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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

Global Motor Oil and Auto Paint Shortages Persist Despite Potential U.S.-Iran Peace Deal

Auto repair shops and car dealerships in Japan and the United States continue to face shortages of motor oil, automotive paint, and other petroleum-based products as supply chain disruptions caused by the Middle East...

Asian Currencies Steady as BOJ Raises Rates and Markets Await Fed Decision

Asian currencies and the U.S. dollar traded mostly unchanged on Tuesday as investors monitored developments surrounding a potential U.S.-Iran peace agreement and prepared for a busy week of central bank decisions. Market...

U.S.-Iran Peace Deal Extends Gulf Ceasefire, Reopens Strait of Hormuz

U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States and Iran have signed a preliminary agreement aimed at ending the ongoing Gulf conflict, marking a significant step toward easing tensions in the region. While...

Myanmar Economic Outlook Hit by Fuel Price Shock as World Bank Cuts Growth Forecast

Myanmars economy is showing signs of stabilization, but a recent surge in global fuel prices has created fresh challenges for the conflict-ridden nation, prompting the World Bank to lower its economic growth forecast....

China Industrial Output Beats Forecasts as Domestic Demand Weakens

Chinas industrial production expanded slightly more than expected in May, highlighting the resilience of the countrys manufacturing sector despite mounting economic challenges. According to official data released on...

Politics

UN Secretary-General Candidate Maria Fernanda Espinosa Calls for Responsible UN Reform

Maria Fernanda Espinosa, an Ecuadorian diplomat and former foreign affairs minister, has pledged to reform the United Nations while preserving its vital global role if elected as the next UN secretary-general. Speaking...

U.S. Supreme Court to Review Trump Administration Appeal on Immigrant Detention Without Bond Hearings

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from President Donald Trumps administration in a significant immigration detention case that could reshape the rights of certain immigrants facing deportation. The case...

Trump May Release U.S.-Iran Agreement Ahead of Formal Signing

U.S. Vice President JD Vance revealed that President Donald Trump could decide to make public the recently finalized agreement between the United States and Iran before its official signing ceremony on Friday. Speaking...

Lukashenko Urges Russia-Ukraine Compromise as Peace Talks Remain Stalled

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has called for a compromise between Russia and Ukraine to bring an end to the prolonged conflict that has continued for more than four years. In an interview published Monday, the...

Zelensky Proposes Putin Meeting at G7 Summit to Advance Ukraine Peace Talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has renewed efforts to advance peace negotiations with Russia, revealing that he offered to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G7 summit in France or in the United...

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

Microsoft Taps AWS to Support GitHub Amid AI Coding Boom

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is reportedly turning to Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing arm of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), to help address growing infrastructure demands at GitHub as AI-powered software development...

SoftBank Vision Fund CFO Navneet Govil to Exit After Decade-Long Tenure

SoftBank Groups Vision Fund investment division is set to undergo a key leadership change as Navneet Govil, Chief Financial Officer of SoftBank Investment Advisors, prepares to leave the company after nearly a decade,...

OpenAI's $34B Spending Pushes AI Market Leadership Ahead of IPO

OpenAI invested approximately $34 billion in 2025 as it intensified efforts to strengthen its position in the rapidly expanding artificial intelligence market ahead of a potential initial public offering (IPO), according...

SpaceX Stock Soars After Historic IPO, Reaches $2.5 Trillion Market Value

SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) continued its strong post-IPO rally on Monday, extending gains after a record-breaking Nasdaq debut that marked the largest initial public offering in history. The aerospace and satellite technology...

Elon Musk Becomes World's First Trillionaire After SpaceX IPO Surge

Elon Musk has become the worlds first trillionaire, further cementing his status as one of the most influential entrepreneurs of the modern era. The milestone follows the highly successful initial public offering (IPO) of...