Events category: Seminar

26 June 2014

Disaster Management After the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

The consequences of the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami made this event the most expensive natural disaster recorded in the world to date. The Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team (EEFIT) outlined key lessons following 2 years of recovery after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, involving topics such as tsunami hazard and risk assessment, the nuclear industry, post-disaster housing, urban planning and disaster mitigation, response and recovery.

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3 June 2014

Preserving Videogames: Gameplay as Cultural Heritage

Since they first blipped and bleeped to life in the 1970s, videogames have become one of the most pervasive global cultural forms. However, while a diverse array of game studies books, journals, courses and conferences abound, they typically share one thing in common: they focus on Europe and the US. A game studies student might easily be forgiven for thinking that Japan played but a supporting role in game history, culture or development, and yet a game fan would likely revere names such as Sega, Capcom and Nintendo.

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6 May 2014

Arita Porcelain and the Chelsea Flower Show: 400 years of History

The town of Arita in Saga prefecture is one of the most famous centres for Japanese porcelain. Dating its production back to 1616, it will celebrate its 400th anniversary in 2016. The first porcelain from Arita that was exported to Europe in the 17th century was welcomed with enormous enthusiasm. The porcelain, having travelled across the sea to Europe, became more highly treasured than gold, and was exported to various countries, having a major influence on European art and culture. Shuko Noda, a garden designer, talked about his concept and objectives in introducing this historical ceramic ware into garden designs as a member of Team SAGA, an entry in the Artisan Division of the 2014 Chelsea Flower Show.

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3 April 2014

The UK-Japan Alliance during World War I

One hundred years after the start of the First World War, this seminar presented two different points of view on a turning point in the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. Japan assisted Britain by defeating Germany in the Far East early on in the war, yet several factors tested the relationship between Britain and Japan. The event was chaired by Professor Ian H. Nish of the London School of Economics.

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10 March 2014

Energy and Climate Change Policy: How is it influenced by the Business Sector?

Securing energy is a life and death issue for the economic activities of any nation, while climate change is a shared concern for both developed and developing countries. State policies relating to energy and climate change can have a massive influence on a country’s business sector, but the business sector can also influence these policies. This seminar examined what steps are being taken by the business sectors in the UK and Japan to address these concerns.

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11 March 2014

Japan and China: Through Journalists’ Eyes

Along with the impact of social media, today’s international relations are enormously influenced by how journalists cover stories and how they portray different countries. With that in mind, this seminar looked at how Japan and China and the relations between them have been discussed recently by journalists, and why.

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14 March 2014

Compact and Adaptive – Towards Sustainable Design

Architecture is responsible for about 45% of the greenhouse gas emissions in the UK, but how can this be changed? This event highlighted the new trends of “compact” and “adaptive” design in the UK and contrasts their novelty here with their history in Japan, where they are more firmly embedded into the culture and design thinking. The speakers discussed how living space can be “compact” but rich, inspired by the classic scale and order of a Japanese house, which is combined with advanced concepts and technologies.

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25 February 2014

Report From Fukushima: Medical assistance to local residents

On 11 March 2011, a massive earthquake and tsunami struck Japan and led to meltdowns in the reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The release of radioactive material into the air, water, and soil raised public concerns about radiation exposure and the long-term risk of cancer among nearby residents. Mr Shuhei Nomura of Imperial College London talked about his experience in the recovery period after the disaster as well as the key issues and challenges facing the residents in the region.

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11 February 2014

The Future of Abenomics- A Political Perspective

Will Abenomics continue to be successful this year? In order to answer this question, it is necessary to understand the political challenges that Prime Minister Abe faces. Professor Harukata Takenaka discussed the changes to the power of Japanese Prime Ministers since the 1990s, and also discussed the restrictions that Japanese Prime Ministers still face, by comparison with their British counterparts. A major challenge for the Prime Minister will be to implement the “Third Arrow”, which are his plans for significant structural reforms.

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30 January 2014

Looking Back at Britain, Japan and Pearl Harbor: Avoiding War 1936-41

It is relatively rare for a historian to get the chance to engage in critical reflection of his own work. In this short talk, Dr Antony Best, Senior Lecturer at the London School of Economics, addressed the most significant issues that he discussed in his first book “Britain, Japan and Pearl Harbor: Avoiding War in East Asia, 1936-1941” (Routledge, London, 1995). This book delves into the history of Britain and the origins of the Pacific War, including the role of intelligence and the economic factors that helped to propel Britain and Japan towards conflict. In addition, he reflected on the changes to the historical record since the date of its first publication in 1995 and how the book might now be revised in the light of different new methodological approaches towards the writing of history. In particular, he discussed how the study of public opinion and institutions beyond Whitehall can be usefully incorporated in order to provide a more complete picture of British interaction with Japan in this crucial period.

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