Spring has Arrived!

Published: May 2, 2016

Announcements

Please join us in congratulating our colleague, X. Jie Yang, University of Calgary, on receiving Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette in the Imperial Decorations, spring 2016. His work on picture scrolls with the use of IT has been widely recognized and appreciated.

Events

Upcoming Events

May 6, 2016
The Japan Foundation, Toronto is pleased to present a pair of lectures about the potential and pitfalls of rural Tourism for challenged communities in Canada and Japan. Come and learn how Japan and Canada are maximizing tourism development to respond to the shared problem of rural depopulation and economic decline. How are both countries coping, and what threats does this strategy pose?
For more details and registration, view the event- "Country Roads – Rural Tourism in Canada and Japan."

August 10, 2016
The Suntory Foundation’s “Japan in Global Context” Forum 010 on civil-military relations, to take place in Osaka, Japan.

October 13-16, 2016
The 2016 Japan Studies Association of Canada (JSAC) Annual Meeting will be held at University of British Columbia – Vancouver, and the theme is `Globalizing Japan'. Professor Shige Matsui (UBC Law, and co-director Centre for Japanese Research) is the Conference organizer. He has applied for Japan Foundation funding, and he will announce a Call for Papers in April.

Recent Events

March 16, 2016
Dr. Jacob Kovalio, an expert on Japanese history, political culture and foreign policy, spoke about three linked anniversaries in Japan's contemporary history: The 70th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War, 70th anniversary of the Peace Constitution, and the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Liberal Democratic Party [LDP], " at the Ottawa Japanese Canadian Society [OJCS].

March 15 and 23, 2016
The Consul-General of Japan Yasunori Nakayama, presented a series of talks entitled "Japan-China Relations: An Overview" at the following locations and times:

The York Centre for Asian Research (YCAR) at York University, on March 15, 2016
Balsillie School of International Affairs, on March 23, 2016

He spoke about Japan-China relations being one of the most important bilateral relations for Japan, and China's constructive role being indispensable to the stability and prosperity of the Asia Pacific region. In this presentation, he gave an overview of the past and present of Japan-China relations, how the Japanese and Chinese regard each other, the two countries' economic ties and current challenges. He also illustrated the importance of Japan's cooperation and exchange with China from the perspective of the so-called "mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interest".

Seaton Dinner Seaton lecture

March 10, 2016
Professor Philip Seaton, from Hokkaido University spoke at Renison University College about the phenomenon of people travelling to further an interest in works of popular culture, and how this has gained much attention from the tourism industry and researchers alike, in his lecture titled "Pop Culture, History and “Contents Tourism” in Japan"

February 4, 2016
The second lecture in a series by Jacob Kovalio, titled "When Modern Japan Was Young: A Historical Journey through Meiji and Taishō" was presented for the Japan Lecture Series at Carleton University, in the Auditorium of the Embassy of Japan in Ottawa. The presentation served as background to an incomparable treasure of authentic photographs from the daily lives of Japanese during the first two periods of modern Japan - eternally immortalized by a Canadian missionary with a vision for the future – and the subject of the exhibition “Eye on the Enlightenment - John Cooper Robinson: Photographs from Meiji-Taishō Japan,” which was open to the public in the Embassy of Japan between February 4-14.

Publications

Recent Publications

David W. Edgington

“Reflections on the Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 and the Reconstruction of Kobe, Japan”, in P. Daly and M. Feener (Eds) Rebuilding Asia Following Natural Disasters Approaches to Reconstruction in the Asia-Pacific Region, Cambridge, CUP, 108-140, 2016
Together with N. Ota, N. Sato and J.F. Steele (eds.) “Culture, Identity and Citizenship in Japan and Canada”, Proceedings of an International Conference Held in Tokyo, Institute of Social Sciences, Report No. 59, Tokyo, University of Tokyo (139pp), 2016

Kimie Hara

「北方領土問題」、五百旗頭真、下斗米信夫、アレクセイ・トルクノフ、ドミトリー・ストレリツォフ編『日露関係史－パラレル・ヒストリーへの挑戦』、東京大学出版会；"Северные Территории вопрос,” Российско-японские отношения в формате параллельной истории: коллективная монография / под общ. ред. акад. А.В.Торкуноваи проф. М.Иокибэ; [науч. ред.: проф. Д. В. Стрельцови доц. С. В. Гришачев]; Моск. гос. ин-т междунар. отношений (ун-т) МИД России; Ассоциация японоведов. — М. : МГИМО-Университет (“Northern Territories Problem” in Nobuo Shimotomai and Dmitri Strelitsov eds., History of Japan-Russia Relations: a challenge to the parallel history, Tokyo University Press (in Japanese); Moscow State Institute of International Relations/MGIMO (in Russian), October 2015.
“The San Francisco Peace Treaty and the Regional Conflicts: The Cold War Legacies”, in Mikyoung Kim ed., Routledge Handbook of Memory and Reconciliation in East Asia, Routledge, 2016.

Seung Hyok Lee

Japanese Society and the Politics of the North Korean Threat(Japan and Global Society Book Series, University of Toronto Press, 2016).

David Welch

“The trust deficit (and how to fix it),” Global Asia 11:1 (Spring 2016), 39–43.
“Paralyzed by Pyongyang: Why China Lets North Korea Wag the Dog, and How to Make It Stop." Foreign Affairs (Web, 8 February 2016).
“Bringing North Korea into Line: What Might Make Kim Jong-Un Want to Give up Nuclear Weapons?,” The Diplomat (17 January 2016)

Member news and activities