This article introduces the concept of asymmetrical affect to examine how the resettled from different socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds have been conditioned by and reacted to the affections of relocation under a Chinese hydropower project in northern Laos. Drawing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork and household interviews, I scrutinise how the relocation, along with its concomitant development and unexpected consequences, has provided ‘comfort’ (sabay) or caused ‘impoverishment’ (thouk) to the ‘bodies’ (gay) and ‘hearts’ (chai) of the resettled. The local elite capitalised on new infrastructure to improve their livelihoods and social standing, whereas the rural poor with labour power suffered from economic dispossession, community/family dislocation, and emotional distress. All rural destitute villagers experienced a ‘poetic infrastructural disconnect’; some faced ethnic discrimination and unfair allegations. I argue that the intersection of new material conditions and unequal social positions informs post-relocation ‘sabay’, thus challenging large-scale development’s narratives of uniform progress.

In a Philippine Pentecostal congregation, conversion and religious practices took repetitive forms. At the same time, repetition could potentially inhibit feeling the presence of God. How, then, could repetition be so central to a church that was so ambiguous about repetition? This article addresses this question by connecting the repetitive form of Pentecostal conversion and ritual practice to the uncertainties and ambiguities in converts’ experiences of dwelling in divine immanence. The article argues that the ambiguity and feelings of vertigo that being in divine presence entails call for repetitive conversions, and that the ambiguity towards repetition replicates itself in their differentiation from Catholic repetitions and in their own repetitious religious practices. When seen in relation to the multireligious topography of the village, conversions become repeated lateral movements in and out of different spaces of spiritual immanence. The article thus offers a spatial alternative to temporal approaches to conversion and repetition.

This study re-examines Yamashita's 2009 cross-border ethnography by expanding its scope beyond human migration to include the transnational movement of non-human entities following the 3.11 Great East Japan Earthquake. Using a multi-sited ethnographic approach, I analyse the Pacific-wide impacts, focusing on distant tsunamis in Chile and debris hitchhikers to North America—marine species transported by tsunami-driven debris. By tracing these movements, this study demonstrates that 3.11 was not merely a Japanese disaster but a transoceanic event that reshaped tectonic, material, and ecological entanglements across the Pacific. In doing so, it challenges nation-centred disaster narratives and calls for a multicoastal, more-than-human approach to understanding post-3.11 transformations.

This article, based on anthropologist Shinji Yamashita’s research and his notion of ‘reflexive tourism’, explores changing Japanese perceptions of Bali, particularly as seen in educational tours. Since colonial times, Bali has been portrayed as a ‘paradise’. Recent environmental issues have received attention in Japan. While regular Japanese tourism has declined, participation in educational tours to Bali has increased as awareness of these issues has grown. Yamashita explored the motivations of Japanese visitors to Bali through the concept of Japanese Orientalism, which, as this article argues, continues to influence educational tours. With growing environmental concerns, Bali’s tourism authorities prioritise sustainability and promote the philosophy of Tri Hita Karana, emphasising harmony between humans, nature, and the divine. Japanese immigrants interested in environmental issues have adopted this concept, sharing it with educational tour participants, and reshaping Bali according to this ideal, while engaging in a rehashed form of Japanese Orientalism.

This article reviews the development of public anthropology in Japan. It was Shinji Yamashita who introduced the term ‘public anthropology' (kōkyō jinruigaku) to Japan in the mid-late 2000s through his work Introduction to Cultural Anthropology and Praxis of Contemporary Anthropology, in which he used the terms ‘applied anthropology' and ‘practical anthropology’. Through his active efforts and the involvement of cultural anthropologists in the Great East Japan Earthquake, which had just occurred, public anthropology became well known within a few years, followed by the appearance of books, research projects, and university lectures that advanced public anthropology. The development of public anthropology in Japan, however, did not go smoothly. Now, ten years after the publication of Yamashita’s edited book, Kōkyō Jinruigaku (Public Anthropology), the term public anthropology is less visible. Has this endeavour lost momentum then? Showcasing several public anthropological projects developing in Japan that do not call themselves public anthropology, this article argues that what Yamashita aimed for has, in fact, been taking root in Japan.

This epilogue concludes a special issue honouring the life and work of Professor Shinji Yamashita and his profound influence on anthropology and anthropologists in Japan and beyond. I describe Yamashita’s career as I experienced it through professional and personal encounters with him. As a pioneer in the anthropology of tourism, his take on tourism as an ideological framing of history, nature, and tradition significantly shaped academic discourse. His use of the concept of glocalisation, which adapts global ideas to local contexts, was pivotal in understanding cultural dynamics of globalisation in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Yamashita’s extensive fieldwork in Indonesia and his role in advancing public anthropology highlight his commitment to bridging Japanese and global scholarship. His contributions to disaster risk mitigation research further underscore his interdisciplinary impact. Yamashita has left us with an important legacy, and his innovative ideas continue to inspire and shape contemporary anthropological research.

The kimono has undergone many transformations throughout its history; primarily worn by the Japanese on special occasions, the kimono now plays a role in the country’s tourism industry. Based on fieldwork, this article explores a previously understudied area of kimono use by first-generation Russian-speaking migrants in Japan. By examining when, how, and where migrants wear kimonos, the study analyses the role of the kimono in the process of interaction with locals, and migrants’ sense of belonging. The article focuses on the relationships that migrant women form with older Japanese women who help them wear kimonos to events. These relationships are ambivalent: the experience is enjoyable, the dressers are nurturing, but the power dynamic is unequal, with migrants facing disciplinary attitudes from Japanese mentors. The findings reveal the changes in kimono use among migrant women as they navigate their lives in Japan, showing how this material object illuminates the losses, struggles, and gains experienced by these women.