BAJS (Japan Branch)

I have coordinated the Japan Branch of the British Association for Japanese Studies since 2009. We have a mailing list made up primarily of Japan-based members of the parent organization in the UK. We have meetings twice a year (usually May and November) in which typically 2-4 people give papers of 20 minutes followed by discussion. These meetings are basically like single panel sessions of an academic conference with papers on a common theme.

Please contact me if you would like to be on the mailing list. Whereas it is free to attend the meetings and be on the mailing list, please do join the main BAJS organization (via their main website) if you want to become active in the Japan Branch.

Upcoming Events (2012)

We are planning to have two events in 2012: a meeting in Kyoto on 19 May (Saturday) and a Mini-Conference in Sapporo on 3-4 November (Saturday & Sunday). Calls for papers will be put out in the new year. Priority is given to members of BAJS, but papers given by non-members are also very welcome. We are a bilingual organization and people may present in either English or Japanese. More details to come in due course.

Past Events

Fifth Event: Mini-Conference in Sapporo (Hokkaido University), 28-9 May 2011. Conference website is here.

Fourth Event: Meeting in Kyoto (Doshisha University), November 2010. Session 1: Bakumatsu/Early Meiji (Prof. Ian Ruxton, Kyushu Institute of Technology; Eleanor Robinson, Osaka University; Dr John Breen, International Research Centre for Japanese Studies); Session 2: Professional Development Session (Dr Peter Matanle, Sheffield University; Prof. Greg Hadley, Niigata University of International and Information Studies).

Third Event: Meeting in Tokyo (University of Tokyo), May 2010. Theme: The First Year of the Hatoyama Administration: When "Change" Came to Japan? (Prof. Takamichi Mito, Kwansei Gakuin University; Dr Andrew Staples, Doshisha University; Garren Mulloy, Daito Bunka University).

Second Event: Symposium in Kyoto (Kyoto Koka Women's University), 7 November 2009. Theme: "Japanese Universities and the Globalization of Higher Education" (Prof. Takamichi Mito, Waseda University; Dr Carolyn Wright, Kyoto Koka Women's University; Harumi Takiguchi, Hokkaido University; Dr Philip Seaton, Hokkaido University).

First Event: Inaugural Work in Progress Seminar in Tokyo (Waseda University), 21 February 2009. Theme: "Remembering a Gendered Nation at War" (Dr Beverley Yamamoto, Osaka University).