Morgan Pitelka
@mpitelka.bsky.social
Historian of Japan, distinguished professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, specialist in material culture, urban history, environmental history; coeditor, Journal of Japanese Studies
New issue of the Journal of Japanese Studies is out! Highlights include articles on kanpu masatsu, war photography, empire paranoia, Italian-Japanese children's lit, Seidensticker’s style, and a bonus piece on Black Rain and ritual. Don’t miss it!
online.ucpress.edu
August 4, 2025 at 7:14 PM
New issue of the Journal of Japanese Studies is out! Highlights include articles on kanpu masatsu, war photography, empire paranoia, Italian-Japanese children's lit, Seidensticker’s style, and a bonus piece on Black Rain and ritual. Don’t miss it!
I was thrilled to work with Archaeology Magazine to help bring this story about Ichijōdani, the palace city from 16th-century Japan that I wrote about in _Reading Medieval Ruins_, come to life for their readers. Check it out! #archaeology #japan
Features - Lost City of the Samurai - Archaeology Magazine - May/June 2025
Archaeologists rediscover Ichijodani, a formidable stronghold that flourished amid medieval Japan’s brutal power struggles
archaeology.org
April 9, 2025 at 6:09 PM
I was thrilled to work with Archaeology Magazine to help bring this story about Ichijōdani, the palace city from 16th-century Japan that I wrote about in _Reading Medieval Ruins_, come to life for their readers. Check it out! #archaeology #japan
Reposted by Morgan Pitelka
Alexander Murphy won the 2024 Pyle Prize for his essay on rumor and radio in interwar Japan, praised for its innovative approach and concept of "paranoid listening."
Keisuke Yamada and Andrew Niess received an honorable mention for their essay on factory music and labor management in Japan.
Keisuke Yamada and Andrew Niess received an honorable mention for their essay on factory music and labor management in Japan.
March 26, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Alexander Murphy won the 2024 Pyle Prize for his essay on rumor and radio in interwar Japan, praised for its innovative approach and concept of "paranoid listening."
Keisuke Yamada and Andrew Niess received an honorable mention for their essay on factory music and labor management in Japan.
Keisuke Yamada and Andrew Niess received an honorable mention for their essay on factory music and labor management in Japan.
Excited for the Centennial Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America, starting tomorrow! I present on the archeology of late medieval Kyoto on a panel titled "Moving Earth, Rivers, & Waves: Medieval Archaeology in Japan." Thanks to Jon Thumas, our organizer, & fellow presenter Michelle Damian!
MAA 2025 Annual Meeting: Celebrating 100 Years | Department of History of Art and Architecture
haa.fas.harvard.edu
March 19, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Excited for the Centennial Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America, starting tomorrow! I present on the archeology of late medieval Kyoto on a panel titled "Moving Earth, Rivers, & Waves: Medieval Archaeology in Japan." Thanks to Jon Thumas, our organizer, & fellow presenter Michelle Damian!
For no particular reason, re-reading this article by Andrew Gordon and Michael Reich, "The Puzzle of Vaccine Hesitancy in Japan," from @jjs-jrnl.bsky.social (2021) 47 (2): 411–436: online.ucpress.edu/jjs/article-... (this is paywalled, so access through your university library if that's an option)
The Puzzle of Vaccine Hesitancy in Japan
A recent study concludes Japan has extremely low confidence in vaccines. We examine the history of vaccination in Japan over the past 150 years to assess this study’s claim of vaccine hesitancy. We fi...
online.ucpress.edu
February 27, 2025 at 4:36 PM
For no particular reason, re-reading this article by Andrew Gordon and Michael Reich, "The Puzzle of Vaccine Hesitancy in Japan," from @jjs-jrnl.bsky.social (2021) 47 (2): 411–436: online.ucpress.edu/jjs/article-... (this is paywalled, so access through your university library if that's an option)
CFP for an edited collection: “Japanese Video Games and Critiques of the Western Aesthetic Tradition.” call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/02/...
If interested, send abstract (300 words) & CV to DA Hall & Austin Anderson (japanesegamestudies@gmail.com) by 31 March 2025. Please share!
If interested, send abstract (300 words) & CV to DA Hall & Austin Anderson (japanesegamestudies@gmail.com) by 31 March 2025. Please share!
cfp | call for papers
call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu
February 10, 2025 at 3:43 PM
CFP for an edited collection: “Japanese Video Games and Critiques of the Western Aesthetic Tradition.” call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/02/...
If interested, send abstract (300 words) & CV to DA Hall & Austin Anderson (japanesegamestudies@gmail.com) by 31 March 2025. Please share!
If interested, send abstract (300 words) & CV to DA Hall & Austin Anderson (japanesegamestudies@gmail.com) by 31 March 2025. Please share!
The newest issue of @jjs-jrnl.bsky.social is live, w/ amazing articles on Zen violence & calligraphy, transnational Japanese cuisine, Genroku commercial fiction, pan-Asianism & imperialism in pop culture, fascism in Kimi no na wa, & hospitality in imperial Japan. Plus must-read book reviews!
February 7, 2025 at 4:20 AM
The newest issue of @jjs-jrnl.bsky.social is live, w/ amazing articles on Zen violence & calligraphy, transnational Japanese cuisine, Genroku commercial fiction, pan-Asianism & imperialism in pop culture, fascism in Kimi no na wa, & hospitality in imperial Japan. Plus must-read book reviews!
Hey Japanese studies friends: please follow the JJS here on BlueSky. Our new issue is now live!
The Journal of Japanese Studies’ Winter 2025 volume is now live! In addition to new-book reviews, find essays by Eugenia Bogdanova-Kummer, Samuel Yamashita, David Atherton, Christopher Smith, Andrea Germer, and Andrew Elliott. Visit online.ucpress.edu/jjs for more information.
February 6, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Hey Japanese studies friends: please follow the JJS here on BlueSky. Our new issue is now live!
Here at UNC-Chapel Hill, I have recently joined the Curriculum in Archaeology, which means I am affiliated with three different academic units. (Uh oh.) I'm excited to work with my new colleagues and students on global material culture, the history of ceramics, and medieval/historical archaeology.
Curriculum in Archaeology | Archaeology
archaeology.sites.unc.edu
November 15, 2024 at 5:27 PM
Here at UNC-Chapel Hill, I have recently joined the Curriculum in Archaeology, which means I am affiliated with three different academic units. (Uh oh.) I'm excited to work with my new colleagues and students on global material culture, the history of ceramics, and medieval/historical archaeology.
Reposted by Morgan Pitelka
Grateful for the MIT News covering the ongoing exhibit I’ve had the pleasure of curating:
news.mit.edu/2024/from-sa...
news.mit.edu/2024/from-sa...
Samurai in Japan, then engineers at MIT
A new exhibit at MIT, “From Samurai into Engineers,” explores the Institute’s first Japanese students, who arrived as MIT was taking flight and their own country was opening up.
news.mit.edu
November 15, 2024 at 1:45 AM
Grateful for the MIT News covering the ongoing exhibit I’ve had the pleasure of curating:
news.mit.edu/2024/from-sa...
news.mit.edu/2024/from-sa...
Reposted by Morgan Pitelka
I implore historians #skystorians, if you’re making starter packs for historical topics or time periods, remember that most of the world exists outside of the US and Western Europe, and they don’t only exist in relation to or intersection with “the West.”
November 9, 2024 at 1:54 PM
I implore historians #skystorians, if you’re making starter packs for historical topics or time periods, remember that most of the world exists outside of the US and Western Europe, and they don’t only exist in relation to or intersection with “the West.”
Reposted by Morgan Pitelka
My book _Reading Medieval Ruins_ uses archaeological and archival materials to tell the story of daily life and destruction in a late medieval palace city. In Japan! I had hoped it would get more attention from European medievalists but it’s hard to reach beyond the Asian studies bubble.
September 20, 2024 at 12:53 PM
My book _Reading Medieval Ruins_ uses archaeological and archival materials to tell the story of daily life and destruction in a late medieval palace city. In Japan! I had hoped it would get more attention from European medievalists but it’s hard to reach beyond the Asian studies bubble.
Reposted by Morgan Pitelka
The Journal of Japanese Studies is excited to announce that Coeditors Sabine Frühstück and Morgan Pitelka are now joined by Book Review Editor Jessamyn Abel from Penn State. The JJS is now published by UC Press; our new Managing Editor is David Staloch. Our new website is online.ucpress.edu/jjs/
The Journal of Japanese Studies | University of California Press
online.ucpress.edu
August 18, 2024 at 7:13 PM
The Journal of Japanese Studies is excited to announce that Coeditors Sabine Frühstück and Morgan Pitelka are now joined by Book Review Editor Jessamyn Abel from Penn State. The JJS is now published by UC Press; our new Managing Editor is David Staloch. Our new website is online.ucpress.edu/jjs/
Reposted by Morgan Pitelka
I had the chance to talk to Marco Werman on The World about the historical accuracy of Shōgun in the wake of the show’s many Emmy awards: theworld.org/segments/202...
'Shogun' TV series wins 18 Emmys - The World from PRX
The series “Shogun” has been a shocking success. The show, already popular with audiences, has now won a record-breaking number of Emmy’s. It’s also unique as the main characters speak in Japanese the...
theworld.org
September 20, 2024 at 12:50 PM
I had the chance to talk to Marco Werman on The World about the historical accuracy of Shōgun in the wake of the show’s many Emmy awards: theworld.org/segments/202...
Reposted by Morgan Pitelka
October 20, 2024 at 12:24 PM
My lab had the wonderful opportunity to examine and study a late Edo-period handscroll in the collection of @AcklandArt over the past year. Our team included undergrads, PhD students, and scholars from Japan. Check out the video about our research! youtu.be/8Tq9WkyhNuA?...
YouTube
Share your videos with friends, family, and the world
youtu.be
October 14, 2024 at 5:29 PM
My lab had the wonderful opportunity to examine and study a late Edo-period handscroll in the collection of @AcklandArt over the past year. Our team included undergrads, PhD students, and scholars from Japan. Check out the video about our research! youtu.be/8Tq9WkyhNuA?...
Reposted by Morgan Pitelka
Finally joining this side of social media! 👋 Special greetings to any fellow scholars in digital anthropology, Black Studies, and Japanese Studies!
October 1, 2024 at 4:58 PM
Finally joining this side of social media! 👋 Special greetings to any fellow scholars in digital anthropology, Black Studies, and Japanese Studies!
My friend Hiromu Nagahara has curated a wonderful online exhibition about the first Japanese students at MIT. Check it out:
Introduction
digital-exhibits.libraries.mit.edu
September 23, 2024 at 8:34 PM
My friend Hiromu Nagahara has curated a wonderful online exhibition about the first Japanese students at MIT. Check it out:
My book _Reading Medieval Ruins_ uses archaeological and archival materials to tell the story of daily life and destruction in a late medieval palace city. In Japan! I had hoped it would get more attention from European medievalists but it’s hard to reach beyond the Asian studies bubble.
September 20, 2024 at 12:53 PM
My book _Reading Medieval Ruins_ uses archaeological and archival materials to tell the story of daily life and destruction in a late medieval palace city. In Japan! I had hoped it would get more attention from European medievalists but it’s hard to reach beyond the Asian studies bubble.
I had the chance to talk to Marco Werman on The World about the historical accuracy of Shōgun in the wake of the show’s many Emmy awards: theworld.org/segments/202...
'Shogun' TV series wins 18 Emmys - The World from PRX
The series “Shogun” has been a shocking success. The show, already popular with audiences, has now won a record-breaking number of Emmy’s. It’s also unique as the main characters speak in Japanese the...
theworld.org
September 20, 2024 at 12:50 PM
I had the chance to talk to Marco Werman on The World about the historical accuracy of Shōgun in the wake of the show’s many Emmy awards: theworld.org/segments/202...
The Journal of Japanese Studies is excited to announce that Coeditors Sabine Frühstück and Morgan Pitelka are now joined by Book Review Editor Jessamyn Abel from Penn State. The JJS is now published by UC Press; our new Managing Editor is David Staloch. Our new website is online.ucpress.edu/jjs/
The Journal of Japanese Studies | University of California Press
online.ucpress.edu
August 18, 2024 at 7:13 PM
The Journal of Japanese Studies is excited to announce that Coeditors Sabine Frühstück and Morgan Pitelka are now joined by Book Review Editor Jessamyn Abel from Penn State. The JJS is now published by UC Press; our new Managing Editor is David Staloch. Our new website is online.ucpress.edu/jjs/
The Journal of Japanese Studies is pleased to announce the publication of our Summer 2024 volume with articles by Keisuke Yamada & Andrew Niess, Jonathan E. Abel, Masami Kimura, Noriko Murai, and Reinier H. Hesselink. New book reviews are also included. t.co/nEJgkLJvdu
Project MUSE - Login
t.co
August 3, 2024 at 1:57 PM
The Journal of Japanese Studies is pleased to announce the publication of our Summer 2024 volume with articles by Keisuke Yamada & Andrew Niess, Jonathan E. Abel, Masami Kimura, Noriko Murai, and Reinier H. Hesselink. New book reviews are also included. t.co/nEJgkLJvdu
Japan does not exist: www.medievalists.net/2024/06/sign...
The 50 Most Significant Events of the Middle Ages - Medievalists.net
Discover the 50 most significant events of the Middle Ages, spanning the years 500 to 1500.
www.medievalists.net
July 18, 2024 at 1:09 PM
Japan does not exist: www.medievalists.net/2024/06/sign...
I'll be giving an online talk, sponsored by the Japan Foundation Toronto office, titled "Living with Ceramics in Japan: From Edo (1603-1868) to Meiji (1868-1912)" at 6 PM Eastern today (June 13): www.youtube.com/live/l59rRiE...
Living with Ceramics in Japan: From Edo (1603-1868) to Meiji (1868-1912)
This online talk will explore how people in Japan used ceramics during the Edo period, when the Tokugawa shogunate ruled the archipelago and the samurai held...
www.youtube.com
June 13, 2024 at 5:45 PM
I'll be giving an online talk, sponsored by the Japan Foundation Toronto office, titled "Living with Ceramics in Japan: From Edo (1603-1868) to Meiji (1868-1912)" at 6 PM Eastern today (June 13): www.youtube.com/live/l59rRiE...
Reposted by Morgan Pitelka
Call for proposals: 30th Annual Columbia Graduate Student Conference on East Asia, October 18-19 in New York. Submit paper and panel abstracts for consideration by June 16.
ealac.columbia.edu/program/grad...
ealac.columbia.edu/program/grad...
May 28, 2024 at 5:40 PM
Call for proposals: 30th Annual Columbia Graduate Student Conference on East Asia, October 18-19 in New York. Submit paper and panel abstracts for consideration by June 16.
ealac.columbia.edu/program/grad...
ealac.columbia.edu/program/grad...