Informasia #1, January 17, 2022

Charles De Wolf

“Jaunting through Korean: the Language
Next Door”

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/705534318

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xVjirAL0qsaEu6wn9g0VQx1YabZg3ne_/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

Charles De Wolf (cmdewolf@yahoo.com)

Comparing Korean and Japanese through color codes, typology, similarities (agglutination, topc and subject, pronouns, zero pronominazation, noun classisfiers, word order, chinese loanwords, and speech levels), differences (phononolgy, morphophonemics, morphology, intransitive/transitive, passive/causative, lexicon, honorifics, and names), whence Korean?

Multilinguist Charles De Wolf initiates Informasia 2022 with an exploration of the sociolinguistics of the Korean language in what promises to be an engaging, deeply informative approach to the language of our neighbour to the west.
Trained as an academic linguist, he has in recent decades turned to translation and now works in modern and classical Japanese literature. He has lived on three different continents, but has spent most of his life in Japan, where he is a Japanese citizen. He is professor emeritus at Keio University.

Charles De Wolf joins us from his home in Chiba city, to the east of Tokyo
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Informasia #2, February 21, 2022

David Shapiro

“Sumo in Japan”

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/705541924

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ssB7fNonNARhyNAv4sq8oP0eFJnCf21A/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

David Shapiro (bdshap@gol.co)
The following section headers willbe added to the Zoom Chat as the lecture progresses:
Sumo: What is So Interesting About Two Fat Guys Banging Heads
Sumo: Its Origins
Sumo as Religious Ceremony
The Samurai and Sumo
Sumo as Popular Entertainment - The Pax Japonica and the Rise of the Merchant
Class
An Aside: Why Did Osaka Sumo Lose Out?
Ozumo and the Militarists
Ozumo and the Road Back
Sumo and Japan's Rebirth
Hard Men Doing a Hard Job
Modern Ozumo Management Today: From the Philosophy of, "No" to a COVID Response Showing the World How to Do It Right
What is Sumo to Japan Today?

David Shapiro is a sumo expert and author of "Sumo: A Pocket Guide", Tuttle Publishing. "One of the finest compact books on sumo today."Sumo World Completely updated by the well known sumo authority David Shapiro, Sumo: A Pocket Guide describes the history, rules, rituals and techniques of sumo, the wrestlers' training and even their diets. Covering such topics as "life in the stables," "psychological warfare," and the "spoils of victory, this compact sumo guide brings to life this cultural pastime that is so much more than a sport. This volume also includes a list of stables and some of the best chanko nabe restaurants in Tokyo. Shapiro brings to the updated edition many years of Japanese language, sumo research, and coverage. The result is a handy, up-to-date, and authoritative guide to sumo that provides everything one needs to understand, appreciate, and enjoy this fascinating sport."

He joins us from his home along the Sumida River in Asakusa.
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Informasia #3, March 21, 2022

Alice Wanderer
“Translating Sugita Hisajo”

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/691203818

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1maAvA6UUA9vkZYW0hO4bMzUJpP-YWAKR/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

Alice Wanderer (alicewanderer1@gmail.com)
Alice “Translating Sugita Hisajo” in Japanese Studies at Monash University, also in Melbourne, in 2015. "Lips Licked Clean", a selective collection of the haiku of Sugita Hisajo, draws from her thesis. The book was on the shortlist for a Touchstone Award (an annual award given by the Haiku Foundation for the best haiku-related book published in the previous year worldwide). After her presentation, we were thrilled to learn that she had won! Such is the power of Informasia :-)

Alice Wanderer lives in the Alice Springs area of Australia.

https://contemporaryhaibunonline.com/strongemcho-em20-2brtable-of-contents-strong/haibun/alice-wanderer-language-matters/

https://wikiaustralia.com/tour/alice-wanderer-and-centre-sightseeing/

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Informasia #4, April 18, 2022

Curtis Gayle
“Early Post-war Japan in the World Federalist Movement”

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/701093041

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AvM_-hTrs59q4rCsDmMnj43WyX9sk18L/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

Curtis Anderson Gayle (cagayle7@gmail.com)
Intellectuals and political figuresof different stripes came together in the aftermath of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to propose a new vision for a world federation. They participated in the general World Federalist Movement that was simultaneously growing from 1945.
This presentation will examine thelogic behind Japanese participation in the WFM and it will suggest ways in which members sought to utilise Article 9 of the Japanese constitution within their vision for Japan in a potential world federation. This presentation is part of an ongoing research project into Japan's overall contribution to the WFM during the first decade or so after The Second World War.

Professor in TAISI+GSSS at Waseda University.
In 2025~2026 at the University of Oxford, Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies.

His Waseda University Researcher's Database: https://w-rdb.waseda.jp/html/100001081_en.html
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Informasia #5, May 16, 2022

Lance Gatling
“Kano Jigoro, beyond his judo life”

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/710952954

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oCCnzGjOWl5eJmMnr8kV2RqHCLiFNpjR/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

Lance Gatling (lgatling@nexialresearch.com)
NHK’s 2020 Taiga Drama, the annual year-long historic drama entitled "Idaten", focused on the nearly forgotten canceled 1940 Tokyo Olympics. The drama included a disappointingly shallow depiction of Kanō Jigorō (1860-1938), even though he was a key figure in Olympic planning as Asia’s first International Olympic Committee member.
In reality, Kanō Jigorō was a complex, influential individual, polymath linguist, architect of Japan’s pre-World War II education system, and founder of Japanese amateur athletics. Primarily remembered today for inventing jūdō, the world’s most popular full contact sport, he is known to jūdōka (jūdō practitioners) as Kanō shihan, Master Kanō. The untold story is how his personal and professional life helped form many aspects of modern Japan culture.

Lance Gatling is an independent researcher, located in Tokyo.

His academic papers: https://independent.academia.edu/LanceGatling

Former US Army political-military affairs officer and US State Department Foreign Service officer.

Director, US Embassy Jūdō and Jūjutsu.

His website: Kanō Jigorō Chronicles " https://kanochronicles.com/author/lgatling77/
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Informasia #6, June 20, 2022

Stephen Nagy
“The Frenemy Next Store: Chinese Scholars’ Perceptions of Japanese Foreign Policy
under PM Abe”

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/722075964

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13E4mDSc38eFkf99RGCweflI6LAsvK1Kg/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

Stephen R. Nagy (nagy@ycaps.org)
This paper investigates Chineseinternational relations scholars’ perceptions of Japan’s foreign policy in the post-Cold War era. Included in this paper are the drivers behind these perceptions. Understanding Chinese perceptions and the drivers of these perceptions of Japanese foreign policy in the post-Cold War era can be employed to shape more mutually beneficial relations, prevent an escalation in poor relations by the advent of a security dilemma. They can help Japanese foreign policy makers shape foreign policy that lessens or removes behavior that are perceived as threatening for Chinese counterparts. Findings suggest that at least five school of thought have emerged among scholars.

Stephen Nagy is Professor at International Christian University, Tokyo.

His website: https://nagystephen.com/
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Informasia #7, July 18, 2022

Stephen Roddy
“The Life of Urban(e) Waters: Kyoto, ca. 1830”

Vimeo video:https://vimeo.com/731959247

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hykPihanyrFGr1zku6pyEW6BkLL851FZ/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

Stephen Roddy (roddys@usfca.edu)
“Is a truly cosmopolitan sensibilitypossible where foreign travel is nearly impossible? In spite of the ease of maintaining virtual connectedness in today’s world, this question once again seems worth asking.

This talk examines some examples ofcultural omnivorousness across East Asia as manifested in the genre of bamboo branch lyrics (chikushiji/zhuzhici/jukjisa), with a focus on Oto shiji zashi (Miscellaneous Poems of the Four Seasons East of the Kamogawa, 1826), a sequence of 120 heptasyllabic quatrains set in Kyoto’s Gion District.

Stephen Roddy, PhD, SF Bay PSR member and professor at the University of San Francisco.

https://www.sfbaypsr.org/my-year-in-kyoto-japan-by-stephen-roddy/

https://usfcbsi.org/congratulations-to-professor-stephen-roddy-on-being-awarded-the-prestigious-one-year-research-fellow/

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Informasia #8, August 15, 2022

Ian Ruxton

“Self-Publishing in Academia”

Vimeo video:https://vimeo.com/739833186

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bXVz0rsMg_7fYDdje3yYmrmdD9glOnnP/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

Ian Ruxton (ian_ruxton@outlook.com)
“Is self-publishing worth it? It may depend on the kind of project. Of course, some are more suited than others. Ian will introduce his publications and talk about the process which is simpler than many may imagine.” Ian Ruxton has published with an international publisher and a Japanese one, but most of his publishing has been via internet platforms.

He joined us from his home in Kita-Kyushu, Japan.

Ian Ruxton's homepage: https://ianruxton.wixsite.com/homepage
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Informasia #9, September 19, 2022

John Darwin Van Fleet

“An Expat’s Shanghai Lockdown and Aftermath”

Vimeo video:https://vimeo.com/755289009

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o-WbJPoklNpxPatCge2t7EXYhhvn0ahb/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

J. Van Fleet (Jvf_road@hotmail.com)
Informasia welcomed John Van Fleet (John Darwin Van Fleet), who came to us through February's speaker on “Sumo, the Sport of Emperors” David Shapiro. A prolific observer in written word and imagery, John will give us insight into his experience with the Shanghai COVID lockdown. This is something all of us have shared to one degree or another, no matter where we live. It will be good to hear his and share ours. He will frame it with the benefit of 22 years in China now (just notched 21 in Shanghai, after a year in Taipei), after being in Tokyo (my favorite city on the planet) for all of the 1990s –. The historical and cultural Shanghai perspective will surely challenge our own points of view, and we are fortunate to have this first-hand account from a country that is hardly transparent, and is certainly controversial. Please join us for this most contemporary of subjects.

John Darwin Van Fleet was born in the United States, raised in southern California and studied English and American Literature at the University of Southern California (USC). He moved to Japan in 1991 and spent ten years there before relocating to greater China, where he has lived since, first in Taipei and now in Shanghai. He is Assistant Dean and Executive Director of the Global Executive MBA in Shanghai (GEMBA), a collaboration between USC and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and is a prolific writer on East Asia’s history and sociopolitical environment.

Tales of Old Tokyo: The Remarkable Story of One of the World's Most Fascinating Cities. Paperback – June 1, 2016.

https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Old-Tokyo-Remarkable-Fascinating/dp/9888273450
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Informasia #10, October 17, 2022

Naoko Abe

“Collingwood'Cherry' Ingram (1880-1981), the Englishman Who Saved Japan’s Blossoms”

Vimeo video:https://vimeo.com/761672318

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XzV23D9R6lFY2YCeXiXVOvnPVlU3hSoM/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

Naoko Abe (naokoa@blueyonder.co.uk)
Naoko Abe talked about Collingwood'Cherry' Ingram (1880-1981), the Englishman Who Saved Japan’s Blossoms. Ingram, an eccentric Edwardian gentleman, had fallen in love with Japanese cherry blossoms at the beginning of the 20th century and went to Japan three times to bring back cuttings of many different cherry trees. However, on his third visit to Japan, in 1926, he became deeply disappointed with the state of the cherries in Japan. Because of industrialization, some varieties had gone extinct, whilst others were dying out. Consequently, he decided to preserve them himself. By the 1940s, he had created the world’s largest cherry tree collection in his garden in Benenden, Kent, which is adjacent to eastern London. aoko will also talk about the symbolism of cherry blossoms in Japan, including the Japanese military’s ideological distortion of cherries during the Second World War.

Naoko Abe is a London-based journalist and non-fiction writer.

More about Naoko: https://naokoabe.com/about/

Her website: https://naokoabe.com/
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Informasia #11, November 21, 2022

Ann Tashi Slater

“A Tibetan Family History, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, and Bardo”

Video link: Not recorded, at the speaker's request

Audio link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E88UowRNmn87E8LVSR-cooQtsJZlyJrs/view?usp=share_link

Abstract

Ann Tashi Slater (atslater@yahoo.com)
Ann Tashi Slater discussed her Tibetan roots, with a special focus on bardo. Her great-grandfather, S.W. Laden La, was a close friend of the 13th Dalai Lama and helped bring the 8th-century Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thödol) to the West. Published in 1927 by Oxford University Press, the book is a guide to navigating bardo “between states,” which include the journey from death to rebirth and from birth to death, as well as times when our ordinary reality is suspended, such as during illness or an accident. Slater talked about her bardo research, writing, and experiences, as well as the relevance of the bardo teachings to our lives today.

Ann Tashi Slater is a writer, speaker, traveler, and studied Comparative Literature at Princeton and Creative Writing at the University of Michigan.

Her website: https://www.anntashislater.com/
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Informasia #12, December 19, 2022

Ben Grafström

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

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/783769278

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MllWgI-TBn21O4sdhtGym2xXSvWxADwJ/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

Ben Grafström (bgrafstrom@gmail.com)

Project summary: ”Mountain Worship and Revitalization: Preserving Religious Festivals of Rural Japan in the Time of Decline”

This project is a multi-site case study of 3 religious festivals representative of the mountain worship practices of Japan’s Akita prefecture. The 3 festivals are Niida village’s Hiburi Kamakura festival, Yamaya village’s Bangaku festival, and Miyoshi shrine’s Bonden-sai. These festivals are performed by residents of villages around the Taiheizan mountain range. Severe depopulation in the region, however, is placing these festivals at high-risk of disappearing in the near future unless more robust steps to revitalize the region are not taken.

Prior revitalization efforts made by the local government provided some short-term economic relief and infrastructural improvements, but they fall short of adequately addressing long term issues regarding cultural preservation and local identity. Christopher Ray’s culture economy theory may provide long term solutions to revitalizing the region and rescuing these communities and their festivals, but commodifying local culture can bring unintended, negative consequences.

The goals ofthis research are to:

・add to the understanding of Akita’s mountain-worship tradition and its role in the greater network of Japanese mountain worship;

・examine theeffects of population decline on rural communities’ intangible folk religious traditions; and
・learn the extent to which residents of these shrinking communities have changed or altered the ways that they currently interact with their local festivals and each other.

Ben Grafström joined us from his new home in Oslo, Norway, where he has embarked on journey to his Ph.D as a doctoral research fellow of University of Oslo’s Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages.

Before beginning his doctoral research in October2022, Ben earned his MA in East Asian Languages and Civilizations with a concentration in premodern Japanese literature from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He was also a Jet Programme ALT for 3 years in Rausu, Hokkaido and an Assistant Professor for 10 years at Akita University.

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