Rate My Professor Oleg Benesch

Benesch specializes in the history of Japan and China in a global context, with research interests spanning intellectual, cultural, and social history. His work examines historical exchanges and the development of ideas across societies, particularly between Japan, China, and the West, addressing themes such as nationalism, identity, nostalgia, masculinity, memory, heritage, authenticity, medievalism, transnational martial identity, graphic narratives, history of drugs, and history of football. Key publications include his monograph Inventing the Way of the Samurai: Nationalism, Internationalism, and Bushidō in Modern Japan (Oxford University Press, 2014); Japan’s Castles: Citadels of Modernity in War and Peace (Cambridge University Press, 2019, co-authored with Ran Zwigenberg); Civilizing Emotions: Concepts in Nineteenth Century Asia and Europe (Oxford University Press, 2015, co-authored); Drugs and the Politics of Consumption in Japan (Brill, 2023, edited with Judith Vitale and Miriam Kingsberg Kadia); and forthcoming titles such as Samurai (British Museum Press, 2026, co-authored with Rosina Buckland) and Global Samurai: Japan’s Warriors across Time and Space (International Research Center for Japanese Studies, 2026). He contributes to editorial projects, including a series on graphic narratives and history in The American Historical Review.