Donald Keene Center Events Calendar
FALL 2005
| SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER | NOVEMBER | DECEMBER
Please check this site for calendar updates.
All events at Columbia are free and open to the public.
Unless otherwise indicated, all of the programs listed below take
place at Columbia University, 116th Street between Broadway and
Amsterdam Ave.
To view a campus map, click here. |
September 9 (Friday)
Workshop: Culture and Power in Japanese Literature: A Rikkyō Workshop
403 Kent Hall, Columbia University (116th St. and Amsterdam Ave.)
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
KOJIMA Naoko, Rikkyō University, Power and The Tale of Genji
KOMINE Kazuaki, Rikkyō University, Power and Otogi-zōshi
WATANABE Kenji, Rikkyō University, Yaoya Shichi of Tenna 2 and Power
The Japanese literature faculty of Rikkyō University will be
visiting Columbia to present a workshop on the issues of culture and
power in the Heian, medieval, and Edo periods. They will discuss
current issues in research and methodology. The presentations will be
in Japanese.
September 23 (Friday)
Workshop: Heian Courtier Diaries
YOSHIDA Sanae (Professor of History, Tokyo Daigaku Shiryō Hensanjo)
403 Kent Hall, Columbia University (116th St. and Amsterdam Ave.)
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
The recording of kanbun diaries was a necessary activity for Heian
nobles serving at the imperial court. This workshop will introduce the
basic form of a diary and then consider what motivated nobles to keep
diaries and what significance it had for them. Finally, we will
practice reading some actual diary entries.
September 26 (Monday)
Workshop: The Play Kanadehon Chūshingura as a Template for Prints of Beautiful Women
Ellis Tinios (Honorary Lecturer, School of History, University of Leeds)
403 Kent Hall, Columbia University (116th St. and Amsterdam Ave.)
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
This talk will examine the ways in which the eleven acts of Kanadehon Chūshingura
(Copy Book of the Storehouse of Loyal Retainers), the most popular of
all Kabuki plays, were employed by Utamaro, Kunisada, and Kuniyoshi as
a template for sets of prints of beautiful women.
September 29 (Thursday)
Screening and Discussion: John Manjiro and the Opening of Japan: A Special Screening of The Castaway: The Story of Manjiro (2005) - 45 min
202 Altschul Hall, Barnard College
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Introductory remarks by Junji Kitadai
Panel Discussion to follow screening
Robert Immerman, Senior Research Scholar, Weatherhead East Asian
Institute (moderator)
Henry Smith, Professor of Japanese History
Junji Kitadai, journalist, historian, and co-editor of Drifting Toward the Southeast
Ayumi Sato, documentary film maker
October 6 (Thursday)
"Korean Influences in Japanese Culture" Lecture Series
Revisiting the "Horseriders" and Other Issues in Early Japanese History
Gari Ledyard (King Sejong Professor Emeritus of Korean Studies, Columbia University)
403 Kent Hall, Columbia University (116th St. and Amsterdam Ave.)
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
October 12 (Wednesday)
"Celluloid Samurai" Film Series: Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (1970)
304 Barnard Hall, Barnard College
6:00 PM
Introduced by Max Moerman (Assistant Professor, Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures, Barnard College)
October 17 (Monday)
Forum: Matchibako: Japanese Matchbox Art of the 20s and 30s
403 Kent Hall, Columbia University (116th St. and Amsterdam Ave.)
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Maggie Kinser Hohle, author, Matchibako: Japanese Matchbox Art of the 20s and 30s
Hiroshi Kashiwagi, Professor of Design History, Musashino Art University, Tokyo
Henry D. Smith II, Professor of Japanese History, Columbia University
Japanese matchbox art of the 1920s and 1930s is a graphic
reflection of the excitement and confusion faced by Japanese society in
that era, a fluid and vital period when the country was transforming
into an industrialized nation. Maggie Kinser Hohle, author of a new
book exploring these tiny and evocative works, in a dialogue with
design scholar Hiroshi Kashiwagi and historian Henry Smith, will
examine the social, political, and economic environment in which
Japanese matchbook art evolved. Issues to be considered include the
switch from anonymous to professional and well-known designers, the
reversal from graphics that built on the European model to those that
followed America's lead, and the birth of social and consumer
independence among urban youth.
Co-sponsored by The Bard Graduate Center for Studies
in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture, and in association with
Mark Batty Publisher
October 27 (Thursday)
"Korean Influences in Japanese Culture" Lecture Series
The Japanese "Discovery" of Korea(ns): Becoming Visible, 1590-1700
Ronald Toby (Professor of History, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
403 Kent Hall, Columbia University (116th St. and Amsterdam Ave.)
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Co-sponsored by The Weatherhead East Asian Institute and The Center for Korean Research
October 31st (Monday)
Histories of Japanese Book Collections in University Libraries in the United States
Atsuhiko WADA (Associate Professor of Japanese Language and Culture, Shinshu University)
403 Kent Hall, Columbia University (116th St. and Amsterdam Ave.)
4:30PM - 6:00PM
Professor Wada will explore the variety and
complexity of the origins and history of Japanese book collections in
major university libraries in the United States.
November 2 (Wednesday)
A Digital Tour of the UC Berkeley
Japanese Historical Maps
Hisayuki Ishimatsu, Head of Japanese Collections, U.C. Berkeley
203 Butler Library, Columbia University
10:30 AM
Presented by the C.V. Starr East Asian Library, The Donald Keene
Center of Japanese Culture, and the North American Coordinating Council
on Japanese Library Resources.
November 3 (Thursday)
Lecture: Wearing Propaganda: Textiles in Wartime Japan
Jacqueline M. Atkins (Kate Fowler Merle-Smith Curator of Textiles, Allentown Art Museum)
403 Kent Hall, Columbia University (116th St. and Amsterdam Ave.)
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Textiles are not normally thought of as tools for propaganda, but
they have long served as a means of expressing patriotic feelings or
support for military and political goals. One group of textiles from
Japan, Britain, and the United States played just such a role during
the Asia-Pacific War / World War II. Patterned with wartime motifs -
bombers, battleships, and Home Front slogans such as "V" for Victory -
these textiles are evocative records of civilian support for the war.
Jacqueline Atkins will discuss these "propaganda" textiles through a
slide lecture and some Japanese examples she will bring to share with
the audience. She is Guest Curator for the exhibition "Wearing
Propaganda: Textiles on the Home Front in Japan, Britain, and the
United States, 1931-1945," which will open at the Bard Graduate Center
for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture in New York
City on November 17, 2005.
November 9 (Wednesday)
"Celluloid Samurai" Film Series: Gohatto (1999)
304 Barnard Hall, Barnard College
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Introduced by Gregory Pflugfelder, Associate Professor of Japanese History, Columbia University
November 10 (Thursday)
An Evening of Conversation: Japanese Cinema in New York Today
403 Kent Hall, Columbia University (116th St. and Amsterdam Ave.)
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
A number of film series and events related to Japanese film are
taking place in New York city this fall. The Donald Keene Center is
pleased to present an evening of informal conversation among some of
the organizers and other experts on Japanese film. Among the invited
participants are Paul Anderer (Columbia), Linda Hoaglund (Japan Society),
Grady Hendrix (Subway Cinema), and Richard Pena (Film Society of Lincoln Center).
November 17 (Thursday)
"Celluloid Samurai" Film Series: Twilight Samurai (2002)
304 Barnard Hall, Barnard College
6:00 PM
Introduced by Haruo Shirane, Shincho Professor of Japanese Literature, Columbia University
November 28 (Monday)
The Aesthetics of 'Cute' (Kawaii)
Inuhiko Yomota (Professor of Film and Media Studies, Meiji Gakuin University)
403 Kent Hall, Columbia University (116th St. and Amsterdam Ave.)
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
11/23 We regret to announce that this talk has been cancelled for reasons of
the speaker's health. Professor Yomota has assured us that he looks forward to delivering the
lecture on a future visit to New York, perhaps as early as next year. We are sorry for any
inconvience that this rescheduling may have caused.
The dominant aesthetic of eleventh-century Japanese aristocrats was that of 'mono no aware',
which emphasized the transient beauty of a world in which all things are constantly changing and
disappearing. For sixteenth-century tea masters, the dominant principle of beauty was 'wabi',
which shunned ostentation and ornament in favour of modest yet witty understatement.
Twentieth-century philosophers turned back to the aesthetic concept of 'iki', which
they saw as a perfect synthesis of willpower, coquetry, and detachment.
Today, the dominant aesthetic is that of 'kawaii'. 'Kawaii' is an adjective that generally
denotes the small, the reassuring, and the lovable. It is somewhat different than the English word
'cute', for it includes not just babies, young girls, and stuffed toys, but also full-grown men
and the elderly, depending on the context. Animated characters from Pokemon to Hello Kitty have
turned 'kawaii' into a massive industry which extends far beyond racial and national boundaries
into the realm of global consumer society. Through an analysis of the concept of 'kawaii', this
lecture illuminates not only the evolutionary history of Japanese aesthetics, but how 'kawaii'
functions as an ideology and a mythology underpinning contemporary Japan.
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November 29 (Tuesday)
Lecture: The Forefront of Japanese Pop Literature and Criticism: "Light
Novels", Games, and Otaku Imagination
Hiroki AZUMA (Associate Professor, Center for Global Communications, International University of Japan)
403 Kent Hall, Columbia University (116th St. and Amsterdam Ave.)
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Recent years have seen an explosion of American interest in
Japanese pop culture. Yet this interest may not be keeping pace with
cutting-edge developments in Japan. Japanese pop culture drastically
changed in the 1990s. With these changes came significant shifts in
criticism and analysis. Azuma will draw on the contents of his Animalizing
Postmodernity (Dobutsuka suru posutomodan, 2001) to explore the meaning of
these shifts. He will also introduce the impact of these changes on
the literary scene through the example of the "Light Novel" movement.
December 1 (Thursday)
"Korean Influences in Japanese Culture" Lecture Series
Illegal Korea: A Century of International Law between Japan and Korea
Alexis Dudden (Associate Professor of History, Connecticut College)
403 Kent Hall, Columbia University (116th St. and Amsterdam Ave.)
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Korea and Japan's modern century is inherently intertwined. Looking
at the years leading up to annexation in 1910 at one end of the
century and current complications revolving around the disputed
island (Dokdo/Takeshima) at the other, it becomes possible to see
how Japan's international efforts to declare Korean actions "illegal"
form a crucial element of Japan's international identity.
December 5 (Monday)
Questioning "Compensation": A Half Century of Ishimure Michiko's Paradise in the Sea of Sorrow and "Minamata Disease"
Kanai Keiko (Professor of Japanese Literature, Waseda University)
403 Kent Hall, Columbia University (116th St. and Amsterdam Ave.)
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Half a century has passed since the so-called "Minamata Disease"--one of
postwar Japan's worst environmental pollution cases--was publicly acknowledged.
Prof. Kanai discusses Ishimure Michiko's monumental documentary novel
Paradise in the Sea of Sorrow--which was completed in April 2004,
44 years after the publication of its first installment--as a lens for exploring
the "Minamata Disease Problem" and its relationship to the question of human rights
in postwar Japan. In introducing the history of "Minamata Disease" and Ishimure's
novel, this lecture will examine the role that Ishimure's literary work played
in the process by which people afflicted with "Minamata Disease" and those around
them have grappled with concepts of human rights.
December 6 (Tuesday)
Marketing the Bunjin: Takebe Ayatari as an 18th-Century Entrepreneur of the Arts
Dr. Lawrence Marceau (Senior Lecturer in Japanese, University of Auckland)
403 Kent Hall, Columbia University (116th St. and Amsterdam Ave.)
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
In early modern (Edo/Tokugawa period) Japan, artists, writers,
and poets known as bunjin actively portrayed themselves as
transcendent followers of "art for art's sake." Realities of survival for
many bunjin dictated that they actively pursue wealthy patrons,
informally organized groups of paying disciples, or other sources of income
in order to support their "refined" pursuits. In this illustrated
lecture, Dr. Marceau examines a third approach which he asserts Takebe
Ayatari took pains to pursue: publishing. Dr. Marceau will present
Ayatari as a publishing entrepreneur who used his connections in Japan's urban
centers to promote his ideals in dynamically successful ways in the 1760s and 1770s.
December 8 (Thursday)
Lecture: On the Cultural History of Retirement: The Meiji Rejection of Inkyo
Eric Johnson (Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago)
403 Kent Hall, Columbia University (116th St. and Amsterdam Ave.)
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
One of the more colorful characters to mount the stage of Japan's public fascination
in the last 15 years has been the vintage figure of the inkyo ("retired master", or "recluse").
Tinged by the aura of crisis enveloping an aging and depopulating workforce in post-Bubble,
post-1990s Japan, the deceptively quaint figure of the inkyo is everywhere being embraced -
from mass-marketed "inkyo lifestyle" manuals sold in subway kiosks, to inkyo-themed
government campaigns, to new and unfamiliar modes of progressivist critique.
Surrounded by such enthusiasm about inkyo, it is easily forgotten that for a brief
window of time, more than a century ago, in the 1880s and 90s, the figure of the
inkyo found itself in almost exactly the opposite predicament: as an object of deep
suspicion and relentless critique. What might turning back now to consider this all
but forgotten event - the Meiji rejection of inkyo (haiinkyoron) - have to offer our
ongoing attempts to understand the nature of Japan's present?
Eric W. Johnson is a Whiting Fellow in the Department of East Asian Languages and
Civilizations at University of Chicago.
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