The 4th EAJS Japan Conference at Tohoku University
The 4th EAJS Japan Conference at Tohoku University
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The European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS), established in 1973, has been organizing Japan Conferences since 2013. This year, the 4th Japan Conference will be held at Tohoku University in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture.

EAJS (The European Association for Japanese Studies)
Registration

Organizer

European Association for Japanese Studies

Representative

Prof. Dr. Andreas NIEHAUS (Ghent University), President of EAJS

Executive Committee Chair

Prof. emer. NAGAOKA Ryusaku (Tohoku University)

Executive Committee Members

Prof. Dr. ONO Koji, Prof. Dr. Christopher CRAIG, Prof. Dr. ADACHI Hiroaki, Prof. Dr. YOKOMIZO Hiroshi, Dr. KIYAMA Sachiko, Dr. Lorenzo MARINUCCI, SUGIYAMA Yasuhiro, KOYAMA Akiko, IZUMI Airin

Program

Coming Soon

Keynote Speeches

  • Portrait of Hiroo Sato, Honorary Professor at Tohoku University

    Do Ancestral Spirits Dwell in the Mountains? Changes in the Concept of the Mountain in Japan 祖霊は山に棲むかー日本における山の観念の変遷

    Prof. emer. Dr. SATO Hiroo

    Tohoku University

    Abstract

       Mountains are one of the most important subjects in Japanese thought and culture. Many studies have examined the relationship between the Japanese people and mountains. Two key concepts that have emerged from these studies are animism and ancestor worship.
       The oldest form of Shinto festival involves worshipping the mountain itself at its foot, where the spirits (anima) are believed to dwell. Ancestor worship has existed since time immemorial and involves the spirits of the deceased ascending the mountains and becoming one with the mountain gods. They travel back and forth between the mountains and the villages each season.
    These views are now firmly established academic theories in Japan. However, I believe that the practice of worshipping mountains as deities and the belief that they are dwellings for ancestral spirits emerged in the early modern period, beginning in the 16th century.
    The perception of mountains in the Japanese archipelago has undergone major transformations over the ages. Before the widespread perception that the dead lived in mountains was established, the idea that the dead should not remain in this world was firmly held. In the Middle Ages, mountains were not considered to be the resting place of ancestral spirits, but rather a place where the dead could cross over to other worlds.
       Rather than relying too heavily on the term 'unique Japanese tradition', we must carefully examine the relationship between the inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago and the mountains by considering historical records from each period. Through this work, we will elucidate the historical evolution of the concept of mountains. The aim of this study is to develop a new research methodology for mountains that can be compared with those in other regions.

  • Portrait of Prof. Dr. Jennifer Coates, University of Sheffield

    ‘Japan’ Outside Japan: Understanding the Image of ‘Japan’ in a Changing World

    Prof. Dr. Jennifer COATES

    University of Sheffield

    Abstract

    As many countries around the world turn inwards to prioritise national concerns and domestic politics, Japan remains an object of fascination in the global imaginary. This talk introduces a developing study of the imagined ‘Japan’ that exists outside of Japan itself, and the personalities and public personas that communicate and shape that imagined ‘Japan’. ‘Japan’ has been imagined, visualised, discussed, and brought into being outside Japan itself for centuries, from the mystical ‘Japan’ located just west of Laputa in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726) to the ‘Japan’ of geisha in rickshaws captured by the Lumière brothers’ cameramen (1897), and from the menacing Axis empire of World War II to the exciting exoticism of ‘Japan’ as postwar holiday destination. This project traces our engagement with ideas about ‘Japan’ from outside Japan itself, from the Japonisme of the turn of the twentieth century to the contemporary ‘Japan’ which appears to contain all the secrets of living well, from longevity, wellbeing, engagement with nature, recycling and reusing, to simply tidying up. By asking “Who are the people who communicate and shape these ideas about ‘Japan’?”, this study explores the role of public persona, or personalities in the public sphere, in creating this imagined ‘Japan.’

Location

Venue

Tohoku University, Kawauchi Minami Campus27-1 Kawauchi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8576

Sendai Subway

Tozai Line, Kawauchi Station (direct access to campus)Tozai Line, International Center Station – approx. 5 minutes on foot from Exit West 1

Please note that there are no places on campus to purchase lunch on the day of the event. We kindly ask all participants to bring their own lunch before coming to the venue.

Registration