Past Events

9 February 2023

Japan’s Economic Security and the Global Competition in Semiconductors

The semiconductor industry – vital for the development of future technologies – is at the centre of rising geopolitical competition between the US and China. Chip production is highly concentrated in East Asia, especially in Taiwan. As China develops its domestic semiconductor industry and geopolitical divides deepen, many countries, including Japan, are attempting to rebuild their semiconductor industry and related supply chains. In this talk, Mariko Togashi explained Japan’s position in the global competition for semiconductors and how it impacts the country’s national economic security strategy. She also discussed some of the greatest challenges lying ahead for Japan’s semiconductor industry and national security, and present recommendations.

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25 January 2023

A History of Popular Culture in Japan

A History of Popular Culture in Japan provides the first historical and analytical overview of popular culture in Japan from its origins in the 17th century to the present day, using it to explore broader themes of conflict, power and meaning in Japanese history. E. Taylor Atkins shows how Japan was one of the earliest sites for the development of mass-produced, market-oriented cultural products consumed by the urban middle and working classes. In this book launch, E. Taylor Atkins presented an overview to help understand four centuries of popular culture in Japan as an arena for struggles over power, resources, identities, nationhood, ideology, political rights, civil liberties and personal autonomy.

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17 January 2023

A British business success in Japan: Wilkinson Tansan Mineral Water

John Clifford Wilkinson left Leeds in 1872, at the age of 20, to work for the trading company Hunter and Co. in Kobe. In 1889, he was hunting in the Takarazuka area when he stumbled on a place where naturally-carbonated mineral water bubbled out of the ground. This was the start of Wilkinson Tansan Mineral Water and its various spin-offs, which eventually grew into one of the largest beverage companies in Japan. Jason visited Takarazuka to find out more, and was impressed to see the water still bubbling up just where Wilkinson first found it. Sadly, not much else tangible remains. Jason retraced the fascinating story of the Wilkinson family business in Japan.

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1 January 2023

Innovation

Recent world events such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the ongoing war in Ukraine and rising tensions between the US and China have had substantial impacts on society, with consequences felt from the global to the individual level. In many cases, these events have prompted a rethink of strategies to address our most pressing economic, security, supply chain, energy supply and climate change challenges. Innovative ideas and approaches are essential to produce effective responses to these challenges and shape the future of our world. So this year we will focus on ‘innovation’, and present innovative approaches linked to current socio-economic issues. 

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5 December 2022

Voices from the Contemporary Japanese Feminist Movement

Voices from the Contemporary Japanese Feminist Movement introduces six influential activists from Japan’s contemporary feminist movement. The authors, both based in universities in Australia, wrote the book to fill a gap in Australia-based Japanese studies, which has overly focussed on research in cultural studies and linguistics to the exclusion of structural analyses of the status of women in Japan. For this book launch, the authors described Japan’s grassroots feminist movement based on testimonies they gathered, generating insights about some of the most serious problems faced by women and girls in Japan, as well as comparing the approaches of Japanese activists with those of the global feminist movement.

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21 November 2022

Art x Ecology x Solidarity

Through the social media era, and through the recent lockdown, we have had a personal and yet collective experience, calling into focus the human needs for solidarity and interdependence. Unfortunately the causes of solidarity are often found in situations of hardship such as inequality, natural disasters and war. Artistic solidarity movements bring a novel dimension by introducing different perspectives, to raise questions. Art may have the strength to affect a range of concerns, but could solidarity itself be an art form? In this talk moderated by Mark Rappolt, we were pleased to be joined by two speakers, Mirwan Andan (who, with ruangrupa, was part of the artistic team of documenta fifteen) and interdisciplinary artist Hikaru Fujii.

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18 November 2022

Tokyo Story

Ozu Yasujirō’s Tokyo Story is universally acknowledged as one of the most significant Japanese films ever made, and regularly cited as one of the greatest films of all time in polls of leading critics and filmmakers around the world. Professor Alastair Phillips (University of Warwick), author of a new BFI Film Classic on Tokyo Story, gave an extended illustrated talk on the film. The presentation combined a close analysis of the film’s key locations with discussion of its representation of Japanese society at a time of great cultural change. He also situates Tokyo Story within various contemporary critical and industrial contexts and examines the multiple international dimensions of the film’s long after-life.

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1 November 2022

Symbols of Esteem: Courtly Gifts in the British Royal Collection

The royal and imperial families of Britain and Japan have enjoyed a dynamic relationship for over four centuries. Exchanging diplomatic gifts has been central to this interaction, and many of the works of art presented are replete with symbolism. From the 16-petalled imperial chrysanthemum, to cranes, phoenixes and the ‘three-friends-of-winter’ motif, emblems have been carefully selected to express political and personal friendship. This lecture explored how courtly gift-giving drew on ancient symbols to forge new cultural links. It examined the role of the Japanese landscape, East Asian mythology and European heraldry in giving visual form to courtly goodwill.

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19 October 2022

Film Screening in Edinburgh - KAMEJIRO: The U.S. Military’s Most Feared Man

Following the end of WWII, Okinawa remained occupied by US military forces for 27 years. Today, the archipelago continues to be one of the world’s largest hubs for US military bases. This military presence has sparked resistance and opposition from Okinawans. Kamejirо̄ Senaga was an opponent of US military control in postwar Okinawa. The US military tried various stratagems to suppress him, but with the support of the Okinawan people, Kamejirо̄ continued to fight. This film paints a picture of Kamejirо̄ and explains the political circumstances of his time, shedding light on the roots of present-day public opinion in Okinawa.

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17 October 2022

KAMEJIRO: The U.S. Military’s Most Feared Man

Following the end of WWII, Okinawa remained occupied by US military forces for 27 years. Today, the archipelago continues to be one of the world’s largest hubs for US military bases. This military presence has sparked resistance and opposition from Okinawans. Kamejirо̄ Senaga was an opponent of US military control in postwar Okinawa. The US military tried various stratagems to suppress him, but with the support of the Okinawan people, Kamejirо̄ continued to fight. This film paints a picture of Kamejirо̄ and explains the political circumstances of his time, shedding light on the roots of present-day public opinion in Okinawa.

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12 October 2022

Thinking out loud by Linda Havenstein

Linda Havenstein is an interdisciplinary artist whose work deals with language, signs and symbols, and how they shape our perceptions of reality. Starting with moving images, she works with installations, sculpture, painting and virtual contents, combining analogue and digital aspects in the same artworks. Her recent focus is on the use of code and encryption in order to distort and change notions of meaning, as well as applying new forms of decryption and decoding to establish new interpretations. In her talk, Havenstein introduced her artistic practice and the approaches she developed while staying in Okinawa and Korea, as well as her collaborative practice with Yuken Teruya.

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11 October 2022

US Military Bases in Okinawa: An Activist’s Response

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the reversion of Okinawa from the US to Japan. But even today, Okinawa has one of the heaviest concentrations of US military bases in the world. Okinawa represents 0.6% of Japan’s land area, yet it contains about 70% of all US military bases in the country. As a result, the people of Okinawa are subject to incidents and accidents caused by US troops, noise from US military aircraft, and environmental pollution caused by the bases. In this talk moderated by Dr Ra Mason, Jinshiro Motoyama, an activist who played a leading role in the referendum, talked about his recent activities and the response to them, his current initiatives, main challenges, and hopes for the future of Okinawa.

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