Essays
by Gregory Smits (contact)
This page consists of some of the essays that I have written for academic journals, conferences, and for other purposes. Most of the essays are PDF files, and viewing them requires Adobe Reader to be installed on your computer (it usually is; if not click the link). These PDF Files are large (size for each is indicated), and a broadband connection is recommended for viewing or downloading them. There is often a 5-6 year delay before published articles are made available in digital archives, and some never get digitalized. Therefore, a fair amount of my work is unavailable here. For a complete list of publications, see my vita. For essays on topics unrelated to my academic work, see my personal site. Links on this page open a new browser window or tab.
Published Articles (Chronological Order):
“Ajia jukyôshi ni okeru Sai On” <2.53MB> アジア儒教史における蔡温 [Sai On in East Asian Confucianism]. Ryûkyû shinpô, serialized in two parts, 8-17 / 8-19, 1988.
“Sai On no Ryûkyû kokka ron” <4.82MB> 蔡温の琉球国家論 [Sai On’s theory of the Ryukyuan state]. Okinawa taimusu, serialized in three parts, 6-6 / 6-7 / 6-8, 1989.
“The Intersection of Politics and Thought in Ryukyuan Confucianism: Sai On’s Uses of Quan.” <3.3MB> Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 56.2 (December, 1996): 443-477.
“Unspeakable Things: Ryukyuan Confucian Sai On’s Ambivalent Critique of Language and Buddhism.” <148KB> Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 24.1-2 (Spring, 1997): 163-178.
“Ambiguous Boundaries: Royal Authority in the Kingdom of Ryukyu.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 60.1 (June, 2000): 89-123.
“Jahana Noboru: Okinawan Activist and Scholar.” <1.6MB> Anne Walthall, ed., The Human Tradition in Modern Japan. Scholarly Resources, 2002: 99-113.
"Nijusseiki ni okeru bunka to seiji no retorikku: 1940-nen no Okinawa hôgen ronsô o chûshin to shite" <1.1MB> 二十世紀における文化と政治のレトリック：1940年の沖縄方言論争を中心として [The rhetoric of politics and culture in Okinawa from the standpoint of the 1940 language dispute], Dai-yonkai Okinawa kenkyû kokusai shinpôjiumu jikkô iinkai, eds., Sekai ni hiraku Okinawa Kenkyû 世界に拓く沖縄研究 (Naha, Japan: Kinjô insatsu, 2003): 133-146.
Gary Cross, co-author, "Japan, the U.S. and the Globalization of Children's Consumer Culture," Journal of Social History, 38.4 (Summer, 2005): 873-890.
"Shaking Up Japan: Edo Society and the 1855 Catfish Picture Prints," <1.3MB> Journal of Social History, 39.4 (Summer, 2006): 1045-1077. Also see this slide show: "The Ansei Edo Earthquake as a Political Event" <3.93 MB>.
"Autobiography as Didactic Rhetoric: Sai On’s Jijoden," <275KB> Early Modern Japan: An Interdisciplinary Journal, Vol. 14 (2006): 40-50.
Book Reviews (Chronological Order):
Review of Moral and Spiritual Cultivation in Japanese Neo-Confucianism: The Life and Thought of Kaibara Ekken (1630-1714), by Mary Evalyn Tucker, <62KB> Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, vol. 18, no. 1 (March, 1991): 85-88.
Review of Deep Words: Miura Baien’s System of Natural Philosophy, by Rosemary Mercer, <70KB> Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, vol. 19, no. 4 (December, 1992): 401-4.
Review of Tokugawa Village Practice, by Herman Ooms, January 10, 1997 on H-Japan, a division of the Humanities Net internet discussion group.
Review of Interpreting Amida: History and Orientalism in the Study of Pure Land Buddhism, by Galen Amstutz, Philosophy East and West, 49.3 (July, 1999): 284-6.
Review of The I Ching in Tokugawa Thought and Culture, by Wai-ming Ng, Journal of Asian Studies, 60.1 (February, 2001): 223-4.
Review of The Conquest of Ainu Lands: Ecology and Culture in Japanese Expansion, 1590-1800, by Brett L. Walker, American Historical Review, 107.4 (October 2002): 1206-1207.
Review of Bonds of Civility: Aesthetic Networks and the Political Origins of Japanese Culture, by Eiko Ikegami, Journal of Social History, 40.1 (Fall, 2006): 251-253.
Conference Papers and Other Essays (Chronological Order):
"Okinawa aidentiti no rekishiteki hendô to sono jijô 沖縄アイデンティティの歴史的変動とその事情" (Changes in the nature and circumstances of Okinawan identity through history) (Okinawa Identity International Symposium, Hōsei University, Tama Campus, March 9, 2004).
"Recent Trends in Scholarship on the History of Ryukyu’s Relations with China and Japan," (Symposium: State, Current Developments and Future Tasks in Japanese Studies, Bonn University, Germany, 3 February 2006).
"Romantic Ryukyu in Okinawan Politics: The Myth of Ryukyuan Pacifism" (annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies, April 2006, San Francisco). See this slide show: "The Myth of Ryukyuan Pacifism" <2.44 MB>.
Ruth Ludwin, co-author. Poster presentation: "Evolution of the catfish (namazu) as an earthquake symbol in Japan" <10MB PDF> (Seismological Society of America Conference, April 2006, San Francisco). (Printable handout <4MB PDF>).
