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Japanese History

Happy New Year: Embracing a Lifestyle Inspired by Minakata Kumagusu

Happy New Year! 2025 is finally here. I’m currently enjoying a relaxed time at my family’s home in Tochigi Prefecture. I...
Japanese History

Reflecting on 2024: A Year of Discovering Independent Scholars

Merry Christmas! The year is almost over, and it’s flown by so quickly. Recently, I visited the Marunouchi area near Tok...
Travelogue

A Refreshing Escape to Hakone’s Hot Springs

I did 3-day, 2-night trip to Hakone. Hakone in a Nutshell Hakone is a charming resort town in southwestern Kanagawa Pref...
Travelogue

A Memorable Autumn Trip to Kyoto and Osaka

I recently visited Kyoto and Osaka, two cities I’ve been to many times because of friends living there. However, this wa...
Japanese History

Does the Jesuit Correspondence Record Japanese Purchasing African Slaves? Lúcio de Sousa’s Questionable Claims

In my previous article, I introduced Lucio de Sousa’s book, Escravatura e diáspora Japonesa nos séculos XVI e XVII (2014...
Japanese History

Did Lucio de Sousa Lay the Groundwork? Thomas Lockley’s “African Slaves Trend Theory”– Part 2

Previously, I introduced papers and writings that appear to have inspired Thomas Lockley’s “Theory of the Black Slave Tr...
Uncategorized

Tracing the Origins of a Mysterious Entry in Ietada Diary: Questionable Statements in Lockley’s Paper – Part 4

In Part 1, I introduced a mysterious entry in Ietada Diary referenced in Lockley's paper, suggesting that Matsudaira Iet...
Uncategorized

An Epic Telephone Game? Thomas Lockley’s “African Slaves Trend Theory”

In tracing the sources of Lockley’s 2016 paper, I may have identified the original inspiration behind his descriptions i...
Uncategorized

The Origin of the Theory that Black Slaves Owned Japanese Slaves in Japan, Questionable Statements in Lockley’s Paper – Part 3

In Part 1, I discussed Thomas Lockley’s claim that "Black slaves in Japan owned slaves." In Part 2, I pointed out that a...
Uncategorized

Did Yasuke Wield Nobunaga’s Sword? Questionable Statements in Lockley’s Paper – Part 2

In this post, I’ll be covering more questionable claims from Lockley’s paper The Story of Yasuke: Nobunaga's African Ret...