Christopher West is an American lover of Asian history who was born in the state of Maine in 1975. He is both the “steward” and webmaster of Samurai Archives, an English-language website about Japanese history. Christopher went to college in Japan where he majored in Japanese language and culture, and currently resides in Hawaii. In this interview he talks about his love for Japan, books and websites.
Voicu Mihnea Simandan: The online Samurai Archives project has been up and running for more than a decade and, since it’s set up in the year 1999, the website has grown to a remarkable size. What was the motivation that kept you working on the website?
Christopher West: Japan has a long history, and each era is different from the next, so there is always something different to examine, which keeps it interesting. And fortunately I have various people helping me at any given moment, so that takes a lot of pressure off me to keep things rolling by myself. Also, adding various social media such as Twitter, Facebook, a forum, etc., has been a motivator as well, since feedback becomes frequent and relatively quick, so it gives me ideas of new things to pursue.
VMS: In an interview you mentioned that reading James Clavell’s Shogun was what kindled your love for Japanese history. Today, after you’ve read so much about Japan, would you recommend the book to a person who knows little or even nothing at all about Japan? Is it a good start?
CW: It’s not a good start for learning Japanese history, it’s pure fiction with a lot of inaccuracies, but it’s a great work of fiction that I still highly recommend.
VMS: What is your take on Japanese historical fiction? Recently, have you read any authors (except James Clavell, of course) that write in this sub-genre?
CW: There isn’t a lot of Japanese historical fiction available in English, at least nothing that has grabbed my interest so far, but in Japanese there are shelves upon shelves of historical fiction. Eiji Yoshikawa is one Japanese author who has had his books Taiko and Musashi translated into English that I recommend for anyone interested in Japanese history.
VMS: What is your experience with Japanese martial arts? Some branches have tried to use Japanese history to their advantage. Please comment.
CW: I was heavily into Japanese martial arts in high school, and that was a big part of the reason I ended up there. But the beliefs about Japanese culture, language, and history of the people involved in the martial arts that I met and trained with were absolutely laughable in retrospect (of course, I didn’t know any better at the time). I’ve been out of the martial arts world for quite some time now, but from what I read on the Internet, things don’t seem to have changed much. I assume a lot of it is just plain ignorance about modern Japan, but I’m sure that some martial arts teachers invent all sorts of mythology about the particular art they teach in order to entice students.
VMS: Samurai Archives is a member of HistoryChannel.com. That alone gives your website a lot of credibility. Has it been difficult to maintain a high standard?
CW: That’s a good question. We do research and write articles for the website, but it is really up to people who use the website for research to verify what they are reading on their own. Although I’d like to think that, if nothing else, our standards and quality is much higher than Wikipedia due to the standards we hold ourselves to.
VMS: Over the years, Samurai Archives has branched out on different Internet platforms, from blogs, to forums, to wikis, to podcasts. How important is for you, as a webmaster, to reach out and explore new ways of delivering content?
CW: I’ve always seen the Samurai Archives as more of a portal or community than a simple website, and I’ve always tried to expand the Samurai Archives universe with that in mind. There is also a YouTube Channel, although so far the videos are mainly of Japanese culture events that have taken place in Hawaii. But when I get back to Japan next year I plan to add more Japan-centric videos.
VMS: Samurai Archives is also present on Facebook and Twitter. How do you use these two social media platforms?
CW: Mainly the social media platforms are used to tie together the various things that we’re doing, from blog posts to newly released podcast episodes, it’s a way for us to keep everyone aware of what we’re doing, and what new content we have available. It also resulted in a community of people interested in Japan and its history, and so it provides feedback for us as well.
VMS: What is the overall traffic of Samurai Archives?
CW: In regards to hits, 1,500 to 5,000 hits a day depending on the time of year (more hits during the school year) or if any Japanese history related movies have been released lately – Traffic to the site quadrupled around the time the Tom Cruise movie The Last Samurai was released. As far as the demographic goes, I imagine it’s a mix of students and people looking for more information on Japanese history.
VMS: Are you able to monetize the website or is it just a for-the-love “affair”? Do you have a marketing strategy?
CW: It hasn’t really been a goal to “monetize” the site. The Samurai Archives bookstore and the Samurai Archives shop mainly subsidize the cost of the website, including the server, podcast archives, etc. I haven’t ever made a concerted effort to do much more than make sure the bills get paid.
VMS: What other websites/blogs related to Japanese history do you read/recommend?
CW: I keep up with Frog in a Well, which covers a variety of Japanese history related topics as well as the Ancient Japan blog.
VMS: Apart from Japanese history, what other interests do you have?
CW: I’m a movie freak. I probably watch about 3-5 movies a week, and also maintain the Yakuza Film blog. I also have a long-standing interest in Psychology (and almost pursued it in graduate school), and dabble in creative writing.
VMS: Thank you for your time.
CW: Thanks, it was my pleasure.
Watch a Taiko performance in Waikiki, Hawaii:
Voicu Mihnea Simandan
Bangkok, Thailand
October 13, 2011
