Oleg Benesch

Thanks! It's been a lot of fun!

Thanks for the info - that's great to know!

Cover of exhibition book with photo of samurai armour

This research team have also contributed to the exhibition book (forthcoming in February from British Museum Press). If you're not in London in the spring, but still feel that you need more samurai in your life, the book will be available worldwide:
www.britishmuseumshoponline.org/samurai-pape...

Photo of seven Japanese academics dressed in samurai armor in 1910.

The exhibition draws on an ongoing research project involving over 20 scholars from around the world, who have been incredibly generous with their time and expertise and have taught me a lot. Publications from the project will appear in 2026.

(The photo shows a much earlier samurai research team)

Samurai This major exhibition reveals the real story of the samurai, from medieval battlefields to modern blockbusters.

From 3 February 2026, the special exhibition "Samurai" will be at the British Museum. I've had a lot of fun working on this together with the brilliant Rosina Buckland. If you happen to be in London, and feel that you need more samurai in your life, do drop by!
www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/...

Groundbreaking British Museum show set to challenge samurai myths Exclusive: Exhibition will reveal complex reality, featuring women and artistic creations, beyond armour-clad warriors

www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

Japan in the Early Modern World This open access contributed volume examines the transnational relations between Japan and (Counter) Reformation Europe through the lens of translation.

Finally out now 🥳🎉 -- and in OA! 🙏

Katja Triplett / Yoshimi Orii / Pia Jolliffe (eds.) (2025): Japan in the Early Modern World: Religion, Translation, and Transnational Relations @ doi.org/10.1007/978-...

Includes two contributions by yours truly on Jesuit prints from Japan. 1/

Fascinating footage.

As people have their heads in syllabi and classes, I’d like to highlight how ‘In the Land of the Lacandón: A Graphic History of Adventure and Imperialism’ (MQUP 2025) can be used in teaching. (Please repost and push this thread along.)

Five books are lying on the floor. One is open and shows an image on the upper left page.

Unpacking. It’s finally here. Best of all: you can share the excitement for free, as the book is open access. Follow the link in the post below to download a PDF or EPUB version.
Happy reading and happy strolling through Japanese garden history!

Having spent a bit of time trying to pin down what "medieval" means in Indian historiography, I sympathise with the guy who just put "(though no one agrees)" after his proposed date range

Interior shot of the Hofkirche with tomb of Maximilian and statues

🧵 of my favourite sixteenth-century bronze statues flanking the empty tomb of Maximilian I in the Innsbruck Hofkirche

Hurrah!! Brilliant new book from my wonderful department colleague!

Inventing the Way of the Samurai by @olegb.bsky.social explores the concept of “Bushido” from genesis in 19th C Japan as an “invented tradition” in response to European concepts to its postwar rehabilitation.

This is wonderful 👇

Teachers/Profs, etc. who use video games as part of your course materials: how do you do it? You can't require everyone to own a gaming system, and lord knows your school isn't providing them to students. I see lots written about how to integrate game content, but not much on the logistics.

Definitely - my students are almost exclusively history majors, with my Japan classes being just a small part of their overall study.

IIRC, the cutscenes for Ghost of Tsushima ran over an hour in total, so plenty of material there! A minority of my students would be playing samurai games, so I prefer those other options rather than the game itself, although students who do play the game can then share their own experiences.

I also find that playthrough videos and cutscene compilations are very useful, especially if you're focused on content and are concerned about accessibility.

Concrete reconstruction of the Fushimi Momoyama Castle keep

Torii in front of the Meiji emperor's tomb

A rusted sign with an image of Fushimi Momoyama Castle

The entrance gate to the Nogi Shrine in Fushimi

For anyone interested in castles, emperors, and theme parks, Ran Zwigenberg and my article on the modern history of Fushimi Momoyama Castle in Kyoto has just come out from Japan Review. www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/japa...

A light blue diagram depicting the sea, with the water's surface at the top, and just below it is an outline of the Mary Rose, with the depth (12m, 40ft or 6.7 fathoms). There is a line showing the seabed, which takes a rapid dive into the vertical...

On the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, we thought we'd answer a question that's often asked,

"If they raised the Mary Rose, why not raise the Titanic?"

Allow our scaled diagram to explain...

This looks great!

Azuchi Castle: The Ultimate Fortress Podcast Episode · Echoes of History · 03/17/2025 · 46m

Listening now to @olegb.bsky.social's interview with Matt Lewis of Echoes of History about Azuchi Castle, and unsurprisingly it's great!

Give it a listen on your podcast platform of choice!

Thanks for sharing!!

Graphic Narratives and History in the Americas In recent years, graphic narratives have gained greater recognition within the historical profession. University presses publish series of graphic historie

As a lifelong comics fan, I'm excited that our discussion of "Graphic Narratives and History in the Americas" has just appeared Open Access in the latest issue of the American Historical Review from @historians.org. It's been a lot of fun with some incredible people!
academic.oup.com/ahr/article/...

Thanks! The Return to Camelot is fantastic, with wonderful illustrations. It's been very influential for my own work.

Thanks for the plug! In terms of Edwardian chivalry, perhaps Girouard's _The Return to Camelot_ or Goebel's _The Great War and Medieval Memory_? Both of those are excellent.

Table showing the foreign population breakdown by Tokyo wards. The ten largest national groups are separately enumerated. Namely, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Nepalese, Filipino, Myanmarese, Taiwanese, American, Indian and Indonesian.

This table has the January 2025 foreign population breakdown by Tokyo wards. There's data for the 10 largest national groups, then all other nationalities are lumped together. Those ten groups are much changed from 25 years ago. www.toukei.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/gaikoku/2025...

Good morning!

East Asian Studies at Sheffield is also home to historians who contribute to joint programmes and teach for colleagues in the History department.

Sheffield's is one of the largest interdisciplinary groupings of East Asia specialists in the UK and one of the most important globally.