Hello, Munich students! I hope you’re thriving and having the time of your lives in Germany. Since I’m not able to wander the city streets with you, I’ll be talking with you virtually about your experiences there. Today I’ve posted a little blurb about a photographer from the previous century whose name has become synonymous with the […]
Exploitation of Ethnic Minorities in the Name of Ecotourism
Here I have linked my observational post on the exploitation of ethnic minorities in the name of ecotourism.
Cleanup Culture: Geographical Discrepancies in Vietnamese Trash Disposal Habits
The streets of Saigon are filled with vendors and buyers, smokers and loungers, each accumulating and depositing waste into the gutters and trash bins and sometimes even directly onto the sidewalk. However, despite this relentless barrage of consumption and disposal, each new morning I am greeted by a relatively waste-free landscape. I have been pleasantly […]
Land Use and Iriaichi: Recognizing Change and Comparing Cultures
The past 10 days were spent in a rural Japanese village on the northern side of Mt. Fuji. We lived in a nearly 200-year-old farmhouse and spent the evenings swimming in nearby Lake Sai, one of the region’s famous five lakes. During our time there we conducted a research project at a number of sites […]
Mt. Fuji from Top to Bottom: Spring Water and Community Formation
Soils that have lots of large pores allow water to pass through them faster, and therefore are poor retainers of surface water. Geologists use the term “infiltration rate” to describe the rate at which water seeps into the ground. Mt. Fuji, being mostly composed of permeable rock, has a very high infiltration rate. Once the water […]
Culture, Consumerism, and the Cult of Mt. Fuji: Reflections on Overseas Scholarship in Japan
Looking around, I had a strange feeling at the Sendagaya Fuji-zuka shrine in Tokyo. Utilitarian scaffolding and other metallic construction equipment were strewn about the grounds at the Fuji-zuka (“Fuji mound”)–a religious miniature replica of Mt. Fuji, of which there are many and which are often constructed from actual stones taken from Fuji herself. A typical […]
Natural Culture, Cultural Nature
I have officially been in Japan for one week, but it feels like it has been at least a month. Each day is packed with something new, be it stumbling upon a small town’s sacred ritual, meeting with Japanese experts, eating an octopus pancake, or exploring the many wonders of Tokyo. The day’s adventures always […]
Navigating Foreign Landscapes and Ambiguous Terminology
Exploring the three themes nature/culture, global/local, and stasis/change is foremost an experiment in the power of terminology. It’s difficult to even begin looking at representations of “nature” in Japan, for example, without first discussing the infinite understandings of what it means to be natural. That being said, my goal is to base my analysis of […]