Roger Brown
banner
rbjapan.bsky.social
Roger Brown
@rbjapan.bsky.social

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%
Pinned
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.

常に忠誠を!Happy Birthday!

Official photograph of this year's one-man Marine Corps Ball (not many fellow Marines hanging around in Gunma).

Happy 250th Birthday, Marines! Semper Fi!

Photo: LST at sea, 1988.

Same here.

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

"For anyone who doubts that Trump is contemplating a monarchical reign, consider how very far down that road he already is."

From a hero of democracy, retired federal judge J. Michael Luttig.

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
President for Life
Donald Trump is trying to amass the powers of a king.
www.theatlantic.com

A recent two-part NHK documentary on the kamikaze (in English).

www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/...
Kamikaze: An untold History Part 1 - KAMIKAZE: An Untold History | NHK WORLD-JAPAN
www3.nhk.or.jp

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

New #AsiaNow post: Paul D. Barclay remembers his mentor and friend, Byron K. Marshall of the University of Minnesota, who passed away last month.
In Memoriam: Byron K. Marshall (1936–2025) - Association for Asian Studies
Byron K. Marshall, Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota, passed away on September 19, 2025. He was a beloved mentor, teacher, and friend. Byron “Budd” Marshall taught in the history…
www.asianstudies.org

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

Thrilled to announce the publication of my article "The Invention of the Kamikaze: Dissent and Resistance in the Japanese Military" in the October issue of the Journal of Military History!

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

【手書き戦争史料をAIで解読】先の大戦で最前線の将兵らが書き残した貴重な史料を、先端技術を使って解読するプロジェクトが、防衛省防衛研究所で進められている。手書きの史料には判読が困難な崩し字や走り書きのものが多く、解明が滞っていたが、新たにAIを使って判読の精度と効率を高める手法を導入。史料をテキスト化し、将来的にはネット上での一般公開を目指しており、新たな史実の発見も期待される。
手書き戦争史料をAIで解読 防衛研がプロジェクト…ネット検索容易に 新史実発見も期待
先の大戦で最前線の将兵らが書き残した貴重な史料を、先端技術を使って解読するプロジェクトが、防衛省防衛研究所(防衛研)で進められている。手書きの史料には判読が困…
www.sankei.com

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

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

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

【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

Showboat

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

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

“(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

Took a walk around the navy yard today #photography
A new book on #Shinto and famous #Kokugaku scholar Hirata Atsutane 平田篤胤 (1776-1843) has just been published open access and free for download by the preeminent historian Dr. Ann Walthall! You can check it out here: www.fulcrum.org/concern/mono...
In the Presence of Gods and Spirits: Hirata Atsutane and His Collaborators
<I>In the Presence of Gods and Spirits </I>brings to life the early nineteenth-century Japanese religious leader and scholar Hirata Atsutane, whose fear of Russian incursion onto Japan's soil led him ...
www.fulcrum.org

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

The gift link didn’t work last time.

Hopefully it does this time…

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
I’m a Historian. I See Reason to Fear—And to Hope.
We can’t assume that all will be fine in the end, but history shows us that times of unrest are opportunities, too.
www.theatlantic.com

"In my mind, I'm gone ..."🎵

Reposted by Roger H. Brown

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...

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

Historians hawking their wares...😊
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

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

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.

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).

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.

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.

"see"→sea

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.