The Name of a Bird Just before turning another year older in the summer of 2024, I learned that I had been wrong. What I grew up considering a type of “swallow” is a drastically different kind of bird. Allow me to explain by going back in time. In April 1936, an ornithologist named Canuto…
Tag: material culture
Some Are for the Poor and the Boor: The Hierarchy and Hierarchization of Materia Medica
All plant life are not made equal—at least not in the eyes of Japanese physcians during the Tokugawa period (1603–1868). This essay explores what was at stake when some plants were regarded as respectable medicinal herbs while others were dismissed as weeds for the poor.
A Bloom of Love? How Saffron Crocus Took Root in Japan
A new medicinal plant took root in foreign soil and became naturalized, but why? If you’ve spent generously on flowers—perhaps for this Valentine’s Day?—look no further than this essay for company.