2025 marks the 80th year since the end of the Second World War. On the 50th anniversary in 1995, Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama announced “the Peace, Friendship and Exchange Initiative, consisting of two parts, promoting: support for historical research into relations in the modern era between Japan and neighbouring countries of Asia and elsewhere [and] to further strengthen the relations of trust between Japan and those countries.” One such initiative was the Pacific Venture programme which saw British grandchildren of former POWs invited to Japan to reconcile their personal conflict history through cultural exchange.

On this special episode of Beyond Japan, Oliver is joined by Mary-Grace Browning MBE who was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun in 2016 for conducting the exchange programme alongside Dr John Pritchard. Mary-Grace shares with us her personal experience of furthering post-conflict reconciliation between the UK and Japan.

IMAGE AND AUDIO CREDITS

Intro-outro music: ⁠jasonszklarek⁠ / ⁠MotionElements.com⁠

[L] Commemoration, Remembrance and Reconciliation through Arts and Heritage logo. A Sainsbury Institute project.

[R] Royal Legion wreath of the Burma Star Association laid at a memorial for the Imperial Japanese Army 60th Infantry Regiment which served in Myanmar. Ryozen Kannon, Kyoto, 2023. Photograph by Oliver Moxham.

Copyright © 2025 Oliver Moxham, ℗  2025 Oliver Moxham. May be freely distributed for education purposes.

For Beyond Japan's final episode, Oliver is joined by Aike Rots, Associate Professor of Japan Studies at the University of Oslo, to discuss the agency of animals in influencing human society and cultures. Aike’s collaborative project, Whales of Power, explores how whales have affected ritual practices in coastal communities of East Asia and how those practices have adapted and changed in the 21st century.

Follow the Whales of Power project on Twitter and via their website.

A final message from Oliver:

"After 85 episodes, Beyond Japan now draws to a close as I turn my attention to my PhD research. I would like to thank all the guests who have shared their research with us and to you the listeners who have supported this exciting new medium for sharing academia with the wider world. I intend to return to academic podcasting again in the near future – you can follow my blog at olivermoxham.wordpress.com for updates on that.

For now, enjoy revisiting our back catalogue. As always, thank you for listening."

IMAGE AND AUDIO CREDITS

Intro-outro music: jasonszklarek / MotionElements.com

[L] Kujirabune gyōji in Yokkaichi (Mie prefecture). Photograph by Aike Rots (2022).

[R] Benzaiten statue comforting a dolphin soul. Shrine near Yobuko. Photograph by Aike Rots (2022).

Copyright © 2023 Oliver Moxham, ℗  2023 Oliver Moxham. May be freely distributed for education purposes.

Oliver is joined by Daniel Milne, Senior Lecturer at Kyoto University’s Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences (ILAS), to discuss what happens when we memorialise past conflicts through the Kyoto Buddhist temple Ryōzen Kannon. Daniel and I explore how the meaning of monuments to war dead change over time, and compare Ryōzen Kannon’s approach with that of the national war memorial site of Yasukuni Shrine.

Read Daniel's article with David Moreton, 'Remembering and Forgetting the War Dead at Ryōzen Kannon: A Site of Entangled and Transnational War Memories'.

IMAGE AND AUDIO CREDITS

Intro-outro music: jasonszklarek / MotionElements.com

[L] The enormous Ryōzen Kannon Bodhisattva statue that gives the temple its namesake. Photograph by Oliver Moxham, 2018.

[R] Stained glass window from within the Memorial Hall for the Unknown Soldier of WWII at Ryōzen Kannon. Photograph by Oliver Moxham, 2018.

Copyright © 2023 Oliver Moxham, ℗  2023 Oliver Moxham. May be freely distributed for education purposes.

Oliver is joined by Susan Furukawa, Associate Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures at Beloit College, to discuss history in fiction through works on the iconic and problematic life of 16th century shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Susan and I look at how Hideyoshi sought to establish his own literary legacy, how he has been made a hero in different ways through the 20th century, and why darker elements of his past have failed to break through in these narratives.

Read Susan's book, The Afterlife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi: Historical Fiction and Popular Culture in Japan.

IMAGE AND AUDIO CREDITS

Intro-outro music: jasonszklarek / MotionElements.com

[L] One Hundred Aspects of the Moon #7, Inaba Mountain Moon - The young Toyotomi Hideyoshi leads a small group assaulting the castle on Inaba Mountain; 1885, twelfth month.

[C] Professor Susan Furukawa. Photograph by Nick Mischler.

[R] Important cultural property "Toyotomi Hideyoshi portrait" (part of artwork). Acclaimed in the 3rd year of Keicho (1598), Kōdai-ji Temple, Kyoto.

Copyright © 2022 Oliver Moxham, ℗  2022 Oliver Moxham. May be freely distributed for education purposes.

Oliver is joined by Luke Edgington Brown, PhD in Archaeology from the University of East Anglia, to discuss the role of archaeology in creating national histories. Luke’s research looked at the work of William Gowland on kofun imperial burial mounds during Japan’s industrial Meiji era, and so today we look at the relationship between the burial mounds of Japan’s emperors and the narrative constructed at the time for the newly restored Meiji emperor.

Luke's thesis is available here.

IMAGE AND AUDIO CREDITS

Intro-outro music: jasonszklarek / MotionElements.com

[L] Mori-shogunzuka-kofun zenkei.JPG by Saigen Jiro

[C] UEA grad students Luke Edgington Brown, Megan Good and Ionetta Vergi  visited the KAHAKU Research Section at Tsukuba with Uchino Yuko and  Yamada Tadasu from the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo.

[R] William Gowland.

Copyright © 2022 Oliver Moxham, ℗  2022 Oliver Moxham. May be freely distributed for education purposes.

Oliver is joined by Chie Kutsuwada, UK-based manga artist, to discuss Japanese comics as art and the global spread of the genre’s art style and readership. Chie and Oliver look at what separates manga from other comic styles, the appeal to recurring themes found in the genre and the escapism it provides.

IMAGE AND AUDIO CREDITS

Intro-outro music: jasonszklarek / MotionElements.com

All images provided by Chie Kutsuwada.

Copyright © 2022 Oliver Moxham, ℗  2022 Oliver Moxham. May be freely distributed for education purposes.

Welcome to the third series of Beyond Japan! In this episode, Oliver is joined by Randy Sasaki, researcher at the Kyushu National Museum, to discuss his specialism of underwater archaeology, otherwise known as maritime or nautical archaeology. Randy and I explore the window shipwrecks provide into international trade spanning hundreds and even thousands of years, as well as the benefits and challenges of sea-based archaeological surveys as opposed to land-based surveys. Randy also shares with us details of his project in Tango, off the northern coast of Kyoto prefecture.

IMAGE AND AUDIO CREDITS

Intro-outro music: jasonszklarek / MotionElements.com

[L] "The Sweepstakes Shipwreck 1" by CampCrazy Photography.

[R] "best-underwater-drone" by Bluedreamer2011.

Copyright © 2022 Oliver Moxham, ℗  2022 Oliver Moxham. May be freely distributed for education purposes.

Oliver is joined by Sophie Richard, art historian, museum specialist and acclaimed writer, as we explore art museums in Japan of every variety. From her training at École du Louvre, Sophie has visited museums across the archipelago, broadening her understanding of what a museum can be and inspiring her to write a book on capturing this for the non-Japanese speaking art lover.

Read Sophie's book, The Art Lover's Guide to Japanese Museums.

Museums by order of mention:

So ends the second series of Beyond Japan! As Oliver starts his PhD in the autumn, the third series of Beyond Japan will continue with monthly instalments on the first Thursday of every month from September 2022. In the meantime, do get in touch and let us know what you have enjoyed and what you might like added to the series – we would be particularly interested in knowing if the addition of transcriptions and subtitles has improved the experience for you.

IMAGE AND AUDIO CREDITS

Intro-outro music: jasonszklarek / MotionElements.com

[L] The Art Lover's Guide to Japanese Museums.

[R] Oliver at the D T Suzuki Museum (2015). Photograph courtesy of Chhorvy.

Copyright © 2022 Oliver Moxham, ℗  2022 Oliver Moxham. May be freely distributed for education purposes.

Oliver is joined by Adam Hunt, PhD candidate at the University of Sheffield, to compare crime between Japan and the UK and how factors such as attitudes towards former convicts affects “desistance”; that is, attempts to reduce the rate of reoffending.

Read the Japanese Ministry of Defence's 2020 white paper on crime.

Download the full transcript here (PDF)

Watch with subtitles on YouTube

IMAGE AND AUDIO CREDITS

Intro-outro music: jasonszklarek / MotionElements.com

[L] Desistance Overview provided by Adam Hunt.

[R] In handcuffs on Pandora by ngawangchodron.

Copyright © 2022 Oliver Moxham, ℗  2022 Oliver Moxham. May be freely distributed for education purposes.

Oliver is joined by Susan Whitfield, Professor in Silk Road Studies at the Sainsbury Institute, to gain a new perspective on the mass of historic maritime and land-based routes known as the Silk Roads. Susan gives us a taste of the material and cultural impact of the enormous trade network stretching to the ends of Europe, Africa and Asia from the 2nd Century BCE, as well as highlighting the role of Japan and China in establishing the network as World Heritage.

Read Susan's article, 'The Expanding Silk Road: UNESCO and the Belt and Road Initiative' (2020)

Read Susan's book, Silk Roads: Peoples, Cultures, Landscapes (2019)

Visit the Nara to Norwich online exhibition

Find out more about the Nara to Norwich project

Download the full transcript here (PDF)

Watch with subtitles on YouTube

IMAGE AND AUDIO CREDITS

Intro-outro music: jasonszklarek / MotionElements.com

[L] Caravan on the Silk Road (1375). Gallica Digital Library. ID: btv1b55002481n.

[R] Photographing remains of a 3rd century farmstead in Niya, an oasis kingdom in the Tarim Basin on the Silk Road, and the site of a multi-year Sino-Japanese archaeological collaboration. Provided by Susan Whitfield.

Copyright © 2022 Oliver Moxham, ℗  2022 Oliver Moxham. May be freely distributed for education purposes.