The Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture
Critical Japanese Studies in Asia Network

Political Cultures and the Politics of “Japanese Studies” in Japan and the Asia Pacific

DATE: July 4, 2016
TIME: 10 am-5 pm
LOCATION: Sophia University, Yotsuya Campus, Library Building; Room L- 911

“Japanese Studies” is different things in different places and different times. What constitutes
it as an academic pursuit, a coherent field of inquiry, a productive site of relevant knowledge
about and for Japan shifts accordingly. With each shift we see a different mobilization of scholarly
and economic resources; with each new initiative, a new politics is developing. This conference is
devoted to identifying some of these emerging politics in the study of Japan within Asia.

By inviting innovative scholars from 8 top Japanese Studies universities across Asia and the Pacific
to address these issues with our Sophia faculty, we are hoping to widen the scope of inquiry.

The "Critical Japanese Studies in Asia Network" is designed to bring together scholars working on
the study of Japan in the global context of the Asia Pacific. Japan’s connection to the rest of
Asia is often overlooked by Japanese Studies scholars, and yet these connections are necessary for
any full understanding of Japan in today's globalized world As such, our effort is to enhance and
enlarge Japan scholarship beyond national boundaries, and to better understand the multiple
perspectives and dynamic sets of regional and indeed global connections within Asia.

Program
a.. 10:00 Welcome
a.. Sugimura Miki, Vice-President of Academic Affairs, Sophia University
b.. David H. Slater, Director of the Institute of Comparative Culture, Sophia University
Why Japan? Why Asia? And the Importance of Developing a Critical Japanese Studies
b.. Morning Panel : The Politics of Popular Culture
c.. Afternoon Panels
a.. 1:30 pm: Greetings
a.. Hayashita Takashi, University President
b.. 1:30 pm: Civil Society and Engagement
c.. 3:30 pm: Japanese Politics in and Across Asia
Roster

The Politics of Popular Culture
a.. Kono Shion, Sophia U., Area Studies as a Mode of Reading Literature
b.. Jinghuei Tsau, National Taiwan University, Current Status and Future Perspectives of Japanese
Studies in Taiwan
c.. Jin Ying, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Another Japan: The Influence of Japanese Pop
Culture on Chinese Citizens
d.. Karl Ian Cheng Chua, Ateneo de Manila University, The Use of Popular Culture for Historical
Research: Japanese Manga and Historical Memory
e.. Kukhee Choo, Sophia U., The Politics of Cool Japan in Asia and Beyond
Civil Society and Engagement

a.. Thang Leng Leng, NUS, Studying Japan in Southeast Asia: “Asia as Method” and Japan + Model
in Japanese Studies
b.. Lynne Nakano, CUHK, Parallel Life Course Developments in Asia, with Reference to Single Women
in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Shanghai
c.. Kyojin Kim, Seoul National University, Crisis of Japanese Studies? Japanese Studies in Korea
after 3.11
d.. David H. Slater, Sophia U., Japanese Youth Activism and the Rise of Protest Cultures Across
Asia
Japanese Politics in and Across Asia

a.. Sven Saaler, Sophia U., Studies on Transnationalism in Asia
b.. Simon Avenell, ANU, Rethinking Civil Society in Postwar Japan through the Lens of “Asia”
c.. Mark Mullins, U. of Auckland, Contemporary Japanese Nationalisms: Unraveling the Cultural,
Political, and Religious Dimensions
d.. Koichi Nakano, Sophia U., Challenges of Neoliberalism and Democracy in Post-Cold War Asia

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David H. Slater, Ph.D.
Director of the Institute of Comparative Culture
Professor of Cultural Anthropology
Faculty of Liberal Arts, Graduate Program in Japanese Studies
Sophia University, Tokyo