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Caleb Carter

@calebscarter.bsky.social

Teaching Japanese religions at Kyushu Uni, thinking about religiosity and mountains, modernity, religious graffiti. Casual climber and banjo noodler.

202 Posts1730 Follower1583 Folgt
Caleb Carter@calebscarter.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Starlink ad embedded in an NYT article questioning SpaceX’s IPO valuation. Rockets and satellites work as great metaphors for unprecedented heights and galactic growth. Here, Mt Fuji sits in as another icon of scale and grandeur. And unlike a rocket, it won’t come crashing back to earth.

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Caleb Carter@calebscarter.bsky.social · 3mo ago

This is a beautiful film about a fascinating figure, George Masa, who took his love of the mountains in Japan to the US, eventually landing in Asheville, NC, where he helped lead the conservation of the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains and the construction of the Appalachian Trail.

Blue Ridge Public Radio@blueridgepublic.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Paul Bonesteel has been digging into the life story of Japanese photographer George Masa for decades. This week, his exploration of Masa’s life goes even further in a new documentary that will premiere at Asheville’s Fine Arts Theatre. www.bpr.org/arts-perform...

Caleb Carter@calebscarter.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Here's my review of a deeply insightful reflection on the human and environmental history of Japan's most iconic mountain, published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. doi:10.1017/S1356186326101539

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Caleb Carter@calebscarter.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Hunting senshafuda 千社札 today at the famous pilgrimage temple grounds of Naritasan Shinshōji 成田山新勝寺. [Dad voiceover] Hmm… for such a famous temple, where are the senshafuda…

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Caleb Carter@calebscarter.bsky.social · 6mo ago

I've signed a contract with Princeton University Press for my next book! Tentatively "Ascendance: Mountain Climbing and Spirituality in Modern Japan," I'll look at the passage of mountaineering from England to Japan in the early 20th c, esp. on various modern spiritualities that emerged through it.

One of the many cool journal covers of the Japanese Alpine Club, this one from issue 2, 1914
Caleb Carter@calebscarter.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Thanks to Bruce Winkleton for the kind review! It focused on the narrative analysis in the book, a pet passion and something an earlier version of the manuscript centered, until I pulled it back and refocused on Shugendō’s historical development (albeit via its frequent shaping through narrative).

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Caleb Carter@calebscarter.bsky.social · 7mo ago

After two days of immersing myself in Tim Ingold’s theories of movement through landscapes, I made an impromptu decision to move through my own for some contemplation in practice of his ideas. Mount Kaya is a dormant volcano overlooking the Genkai coast, 15 minutes from the house.

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Caleb Carter@calebscarter.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Over the weekend, I got the chance to attend a gathering of senshafuda clubs and firefighter brigades celebrating 100 years since the start of the Showa period. Called a nōsatsu ōgai 納札大會 (“great gathering [for the exchange of] votive prints”), this was apparently the first of its kind since 1921.

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Caleb Carter@calebscarter.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Meanwhile elsewhere, a politician accepted a $400M plane from a foreign gov't, launched a crypto coin to accept million dollar bribes, had charges of a $50K cash-in-a-bag bribe dropped for one of his officials, and on and on (not to make light of sour grapes...)

Satoshi Sugiyama@satoshijournal.bsky.social · 11mo ago

TOKYO, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Japanese farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi, a top contender to become the next premier, downplayed criticism on Friday over his ministry's handling of a licensing deal for a prized grape variety that sparked an official protest from producers. www.reuters.com/markets/comm...