32251: Working from Tokyo

Yōkoso (welcome) to the desk space in my Tokyo apartment. I'm a third year DPhil history candidate. My research is a transnational history of laughter and political satire in nineteenth century Japan. Mid-Hilary term I left my Oxford accommodation for what I expected to be a short archival research trip to Tokyo. Plans changed and I am still here. Now I'm an affiliated researcher with Rikkyo University where I will be continuing my dissertation write-up and delivering an undergraduate course as a lecturer. Japan is in "lockdown lite". That means while I can't access the libraries, the options to sing in an airtight karaoke booth, line up for the latest popular dessert or try your luck in a pachinko parlour are still readily available. Choosing not to gamble with my own life or that of others, I am staying at home and practicing a new karaoke number in the shower.