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<tr><td>{{Edo specialist}}</td></tr>

<tr><td>{{Edo specialist}}</td></tr>

<tr><td>{{History Degree}}</td></tr>

<tr><td>{{History Degree}}</td></tr>

<tr><td>{{Published author}}</td></tr>

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LordAmeth (紫水晶殿) is a bit obsessed with Japan, Ryukyu, and increasingly with the wider region of East/SE Asia and the Pacific. He finds interest in just about every period or aspect of Japanese history, from the earliest ancient clan conflicts, through the Heian period and the Genpei Wars, the complexities of clan histories and regional histories of the Sengoku period, and into the vivid cultural, political, and economic history of the Edo period, the cultural changes of the Meiji period, and the cultural issues facing Japan today. Please don't mind the weird name - we all picked weird handles back in the early days of the Internet, and on some platforms (such as this one) we just haven't changed to a new one...

I am a bit obsessed with Japanese and Ryukyuan history and culture, and to a notable extent with those of the wider region of East/SE Asia and the Pacific. I find interest in just about every period or aspect of Japanese history, from the earliest ancient clan conflicts, through the Heian period and the Genpei Wars, the complexities of clan histories and regional histories of the Sengoku period, and into the vivid cultural, political, and economic history of the Edo period, the cultural changes of the Meiji period, and the cultural issues facing Japan today. I am particularly interested in the histories of visual, material, and performance culture, those things that make each period and each region of Japan so vibrantly distinct in their textured cultural look and feel. Please don't mind the weird name - we all picked weird handles back in the early days of the Internet, and on some platforms (such as this one) it's rather difficult to change to a different one.

He studied at Jouchi Daigaku in Tokyo for one term back in '03, and completed his MA at the School of Oriental & African Studies (U of London), writing on 17th century relations between the shogunate and Southeast Asian authorities. He then lived in [[Yokohama]] for a year, devoting the vast majority of his waking hours during that year to improving his Japanese language skills. After some various adventures elsewhere in Japan, New York, and elsewhere, he earned a second MA, in Art History, from the University of Hawaii, and is now pursuing a PhD at UC Santa Barbara.

I completed an MA at the School of Oriental & African Studies (U of London), writing on 17th century relations between the shogunate and Southeast Asian authorities, and then attended an intensive advanced-level Japanese-language program in Yokohama for a year. After some various adventures elsewhere in Japan, New York, and elsewhere, I completed a second MA, in Art History, from the University of Hawai'i, and then a PhD in History at the University of California, Santa Barbara, focusing on the 17th-19th century embassies dispatched by the Kingdom of Ryukyu to Edo, and on issues of cultural performance, ritual, and display occurring within those embassies.

He was really active on Wikipedia for several years, much to the chagrin of the Shogun, but it has now been quite some time since he has done any major contributions over there. Still, if you're interested, please do feel free to check out his [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:LordAmeth user page] over there.

Travis is no longer active on Wikipedia, finding the endless edit-warring and Talk page arguments stressful and a distraction from the relaxation, enjoyment, and productivity that contributing to a Wiki should bring. I enjoy using the Samurai-Archive Wiki as a great way to take notes, to record details I have come across, and to have a quick and easy way to come back to them, to look them up. Contributing to the Wiki also helps me to read actively and engagingly, actually noticing details and having something to do with them, rather than just passively skimming through materials for an argument, and absorbing little of the content.

'''For larger versions of images used on the S-A Wiki, any photos I have taken myself can be found on [http://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/ my Flickr page].'''

 

'''For larger versions of images used on the S-A Wiki, any photos LordAmeth has taken himself can be found at [http://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/ his Flickr page].'''

==Interests and Specialties==

==Interests and Specialties==

As the userboxes do not tell all, I am particularly interested in and/or knowledgeable about:

As the userboxes do not tell all, I am particularly interested in and/or knowledgeable about:

*History of [[Okinawa]]

*History of [[Okinawa]]

*[[Kabuki]] and [[Noh]]

*[[Kabuki]] and [[Noh]]

*[[Ukiyo-e]] and wider [[Edo period]] art

*[[Ukiyo-e]] and wider [[Edo period]] art