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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 13/10/2026

Another resource for students/historians: froginawell.net/reference/japan-docs Full text extracted (Sonnet 5.5) from over 500 speeches, treaties, laws, and misc. reports from a selection of (the very pro-Japanese empire) issues of the Tokyo Gazette and Contemporary Japan, mostly 1937-45.

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

In 1948, the civil information and education section of the US-led occupation forces in Japan wrote a nearly 50 page report on the history of foreign students in Japan 1896-1947 […] [Original post on social.coop]

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

Statistical charts I've looked at in old Japanese sources really love scaled pictorial charts. I can't remember which source I found this from, but here we have 1935 global coffee consumption leaders. Sweden (7.75kg, I assume per year), Norway (6.95kg), and Denmark (6.9kg) in the lead.

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

Weekend fun project: old tables. Extracted (using Opus 5.5) a few thousand statistical tables from a collection of English language year books related to East Asia. Link each table to (when possible) the relevant page of the scan of the original on Internet […] [Original post on social.coop]

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2026

Started a new resource page mostly for students on Frog in a Well: Primary Sources: Modern Japanese History The main event is a searchable database of over 3,000 books and pamphlets etc. in western languages from 1850-1955 open access online […] [Original post on social.coop]

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 09/09/2026

New update to the Interactive Map of the Japanese Empire. Explore and animate 1938 colonial Korean railways, and also the 1935 lines for Karafuto. Or browse the raw timetables. froginawell.net/reference/japanese-…

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 07/09/2026

Weekend fun project: adding a feature to the restored Nagasaki Foreign Settlement website by Lane R. Earns and Brian Burke-Gaffney to allow direct browsing of the concession leaseholder lots over time thanks to the detailed leaseholder tables they created […] [Original post on social.coop]

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 02/09/2026

Uploaded a few more updates to the interactive map of Japanese empire this evening. 1) commercial airlines with animation tools (see info "i" tab for some limitations of this due to limited sources drawn from. Also still a bit buggy - working on it 2) Right click […] [Original post on social.coop]

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 30/08/2026

Frog in a Well now hosts a restored Brian Burke-Gaffney and Lane R. Earns website "Nagasaki Foreign Settlement: A History of the Foreign Settlement at Nagasaki, Japan" together with its 1993-1998 journal "Crossroads: A Journal of Nagasaki History and Culture" […] [Original post on social.coop]

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 24/08/2026

An interactive map of the Japanese empire: froginawell.net/frog/2026/08/an-int… feedback and corrections welcome.

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 19/08/2026

The Points and Lines of Japan's North China occupation, 1942: froginawell.net/frog/2026/08/the-po… New Frog in a Well post, and link to an interactive website to explore a useful Japanese military map from 1942.

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 23/04/2026

Created a timeline comprised of events found in various english language publications from pre-1945 Japan. It is not a neutral timeline: it captures the perspectives of sources that served or were censored by the Japanese state, but hopefully interesting to […] [Original post on social.coop]

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 18/02/2026

Meanwhile, "as a means of taking its mind off strife and statehood" "Manchoukuo Goes Yo Yo" (from Manchuria Daily News March 22, 1933). "Anything to keep the cyclist occupied is regarded as a good sign."

1933 Newspaper article: MANCHOUKUO GOES YO YO
As a means of taking its mind off strife and statehood the
itzons of Manchouko have fall en had fr th Yo Yo crass which
captivated Europe for months and has just struck this part of
he work, Hee we se (he bis nse man, he busman and. ven
the cyclist yoyoing in Dairen and Mukden. Anything fo keep the
eyelist occupied is regarded as a good sign. Yo Yo is hailed here
as the first blossom of Spring.

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 18/02/2026

Nice before and after between this 12 Jan 1933 Trans-Pacific weekly article "Japanese Army Loves Piece" a few weeks before the conquest of Rehe (Jehol) "That there are foreigners who seriously think that Japan is on the war-path is extremely annoying to us." and […] [Original post on social.coop]

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 13/11/2025

Lots of updates to this page dedicated to the old“Chinese Literature” journal with its thousands of English translations. Over 200 issues online from 1950s-80s. Added “Search”, “Explore” and an author table with pinyin/hanzi versions of a few dozen of the over a […] [Original post on social.coop]

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 08/11/2025

Afternoon walk by Deil’s Caldron near Comrie. #scotland

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 01/11/2025

With some LLM and OCR help, I've extracted the tables of contents for over 200 issues of the old PRC journal "Chinese Literature" and put together a website to search and explore them (still proof-reading and formatting it): froginawell.net/chinese-literature #china #literature

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 31/10/2025

I added a section to our Frog in a Well Primary Source guide to Korean History with some links to open access copies of volumes with Japanese statistics from colonial Korea - froginawell.net/frog/sources/primar… […] [Original post on social.coop]

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 25/10/2025

Four issues of China Pictorial found on eBay just arrived with 34 more issues on their way (misc issues ‘57-60,’65-69,’76-80). Almost all are issues not already in this digital collection but can’t promise when I’ll find time to scan and post to archive.org […] [Original post on social.coop]

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 23/10/2025

A UFO 🛸 spotting in Trondheim, Norway 1934. Among the treasures of A Shoebox of Norwegian Letters: huginn.net/shoebox/new/index.html?l… #norway

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 13/09/2025

Some (out of copyright?) downloadable Japanese dictionaries of (very) different sorts from postwar at NDL: 最新時事新語辞典 1949 dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1126434/... 最新国際問題辞典 1948 dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1444664 ポケットスケッチ事典 dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1338675 図解新事典 1949 dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1169556 […] [Original post on social.coop]

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 07/09/2025

Was listening to political commentary about the imminent Norwegian election on NRK radio and they used an expression I like, used by one commentator cautioning against speculation: “ta seg en bolle” (lit. have a [bread/pastry/sweet] bun) = to chill out, relax […] [Original post on social.coop]

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 06/09/2025

I did a test with a set of (hastily taken, in poor light) photographs of a few Japanese book pages, then ran them on both the ndlkotenocr-lite (which, to be fair, is designed for much older Japanese texts and likely the old form kanji) vs Google Document AI […] [Original post on social.coop]

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 31/08/2025

Sunday afternoon walk in Chatelherault Country Park. #scotland

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 24/08/2025

Sunday afternoon walk around Doune via the castle, Kilmadock burial ground, and Moray Estates. #scotland

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 27/07/2025

Saturday afternoon walk from Dale til Hommersåk via Lihalsen. #norway

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 20/07/2025

Sunday afternoon walk along Hafrsfjord from Kråkebakkana in Joa to Løneset in Grannes with a swim along the way. #norway

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 13/07/2025

Sunday afternoon coastal walk from Sandnes to Gausel and then rental scooter back to Stavanger.

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 06/07/2025

Afternoon walk on Rennesøy: Dalestemmen to Rennesøyhornet to Dale #norway

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 03/07/2025

Evening walk in the neighborhood, along Hafrsfjord #norway

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 03/07/2025

U of York commissions a report from Public First on the positive impact of international students in the UK: www.publicfirst.co.uk/calculating-t…

"International students “raise living standards in every constituency in the country,” according to new research from Public First. While previous analysis has demonstrated the aggregate economic benefit to the UK of international student fees and spending, the new research examines how the existing local population is affected in terms of GDP per head.
Public First concludes that every UK resident is £355 a year better off as a result of international students – and for working adults, on a full time equivalent basis this rises to £466. The analysis also looks at how the effects are spread across the country, and the political make-up of the constituencies which benefit most – 80 out of the top 100 seats are currently held by Labour, including six by cabinet ministers."

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 02/07/2025

Salmonberries / Prydbringebær, or so I’m told. Along the coast of Mosvatnet, a lake near center of Stavanger #norway. All the tartness of a raspberry, but none of the sweetness.

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 30/06/2025

I like this passage from “Program or be Programmed” by Douglass Rushkoff. It is not just about literal profit: this happens when posts by users on any social network become primarily a feed of bullet points from one’s CV (or that of allies), without engagement with people.

Our digital networks are biased toward social connections—toward contact. Any effort to redefine or hijack those connections for profit end up compromising the integrity of the network itself, and compromising the real promise of contact.

People are able to sense when a social network is really serving some other purpose. Seemingly permanent monopolies on our online social activity lose their constituencies more quickly than they earn them.

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 28/06/2025

Afternoon walk Stromvig-Breivig, Stavanger #norway

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 25/06/2025

Enjoyed a great walking tour along Pedersgata in Stavanger #norway with the local historian Gunnar Roalkvam, who introduced us to the history of consumer #coops here. Found a copy of his book on the topic in the used bookstore nearby: «Vårt eget eventyr: Forbruksamvirket i Rogaland»

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2025

Sunday afternoon walk along Vistnes coast #norway

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 21/06/2025

Saturday afternoon walk Skjørestadfjellet via Resasteinen (Dale near Sandnes, #norway)

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 20/06/2025

I’m a little confused about one of the claims in the recent interview with one of authors of the “Your Brain on ChatGPT” article making the rounds. Author says they deliberately left out which model they used (which would be awful practice if true) but a look at the preprint shows they did 1/2

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 08/06/2025

Sunday afternoon walk in Glentress forest near Peebles. #scotland

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 02/06/2025

My first childhood songbook introduced me to the academic’s summer migration with their unfinished tasks: ‘And the man wanted to move away from the nisse, but the journey was of no use to him, for high on the wagon load the nisse laughed: “I think we’re moving […] [Original post on social.coop]

Song from Norwegian children’s song book “Syng med oss!” (1945) ‘Og mannen ville fra nissen flytte,
men reisen ble ham til ingen nytte,
for høyt på vognlasset nissen lo:
“Jeg tror vi flytter i dag, vi to.
Jeg tror vi flytter i dag vi to!”’

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 21/04/2025

The “on-line conferences” via dial-in BBS “The WELL” in 1986. Apparently just a way of organizing its discussion boards, if I understand it correctly. This is from introduction to the 1994 second edition of Roszak’s “The Cult of Information”

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 15/04/2025

Commute back from St Andrews to Edinburgh has its moments.

Sunset over the firth of Forth, Scotland. Taken from a train back to Edinburgh. New Forth road bridge visible.

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 15/04/2025

Someone managed to get a call for freedom of speech and assembly (but with unlikely claim that Wang Jingwei was on board) into front page of the 30 March, 1945 (!!) issue of Shenbao in Japanese-occupied Shanghai. In article calling for following Sun Yat-sen’s […] [Original post on social.coop]

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 14/04/2025

Weekend walk by Saint Boswells and Dryburgh Abbey.

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 09/03/2025

I just finished and very much enjoyed Nick Montfort’s “Twisty Little Passages: An Approach to Interactive Fiction” (2003) and next will read “IF Theory Reader” (2011). Anyone have other recommendations for more on IF, perhaps for use in education contexts? #interactivefiction #textadventure

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Konrad M. Lawson @konrad.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 06/03/2025

Sometimes I really marvel at the books that have been written and published. Like this 850 page reference book on London coffee shops across three centuries. Awesome.

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