People and sheep represent one of the oldest co-dependent human-animal relationships. A collection of simple yet effective technologies facilitated this relationship: crooks, bells, slingshots, dogs, balms and salves, and the most critical, shears. The hands and blades that cut wool seasonally relieve sheep of their wooly burden and provide shepherds with a versatile material, wool. Sheep shearing is a seasonal, global agricultural task undertaken for millennia. This study mines imagery and artifacts of this ritual. This study seeks meaning in the changes and stasis within portrayals in various media, from pre-historical art, paintings, etchings, stained glass, agricultural diagrams, photographs, and video. Patterns of ovine biology, laborer identity, work-pace, task location, and mechanical adaptation to industrialized agriculture are analyzed. The seemingly upward trajectory from manual blade technology to mechanized clippers is complicated and questioned using popular imagery of the task. The images chosen for discussion best question the sensory experience of clipping for shearers and sheep and the ecological and economic impacts of the role of wool as a global commodity.

Japan’s sericulture industry has long relied on local knowledge, exemplified by the 1803 treatise Yosan Hiroku, later translated and disseminated in Europe. However, by the late 19th century, the expansion of raw silk demand and the spread of pebrine disease in the West necessitated Japan’s rapid adoption of Western scientific knowledge and technologies. This period witnessed the groundbreaking fusion of traditional Japanese sericultural techniques and Western scientific frameworks, giving rise to unprecedented innovations.

The development of diseased silkworm models exemplifies this knowledge exchange. After acquiring such models at the 1873 Vienna World Exposition, Japan’s first national sericulture research institute, Sangyo Koshujo (est. 1896), collaborated with local model makers to design and produce its own versions. These models served as visual teaching tools, enabling sericulturists to visually diagnose and address silkworm diseases, thereby enhancing productivity and disease management. Unique models reflecting local challenges, such as the lifecycle of the silkworm tachina fly (Blepharipa zebina), were also developed.

This study highlights Japan’s sericulture innovations while situating them within global scientific exchanges. By examining how Western scientific tools were adapted to local contexts, it offers a comparative framework for understanding knowledge transfer from the late 19th century into the early 20th century. This research aligns with the ICHST 2025 theme, “People, Places, Exchanges, and Circulation,” and provides new insights into the interplay between global scientific knowledge and local agricultural practices.

This paper explores the history of milk products in Taiwan during the period of Japanese colonial rule, focusing on the role of Japanese officials in promoting a Western discourse about the nutritional benefits of milk products. I argue that milk was not only positioned as a nutritional superfood but also employed as a tool to shape Taiwanese bodies into ideal citizens who aligned with Japan's vision of modernity. However, ideas about milk’s nutritional value, imported from the West, did not spread without challenges, including skepticism about milk’s compatibility with East Asian diets and concerns about production quality. The Japanese government addressed these issues by conducting scientific experiments, improving dairy production, and launching public health campaigns to incorporate milk into Taiwanese dietary practices.

To shed light on the intersection of colonial governance, nutritional science, and food culture, highlighting milk’s dual role as a dietary staple and a tool of colonial influence, this paper draws on sources such as the archives of the Taiwan Governor-General’s Office, public health regulations, the Taiwan Nichinichi Shinpo (台灣日日新報), records from Taiwan Chikusan Co., Ltd., and scientific reports by Professor Yamagane Jinshin(山根甚信) of the Department of Animal Husbandry at Taihoku Imperial University. By analyzing these materials, the study reflects on the politics of health and nutrition during the colonial period. It aims to understand how the Japanese government made sustained efforts to uphold a scientific narrative of milk’s high nutritional value amidst persistent challenges in maintaining their vision of nutritional health in Taiwan.