During this research seminar, Marie Yasunaga and Linxi Zhang will present their current research, followed by informal discussion and a drinks reception. 

Marie Yasunaga, ‘Illuminating the Gender on the Early Modern Streets of Edo: A Quantitative and Qualitative Approach to Visual Materials for Historical Study’

Marie Yasunaga is an adjunct lecturer at the College of Japanese Language and Culture at the University of Tsukuba. Her research primarily focuses on intercultural interactions facilitated through visual and artistic objects between Japan and Western Europe during the 19^th and 20^th centuries. From 2018 to 2022, she conducted research on the gendered experiences in the urban environment of the early modern Japanese capital, Edo (modern-day Tokyo). This work was part of the project The Freedom of the Streets: Gender and Urban Space in Eurasia 1600-1850, led by Danielle van den Heuvel at the Amsterdam Center for Urban History. 

Linxi Zhang, “Performing ‘Japaneseness’ in the Chinese Nationalist Digital Sphere: Japanese Influencers’ Strategic Performances of National Identity on China’s Bilibili”

Linxi Zhang is a PhD candidate at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Vrije Universiteit (VU), Amsterdam. Her research examines how Japanese influencers perform and negotiate “Japaneseness” on Chinese digital platforms in the context of digital nationalism. Focusing on the platform Bilibili, she investigates how Japanese influencers strategically present national identity to maintain visibility and foster audience engagement amid anti-Japanese sentiment. Using digital ethnography, qualitative content analysis, and multi-modal discourse analysis, Zhang’s work explores how platformed identity is routinely constructed, adapted, and normalized. More broadly, her research contributes to research on influencer cultures, platform studies, digital nationalism, and content production of national identity in transnational online spaces.