Dear SSJ Forum community,

The Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies (ICAS) at Temple
University, Japan Campus cordially invites you to our evening lecture
on January 11, 2018. ICAS events are open to public and admission is
free unless otherwise noted.

The Invitation-Only Zone: The Japanese abducted by North Korea

Date: Thursday, January 11, 2018
Time: 7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. (doors open at 7:00 p.m.)
Venue: Temple University, Japan Campus, Azabu Hall 1F Parliament
(access: http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)

Speaker: Robert S. Boynton, Professor of Journalism and Director of
Literary Reportage, NYU

Moderator: Robert Dujarric, Director of ICAS

Admission: Free. Open to the public.
Language: English
RSVP: icas@tuj.temple.edu (RSVP encouraged, but not required)

OVERVIEW:

NYU Journalism professor Robert Boynton will speak about the eight
years he spent reporting on the abduction issue and the challenge of
explaining it to an English speaking audience. Rather than focusing on
one aspect (history, human rights, diplomacy, activism) The
Invitation-Only Zone tells “the story of the story” of how a series of
1970s era kidnappings became the “abduction issue.” Boynton concludes
that a sense of loss lies at the emotional heart of the issue, both
for the families of the missing, and for the Japanese nation as a
whole. Although little progress has been made on an international
level, the abduction issue has become a fixture in Japanese domestic
politics. Boynton worries that the abductions are being reduced to a
symbolic historical grievance, joining the group of international
disputes--over the Comfort Women, Dokdo/Takeshima,
Senkaku/Diaoyu--that China, Japan and the Koreas routinely sling
against each other.

SPEAKER:

Robert S. Boynton directs NYU’s Literary Reportage concentration. He
graduated with honors in philosophy and religion from Haverford
College, and received an MA in political science from Yale University.
He is author of The New New Journalism and The Invitation Only Zone
(2016), and has written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The
New York Times Magazine and many other publications.

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Robert Dujarric, Director
Kyle Cleveland, Associate Director

Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies
Temple University, Japan Campus
www.tuj.ac.jp/icas
www.facebook.com/tuj.icas