My article “Islands of ‘Dark’ and ‘Light/Lite’ Tourism: War-related contents tourism around the Seto Inland Sea” has been published as part of the special edition “War, Tourism, and Modern Japan” in the journal Japan Review. It is open access and can be viewed here.
New Videos Menu
Do check out the new videos menu. I will be putting online teaching materials, lectures and other such videos on this page.
On the trail of The Last Samurai
As my contents tourism grant wraps up, I have published three research notes on the International Journal of Contents Tourism about my research into tourism relating to The Last Samurai.
On the trail of The Last Samurai (I): Taranaki
On the trail of The Last Samurai (II): Hobbiton vs Uruti Valley
On the trail of The Last Samurai (III): Himeji and Kagoshima
Congratulations Dr Georgy Buntilov
Congratulations to Georgy Buntilov, my PhD student at Hokkaido University who successfully defended his thesis on 14 February and had the award of the PhD confirmed at the faculty senate on 1 March. I had to give up being his primary supervisor after my move to Tokyo in April 2018, but we continued working together to ensure his successful completion of his degree under the supervision of Professor Jeffry Gayman.
Review of “The History Problem” published
My review of Hiro Saito’s book The History Problem: The Politics of War Commemoration in East Asia (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2017) has been published in Monumenta Nipponica 73.2 (2018), pp. 320-324.
Keynote Lecture: IAJS Conference 1 December
I will be giving the keynote lecture at the International Association for Japan Studies on 1 December. The topic of my talk is “Japanese Studies in Japan.” Details are here.
WG Beasley Memorial Lecture, 13 March 2019
It is a great honour to have been asked to give the WG Beasley Memorial Lecture at SOAS on 13 March 2019. The title of my talk is “On the Trail of Shiba Ryotaro and Jane Austen: Novels, Heritage, and Contents Tourism in Japan and the UK”. For further details and information on how to register for the event, please see the SOAS event page.
Review of “Media Theory in Japan” published
My review of Marc Steinberg and Alexander Zahlten, Media Theory in Japan (Duke University Press, 2017), has just been published in Asian Studies Review (online 16 September 2018).
Keynote Lecture: International Conference on New Frontiers in Japanese Studies
In September I will be giving the keynote lecture at the International Conference on New Frontiers in Japanese Studies: see the conference homepage. Details of the keynote lecture are here: Inagaki Seminar on Japan: “Japan Studies in the 21st Century”
New Music Website
Today, my new music website was launched. Please visit to learn more about my activities as a composer of classical music, including the release of my first CD Philip Seaton – Chamber Works on 19 September of this year.