“The Kuroshio Frontier” discussed in The Economist
The Kuroshio has attracted wider attention in Japan and beyond this year, as it marked the end of the longest “Large Meander” of the Kuroshio on record––in the few decades that the phenomenon has been known, that is. Why does that make headlines? As a warm and nutrient rich current, the Kuroshio has vast impacts […]
Review of Felix Lüttge, “Auf den Spuren des Wals”, H-Soz-Kult (2020, in German).
Felix Lüttge’s “Auf den Spuren des Wals” (2020) is a history of maritime knowledge production by whalers and the whaling industry, and it traces how this knowledge was appropriated, abstracted and integrated into U.S. naval politics in the nineteenth century. It is well-written (in German) and full of interesting detail. I recommend the read especially […]
“Review of Tagliacozzo, Eric, In Asian Waters: Oceanic Worlds from Yemen to Yokohama.” H-Water, H-Net Reviews, no. 3 (2023).
Rüegg, Jonas. “Review of Tagliacozzo, Eric, In Asian Waters: Oceanic Worlds from Yemen to Yokohama.” H-Water, H-Net Reviews, no. 3 (2023). https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=58318. In Asian Waters is a big, fascinating, at times overwhelming book, with which the author Eric Tagliacozzo achieves a special feat, that of writing a global history of maritime commerce and exchange that functions largely independently of Eurocentric […]
Japanese History in Hydrological Dimensions.
BOOK CHAPTER IN PRODUCTION “Japanese History in Hydrological Dimensions.” In Histories and Society of the Hydrosphere. Duara, Prasenjit, and Wescoat, James (eds.). Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, Prospectively 2026. Human history is embedded in hydrological cycles that interlink terrestrial, atmospheric and oceanic ecologies. In the twenty-first century, change in climatic patterns is no longer perceived […]
“Volumetric sovereignty: Power and Hydrological Cycles in the History of Northeast Asia” (working title)
Book project in development. The project Volumetric sovereignty: Power and Hydrological Cycles in the History of Northeast Asia (working title) explores the role of maritime and atmospheric environments in the formation of commercial and political practices in Northeast Asia. Foregrounding sub-state actors navigating global currents in economy, politics, and science since the early modern period, […]
Interview in ORB, the free paper of the Bonin Islands (English / 日本語)
A bilingual conversation about local history and global significance of the most beautiful archipelago in the north Pacific.
Public lecture in Chichijima, Ogasawara (Bonin Islands)
USK Coffee, Chichijima, Ogasawara. Lecture Title: “島谷市左衛門と小笠原諸島最古の地図Shimaya Ichizaemon to Ogasawara shotô saiko no chizu [Shimaya Ichizaemon and the oldest map of the Ogasawara Islands].” (In Japanese.)
Interview in “Nankai Times”
太平洋の集散地: Talk at “Meetings on History and Sources / 歴史と史料の会” Tokyo University.
Emna Rumantscha 2020, Tokyo: “A Statement for Diversity: Cohesion, Participation and Local Development in Romansh-Speaking Switzerland
Special talk at the Ambassador’s Residence, Embassy of Switzerland, Tokyo. Feb. 20, 2020. 特別講義、駐日スイス大使館大使公邸 2020年2月20日