Japan Zoominar @ UC San Diego: "Thwarted Commemorations: The Olympics and Beyond" with David Leheny, moderated by Ulrike Schaede
Wednesday, July 21, 2021, 8:30am-9:30am JST / Tuesday, July 20, 2021, 4:30pm-5:30pm Pacific | Register: https://bit.ly/3qQocXx <https://bit.ly/3qQocXx>

A triumphal 2020 Tokyo Olympics was the Prime Minister's original, ideal vehicle for highlighting the message that "Japan is Back". Pandemic delays and dramatic downsizing have muted their appeal, and political contests over how they are to be remembered and described will persist. Abe's hopes for a major commemoration of the Meiji Restoration on its 150th Anniversary in 2018 were also frustrated, though largely by divergent views of Japan's political history and the appropriateness of national festivities. In this discussion, we will consider how celebrations and commemorations are often fraught with affective risks when they interact with larger national narratives.

David Leheny is a political scientist whose work on Japan draws from anthropology, cultural studies, and literary studies as well. He has previously taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at Princeton University, where he held the Wendt Chair in Contemporary East Asian Studies. Among his publications are several books from Cornell University Press, the most recent of which is "Empire of Hope: The Sentimental Politics of Japanese Decline."

Ulrike Schaede is Professor of Japanese Business at GPS, UC San Diego, and the Director of JFIT. Her 2020 book "The Business Reinvention of Japan" analyzes how Japanese companies are responding to the rise of China and the changing global competition.

***
The JZ is going on a summer break for the month of August. We will return on Sept. 7, 2021 with Mr. Masaaki Shirakawa, the 30th Governor of the Bank of Japan, for a conversation about his new memoirs, "Tumultuous Times" (Yale UP 2021). Until then, please explore our JZ Gallery with past recordings.

Watch Previous and Register for Upcoming Japan Zoominars:
https://jfit.ucsd.edu/zoominar/index.html <https://jfit.ucsd.edu/zoominar/index.html>
Sign-up for our newsletter:
https://jfit.ucsd.edu/news-media/san-diego-japan-newsflash.html <https://jfit.ucsd.edu/news-media/san-diego-japan-newsflash.html>