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Morgan Pitelka

@mpitelka.bsky.social

1.5K followers 1K following 71 posts

Historian of Japan, distinguished professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, specialist in material culture, urban history, environmental history; coeditor, Journal of Japanese Studies

Posts Replies Media

Morgan Pitelka @mpitelka.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

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!

cover image of the journal of Japanese studies, volume 51, number 1, winter 2025

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Morgan Pitelka @mpitelka.bsky.social · 20/09/2024

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.

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Morgan Pitelka @mpitelka.bsky.social · 23/02/2024

Please join us to celebrate the JJS at the AAS! Party time!

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Morgan Pitelka @mpitelka.bsky.social · 07/02/2024

Launching its 50th year of publication, the winter 2024 JJS is live online (also available in print) with articles by Youjia Li, Ben Whaley, Alexander Murphy, Aaron Jasny, Małgorzata Karolina Citko-DuPlantis, & Christopher Hughes—& reviews of new books. muse.jhu.edu/issue/51346

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Morgan Pitelka @mpitelka.bsky.social · 18/12/2023

I got to write for the 1st time about one of my favorite Raku tea bowls in the Freer collection: Raku Tannyu's bowl w/ an image of Mt. Fuji, made at Korakuen, the garden of the Mito Tokugawa in Edo, part of the Raku family's fascinating "garden ceramics" operation in the early 19th c.

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Morgan Pitelka @mpitelka.bsky.social · 14/12/2023

Amazing that 2 of the top films in the U.S. now--dominated in recent years by Star Wars and Marvel movies--are very special Japanese films: The Boy and the Heron (perhaps Miyazaki Hayao's last film, & certainly his most successful); and Godzilla Minus One, set immediately after WWII.

Godzilla tramples Tokyo in a scene from Godzilla Minus One.

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Morgan Pitelka @mpitelka.bsky.social · 13/11/2023

Paperback version now available for $29.99!

picture of paperback version of Reading Medieval Ruins

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Morgan Pitelka @mpitelka.bsky.social · 10/10/2023

Join me and coeditor Sabine Frühstück for a discussion of the path to publication in the Journal of Japanese Studies: October 18, 2023 09:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Register in advance for this webinar: unc.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

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Morgan Pitelka @mpitelka.bsky.social · 19/08/2023

I just gave my brief presentation, "The posthumanist capital: the role of animals in the rebirth of Kyoto," with some fun images of horses, oxen, falcons, and monkeys from the left screen of the Shōkōji version of "Scenes In and Around Kyoto" (洛中洛外図), early 17th century.

pack horses in a detail from a Rakuchu Rakugaizu folding screen, early 17th century

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