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  • Anton Portman (seated) and Dr. C.F. McDonald. June 30, 1860
    *** NOTE: Informasia speakers are needed for June 15, August 17, September 21, and November 16, 2026.
    Please contact Patricia Yarrow at: yarrowp@gmail.com

    Informasia #5, Monday, May 18, 2026

    Susanna Fessler, PhD.

    “The Accidental Diplomat: Anton L. C. Portman”

    Vimeo video: will be posted May 19, 2026

    Audio: will be posted May 19, 2026

    Who

    Susanna Fessler is originally from Cleveland Ohio. She first came to Japan in 1982-83 as a high-school
    exchange student. She earned a BA in East Asian Studies at Oberlin College, and a MA, MPhil, and PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale University.

    After teaching Japanese language and literature for 30 years at the State University of New York at Albany, she recently transitioned to the position of Interim Dean and Vice Provost of the Center for International Education and Global Strategy on the same campus.

    Abstract

    This is a biographical studyof Anton L. C. Portman, who played a central but underappreciated role in early
    U.S-Japan relations. Portman had begun as a commodore’s clerk on the Perry Expedition to Japan in 1853 when his multilingualism unexpectedly thrust him into the spotlight as the Dutch-English interpreter for the
    Americans. In doing so, he made personal connections with members of the Japanese government. Capitalizing on those relationships, he later returned to Japan when once again serendipity provided him with the appointment of legation interpreter. Portman worked with the first four U.S. resident ministers over the course of ten years, providing diplomatic continuity amid changing leadership at the legation.

    Our Speaker

    Susanna Fessler. Ph.D 1994. Yale University, East Asian Languages and Literatures. Dissertation Title: Hayashi Fumiko: the Writer and Her Works

    Interim Vice Provost and Dean
    2025-Present. Center for International Education and GlobalStrategy, University at Albany

    Recent Publications (of many)

    2022. The Letters of RobertHewson Pruyn, a full transcription of the letters from Robert Hewson Pruyn to his wife in Albany while he was the U.S. Foreign Minister to Japan, 1862-1865. Published on the Scholars Archive as an Open Source Text. 610 pages. URL: https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/eas_fac_scholar/19/

    E-mail

    sfessler@albany.edu

  • NEWS

    The news is that I am focusing this summer 2026 on mastering this Informasia website.

    Right now, I am combing through the current layout and updating it.

    Once everything is order in a few days, I have arranged to contact the fine Support team at Strikingly, Informasia's web host.

    We will discuss the correct template going forward. A reasonable fee is involved.

    The current template is a long page with sections.

    That must change to individual pages. No more endless scrolling!

    Actually, I am excited to have reached this stage after four years.

    Looks like Informasia has a community and continuity!

    April 28, 2026 /Patricia Yarrow

  • BOOKS

    Books by former Informasia lecturers. Updating goal: Display books in order of Informasia presentations, and information on the publication source. In progress as of August 2025/PY

    Charles De Wolf
    Andrew Fitzsimons - February
    Pierre-Emmanuel Bachelet
    Robert Morton

  • ARTICLES

    George Sioris, "The Silk and the Gold: Correcting the Course of Asian Studies", 2024

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GohZo59InVYEU3E5cPgSw4dg1WU5LxmU/view?usp=sharing

    George Sioris, "The Creation of the World, Martyrdom et.al." 2025

    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uzoYGXRpzM5xYEUkhcyKzdrld3EvnCiv/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=105775447281122203523&rtpof=true&sd=true

    *Both articles are temporarily stored on Patricia Yarrow's Shared Google Drive.

    There is a way to add the document, which I will attend to soon. August 2025/PY

    *

  • Contact Us

    Would you like to join Informasia's e-mail list? It is easy and there are just a few notices.

    Every month, there are three short Reminders of the approaching lecture of the month, and a longer follow-up Report shortly after the meeting.

    Any comments and questions are most welcome. This website is very much in progress as of August 2025. /Patricia Yarrow

  • Support Informasia by inviting friends to join our Zoom meetings, always on the third Monday of every month.

    Check us out on Facebook for announcements of the next meeting, as an "Event".

    Informasia Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/307236340460985

    Other Social Media (SMS) under developement. We do have a bluesky account, which is not active yet.

    More thoughts on this soon.

    Any suggestions, most welcome. Please send them to Patricia Yarrow at yarrowp@gmail.com

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  • ABOUT INFORMASIA

    Informasia launch

    May 2020

    Chaos ruled and all compass points were lost in the onslaught of the newly arrived worldwide COVID pandemic. In April, as all university classes moved to Zoom, Patricia Yarrow was gazing blankly from her Ryogoku (Tokyo) veranda. Bereft of meeting companions, academically informative monthly lectures, and friendly discussions, inspiration struck on that spring day. “We could do this on Zoom!”

    A flurry of messaging later, a core group of eight castaways met (safely on Zoom) on 25 May 2020 to toss ideas around. Alex Byrne dreamed up the name “Informasia”, and the vision began coming into focus. Our Informasia ship cast off with an stalwart crew for shores unknown. Since then, our mailing list has grown from 10 to nearly 400. Our Facebook page counts some 280 friends.

    Informasia community

    Thanks to all the friends and colleagues of Informasia in Japan, Asia, Singapore, Maylasia, Australia, New Zealand, throughout the UK and Europe, and the hardy east coast of the USA, our Zoom community, launched June 2020. It has grown steadily ever since. Presentations in 2022 ranged from deeply academic translations of Korea, Japan, China, to research in progress, alarming lockdowns in Shanghai, to tranquil musings on cherry blossoms and ethereal meditations on life between death, with a helping of the foreign politics between China and Japan. If lectures were flowers, our Informasia bouquet would create quite the splashy ikebana display.

    The Informasia logo comes to us from designer Ritsuko Lynch, upon the recommendation of Alex Byrne. She is based in Santa Monica, California, and can be reached at: https://en.99designs.jp/profiles/2313262

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