Click this link to see a compiled list of Japan-related courses offered at UHM for the Fall 2018 semester. The list is available for download as a PDF.

If the file does not load, you may also request a copy by e-mail; please contact us at cjs@hawaii.edu

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Dr. Victor Mori. Dr. Mori was a prominent third-generation Honolulu physician who worked as a surgeon for thirty years (1959-1989). He was also the grandson of Dr. Tasuku Harada, the first professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Hawai‘i. Dr. Mori was a generous supporter of the Center. He attended UHM Center for Japanese Studies’ public lectures and seminars frequently, and created a scholarship fund that continues to generously support Japan-focused graduate students at UHM today.

He is survived by his son Michael and daughter Karin, three grandsons (Victor, Vincent, and Kainoa), his sister Margaret Hirozawa, and brother Ramsay.  He is predeceased by wife Marilyn Jean, brother Arthur, sister Pearl and son Russell.

Please refer to the following for more information on Dr. Mori.

• Densho Encyclopedia “Victor Mori”: http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Victor%20Mori/
• Star Advertiser Obituary: http://obits.staradvertiser.com/2018/03/25/victor-m-mori-md/

Donations in Dr. Mori’s memory can be sent to either the Tasuku Harada Educational Fund giving.uhfoundation.org/give-now (enter fund number 12354902) or to the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii jcch.com/donate.

The Fall 2017 J-Current newsletter is here! This is CJS’ newsletter with a recap of our Fall 2017 events, and updates from faculty, affiliates, students and alumni. Click this link to view the newsletter in a new window. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this issue.

Please let us know if you spot errors – email to cjs@hawaii.edu

To read previous issues, please see our newsletter archive.

The 2018 UH Mānoa School of Pacific and Asian Studies (SPAS)’s Graduate Student Conference on Asian Studies begins today, March 14 and concludes on Friday, March 16, 2018. The theme of this year’s conference is “The Asian Century: Emerging Stories,” and will be held in the Center for Korean Studies (CKS). Registration starts at 3:30pm on Wednesday, March 14, with the Opening Ceremony and Keynote Address from 4:30-6:30pm. 

Japan and Japan-related topics, by date and panel session:

Thursday, March 15, 2018

• Panel Session 1: 9:00am – 10:30am
  • Panel 1.1 – Political issues in East Asia / Location: CKS Auditorium / Moderator: Lonny Carlile (CJS Director)
    • Matthew Crooke: “Betraying Revolution: The Foundations of the Japanese Communist Party”
  • Panel 1.2 – Nationalism & Identity I / Location: CKS Conference Room / Moderator: Pattie Dunn
    • Miae Lee: “The Exhibition of Negative History: The History Museum of J-Koreans in Tokyo Museum Studies”

• Panel Session 2: 10:30am – 12:00 Noon
  • Panel 2.1 – Cultural Phenomenon / Location: CKS Auditorium / Moderator: Andre Haag
    • Yen-Zhi Peng: “Localization of Japanese Popular Culture in Taiwan: Personification in Taiwanese Anime, Comic, Game (ACG) Field”
    • Tokikake Ii: “How to Save a Life: 3.11 Disaster and Memorials in Japan”
    • Sayo Sakamoto: “The Paradox of Fuji Keiko: Enka at the Boundary between Shinjuku and Furusato”
  • Panel 2.2 – Household & Human Mobility / Location: CKS Conference Room / Moderator: Cathryn Clayton
    • Christopher Chapman: “The Taste of Home: Alcohol, Identity, and Health in Hawai’i’s Japanese Diaspora”

• Panel Session 3: 1:00pm – 2:30pm 
  • Panel 3.1 – Defense Security / Location: CKS Auditorium / Moderator: Sang-Hyop Lee 
    • William Beeson: “Japanese Security Strategic Change in US, Japan and China Relations, in 2012-2016: The Impact of Economic Development on Japanese Foreign Affairs”
  • Panel 3.2 – Gender Studies / Location: CKS Conference Room / Moderator: Sang-Hyop Lee
    • Hyejin Kim: “A Girl’s Han Represented in ‘The Statue of Peace'”
    • Kyung-ok Kim: “Japanese Women’s Labor and Childcare in the Hanaoka Mine, 1937-45”

• Panel Session 4: 3:00pm – 4:30pm 
  • Panel 4.1 – Literature & Cinema / Location: CKS Auditorium / Moderator: Young-a Park
    • Eun Young Seong: “Outside Storyteller: Shinya Eiko’s Sinset’aryŏng and Zainichi Korean History”
  • Panel 4.2 – Language & Literature / Location: CKS Conference Room / Moderator: 
    • Faith Francisco: “Culture in Foreign Language Pedagogy: Examining the Gendered Japanese Language through Japan Foundation’s Marugoto Textbook”
    • Yi Ren: “The Shift of Taiwanese Linguistic Identities During and After the Japanese Colonial Rule

Friday, March 16, 2018

• Panel Session 5: 9:00am – 10:30am
  • Panel 5.1 – Topics on North Korea / Location: CKS Auditorium / Moderator: Cheehyung Harrison Kim
    • Margaret Pence: “Trumping the ‘Rocketman’: President Donald Trump’s Rhetoric on North Korea”
  • Panel 6.1 – Nationalism & Identity II / Location: CKS Auditorium / Moderator: Reginald Kwok
    • Hyewon Um: “Becoming Legitimate Japanese: Negotiating Boundaries of Japanese through Social Movements”
  • Panel 7.2 – History & Philosophy / Location: CKS Conference Room / Moderator: Jonathan Pettit
    • Justin McDonnell: “Japanese Confucian Adaptations and Chinese Otherness in Early Edo”
    • Q.Z. Lau: “Exchange as Legitimation: Buddhist Objects as Instruments of Power in Ritual Trade Networks in Post-Han Eastern Asia”

Please click here for the full schedule of the conference and paper abstracts.

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