I really enjoyed this episode - I'm fascinated by the dynamics through which nunchaku, samurai swords, and other East Asian martial arts weapons have been popularized, portrayed, and then often regulated in Western countries, especially the US and UK.

99% Invisible@99pi.org · 2w ago

In the early 1970s, Bruce Lee made nunchaku (nunchucks) cool — But the nunchucks craze coincided with something much bigger: the birth of a radical new Asian American identity. Listen to A History of the United States in 100 Objects on the 99% Invisible feed 👉 https://bit.ly/4fNZhPW

The fantastic "Making Waves: Art of Japanese Woodblock Print" exhibition at York Art Gallery is on until the end of August. Curator Eleanor Jackson, @helenacoxcurator.bsky.social, and I recently looked at some highlights as part of the @yorkfestofideas.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOl6...

Making Waves: The art of Japanese woodblock print - Oleg Benesch, Helena Cox and Eleanor Jackson

YouTube video by York Ideas

youtube.com

A little while back, alongside the Samurai exhibition at the British Museum, Rosina Buckland and I were involved with this 4-part series of @theresthistory.bsky.social called "Dawn of the Samurai", which has just become available on BBC Sounds: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

The Rest Is History - Dawn of the Samurai: The Shadow of the Sword (Part 1) - BBC Sounds

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the rise of history's most formidable warriors.

bbc.co.uk

Ten years on from the Brexit vote: a new @yougov.co.uk poll finds that 77% of the British public have trust in the expertise of historians bit.ly/49I9NV7 It's heartening to hear that so many value, and certainly haven't had enough of, the historian as expert. #Skystorians 1/4

With the World Cup approaching, I thought I’d share a topical story about an underwhelming England performance: In May 1958 England were preparing for the tournament with a friendly against Portugal. Beware, warned Roy Peskett in the Daily Mail, of Augusto Rocha, ‘o Pequeno Tigre’ from Macao

Link: youtu.be/xWUqQv1UEbg

Ninja vs. Samurai: Warrior Icons in History, Popular Culture, and Martial Arts (MJHA Roundtable #4)

YouTube video by Modern Japan History Association

youtu.be

For anyone interested, MJHA's recent roundtable on the history behind myths about the ninja and the samurai is now available on the MJHA YouTube Channel! Featuring Ran Zwigenberg (Penn State), Polina Barducci (Cambridge), Rob Tuck (ASU), and Oleg Benesch (York University). Link in the replies!

Last week I posted Song Qingling on a fun dove-shaped jet, so today I thought I’d stay on the theme of rocket-power in Mao-era Chinese propaganda. The most famous example of which is ‘rocket Mao’ from this Great Leap Forward poster from 1958. (1/7) #China #Skystorians #propaganda #Communism

New Book Announcement: “Samurai” by Rosina Buckland and Oleg Benesch @uwapress.uw.edu @britishmuseum.bsky.social asianreviewofbooks.com/samurai-by-r...

I happened across this cover for the January 1957 edition of China Reconstructs, an ‘external propaganda’ publication for overseas readers. Featuring a flyover from Song Qingling (宋庆龄) in a dove-shaped jet(!), it captures many of the key features of 'external propaganda' (1/8) 🧵 #skystorians #china

I recently had a fun conversation with @mattalt.bsky.social and Satona Suzuki about samurai and popular culture as part of the British Museum events programme for the Samurai exhibition. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lHj...

Samurai: the making of a global icon

YouTube video by British Museum Events

youtube.com

Looking forward to this!

Modern Japan History Association@modernjapanhist.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Mark your calendars! MJHA will host a roundtable on the historical truth behind ninjas and samurai on Tuesday, May 12! Featuring Polina Barducci, @OlegBenesch, Robert Tuck, and Ran Zwigenberg!

In Our Time this morning is on Indian Indentured Labour, with (among others) the excellent Dr Purba Hossein. One for the #Skystorians. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time

Misha Glenny and guests discuss the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world.

bbc.co.uk

I'm thrilled to announce "Global Samurai I" - a special issue of Japan Review, featuring 11 open-access articles and with a wonderful cover by Tetsuya Noguchi. This research feeds into and builds upon the "Samurai" exhibition now on at the British Museum 1/12 nichibun.repo.nii.ac.jp/search?searc...

Went to London today to see the spectacular Samurai exhibit that @olegb.bsky.social co-curated and to do some research at the BL, forgetting that it's April and the plane trees are out in full force. Lord help me. How do Londoners survive Spring??? HOW???

This Friday and Saturday (UK time) we'll be hosting a public symposium on "Global Samurai" at SOAS University of London, as part of the programme of the British Museum exhibition "Samurai" Event page, including programme and registration information: www.britishmuseum.org/events/globa...

Exciting news! The @yorkpsychology.bsky.social are recruiting 3 new ART (research and teaching) lecturers! One role will be prioritised for cognitive, affective and/or social neuroscience. #neuroskyence #cognition #psychscisky #neurojobs

This is a fantastic video about using AI for analysis of historical materials, in this case a Japanese postcard from the early twentieth century.

Konrad Lawson@kml.muninn.net · 5mo ago

Paul Barclay has a wonderful 15m cautionary tale video walking through the use of Gemini to help analyze a Japanese historical post card from the @olegb.bsky.social collection, if I heard him right. youtu.be/utzk0e5cUtI?...

There's a week to go until the 19 March application deadline for these four history positions at York!

Will Tullett@willtullett.bsky.social · 6mo ago

We are advertising 4 jobs at York for historians (1 year medieval, 2 years modern Britain and public history, 3 years modern China, and open ended modern Middle Eastern) features.york.ac.uk/history-jobs/

Thrilled to have been awarded a Vandervort prize for my recent article "The Invention of the Kamikaze: Dissent and Resistance in the Japanese Military" by the Society for Military History, as one of the two best articles last year in the Journal of Military History!

The Portland Timbers tifo yesterday went full samurai (with an axe instead of a sword): www.reddit.com/r/MLS/commen...

Happy #InternationalWomensDay! It won't come as a surprise to you, that the Merchant Adventurers were mostly male, however women did play an active role in the Company. In other words; they kicked ass. Here below is a shorter than it should be thread of these very cool women:

Recently digitised - at Ramree Town in Burma's Arakan region, two Indian soldiers (prob from the 1st Tripura Rifles) stage a mock duel with captured Japanese swords. Filmed by cameraman John Sprague in April 1945 #filmcataloguing #ww2 #history Full film: IWM JIN 40 / www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...

Join us in March for our lecture with Rosina Buckland who will explore the British Museum’s major new exhibition (on now until 4 May) which examines the centuries-long trajectory of a Japanese icon, the samurai 🎌 Monday 16 March 2026. Find out more 👉 https://loom.ly/XA6T5dw

A very nice and detailed writeup of the British Museum Samurai exhibition in Japanese: artexhibition.jp/topics/news/...

【英国から】サムライ1,000年の歴史をひもとく「Samurai」展、5月４日(月)まで大英博物館（ロンドン）で

英国ロンドンの大英博物館で「Samurai」展が開かれています。大英博物館のコレクションを中心に、世界に知られる「サムライ」に関する280点以上が展示されています。戦場をかける武者として、また社会的エリートとしての武士階

artexhibition.jp

Chris Harding kindly hosted a conversation with Rosina Buckland and I on BBC 3 about the Samurai exhibition at the British Museum. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

BBC Radio 3 - Sunday Feature, Samurai culture

Samurai: warrior or poet and musician? Chris Harding visits a British Museum exhibition.

bbc.co.uk

I'm a bit late to this announcement but wanted to share that the newest issue of the JJS is now out! Very proud of the essays and book reviews inside. My coeditor Sabine Frühstück, the book review editor Jessamyn Abel, and our managing editors David and now Athena all did incredible work.

The Journal of Japanese Studies@jjs-jrnl.bsky.social · 6mo ago

JJS Winter 2026 analyzes an imperial palace reconstruction, an art installation, rōnin significance, the Port Arthur Massacre, and tackling exam hell, and it reviews 29 new books on Japan. online.ucpress.edu/jjs

We are advertising 4 jobs at York for historians (1 year medieval, 2 years modern Britain and public history, 3 years modern China, and open ended modern Middle Eastern) features.york.ac.uk/history-jobs/

York History Department - Academic Jobs

Uncover the past to define the future. We are seeking research-led historians to join our world-class, collaborative community. Discover career-defining opportunities within one of the UK’s most disti...

features.york.ac.uk

We attended a brilliant talk @york.ac.uk on Monday, all about the Samurai exhibition at the British Museum We’ve got copies of the accompanying book #SIGNED by authors Rosina Buckland @olegb.bsky.social … but only 2 left! Grab yours! www.foxlanebooks.co.uk/product-page... #Samurai #BookSky📚💙

Great review; great exhibition. With a sharing link for 3 non-subscribers. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

The British Museum’s Samurai show proves the brush is mightier than the sword

A magnificent exhibition reveals how these fearsome warriors lived on, long after their fighting days were over

giftarticle.ft.com