Tuning Into the Occupation: Radio and Media Policy in Postwar Okinawa and Japan
April 28 @ 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
For non-Columbia affiliates, registration is required to access the Morningside campus. After registering you will receive an email with a QR code that must be presented along with a government-issued ID (your name must match exactly the name registered for the event) at either the 116th Street & Broadway or 116th Street & Amsterdam gates for entry. Please register using a unique email address (one email address per registrant) by 4:00 pm on Apr. 27 for campus access.
Names will be submitted for QR codes 1-2 days prior to the event. Registrants will receive an email from CU Guest Access with the QR code before or on the day of the event. NOTE: You cannot access campus using the QR code from Eventbrite.
Speaker: Akinobu Matsumoto, Junior Researcher at the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Waseda University; WEAI Visiting Scholar (2025-2026)
Moderator: Takuya Tsunoda, Assistant Professor of Japanese Film and Media, Dept. of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University
How has the media shaped the way people think? This talk explores radio programming in U.S.-occupied Okinawa during the early Cold War, focusing on two individuals involved in radio production. Taking a transnational perspective, it situates Okinawa within the broader context of mainland Japan, revealing how ideas, formats, and radio production skills circulated across borders in the postwar period.
Speaker’s Bio: Akinobu Matsumoto is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Waseda University, and a JSPS Cross-border postdoctoral research fellow. Over the years, he has conducted research at Harvard University and the University of Maryland, examining the role of media practitioners and the political functions of broadcasting formats in postwar and Cold War East Asia through archival research. Drawing on his experience as a television documentary director, his work bridges journalism and media history.
This event is hosted by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute.
Registration: To attend this event in-person, please register HERE (with one unique email address per registrant).
