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Alessandro Poletto

Lecturer in East Asian Religions, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis
Alessandro Poletto (he/they) specializes in the social and religious history of premodern Japan, with an emphasis on Buddhism in the early medieval period (tenth to the thirteenth century). He earned his PhD from Columbia University in 2020 with a dissertation entitled “The Culture of Healing in Early Medieval Japan: A Study in Premodern Epistemology,” in which he examined discourses and practices concerning healing and disease, with particular attention to the relationship between Buddhist healers and other technicians involved in the treatment of illness, namely court physicians and onmyōji. His other research and teaching interests include the understanding and ritual resolution of natural disasters in premodern East Asia, the history of the cultural exchanges between the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago, and Buddhist material culture and archeology in East Asia.

His current research focuses on the material and textual dimensions of various types of deposits — within statues or under the ground — in order to get a grasp of Buddhism as practiced by lay Buddhists in early medieval Japan. Dedicatory or votive materials discovered inside Buddhist statues or in underground deposits (commonly known as kyōzuka) illustrate the motivations behind the undertaking of a certain burial of sutras, or the production of a copy of a specific sutra, allowing us to see the hopes, aspirations and anxieties of the people engaging in such practices, but also the ways in which they attempted to shape their destinies, and those of deceased dear ones, through their dedicatory good acts.

Before joining Washington University, Alessandro was a JSPS postdoctoral fellow at Kyoto University. He holds a B.A. from the University of Naples “L’Orientale,” and an M.A. from Osaka University.

Economy

The “Takaichi Trade”: How Japan’s First Female PM Is Shaping the Yen

Having assumed office late in 2025 after Shigeru Ishiba quit, Sanae Takaichi has concentrated power with a landslide Liberal Democratic Party victory and a supermajority in the snap election set for February 2026. Having...

How the US–India tariff truce boosts major Indian industries, Surat to Pharma

With zero-duty treatment for flagship products including gems and diamonds, generic drugs, and certain aircraft parts, the new USIndia interim trade agreement reduces US tariffs on Indian products from roughly 25% (close...

Australian Pension Funds Boost Currency Hedging as Aussie Dollar Strengthens

A major Australian pension fund is ramping up its currency hedging strategy as expectations grow that the Australian dollar is undervalued and poised to strengthen further. HESTA, one of Australias largest superannuation...

Lee Seung-heon Signals Caution on Rate Hikes, Supports Higher Property Taxes to Cool Korea’s Housing Market

Lee Seung-heon, a leading candidate to become the next governor of the Bank of Korea (BOK), has voiced support for raising property ownership taxes as a way to curb surging home prices, while warning that a shift toward...

Asian Currencies Stay Rangebound as Yen Firms on Intervention Talk

Most Asian currencies traded within a narrow range on Monday, reflecting cautious sentiment as investors awaited key economic data from the United States and China. The Japanese yen edged slightly higher after Japans...

Politics

China Overturns Death Sentence of Canadian Robert Schellenberg, Signaling Thaw in Canada-China Relations

Chinas top court has overturned the death sentence of Canadian national Robert Schellenberg, a major development in a long-running drug smuggling case that has strained diplomatic relations between Canada and China for...

Taiwan Says Moving 40% of Semiconductor Production to the U.S. Is Impossible

Taiwan has firmly rejected calls from the United States to relocate a large portion of its semiconductor manufacturing capacity, with senior officials stressing that the islands chip industry cannot be uprooted. Taiwan...

Trump Slams Super Bowl Halftime Show Featuring Bad Bunny

U.S. President Donald Trump sparked fresh controversy after criticizing the Super Bowl halftime show fronted by global music star Bad Bunny, calling the performance absolutely terrible in a social media post shared on...

Bangladesh Election 2026: A Turning Point After Years of Political Suppression

Bangladesh is heading into what many describe as its most competitive national election in more than a decade, marking a dramatic reversal of political fortunes after years of one-party dominance. For 15 years under former...

Ghislaine Maxwell to Invoke Fifth Amendment at House Oversight Committee Deposition

Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, plans to refuse to answer questions during a scheduled deposition before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Monday,...

Science

SpaceX Pivots Toward Moon City as Musk Reframes Long-Term Space Vision

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed a significant shift in the companys near-term space exploration strategy, announcing that SpaceX is now prioritizing the development of a self-growing city on the Moon rather than focusing...

SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates

Elon Musks SpaceX is shifting its near-term space exploration strategy, choosing to prioritize a return to the Moon before pursuing missions to Mars, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar...

NASA and SpaceX Target Crew-11 Undocking From ISS Amid Medical Concern

NASA has confirmed that the agency, in coordination with SpaceX, is targeting no earlier than 5 p.m. Eastern Time (2200 GMT) on Wednesday, January 14, for the undocking of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission from the International...

Neuralink Plans High-Volume Brain Implant Production and Fully Automated Surgery by 2026

Elon Musks brain-computer interface company Neuralink is preparing for a major expansion, announcing plans to begin high-volume production of its brain implant devices and transition to a fully automated surgical procedure...

Jared Isaacman Confirmed as NASA Administrator, Becomes 15th Leader of U.S. Space Agency

The U.S. Senate has officially confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman as the new NASA administrator, making him the 15th leader in the agencys history. The confirmation, which took place on Wednesday, marks...

Technology

Samsung Electronics Shares Jump on HBM4 Mass Production Report

Samsung Electronics shares surged on Monday following reports that the South Korean tech giant is set to begin mass production of its next-generation HBM4 memory chips, a key component in artificial intelligence hardware....

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Says AI Investment Boom Is Just Beginning as NVDA Shares Surge

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang reaffirmed his bullish stance on artificial intelligence, calling the massive capital expenditure flowing into AI infrastructure both appropriate and necessary as the industry...

Amazon Stock Rebounds After Earnings as $200B Capex Plan Sparks AI Spending Debate

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) delivered a mixed but closely watched earnings report, beating Wall Street expectations on revenue while unveiling a massive long-term investment plan that unsettled investors. The e-commerce and...

Global PC Makers Eye Chinese Memory Chip Suppliers Amid Ongoing Supply Crunch

Major PC manufacturers including HP, Dell, Acer, and Asus are reportedly exploring the option of sourcing memory chips from Chinese semiconductor companies for the first time, as a prolonged global supply crunch continues...

OpenAI Expands Enterprise AI Strategy With Major Hiring Push Ahead of New Business Offering

OpenAI is significantly accelerating its enterprise AI strategy by hiring hundreds of new employees for its technical consulting division, according to a report by The Information, citing a person familiar with the...