SC Connecticut News

Daniel Botsman, an historian of Japan whose interests span from the 17th century to the present, has been appointed the Sumitomo Professor of History. This position is intended to support research in Japanese studies.

Botsman joined Yale’s faculty in 2010 and is a member of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) in the Department of History. He authored “Punishment and Power in the Making of Modern Japan” (Princeton University Press, 2005), which analyzes penal practices and law during samurai rule before the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and examines the rise of modern prisons in Imperial Japan. His work sheds light on aspects of Japan’s modernization.

A noted translator, Botsman has translated academic texts and published a translation of Okita Saburō's memoirs, one architect behind post-war Japan’s economic growth. He co-edited “Commemorating Meiji: History, Politics and the Politics of History” (Routledge, 2021) and “’Meiji 150’ nen de kangaeru” (Yamakawa shuppansha, 2018), which respond to Japanese government efforts to mark the Meiji Restoration's 150th anniversary. His articles have appeared in journals such as American Historical Review, Rekishigaku Kenkyū, Japanese Studies; East Asian History; and Nihon Rekishi. Currently, he is working on two books: “A People’s Guide to Tokyo,” expected later this year from University of California Press, and “Untouchable Freedoms: Caste, Cattle, and Liberation in 19th Century Japan.”

Botsman's contributions have earned him fellowships from institutions including the Institute for Advanced Study, the Japan Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Societies. He has organized workshops and conferences at Yale and other institutions worldwide. Botsman has delivered talks at numerous universities globally.

At Yale, Botsman has highlighted Japanese collections at Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library by co-editing “Treasures from Japan in the Yale University Library” (2015) and organizing related symposiums. He also facilitated collaborative workshops for graduate students focusing on new methods in Japanese history. Serving as Director of Graduate Studies in History from 2016 to 2018, he is now Associate Director of Graduate Studies. He chaired the Council on East Asian Studies from 2011 to 2014 and currently serves as Associate Head of Pierson College.

Botsman holds a B.A. (Hons.) in Asian Studies from Australian National University. As a Rhodes Scholar representing Queensland in Australia for 1991, he completed an M.Phil. at Oxford followed by a Ph.D. at Princeton. Prior to joining Yale’s faculty, he held appointments at Hokkaido University Law School as well as Harvard University and University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.