From 2004-2024 the author introduced Japan to visiting foreign officials for the government foreign aid agency Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). From 2020, when JICA could not bring participants to Japan, his recorded presentation by Zoom was shown at JICA branches abroad. Now, JICA has released the 98-minute recording from exclusive…[Read more]

This chapter argues that women’s most prominent role in ancient Japanese manuscript cultures was not as authors of texts but as patrons. Women likely commissioned the transcription of tens of thousands of scrolls of Buddhist scripture. They also produced short inscriptions, in colophons and on clay and other materials, that documented their p…[Read more]

Due to the peculiar nature of the Chinese writing system, it is difficult to assess the pronunciation of historical varieties of Chinese. In order to reconstruct ancient pronunciations, historical glossing practices play a crucial role. However, although studied thoroughly by numerous scholars, most research has been carried out in a qualitative…[Read more]

This chapter traces the eventful biography of Steve McCarty vis-à-vis Japan. The story spans decades from graduate school specializing in Japan to discovering an astonishing syncretism of Asian religions. Along the way, the author gained a Japanese family and became a rare foreign full professor in 1993. Anecdotes vividly portray daily life,…[Read more]

This chapter traces the eventful biography of Steve McCarty vis-à-vis Japan. The story spans decades from graduate school specializing in Japan to discovering an astonishing syncretism of Asian religions. Along the way, the author gained a Japanese family and became a rare foreign full professor in 1993. Anecdotes vividly portray daily life,…[Read more]

The investigation of language-internal cognates and word families in Chinese plays a central role in enhancing our understanding of Old Chinese phonology and morphology, as well as constituting a key element for fostering our knowledge of the history of Sino-Tibetan languages. Here we provide an overview of common challenges encountered when…[Read more]

Poet-Monks focuses on the literary and religious practices of Buddhist poet-monks in Tang-dynasty China to propose an alternative historical arc of medieval Chinese poetry. Combining large-scale quantitative analysis with close readings of important literary texts, Thomas J. Mazanec describes how Buddhist poet-monks, who first appeared in the…[Read more]

The essay is the second of a projected series of essays collectively entitled ‘The Uesugi: a study of a Japanese warrior family’s political and military involvement in eastern Japan, 1252-1455’. It examines the Uesugi family’s military activities during the first fourteen years of the conflict that broke out between Emperor Godaigo and the Ash…[Read more]

A survey of Buddhism in Japan from roughly the time of its introduction into the mid-ninth century. The following topics are covered:
The Introduction of Buddhism to Japan – Transmission Myths – The Myth of Prince Shōtoku – The Myth of a Buddhist-Shintō Rivalry – Temples in and around the Capital – Provincial Temples – The Order of Nuns – Female…[Read more]

Three consecutive patriarchs of Esoteric Buddhism were Amoghavajra of India, Huiguo of China, and Kūkai of Japan. This paper foregrounds the usually taken-for-granted but vital historical role of language education and translation in the international spread of religion and culture. There had to be sufficiently educated bilingual or multilingual…[Read more]

Three consecutive patriarchs of Esoteric Buddhism were Amoghavajra of India, Huiguo of China, and Kūkai of Japan. This paper foregrounds the usually taken-for-granted but vital historical role of language education and translation in the international spread of religion and culture. There had to be sufficiently educated bilingual or multilingual…[Read more]

Highlights recent research on the cognitive-social media and big data analytics Presents transdisciplinary research on big data analytics Provides a comprehensive overview of the theory and praxis of big data analytics

Within this chapter I evaluate the still unfolding evolution of digital resources in the case of museum and archive practice related to Nagasaki and their suitability in assisting in the task of teaching the difficult history of the atomic bombing. Memorial museums do exist to convince, and to assist the public in recalling public and collective…[Read more]

The formalization of sound changes as finite state transducers is implicit already in the Neogrammarians. For at least six decades scholars have recognized the potential of transducers for improving the speed and rigor of research in historical linguists, but almost no historical linguists actually use them. This article identifies the obstacles…[Read more]

For a long time, metaphors have played an important role in depicting language history. In this study, we contrast early metaphors on language history, such as the family tree or the wave model, with recent metaphors that were popularized after the quantitative turn, such as forests of trees or phylogenetic networks. Speculating about metaphors…[Read more]

Slideshow for a forthcoming invited presentation. ABSTRACT: Podcasting originated as a new form of audio broadcasting, but by 2006, issues of ease of use, proprietary technology, and finances slowed its momentum. Now podcasting is more popular than ever. This presentation therefore traces the author’s initial and current CALL podcasting p…[Read more]

Two sections of a book comparing creation myths from ancient Greece and Rome with their Japanese counterparts from the early 8th Century Kojiki (古事記, “Records of Ancient Matters”). These fusion essays are summations of previous book sections by Greek and Japanese authors on the elements of fire and air, respectively, and, drawing from Plato and J…[Read more]

This paper renders the ancient folktale ‘Ama’ (Woman Diver) into English, investigates its origins, and interprets its timeless significance. From a prehistoric oral tradition, it evolved into a temple chronicle and a Noh play. The paper includes a summary in Japanese, and all the references are in Japanese. With a moving story and vivid…[Read more]

This paper renders the ancient folktale ‘Ama’ (Woman Diver) into English, investigates its origins, and interprets its timeless significance. From a prehistoric oral tradition, it evolved into a temple chronicle and a Noh play. The paper includes a summary in Japanese, and all the references are in Japanese. With a moving story and vivid…[Read more]