Informasia #1, January 18, 2021

Tim Harris

‘Rhythms, Movement & the Translation of Poetry & Prose’

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/705546292?share=copy

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15eslGSr9vXKVFmRSyxc7qEiPcrI_lw0O/view?usp=drive_link

Abstract

Tim Harris (timharris1025@proton.me)

He gives his thoughts on translating Japanese poetry, classical and modern, and Japan.

Timothy Harris, a diction coach at the New National Theatre, Tokyo, and the Suntory Hall, critic of contemporary poetry, actor, lecturer, and occasional translator. As well, he is a writer on arts & crafts, poetry & drama, a transator, actor, Shakespeare director, and opera coach, among other endeavors. He resides in his library bunker in western Tokyo.

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Informasia #2, February 15, 2021

Felicity Greenland

‘Songs of Edo Period Japanese Whaling’

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/705549228?share=copy

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sITYyCch0IE6sAgz9A-Ay6PSk1EWdYCS/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

Greenland F (felicity.greenland@gmail.com)

What can Japanese folk songs (民謡 min'yō) tell us about whaling inthe Edo period? We will listen to some of the songs and allow their lyrics to
illuminate the communities of the time, their working methods, and attitudes to nature in general and whales in particular.

Felicity Greenland is an Associate Professor in the Department of Global and Regional Studies at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan
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Informasia #3, March 21, 2021

Penny West

“Letters of an American Tea Merchant & his wife:

A Connecticut silk manufacturing family in the early Meiji”

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/705553522?share=copy

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a6qgOiV6vQY0vKxR3Db6NIkVpk3dKb3c/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

Penny West (penelope7west@gmail.com)

Penny West gives an overview of the lives of her great grandparents Gustavus Farley Jr (1844-99) and Katharine
Cheney (1854-1933) through their collected family letters. Gus was in the Tea business and Kitty came from a silk manufacturing family. Tea and silk were two early staple exports from Japan. Though neither Gus nor Kitty are particularly remarkable in themselves, their lives might be of interest as they were there and writing prolifically. She joins us from Maine, USA, where it is often 5:00 a.m. or earlier.

Penny West, the great granddaughter of Katherine Cheney and Gustavus Farley, Jr. recently was named a 2023 Maine Literary Awards Finalist for her new children’s book Once Upon a Time Nobody Could Read, illustrated by Maret Hensick. She offers literacy from the unusual and joyful point of view of the invention of reading and writing, appealing not only to the curious kindergartener and third grader, but also to their parents and grandparents! Penny deals a kick in the pants to those who spend their time banning books and spreading censorship. Congratulations, Penny from the Cheney Family.

Cheney Cemetary Association: https://cheneyancestry.org/once-upon-a-time-there-was-penny-west/

Penobscot Marine Museum: https://penobscotmarinemuseum.org/event-single/maritime-maine-topics-author-series-penny-west/
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Informasia #4, April 19, 2021

Giulio Bertelli

“A Western Woman Travelling into the Interior of
Japan in 1869 - The Travel Journals of Mathilde Sallier de La Tour, Spouse of the First Italian Minister Plenipotentiary to Japan”

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/711017025?share=copy

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1btbAx5KC0g46GymWUEGBgt0ZEHM9nEDX/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

Giulio Bertelli (jyurio76@hotmail.com)

My talk will be centered on the figure and the writings of Mathilde Sallier de La Tour (née Ruinart de Brimont - 1838-1911), who, as the spouse of the first Italian Minister Plenipotentiary to Japan Count Vittorio Sallier de La Tour, followed her husband to Japan, and lived in Yokohama from June 1867 to April 1870. Mathilde was a talented, sensitive and fascinating French noblewoman, and, while observing and trying to unravel the mysteries of Japan and its culture, wrote several private records such as letters, notes and travel journals.

Mathilde’s full set of manuscripts (entirely written in French, but recently published with an English translation by Eureka Press / Routledge) consists of five elements.

Giulio Antonio Bertelli (1976-), was born in Modena, Northern Italy. After majoring in Japanese studies at the Venice "Ca' Foscari"University, came to Japan in 2002 in order to obtain a Master's Degree and a PhD in Japanese Language and Culture at the former Osaka University of Foreign Studies (now Osaka University). From 2004 he embraced the study of the diplomatic and commercial relations between the newborn Kingdom of Italy and late Edo-early Meiji Japan, publishing numerous articles (both in Italian and Japanese) on this topic. As of 2010 he works as a full-time teacher of Italian language andhistory at the Faculty of Foreign Studies, Osaka University.
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Informasia #5, May 17, 2021

Patricia Yarrow

“Blown Away: Adrift, Rescue, and Return in 1609
and 1813”

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/693793738?share=copy

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CtZr7Z-vE_2r-MJa5h4mg4AL6h3-rqZ3/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

Patricia Yarrow (yarrowp@gmail.com)

Two castaways left records of great loss on the sea: one a young Japanese coastal commercial boat captain of the early 1800s, the other a nobleman of Spain returning home as the 1600s dawned. Both thought they would soon be home. Instead, their ships met disaster, but they survived. What preparations saw them through? How did they pass their days? What was their reception to their home countries? This talk, based upon the captain’s diary and the nobleman’s book, will show the similarities and differences in their adventures. What education, world-view, and sense of themselves did they bring to their predicament? Once they initially survived, how did they endure? Thrown into cultures unknown to them, how did they understand people unlike their own? What expectations did they have of their eventual reception from their own sovereigns? What elements of their religious framework did they honour and find helpful? What home reception awaited them?

Patricia Yarrow is a university instructor of English, including academic research reading and writing, with Tsuda University, Meiji University, and Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo, Japan. She is from San Francisco and has lived in Ryogoku, Tokyo, since 2008.

**UPDATE as of 2022: Now blissfully semi-retired as of 2022, she is conducting a few English classes for Kaichi International University, located in the countryside of Kashiwa, Chiba, where she enjoys a view of the nearby fields and forest of timber bamboo and pines.

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Informasia #6, June 21, 2021

Peter Kornicki

“Translating in the jungle, translating on the beaches, translating at sea: wartime Japanese learners at work"

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/710994925?share=copy

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vQjpDZsb_ob7zwQ2xHfhvhcw06VvOL4j/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

Prof. Kornicki (pk104@cam.ac.uk)

Prof. Kornicki will give us a talk “relating to my new book, Eavesdropping on the Emperor, which is to be published in April. It concerns the emergency Japanese programmes which were launched in the USA, UK, Australia, Mauritius and Canada in 1941 and 1942 and how the graduates were used during the war."
Information about the book:https://books.mailshop.co.uk/eavesdropping-on-the-emperor-9781787384729.html

Peter Kornicki is Emeritus Professor of Japanese at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of the British Academy. The son of a Polish WWII fighter pilot, he was educated at Oxford and has taught at the University of Tasmania and Kyoto University. He is the author of many books.
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Informasia #7, July 19, 2021

James Farrer

“Sustaining Tokyo’s Grimy Drinking Streets"

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/710999899?share=copy

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CnU-a3NQDU7z415VtHWksEz9Jq3bImo3/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

James Farrer (jamescfarrer@gmail.com)

Tokyo is known for its human scale and historic drinking streets, which take many forms, the most iconic of which of are the yokochō, dense warrens of small bars andeateries, redolent of humanity and a bit grimy. These are “urban third spaces” between work and home, and urban contact zones for people from all walks of life. Once seen as a largely male preserve, they are increasingly popular with women. Though regarded as quintessentially Japanese, foreign business owners and foreign customers are increasingly visible. Despite their appeal, these spaces are under threat from COVID-19, urban renewal schemes, the aging society and the rise of mass tourism. This paper looks at drinking streets in Nishi-Ogikubo in Western Tokyo for signs of how these spaces can be sustained.

Related publications-Susanne Wessendorf and James Farrer. 2021. “Commonplace and out-of-place diversities in London and Tokyo: migrant-run eateries as intercultural third places” Comparative Migration Studies. Volume 9, Issue 28, p. 1-7. https://comparativemigrationstudies.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40878-021-00235-3

James Farrer. James Farrer is Professor of Sociology and Global Studies at Sophia University in Tokyo. His research focuses on the contact zones of global cities, including ethnographic studies of sexuality, nightlife, expatriate communities, and urban food cultures.

Current projects investigate community foodways in Tokyo (www.nishiogiology.org) and the spread of Japanese restaurant cuisine across diverse world regions (www.global-japanese-cuisine.org). He is originally from Tennessee in the United States but moved to Japan in 1998.
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Informasia #8, August 16, 2021

Rosemary Chiba

“Kagura Dance in Iwate”

Vimeo video (First half accidently not recorded): https://vimeo.com/711004968?share=copy

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PlrKzKEDrTcwH1UaQGeFmlfF4161zvxV/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

Rosemary Chiba (rosemarychiba@gmail.com)
Why have people performed Kagura dances in Japan for over 1,000 years? I would like to share my experiences of dancing and drumming for 24 years in an Iwate Kagura group, giving an insight into the culture, group dynamics, the raw physical challenges and perhaps the elusive spiritual reward.

Rosemary Chiba was born in 1949 in Leicester, England, and graduated in Fine Arts (Leeds). She worked in a museum in Nigeria, taught English in Taipei, then from 1980, in Tokyo and Kobe. She is married with two sons, and moved to Hiraizumi, Iwate in 1991 to take over the family rice farm. She danced Kagura until 2015. Her other accomplishments include assisting with Hiraizumi's UNESCO World Heritage application, and introducing visitors to the area as a local guide.
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Informasia #9, September 20, 2021

John Bray

‘Ladakh: a global perspective on a Himalayan
kingdom’

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/711007790?share=copy

Audio: Part 1: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gNvbR702tedRjgDt7ZEaIYTn5uCXbluH/view?usp=sharing

Part 2: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vLbPg-qRkGet1O3wEGVCkZdQwTKOvEXM/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

John Bray (john.bray@controlrisks.com)

For some 900 years, Ladakh subsisted as an independent kingdom ruled by a Buddhist monarchy in the Western Himalayas. Politically, it is now part of India, but adjoins disputed boundaries with both Pakistan and the People’s Republic of China. Lying between the Himalayas and Karakoram ranges, it has been both a byword for remoteness and now a popular tourist destination. This lecture will present a selective overview of Ladakhi history since the 17th century. Rather than highlighting Ladakh’s isolation, it will emphasize the region’s connectedness with Mughal and British India as well as Tibet and what is now Xinjiang.

Neither a Shangri-la nor a Sakoku, Ladakh was always influenced by wider economic and religious currents, including Muslim ideas and trading networks as well as Buddhist ones. The discussion will be supported by images of buildings, coins, paintings and – from the 19th century onwards – photographs. Ladakh is bordered by Afghanistan, China, India, and Pakistan.

John Bray first visited Ladakh in 1979, and has retained a close connection with the region ever since.
He is a former president of the International Association for Ladakh Studies (IALS), and has published extensively on Ladakh’s history, with a specialist interest in Western missionary contacts and trading relations. He lived in Japan from 2002 to 2015, and is now based in Singapore.

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Informasia #10, October 18, 2021

David Burleigh

‘Lives of the Poets: Three Journeys to Kyoto’

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/700374007?share=copy

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_OHozo5_YACp6ntFP4k43ANxA6pkPNF_/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

David Burleigh (burleigh@gol.com)

David Burleigh came to Japan in 1978, and taught at Ferris University in Yokohama for twenty-seven years, retiring in 2016, but then continued to teach part-time in the School of International Liberal Studies at Waseda University, near which he still lives, until the spring of 2021. He edited and introduced Helen Waddell’s Writings from Japan (2005), after writing a thesis on her work, and has also collaborated on translations of Japanese poetry and haiku.
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Informasia #11, November 15, 2021

Reg Clark

“What We Can Learn From the History of Rugby
in Japan”

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/711017025?share=copy

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_OHozo5_YACp6ntFP4k43ANxA6pkPNF_/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

Reg Clark (regclark@rhinorugby.com)

Today‘s lecture was first delivered in 2019, two days before the Rugby World Cup Final. It focuses on the history of sport and specifically rugby in Japan and what that may tell us about Japanese culture, and the commonly accepted account of the origins of rugby as an example of the role of mythology in history.

Reg Clark graduated in Modern History from Christ Church Oxford in 1979 and in 1980 joined Kobe Steel where he worked for three years and played rugby for the company team. He has a lifelong interest in the history of sport, and at that time wrote 12 articles for Rugby Magazine of Japan on the history of rugby. After a varied career, including a further decade with Kobe Steel in London, he is now a consultant/investor in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector.
He took over Rhino, the sports brand specialising in rugby in 2006.

Rhino: https://rhino.direct/
In 2016 he received the Foreign Ministers Commendation Award from the Japanese government for services to UK-Japan relations and in 2017, he was appointed Visiting Professor in the Sports Sciences faculty at Nihon University.
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Informasia #12, December 20, 2021

Nadine Willems

“Sarashina' life and poems”, with colleague Paul Rossiter

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/711021127?share=copy

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10LcV83Rotnue9YGOmSZN6TbhDlMU0mxK/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

Nadine Willems (n.willems@uea.ac.uk)

Paul Rossiter (info@isobarpress.com)
Informasia #12 for 2021,our first full year of meetings, featured, Nadine Willems, on the occasion of revisiting the 2017 publication, “Kotan Chronicles: Selected Poems 1928–1943”, featuring her translation of the insights into the Ainu, circa 1920s and 1930s, of Genzō Sarashina. Nadine lived in Japan for many years, and now teaches Japanese history. She joins us from the University of East Anglia. Her colleague and collaborator, Paul Rossiter, lent his voice to the poems themselves. With our woolly hats and snowshoes at the ready, we settled in for the conclusion of our first year, suitably in freezing cold Hokkaido for “Sarashina's life and poems, and welcome Nadine Willems and Paul Rossiter

Publications Isobar Press

https://isobarpress.com/

Paul Rossiter founded Isobar Press in 2013 after retiring from teaching at the University of Tokyo. The press publishes poetry in English by Japanese and non-Japanese authors who have lived in Japan, or who write on Japan-related themes. See the Chat for availability in Japan, London, and through Amazon.
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