Scholar Colloquium: Phantom Japan: Okamoto Taro’s Art and Ethnography of Okinawa

Christopher Nelson, Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and SAR’s 2023 William Y. and Nettie K. Adams Fellow.

Phantom Japan: Okamoto Taro’s Art and Ethnography of Okinawa 

Dr. Nelson will prepare an annotated translation of a seminal monograph, Okinawabunkaron (On Okinawan Culture) by an important Japanese anthropologist, artist and public intellectual for publication. The author, Okamoto Taro, is perhaps the most significant Japanese artist of the postwar era. With the support of the Adams Fellowship, Dr. Nelson will complete his translation and critical introduction of Okamoto’s book for publication.