Japan
The Council is pleased to present the 15th Annual John W. Hall Lecture in Japanese Studies. Recent visits to Yasukuni Shrine by the Japanese prime minister and other politicians, and new proposals to revise the content of Japanese history textbooks, have once again focused attention on conflicts between Japan and its neighbours over problems of historical memory and the commemoration of war. Throughout the 1990s and the first decade of the twenty-first century, ongoing “history wars” between the countries of Northeast Asia were accompanied by a range of governmental and non-governmental...
Please join us for a joint Yale Asian Studies Councils’ Reception in Philadelphia, PA at this year’s AAS Conference! Information on the Work of the Councils Will Be Available Light refreshments will be served.
The workshop will introduce some of the new approaches to the social history of prostitution and Hansen’s Disease (Leprosy) that have emerged in Japanese scholarship in the past two or three years. The three presenters are all leading representatives of a younger generation of Japanese scholars who stand at the cutting edge of historical research on these important topics. The two papers on the history of prostitution will be presented in Japanese, but will be followed by a brief summary of key points in English. In order to facilitate the meaningful exchange of ideas, discussion will be...
Natsume Soseki’s portrait may have yielded its place on the ¥1000 bill, but as we approach the centenary of the novelist’s death his canonical status in Japan seems as solid as ever. In the Anglophone world, where Sōseki’s readership has long been limited to specialists, his work is gaining new readers: new English translations of no fewer than seven of his novels have appeared since 2008 and a major conference on his work is slated for this April at the University of Michigan. But why this focus on Sōseki...
Please join us for a special Kabuki workshop with Professor Laurence Kominz (Portland State University)! Enter at Gate H.
Knowledge Investment Programs (KIP) is a non-profit organization that promotes awareness of social issues in Japan. Its membership comprises students from a number of major Tokyo-area universities. KIP students conduct research projects on current social issues in Japan, organizing lectures by government and corporate figures and hosting student forums. Thirteen KIP students are currently touring the United States and will be visiting Yale to present their ongoing research on a phenomenon they term “glocalization.” They will be joined by both Nayan Chanda (Editor-in-chief of YaleGlobal Online...
The years 1952-1965 were fraught with problems for Japan’s kabuki theatre, whose very existence was at stake. As Japan struggled with post-Occupation social, political, and economic difficulties, kabuki found itself in danger of being bypassed by multiple other forms of entertainment. Its senior actors were passing away, its company system was crumbling, its young stars were leaving to act in movies, the Tōhō conglomerate was raiding Shōchiku, new playwrights were becoming rare, the fate of the onnagata was being debated, and so on. There were positive developments as well, of course,...
The Council on East Asian Studies at Yale University is happy to announce a special Japanese Theater Symposium to be held Friday, February 28th, and Saturday, March 1st, 2014. Please note that Friday’s keynote lecture and a special kabuki workshop to be held the following Monday are both free and open to the public without registration. The complete symposium schedule appears below. Please register here if you are interested in attending any of the Saturday workshop...
*Please note this talk will be in Japanese with English Interpretation* Mr. Shimatani’s talk is in conjunction with the Yale University Art Gallery’s exhibition “Byōbu: The Grandeur of Japanese Screens” to be held from February 7 to July 6, 2014. He will discuss the historical development of art appreciation in Japan by tracing the formats – from ancient calligraphic writing on wooden and bamboo slabs found in archaeological sites, to hand scrolls, albums and books of varied forms; followed by hanging scrolls and then finally byōbu folding screens, one of the last formats to be developed....
A wave of populism is sweeping the world. The talk will first compare the different forms populism takes in various countries, reflecting a variety of historical, political, and social conditions. Buruma will discuss what populist movements have in common; why elites are under fire everywhere, in Europe, the US, and Asia; the effects of the Internet, globalization, and immigration. Buruma will then conclude by looking at the common responses of the old elites, talk about why they are inadequate, and see what could possibly be done better.
What was possible for a former geisha in late nineteenth-century Japan? This talk focuses on the life of one Sumiya Koume (1850-1920), a geisha who was a concubine before becoming a social activist and Christian missionary. Anderson analyzes what her life reveals about opportunities for some women in the Meiji period (1868-1912). While scholars normally divide women of this period into two categories—those based in households and those available for hire—and frame their experiences in terms of the “good wife, wise mother” (ryōsai kenbo) paradigm or the birth of feminism, Anderson argues that...
A Goze refers to a blind female musician who traveled around Japan with shamisen (Japanese plucked stringed instrument). After the World War II, with the expansion of the welfare service for the disabled and the enhancement of education in schools for the blind, the culture of Gozes came to be recognized as the relics of the pre-modern times and the fact that there is no successor for it is also considered as the inevitabilities of history. With the passing of Haru Kobayashi (1900-2005), who was known as the last Goze, the culture of Gozes that had been maintained by visually-impaired...
This talk asks how gender and family shaped religious activity and its representation during the Heian period by examining the career of Minamoto no Reishi (1040-1114). As Reishi’s career shows, ritual was very much a family matter; accordingly, this talk frames religiosity not only in terms of personal agency, but also in terms of networks of agents (proxies, relatives, servants, and representatives). Although, or perhaps because, Reishi was so well surrounded as a great lady in her own lifetime, she is little known today. In order to piece together information about her career, it is...
Please join CEAS in ushering in the Year of the Horse, in addition to the launch of our new website! Please RSVP to eastasian.studies@yale.edu
John Nathan will propose that with his final work, Light and Dark(1916), Sōseki invented the modern Japanese novel. He will focus on the unprecedented depth and exactitude of character revelation Sōseki achieved in that work, on its affinity with narrative strategies evolved by his European contemporaries, George Meredith and Henry James in particular, and on the originality of the language he developed to achieve a unique fusion of Jamesian precisions on the one hand and Japanese impressionism on the other. A critical question he will address as a translator is whether fiction so...
When and in what ways did film culture take shape in Osaka? In what ways did it change over time? In the Meiji and Taisho Periods, Tokyo prospered as a site of both film production and film consumption; Kyoto was active as a site of production, but had less success in terms of film consumption; and most regional cities showed little success in terms of either film production or consumption. Where does Osaka fit in? How did the geographic and historical factors of the city of Osaka shape and develop its film culture? How is a history of film depicted from the perspective of Osaka different...
The East Asia Library is pleased to announce that a new exhibit titled “Recent Publications by Yale’s East Asia Faculty, 2012-2013” has just been set up in the East Asian Reading Room. It features new books that have been written, edited, and translated by Yale’s faculty members in the fields of East Asian studies in the recent two years. This exhibit is intended to showcase our fabulous East Asia faculty and their research. In association with the exhibit, the East Asia Library is going to organize a series of informal talks on new monographs written by Yale’s East Asia faculty. This is...
The Japanese film director Zeze Takahisa’s distinguished career has spanned commercial and independent cinema, fiction and documentary, television and motion pictures, art film and genre movies, mainstream film and erotic cinema. Echoing that, his work has also often focused on those in between, on postmodern nomads who wander between competing identities—national, ethnic, or sexual—on the margins of society. We are pleased to bring this important filmmaker to Yale to present two of his films and conduct workshops with students. Heaven’s Story is his magnum opus, a 4½ hour epic that won...
Who or what produces the layers of ‘popular’ culture? How do circulations of animation and music, as well as videos and clothing styles, tie together and enable us to imagine a broader region called “Asia?” What can pop tell us about moments of cultural friction and encounter? Join us for the first Yale Anthropology Inter-Asia Colloquium event, “Pan-Asian Pop,” on Saturday afternoon, November 9th, from 12 PM to 5 PM. Featuring talks by Ashish Chadha, Ian Condry, and Tiantian Zheng, followed by a conversation with the speakers. (Image - Eva Shogoki Battles Shamshel off the coast of Kanagawa by...
The Japanese film director Zeze Takahisa’s distinguished career has spanned commercial and independent cinema, fiction and documentary, television and motion pictures, art film and genre movies, mainstream film and erotic cinema. Echoing that, his work has also often focused on those in between, on postmodern nomads who wander between competing identities—national, ethnic, or sexual—on the margins of society. We are pleased to bring this important filmmaker to Yale to present two of his films and conduct workshops with students. Heaven’s Story is his magnum opus, a 4½ hour epic that won...
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