating impact of the loss of hundreds of cultural artifacts, along with plans to reconstruct the castle.
5 Nov 2019
Article published in Apollo: The International Art Magazine, discussing the history and cultural significance of Shuri castle (Sui gusuku) following the fire which destroyed the central palace structures on Oct 31, 2019.
Channel News Asia, “News Briefs”
31 Oct 2019.
Brief media appearance on Singapore-based television news program, talking about the fire at Shuri castle that day. (no video)
Okinawan Art Today
1 March 2017
A talk I gave on Okinawan art then-currently on view in Naha, Okinawa, in Fall 2016 - Spring 2017, as part of a symposium/event called “Love, Peace, Dreams, and Bombs,” held at UC Santa Barbara and co-organized with Naoya Matsushima, Carl Gabrielson, A. Colin Raymond, and Yumiko Glover.
近世琉球史を、江戸との関わりから見つめる
モモト 29 (Jan 2017)
I was honored to be interviewed for an article in the Okinawan magazine Momoto, from a thematic issue on 「外国人が見た沖縄」(“Why I Love Okinawa: A Foreigner’s Point of View”).
Nubui Kuduchi: A Journey Through Okinawan Music
Mixcloud recording from 2016, when I guest-hosted a two-hour slot on UC Santa Barbara’s campus radio station, KCSB. An introduction to a sampling of Okinawan music, from classical to folk to pop/rock.
“Picturing the Ryukyus”
12 Feb 2013
A brief video about an exhibit I co-curated with Prof. John Szostak at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Art Gallery, displaying 17-19th c. Japanese prints and paintings of Ryukyuan subjects, all from the University of Hawaiʻi Library Sakamaki-Hawley Collection.
A 1710 Edo Nobori Scroll
11 Feb 2013
A talk given at “Interpreting Parades and Processions of Edo Japan” symposium held by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Okinawan Studies in conjunction with the “Picturing the Ryukyus” exhibition mentioned above.