Chris Harding | Japanese History
@drchrisharding.bsky.social
Cultural historian & broadcaster based at the University of Edinburgh
Mainly now at Substack, Instagram and YouTube
👉 https://linkin.bio/chrisharding/
Christopher Harding is a cultural historian of modern India and Japan, lecturer in Asian history at the University of Edinburgh, broadcaster and journalist. His series on culture and mental health, The Borders of Sanity, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service in 2016. .. more
Political science
45%
Economics
14%
Pinned
Pride of place this morning at our local @waterstones.bsky.social.
And no, I didn’t put it there… 😂
@hcaatedinburgh.bsky.social
And no, I didn’t put it there… 😂
@hcaatedinburgh.bsky.social
Ha! 😂
Can Vending Machines Save Japan?
Part II: Salvation Through Automation
www.chrishardingjapan.com
Japan is losing more than 2,000 people every day to population decline.
Is automation the answer?
This week's Substack post:
www.chrishardingjapan.com/p/can-vendin...
Is automation the answer?
This week's Substack post:
www.chrishardingjapan.com/p/can-vendin...
Can Vending Machines Save Japan?
Part I: Trust meets High Technology
www.chrishardingjapan.com
Japan's famous vending machines look like late 20th-century tech.
In fact, they're both decades and centuries older.
They may also hold the key to the country's future.
www.chrishardingjapan.com/p/can-vendin...
In fact, they're both decades and centuries older.
They may also hold the key to the country's future.
www.chrishardingjapan.com/p/can-vendin...
BREAKING: Sanae Takaichi has been elected leader of the LDP, and is set to become Japan’s first female prime minister.
Exciting times in Japan...
Reposted by Christopher Harding
BREAKING: Sanae Takaichi has been elected leader of the LDP, and is set to become Japan’s first female prime minister.
As part of Noh Reimagined 2025 curator Gina Buenfeld-Murley and Daiwa Scholarships alumnus @drchrisharding.bsky.social will discuss ‘Bashō’ (Plantain Tree) by Konparu Zenchiku (1405–1470), ahead of its first-ever performance outside Japan.
Fri, 28 Nov at 6pm:
www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/wor...
Fri, 28 Nov at 6pm:
www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/wor...
Pre-Performance Talk - Bashō: The Botanical Mind • Words • Kings Place
Gina Buenfeld-Murley, curator of the exhibition 'The Botanical Mind' at Camden Art Centre, joins Dr Christopher Harding, arts historian, to discuss the noh play 'Bashō' (Plantain Tree) by Konparu Zenc...
www.kingsplace.co.uk
Promises to be an interesting evening - do come!
Reposted by Christopher Harding
Pre-Performance Talk - Bashō: The Botanical Mind • Words • Kings Place
Gina Buenfeld-Murley, curator of the exhibition 'The Botanical Mind' at Camden Art Centre, joins Dr Christopher Harding, arts historian, to discuss the noh play 'Bashō' (Plantain Tree) by Konparu Zenc...
www.kingsplace.co.uk
As part of Noh Reimagined 2025 curator Gina Buenfeld-Murley and Daiwa Scholarships alumnus @drchrisharding.bsky.social will discuss ‘Bashō’ (Plantain Tree) by Konparu Zenchiku (1405–1470), ahead of its first-ever performance outside Japan.
Fri, 28 Nov at 6pm:
www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/wor...
Fri, 28 Nov at 6pm:
www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/wor...
From gangster to kingmaker: Kodama’s story is the focus for the second of my five essays on America's transformative occupation of Japan, from 1945 to 1952.
www.historywithchrisharding.com/p/the-gangster
www.historywithchrisharding.com/p/the-gangster
Arrested as a Class-A suspect, he was jailed in Sugamo Prison, where he befriended future PM Kishi Nobusuke.
Released in 1948 as US policy shifted, Kodama returned as kuromaku - funding and co-ordinating conservatives, liaising with the CIA, and helping to build the LDP.
Released in 1948 as US policy shifted, Kodama returned as kuromaku - funding and co-ordinating conservatives, liaising with the CIA, and helping to build the LDP.
Kodama Yoshio, born poor in Fukushima in 1911, became an ultranationalist adventurer.
He amassed a fortune in wartime China, from gems to precious metals, doing black-market deals with Nationalists and Communists alike and working as a fixer for the Imperial Japanese Navy.
He amassed a fortune in wartime China, from gems to precious metals, doing black-market deals with Nationalists and Communists alike and working as a fixer for the Imperial Japanese Navy.
In kabuki, kuromaku ('black curtain') are stagehands dressed in black who move sets unseen.
In politics, they are the unseen power-brokers: the kingmakers, the fixers, the invaluable intermediaries.
In politics, they are the unseen power-brokers: the kingmakers, the fixers, the invaluable intermediaries.
Japan's LDP leadership election is underway & 'kuromaku' culture is in full swing - the shadowy power behind the curtain.
One of the earliest practitioners, right after WWII, was the gangster & ultranationalist Kodama Yoshio, who helped lay the foundations of the LDP.
A 🧵
One of the earliest practitioners, right after WWII, was the gangster & ultranationalist Kodama Yoshio, who helped lay the foundations of the LDP.
A 🧵
Tourists love Japan, but under the surface it’s a Land of Rising Anger
Nationalism and discontent are bubbling over in this country of high taxes and resentment against its sometimes obnoxious visitors
www.thetimes.com
‘The sense in Japan of a society and culture under threat and in need of defending is set to be a potent force in politics for a good while to come.’
My piece for @thetimes.com today:
www.thetimes.com/world/asia/a...
My piece for @thetimes.com today:
www.thetimes.com/world/asia/a...
How Can Japanese Philosophy Help Us To Live Well?
An Interview with Takeshi Morisato
www.historywithchrisharding.com
For more on how Japanese philosophy can help us live well, watch or listen to my conversation with @takeshimorisato.bsky.social.
👉 www.historywithchrisharding.com/p/how-can-ja...
👉 www.historywithchrisharding.com/p/how-can-ja...
From this outlook came 4 aesthetics:
✨ Yūgen: a mysterious sense of the other side.
💧 Mono no aware: the pathos of fragility and everything passing away.
🍵 Wabi-sabi: beauty in (apparent) imperfection & incompleteness.
🍂 Iki: elegance with restraint/understatement.
✨ Yūgen: a mysterious sense of the other side.
💧 Mono no aware: the pathos of fragility and everything passing away.
🍵 Wabi-sabi: beauty in (apparent) imperfection & incompleteness.
🍂 Iki: elegance with restraint/understatement.
Unlike Western philosophy, which often seeks universal truth, Japanese thought has leaned more toward:
• imperfection
• finality
• particularity
• imperfection
• finality
• particularity
At its roots are 3 traditions:
🌿 Shinto mythology (indigenous, ritual & nature-based)
📜 Confucianism & Taoism (imported from China)
🪷 Buddhism (via people, texts & art making their way into Japan from mainland Asia)
Japan wove these threads together in remarkable ways.
🌿 Shinto mythology (indigenous, ritual & nature-based)
📜 Confucianism & Taoism (imported from China)
🪷 Buddhism (via people, texts & art making their way into Japan from mainland Asia)
Japan wove these threads together in remarkable ways.
One of the things that first drew me to Japan was its philosophy: growing out of myths, rituals and an awareness of impermanence, and worked into everyday life & art.
A short 🧵 for anyone new to this...
@takeshimorisato.bsky.social
A short 🧵 for anyone new to this...
@takeshimorisato.bsky.social
Looking forward to chatting with you about it soon, Ginny!
Reposted by Christopher Harding
The first day of the post-Ishiba era | Today in Japanese Politics
The LDP leadership race takes shape
open.substack.com
A new Today in Japanese Politics: The first candidates announce their intentions as the LDP debates how to elect a new leader. Plus, a milestone meeting of defense ministers in Seoul. open.substack.com/pub/observin...
Anger in Japan after Instagrammer drinks burial site offering
On Tuesday, the Australian Embassy warned on Facebook that travelers must ensure 'appropriate behavior' while visiting Japan, without explicitly referring to the incident.
www.japantimes.co.jp
Another one for the 'and they wonder why Japanese people don't like tourists' file...
www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/09...
www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/09...
Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba resigns
The prime minister had struggled to inspire confidence as Japan faced economic headwinds.
www.bbc.co.uk
Ishiba is off!
Japan's PM is stepping down, following two disastrous sets of election results on his watch.
A battle for the soul of the LDP - still Japan's largest party, despite its recent woes - ensues.
Backstory:
www.historywithchrisharding.com/p/rise-of-th...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Japan's PM is stepping down, following two disastrous sets of election results on his watch.
A battle for the soul of the LDP - still Japan's largest party, despite its recent woes - ensues.
Backstory:
www.historywithchrisharding.com/p/rise-of-th...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
7/
For deeper coverage, follow:
@nickkapur.bsky.social
@mrjeffu.bsky.social
@unseenjapan.com
And for my own take, as a cultural historian: www.historywithchrisharding.com/p/rise-of-th...
For deeper coverage, follow:
@nickkapur.bsky.social
@mrjeffu.bsky.social
@unseenjapan.com
And for my own take, as a cultural historian: www.historywithchrisharding.com/p/rise-of-th...
6/
- Emperor restored as head of state
- Rights curtailed
- Pacifism abandoned
- Controls over media and education.
Some outlets report that Sanseito is in favour of Japan having nuclear weapons.
- Emperor restored as head of state
- Rights curtailed
- Pacifism abandoned
- Controls over media and education.
Some outlets report that Sanseito is in favour of Japan having nuclear weapons.
5/
Opposition to same-sex marriage, LGBT rights and migration isn't uncommon in Japan.
But Sanseito have been accused of peddling conspiracy theories and their ideas for replacing Japan's American-authored constitution are pretty dramatic:
Opposition to same-sex marriage, LGBT rights and migration isn't uncommon in Japan.
But Sanseito have been accused of peddling conspiracy theories and their ideas for replacing Japan's American-authored constitution are pretty dramatic:
4/
... but what kind of balance will it now be?
One of the insurgent parties is the pragmatic centre-right 'Democratic Party for the People (DPFP)'.
The other is Sanseito - and their rise is sparking real alarm.
... but what kind of balance will it now be?
One of the insurgent parties is the pragmatic centre-right 'Democratic Party for the People (DPFP)'.
The other is Sanseito - and their rise is sparking real alarm.
3/
The upshot:
After the recent Upper House election, and for the first time since its founding, the LDP along with its coalition partner Komeito hold no majority in EITHER house of parliament.
A major shift in Japan’s political balance.
The upshot:
After the recent Upper House election, and for the first time since its founding, the LDP along with its coalition partner Komeito hold no majority in EITHER house of parliament.
A major shift in Japan’s political balance.
2/
Frustrated voters, including younger Japanese who came of age during the slow-growth era are helping to catapult new parties into the limelight.
They're angry at stagnant wages, high taxes, expensive essentials (eg rice) and - in some cases - foreigners.
Frustrated voters, including younger Japanese who came of age during the slow-growth era are helping to catapult new parties into the limelight.
They're angry at stagnant wages, high taxes, expensive essentials (eg rice) and - in some cases - foreigners.
1/
Postwar Japanese politics has been dominated by the Liberal Democratic Party - rarely out of power since 1955.
Things have been rocky for them since the 1990s - slow growth, epic corruption - but Japan’s opposition parties have struggled to unite and impress.
Postwar Japanese politics has been dominated by the Liberal Democratic Party - rarely out of power since 1955.
Things have been rocky for them since the 1990s - slow growth, epic corruption - but Japan’s opposition parties have struggled to unite and impress.
For someone not previously much interested in Japanese politics, the last few weeks and months have been fascinating - and maybe historic.
A short 🧵 for anyone curious about what's going on.
A short 🧵 for anyone curious about what's going on.