iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

We are finally seeing 秋の鱗雲 like this after weeks of rain in NE Japan. Migrating swans beginning to return, too.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The Who Pink Floyd Bob Dylan Steve Miller Roxy Music AC/DC The Troggs Ten Years After Bob Marley

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

MM and I checked into our hotel in Berlin and watched the whole video of your panel. Fascinating papers with great comments by GPP

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Couldn’t you scan or photograph it first? Doing that more and more in my 70s.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

16,732 days is what my “Days Since” iOS app calculates. Should really subtract a few thousand for some extended periods away, but have had a home address in Japan since Sept 20, 1980. Now 1,565 days retired (though busy as ever)

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

That’s brilliant. Heard about these Berlin fans 30+ years ago from a fellow medievalist who said she had tried but failed to access them for her research. Great that all are now available online. Some interesting variations in composition of episodes that one knows from 絵入り写本、版本. Thanks so much.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

An interesting translation of the title. There are now two complete German translations: Heike monogatari. Die Erzählung von den Heike (Björn Adelmeier 2022) and Heike monogatari. Der Sturz des Hauses Taira (Michael Stein, 2023). Have enjoyed consulting both while teaching HEIKE in Göttingen Uni.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

The death of Taira no Shigemori, I believe. There are two famous collection of fans of Heike monogatari. Have seen an exhibition of those in Nezu Museum in Tokyo but would love to see or have a catalogue of these in Berlin. (Hope to visit the museum in late August.) www.europeana.eu/item/2064108...

europeana.eu

Erzählung vom Untergang der Taira-Sippe (Heike monogatari)

Europeana

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

I never realized that, Chris. My wife was lucky to be in Prof. Nakano’s 研究室 throughout graduate school. I last him at an exhibition that featured many Genji related manuscripts and realia like Edo board games.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

You must be relieved! I see that the proposal was rejected.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Their absurd rules about what percentage of article and book one can copy…

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

The list includes quite a few contemporary novels that I started but didn’t finish for whatever reason. Interesting to read the online comments about the arbitrary nature of lists like this.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

I always have nō chant book (謡本) in front of me when watching a play. I now do the same when attending a Buddhist ceremony to follow the text chanted by the priest. Today’s priest saw that I brought my copy and told me he would read the passages starting on page 6 and 12.

My copy of Sõtõshů prayers. Brought it with me to memorial service.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

I love the yellow leaves of the 銀杏 (ichō) tree, but note that the correct spelling is ginkgo. The weird spelling came about because of a mistake in transcribing the notes written by Engelbert Kaempfer, who read the term 銀杏 as “gin+kyō.”

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Hóng lóu mèng 紅楼夢 news! Fascinated to see that the handwritten manuscript of David Hawkes’s translation (The Story of the Stone) is available for viewing online. 2,210 pages. Chapeau! www.cuhk.edu.hk/rct/DavidHaw...

cuhk.edu.hk

Research Centre for Translation @ CUHK

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

From what I’ve heard—memory refreshed by Wiki entry—Hawkes did good work building up Chinese studies at Oxford but was then freed of admin and teaching duties by his appointment to All Souls College where he could focus on HLM translation until early retirement to Wales.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

David Hawkes’ undergraduate degree was in Oxford. He was one of the bright linguists who was trained in an Asian language in London in WWII. Continued Chinese studies in Beijing, returned to Oxford… No Harvard connection there. My Oxford DPhil adviser was envious of Hawkes retiring early (1/2)

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

March 1st, I mean. Must have May on my mind because M and I have been invited to give talks then, in Munich and Zürich. Feel like I am coming out of hibernation.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Excited to be participating in this event on Sunday, May 1. I’ll be reading excerpts from a noh play I have translated. Looking forward to meeting many experienced Japanese-English translators whose work I admire. www.humanarts.jp/2026/02/21/j...

humanarts.jp

Japanese Literature in English - Book Readings

March 1st @ 1 PM. Japanese literature in English is booming! We will celebrate with an afternoon of readings hosted by Tsukuba local, translator Ginny Tapley Takemori. Come and meet some of the transl...

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

#5worksby5authors New tag. Must be getting close with authors like ENCHI Fumiko 円地文子(1905-1986); ŌE Kenzaburō 大江健三郎 (1935–2023); TSUSHIMA Yūko 津島優子 (1947–2016); MIZUMURA Minae 水村美苗 (b. 1951); MURATA Sayaka 村田沙耶香 (b. 1979). Esp if short stories, novellas, and non-fiction count.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

#haveread5worksby5authors Of more recent Japanese works read in Jp or translation. ENDŌ Shūsaku 遠藤周作 (1923-1996) MISHIMA Yukio 三島由紀夫 (1925-1970) MURAKAMI Haruki 村上春樹 (b. 1949) TAWADA Yōko 多和田洋子 (b. 1960) OGAWA Yōko 小川洋子 (b. 1962) (1/3) and not quite up to 5 novels with many more including…

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

My take: #haveread5worksby5authors l have read 5 or more novels by these Japanese novelists in Jp or translation. NATSUME Sōseki 夏目漱石 (1867-1916); NAGAI Kafū 永井荷風 (1879-1959); TANIZAKI Jun’ichirō 谷崎潤一郎 (1886–1965); KAWABATA Yasunari 川端康成 (1899–1972); DAZAI Osamu 太宰治(1909-1948). (1/2)

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

#academichumor abounds in Jay Rubin’s _Making Sense of Japanese_. Very amusing joke in the Preface. Best one so far in the discussion of wa/ga. I should have read this decades ago. 45 years in Japan and still discovering things I get wrong.

Jay Rubin’s _Making Sense of Japanese_. Recommended!

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

@chrisbrockett.bsky.social As a (former?) Kiwi you might be amused to learn that CiNii has given our 能楽 companion a new subtitle:”a comparative study of inclusive approaches within education systems in France and Aotearoa New Zealand”. Oh well, at least there are copies in some 15 libraries.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

#academicHumor Enjoyed an unexpected joke in the last glossary entry in _Narratology_ (2019) by classicist Genevieve Liveley, a very lucid account of tangled history of narrative theory. Need to work through more tomes in my #tsundoku collection of #narratology - moments of light relief appreciated!

Final glossary entry defining “taxis”
(1) meaning in ancient commentaries on Homer
(2) “what narratologists used before Uber.”
Liverly 2019: 256.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

HLM, I meant. I also miss characters like Aroma, Musk, and many others. (Chen uses the names of the Penguin translation.) find it odd that Chen tries to show some key male characters in a more positive light, while treating key female figures in a more negative way. Xifeng is nicely complex, though.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Baoyu is 19 years old when version opens. Notable characters from HLR are omitted, as are episodes focussed on poetry and drama. Rushes from one crisis to next. Personality traits present in HLR are exaggerated. Complexity reduced in figures like Granny Jia. A pity…

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

A telling comparison is with HLM’s depiction of Daiyu’s death and Pauline Chen’s account of the same in _The Red Chamber_ where Daiyu dies in abject poverty, cared by a kindly blacksmith. I am struggling to summon the spirit to finish Chen’s very disappointing retelling of the HLM.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Woke at 5, read in bed, caught 8:37 express and watched a German thriller I’d downloaded—with German subtitles. After seeing my doctor (long chat in Japanese), I decided to take a later train home, spending two hours in a museum. The article mentioned regular exercise so have that covered too!

“Books, museums and languages can ‘delay dementia by five years’” (article in The Times, Feb 12, 2026)

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Very helpful in thinking about what novels to assign for a course I will be teaching from April. So many works to choose from!

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Reposted by Michael Watson

Thomas McAuley @wakapoet.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Love at the dawn さむしろにつゆのはかなくおきていなば暁ごとにきえやわたらん Atop my scanty coverlet Fall fleeting dewdrops— When you rise and go, Every single dawn I feel I fade away… Kinkai wakashū 506 #wakapoem #wakapoetry #poem #love #Japan #lovepoem #和歌 #恋 #恋歌

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

My study, messy but a haven for reading and writing. Was running the screen on the left from a Mac Mini, but newly purchased MacBook Air 13” can be hooked to two external displays. Ideal for today’s online reading circle of Genji monogatari manuscript.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Thanks! Eric Billington called me today - I went down to Winchester to see him, meeting up with Pete Stretton too (first time to see Pete since 1975). Eric texted me your WhatsApp details. All well with us here. Glad we moved to country (Machiko’s family home). Keep in touch.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

In 2025 I made my Goodreads challenge target by reading (or listening to) 60 books. But though it’s handy in some ways, Goodread is also frustrating— ignoring choice of translator or edition . Much of what I do is rereading literary classics in different editions and languages.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

Here’s to another year of reading well.. I’ll be posting some highlights of my 2026 reading here. Seemed appropriate on January 1st to begin with this small but profound essay of 1947.

Thomas Mann, A New Year’s Greeting to Japan (Ein Neujahrgruß an Japan). December, 1947.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

I can’t see myself ever rereading the volumes of Proust that feature Albertine. This year I reread the first volume and most of the last of Recherche —and as it happens I also reread the first and last volumes of the Penguin 紅楼夢. But only because I was pressed for time! #teamDaiyu

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

And from this place, no less: Artificial Intelligence Tencent Research Institute Peking University Computer Science and Mathematical Sciences WhatsApp: +1 323-xxxxxxxx LINE: xxxx Google Chat: xxxxxxxx

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

I have received several—all linking to a paper of mine I uploaded to academia dot edu. “While recently reading your academic work, I've developed a keen interest in your "Hearing the bells of Gion Shoja: Transcultural and intralingual translations of Heike monogatari"… A likely story! 無視　ignore!

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

Moved last December from Yokohama to wife’s family home in NE Japan. Renovating, redecorating, recycling…, a busy year. Today finally decided where to hang watercolours by my father and a few old maps and prints. Here are ukiyoe in my “Tale of the Heike” collection. One bought in Paris flea market!

Top left shows “first across Uji River” 宇治川先陣 (opening of Heike Monogatari, book 9). The other shows “Kogō” 小督 with Nakakuni (book 6), the subject of the first nō play I translated.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

I like your use of the passive!

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

Paradise for #bibliophiles looking for second-hand books, but “the world’s coolest neighborhood”? Much diversity in the customers in Isseidō, Kitazawa, etc. Restrain self to one purchase to a study on the “world of the Taiheiki”—14th century Japan? A rather different 世界. Cool, hot, or lukewarm.

“it’s official: Jimbocho is the world’s coolest neighbourhood in 2035” - judging by number of non-Japanese tourists, it is increasingly popular.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

Mt Fuji on a clear day. The view from the Yokohama campus of the university where I taught from 1986-2024. #MountainMonday #BlueSky #MeijiGakuinUniv

Snow-capped Mt Fuji with camelia (tsubaki) in bloom. Photo taken from Meiji Gakuin University Yokohama campus, March 21, 2021.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

#Stunday Mid-afternoon sun in November. The coast here in Fukushima is protected by a 6m wall that extends from south to north over 50 km. Additional tsunami blocks on the beach to protect the steps up to the wall. Well maintained walking/cycling path on the wall.

Concrete blocks to protect against tsunami. This stretch of the coast in southern Fukushima Prefecture suffered much damage in 2011 earthquake.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

“…while omitting at least one entire class of foreigners.” I’d be interested to know more. The tripartite division already sounds very crude.

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Autumn sights enjoyed on my morning walk near home in SE corner of Fukushima Prefecture. #yellow

Golden rod, an invasive species in Japan, but popular with insects. .Solidago altissima. 背高泡立草= セイタカアワダチソウ

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

This is tremendous. Open source file (downloaded). Online version (bookmarked). I immediately looked up your entries to the two texts most relevant to my 軍記 studies. Much more of interest. Pleased to see how many of texts in your Hand-list are now available electronically

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Michael Watson @mgwatson.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

I spent a pleasant day looking through an early C17 text in Japanese printed on the Jesuit Mission Press in Nagasaki. Posted about this to Facebook which is now recommending Pope Leo “Xiv” (sic( among “People you may know.” Coincidence?

Abridged version of Taiheiki printed in Nagasaki, ca. 1610. Note Portuguese permission to publish by “Bishop of Japan”. (British Museum)

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