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Staff Profiles

Dr Philip Garrett

Lecturer in Japanese History

Background

I research early medieval Japanese history and teach on Japanese history, the history of Asia, and Buddhism.


My background is in Japanese Studies: I read for the BA in Japanese Studies at Oxford University, with periods of study at Kwansei Gakuin University and Osaka University of Foreign Studies. I stayed on at Oxford for the MSt, where I wrote about the wave of provincial discontent and rebellion which emerged in the 10th century. I then moved to Cambridge to study for a PhD in Medieval Japanese History, investigating the relationship between the Shingon Buddhist temple complex Kōyasan and the monks and warriors of northern Kii Province. On completing my PhD I was then a Research Associate in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Cambridge for two years before taking up the lectureship here at Newcastle. At Newcastle, I have held a succession of administrative roles in addition to teaching and research which, while demanding and often challenging, have often been among the most rewarding in terms of supporting students. I also have a particular interest in exploring new teaching methods through the use of video, podcasts, webpages etc., both as a means of supporting inclusive learning (for which I won the 2019 TEA Award for Outstanding Contribution to EDI) and as transferrable skills to equip students with for their careers beyond university.


Areas of expertise

  • Heian and Kamakura Japan
  • Buddhism in East Asia
  • Technology-enhanced learning, videography and podcasting, Canvas and VLEs.


Roles held

  • Deputy Degree Programme Director, Chair of the Board of Examiners, Chair of the PEC Committee (2017-2019)
  • Staff Wellbeing Ambassador (2018-2020)
  • Degree Programme Director, Chair of the Board of Studies, Chair of the Curriculum Group (2019-2022)
  • Degree Programme Director (2024, S2)
  • Senior Tutor (2024-25, S1)
  • Newcastle University representative to the Japan Foundation Endowment Committee (2015-present)


Student/Public-facing social media and databases


Student Consultation Hours / Office Hours are available on the Staff Contacts and Office Hours page on the HCA Canvas Community.

Teaching

I teach Japanese, Chinese, and Korean history from the palaeolithic to contemporary eras, but my focus is on early medieval Japanese history with a dual focus on political/social structures and intellectual/religious history.


Teaching Awards and Nominations [15]

  • Outstanding Contribution to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity (won, 2019)
  • Outstanding Contribution of Teaching (nominated, 2019; nominated x3 and shortlisted, 2021)
  • Outstanding Contribution to Academic Support (nominated x2 and shortlisted, 2024)
  • Outstanding Contribution to Pastoral Support (nominated, 2019)
  • Pandemic Solidaritea (nominated x2, 2021)
  • Uncategorised nominations (nominated x5, 2025)



Main teaching areas:

In most years I teach on some of the following modules, and sometimes contribute to others:


HCA1003: Global Middle Ages

Module Leader: I organise the module and contribute the content on Central and East Asian history


HIS1100 Evidence and Argument 

Seminar Leader, Viewpoints on the Meiji Restoration. This group studies the history and historiography of the Meiji Ishin in nineteenth century Japan, examining different ideas and opinions of the nature and significance of the Restoration.


HIS1102/HIS1103 History Lab 1/2

Contributor: depending on what I'm teaching in other modules that year, I contribute either a case study on Japan in the 10th Century and the emergence of early professional warriors within the context of a court-dominated society, or a case study on the Meiji Restoration and the end of warrior rule in the context of globalisation in the 19th Century.


HIS2309 East Asia from Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century

Module Leader: This module introduces students to major faiths and intellectual traditions of East Asia, including Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism. It examines the core beliefs and debates within these traditions, as well as their connections to social and political contexts.


HIS2301 Communication and Culture in the Medieval World

Contributor: This module will approach key themes in the medieval history of Europe and the Middle East through the motif of communication. By investigating the context and content of medieval communication, we will be able explore a range of social, political and religious relationships: within families and communities, between rulers and ruled, between past and present, and between the temporal and spiritual worlds.


HIS3351 Buddhism and Society in Medieval Japan

Module Leader: This Special Subject proceeds from the premise that there was no such thing as 'religion’ in medieval Japan, and at the same time that there was no activity or organisation in medieval Japan which was not ‘religious’. The module explores the permeation of Buddhist thought and institutions through Japanese society in the late classical and early medieval periods, with a focus on the interwoven functions and authority of the ‘trifunctional elite’ of civil, military, and monastic authority in the Kamakura period. We will take a multidisciplinary approach to developing our understanding of the period, drawing together study of religion, philosophy, and ritual with human (and sacred) geography, institutional and legal history. 


HIS3020 Writing History: Semesters 1 and 2 

Dissertation supervisions. Research ideas on premodern Japanese history are particularly welcome.

Research

My research at Newcastle concerns provincial life in medieval Japan, sacred space, belief, and organisational control. I have also previously collaborated with the international research group QuakeRecNankai on tsunami history and geographical science in Japan.


Conference Papers and invited lectures

  • "Adachi and Amano: Local and National in the wake of the Mongol Invasions of Japan", invited lecture, Oxford University, Mar. 2025.
  • "The Nagatokoshū Network: Ascetic Administrators of Amano", at the Joint East Asian Studies Conference, University of Central Lancashire, Jun. 2024.
  • "Walking the Path: Amano, Kōyasan, and the chōishimichi trail in the Kamakura period" invited lecture, Oxford Brookes University, Feb. 2024.
  • "The Sacred (and economic) geography of Medieval Kii" Mapping Medieval Japan Workshop, University of Southern California, Feb. 2022.
  • "Networks of Meaning in the Mountains: the Amano Nagatokoshū in Medieval Japan", Archaeology Research Seminar, Newcastle University, Sept. 2020.
  • "Mountain gods, Cosmic Buddhas, and local grudges in early medieval Japan", invited lecture, Oriental Museum, Durham University, Feb. 2020.
  • "City of Gods: Understanding Kōyasan's Medieval Geography", at Palace Cities 2019, Budapest, Mar. 2019
  • "Holy Horses! The Amano Shrine and the Sacred and Political Control of the Kōyasan Mountain Domain", invited lecture, SOAS, Nov. 2018.
  • "Ritualising Law and Loyalty in early medieval Kōyasan land", at Buddhism and Ritual Performance in Medieval Japan, McGill University, Montreal, Sept. 2018.
  • "Kōyasan (Japan) as an Urban Agglomerate Focused on a Religious Institution" as part of the multi-panel theme "Medieval Palace-Cities in Japan, Europe, and the Middle East", International Medieval Congress 2017, University of Leeds.
  • "Kami, Kinship, and Sacred Space at the Shingon Buddhist monastic complex Kōyasan in medieval Japan" invited lecture, Buddhist Studies Lecture Series, University of Ghent, Belgium, Mar. 2017.
  • "Sacred space and political influence in medieval Japanese temple land", MedLAB research forum, Newcastle University, Oct 2016.
  • "As Below, so Above: the institutional organisation of Kōyasan and estate society in the medieval period" at the British Association for Japanese Studies (BAJS) Annual Conference, Sept. 2015, SOAS.
  • "Current status of palaeoseismic research along the Nankai Trough, Japan" - Ed Garrett, Philip Garrett, Osamu Fujiwara, Vanessa Heyvaert, Masanobu Shishikura, Marc De Batist, Yusuke Yokoyama. Poster presented at the Geological Society Arthur Holmes Meeting on Tsunami Hazards and Risks, London, Sept. 2015.
  • "Geological evidence for historical and older earthquakes and tsunamis along the Nankai Trough, Japan" - Ed Garrett, Marc De Batist, Vanessa M.A. Heyvaert, Aurélia Hubert-Ferrari, Osamu Fujiwara, Yusuke Yokoyama, Helmut Brückner, Philip Garrett, and the QuakeRecNankai Team. Conference Poster presented at the European Geophysical Union General Assembly 2015. 
  • "Progress in paleoearthquake and paleotsunami research along the Nankai Trough following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake" - Ed Garrett, Osamu Fujiwara, Vanessa M.A. Heyvaert, Marc De Batist, Yusuke Yokoyama, Helmut Brückner, Philip Garrett, Evelien Boes, Yosuke Miyairi, and the QuakeRecNankai team. At International Quaternary Union Congress, Nagoya, July 2015.
  • “Arson, Murder and Lawsuits: border disputes and community conflict in medieval Kii” at the British Association for Japanese Studies (BAJS) Annual Conference, Sept. 2012, UEA.
  • “Crime on the Estates: Monastic Authority in Medieval Japan” at International Medieval Congress 2012, University of Leeds
  • “Arson, Murder and Lawsuits” at Reassessing the Shōen System: Society and Economy in Medieval Japan (2012), University of Southern California.


Book Reviews

  • Review of Kaner, Ayers, Pearson and Wrenn (eds.) The Archaeology of Medieval Towns: Case Studies from Japan and Europe in Current World Archaeology, Vol. 109, Oct/Nov. 2021.
  • Review of Adolphson and Commons (eds.), Lovable Losers: The Heike in Action and Memory, Japanese Language and Literature, Vol. 50, No. 2, Oct. 2016.
Publications