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CENTRE FOR JAPANESE RESEARCH
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MEXT Scholarship 2021
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of the Government of Japan is currently accepting applications for its 2021 Japanese Studies Scholarship for Canadian students who wish to study at a Japanese university.
The scholarship covers: - Full tuition
- Monthly allowance
- Round-trip flight between Japan and Canada
The Japanese Studies Scholarship is aimed at undergraduate university students majoring in fields related to the Japanese language and/or Japanese culture, who are interested in deepening their understanding of the Japanese language, culture and affairs. The term of the scholarship is approximately one year, beginning in October 2021.
Deadline for the 2021 scholarship year: February 12, 2021.
If you have any questions or concerns, contact the Consulate General of Japan at 604.684.5868 or by Email at jet@vc.mofa.go.jp.
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New Exhibition at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC
A FUTURE FOR MEMORY / 記憶のための未来
Art and Life After the Great East Japan Earthquake /
東日本大震災後のアートと暮らし
February 11 - September 5, 2021
Description
On March 11, 2011, Japan was rocked by a massive earthquake that caused extensive damage to the Great Eastern region. The ensuing tsunami swallowed up coastal towns, and caused irrevocable damage to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
In the 10th anniversary year of the Great East Japan Earthquake, or 3.11, A Future for Memory addresses how we deal with memory when our physical surroundings are drastically altered. It focuses on the changing physical and psychological landscapes in the aftermath of 3.11 and shows that regional disasters have global relevance. Events such as 3.11 force us to rethink our ways of life in relation to nature. Even in the midst of disasters, people have the desire to create and to express themselves-as does nature. The works in the exhibition trigger memories, emotions and imaginations. They serve as more than objects of memory; they remind us of the force of nature and the continuous efforts of survivors to rebuild their lives. There is a future for memory through the creation of connections that will be passed on for generations to come.
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Online Book Talk Event
The Great Exodus from China:
Trauma, Memory, and Identity in Modern Taiwan
Organized by the Centre for Chinese Research (CCR)
Description
On February 10 at 5PM (PST), join the online book talk hosted by UBC's Centre for Chinese Research. The event will feature discussions with Dr. Dominic Meng-Hsuan Yang on his newly published book - The Great Exodus from China: Trauma, Memory, and Identity in Modern Taiwan. We will take a look into the one of the least understood migrations in modern East Asia-the human exodus from China to Taiwan after the collapse of Chiang Kai-shek's regime in 1949.
The talk will be moderated by Dr. Glen Peterson (UBC) and also feature the panelists Dr. Josephine Chiu-Duke (UBC), Dr. Madeline Hsu (University of Texas at Austin) and Dr. Diana Lary (UBC).
Date & Time
Wednesday, February 10, 2021 | 5:00 - 6:30PM (PST)
Wednesday, February 10, 2021 | 8:00 - 9:30PM (EST)
Thursday, February 11, 2021 | 9:00 - 10:30AM (CST)
Book Information
Dominic Meng-Hsuan Yang examines one of the least understood migrations in modern East Asia - the human exodus from China to Taiwan when Chiang Kai-shek's regime collapsed in 1949. Peeling back layers of Cold War ideological constructs, he tells a very different story from the conventional Chinese civil war historiography that focuses on debating the reasons for Communist success and Nationalist failure. Yang lays bare the traumatic aftermath of the Chinese Communist Revolution for the hundreds of thousands of ordinary people who were forcibly displaced from their homes across the sea. Underscoring the displaced population's trauma of living in exile and their poignant 'homecomings' four decades later, he presents a multi-event trajectory of repeated traumatization with recurring searches for home, belonging, and identity. This thought-provoking study challenges established notions of trauma, memory, diaspora, and reconciliation.
The book is available for orders here.
More information
For more information, please visit the event page.
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Online Panel Discussion
Japan and Asia in the pandemic era: RCEP
Discussing the implications of RCEP with international reports
Description
In November, 2020, 15 countries comprising all of ASEAN plus Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand decided to meet the economic challenge of the pandemic by signing the world's largest regional trade agreement. What does the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership mean for Canada, for the new Biden Administration, and for leadership in Asia? The Centre for the Study of Global Japan is partnering with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and UBC's Centre for Japan Research to talk with international experts on the implications of RCEP.
Date & Time
Friday, February 12, 2021 | 10:00 - 11:30AM (PST)
Friday, February 12, 2021 | 1:00 - 2:30PM (EST)
Speakers- Wendy Cutler (Asia Society Policy Institute)
- Shihoko Goto (Wilson Center)
- Michael Plummer (Johns Hopkins University)
- Jeff Reeves (Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada)
- Yves Tiberghien (University of British Columbia)
- [Moderator] Deanna Horton (University of Toronto)
More information
For more information, please visit the event page.
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An Introduction to Upopoy,
a "Symbolic Space for Ethnic Harmony"
Description
Upopoy, the "Symbolic Space for Ethnic Harmony," is a national centre dedicated to promoting the cultures of Indigenous Ainu People. It opened in July 2020 on the foreshore of Lake Potoro in Shiraoi Town in Hokkaidō. Upopoy houses the National Ainu Museum, the National Ainu Park, and a memorial site. The Ainu Museum in Shiraoi, which Ainu people ran for over thirty years, closed its doors in March 2018 to facilitate the building of Upopoy. Their roles of these people were incorporated into the main facility of Upopoy, the National Ainu Museum. As the former curator at the Ainu Museum and a specialist of Ainu culture, Prof. Kitahara was involved with the preparations to establish Upopoy. In this presentation, he will introduce the characteristics of the exhibitions and programs, as well as the use of Ainu language at the centre. He will also share some of the issues they have faced, such as how we interpret "ethnic harmony," whether all staff members share the centre's vision, and the concrete plans to promote Ainu cultures along with the challenges of securing time, budget, and human resources.
Featuring
Date & Time
Tuesday, February 23, 2021 | 5:00 - 6:00PM (PST)
Tuesday, February 23, 2021 | 8:00 - 9:00PM (EST)
Wednesday, February 24, 2021 | 10:00 - 11:00AM (JST)
More information
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Visual + Material Culture Seminar Series
"I am a Woman Photographer": Photography in Modern Japan and Yamazawa Eiko's Quotidian Practices of Refusal
Organized by the Museum of Anthropology at UBC
Description
The Japanese photographer Yamazawa Eiko's (1899-1995) life history of owning her own commercial portrait studios, running a community photo school, and dedicating herself to abstract still-life photography in rejection of the photo-realism boom can be read as explicit forms of refusal. Focusing on the many "refusals" around which Yamazawa built her life, this talk approaches her work and life as an example of the possibilities for defiance within everyday practices. Yamazawa's life lived as a refusal of the "categories of the dominant" within the photography world, social norms, and regulatory power of art critics and business leaders are an example of striving for a future not yet lived by women photographers in mid-20th century Japan. From acting as a mentor and model to many young women photographer-entrepreneurs to routinely destroying her personal archive of the evidence of her working process, McCormick explores how Yamazawa created the conditions necessary to make a life through photography as a woman in Japan from the 1930s to 1970s.
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Left: Yamazawa Eiko and her loyal assistant Saiki Sachiko, "Photo Times," Vol: 17, No.4, Page 4, March 1940.
Featuring
Kelly McCormick (UBC)
Date & Time
Thursday, February 25, 2021 | 4-5 PM (PST)
Thursday, February 25, 2021 | 7-8 PM (EST)
Friday, February 26, 2021 | 9-10 AM (JST)
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Visual + Material Culture Seminar Series
The Palace of Diplomacy: 20th-Century Japan's Diplomatic World Presented in the State Guest House in Tokyo, Japan
Organized by the Museum of Anthropology at UBC
Description
The Akasaka Palace, now more commonly called the State Guest House (Geihinkan), was built in the early 20th century in order to serve as the Imperial Palace for the Crown Prince in Akasaka, Tokyo. After its completion, the building, depending on the time period, was used for different purposes. Since the 1970s, it has been officially used as a space for the conclusion of treaties, as well as for receptions for foreign dignitaries. The feeling of Westernness provided by the State Guest House, which was opened to the public in April 2016, is considerably strong as its facade is modelled after the Palace of Versailles. However, when looking more closely, it can be noted that the interior and exterior decorations mixed with Japanese style are carefully arranged inside and outside the building. This seminar aims to interpret 2oth-century Japan's diplomatic thoughts by analyzing the interior and exterior design and decoration of the diplomatic space.
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Left: The State Guest House (Geihinkan), Tokyo. Photo by Tae Yeon Eom.
Featuring
Tae Yeon Eom (UBC)
Date & Time
Thursday, March 4, 2021 | 4-5 PM (PST)
Thursday, March 4, 2021 | 7-8 PM (EST)
Friday, March 5, 2021 | 9-10 AM (JST)
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