2025 Informasia lectures

2025 INFORMASIA PRESENTATIONS January - December 2025

Informasia #1, January 20, 2025

Tim Harris, joined by Rob Barnard

‘Arts & Crafts in East Asia & the West; And the Poetics of Pottery’

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/1048707762

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

Tim Harris (timharris1025@proton.me)Tim Harris (from January 2021) is a writer on arts & crafts, poetry & drama, a transator, actor, Shakespeare director, and opera coach, among other endeavors.

Rob Barnard (barnard0311@gmail.com) Rob Barnard (from June 2023) bravely joined us at 4:30 a.m. from his pottery kiln in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, with his own thrown and fired creations. We all recall that he spent his youth in the hills of Kyoto under the late Kazuo Yaji and continues to promote the pottery craftt hrough his writing and exhibits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Informasia #2, February 17, 2025

Timon Screech

“Tokyo Before Tokyo: Power and Magic in the Shogun’s City of Edo”

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/1057475745?share=copy#t=0

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XjjWH63-w7cOp8Bfm_5egtvk2e1xNr3a/view?usp=drive_link

Timon (Tim) Screech (ts8@soas.ac.uk)

Celebrating the publication in paperback of his 2020 “Tokyo Before Tokyo: Power and Magic in the Shogun’s City of Edo, Timon Screech (Reaktion, November 2020)”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Informasia #3, March 17, 2025

Note: There was no March 2025 Informasia meeting.

This is due to an inadvertent scheduling conflict on my part arranging a visit to Hong Kong for four days. Moshiwake gozaimasen! :-o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Informasia #4, April 21, 2025

Professor Hisaaki Yamanouchi

"Anthony Twaite, Encounters between Cultures"

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/1077366675?share=copy#t=0

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

Abstract

Hisaaki Yamanouchi CBE is Professor Emeritus of English, Tokyo University. (Hon) CBE.

In the British literary life AnthonyThwaite (1930-2021) played important roles as poet, critic, reviewer, editor, lecturer, etc. He was also a cultural missionary overseas and taught at University of Tokyo and University of Libya. On the eve of his fourth anniversary the speaker will introduce some of Thwaite’s own favourite and representative poems and also discuss the poem “Soseki” shedding light on the ways in which cultures meet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Informasia #5, May 19, 2025

Gergely Tóth

‘Exploring the Early History of Japan-Hungary Relations (1869 – 1913)’

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/1085831606?share=copy

Audio: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13vL0rW2ZSw7RyTqhC0Vpgnv4Lz5V6u9i?usp=sharing

Abstract

Gergely Tóth (matyiou@gmail.com)

Gergely Tóth is an Independent Japanese Studies Researcher. He received his MA inJapanese Studies from Gaspar Karoli University of the Reformed Church in Budapest, Hungary. He spent two years as a Monbusho Scholarship recipient at Waseda University in Tokyo, where he studied International Relations at the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies.

This presentation will take us through the results of a two-decade-long interdisciplinary study, offering an overview of the early history (1869-1913) of Hungarian-Japanese relations, organized into five thematic blocks: I. History of Modernization II. History of Expeditions and Travel III. Diplomatic and Economic History IV. Cultural, Literary, and Art History V. History of Ideologies.

Together, we will explore the similarities in the modernization processes of Hungary and Japan, including their mutual awareness of each other’s progress. The presentation will also examine how Hungary, as part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, perceived its relations with Japan, as well as how Hungary was represented in Japan. Key Hungarian and Japanese figures who shaped this relationship will be highlighted, along with the reasons Japanese travelers visited Hungary and Hungarians traveled to Japan.

We will also cover the main channels of knowledge exchange between the two countries, areas of mutual interest, and the portrayal of Japan in Hungarian literature. Finally, we'll look into the manifestation of Japonism in the Hungarian Kingdom and how alternative beliefs in Hungarian-Japanese kinship influenced their relationship before World War I.

BONUS

Toth's link to a short (13 minutes long) radio program that he created with the help of AI.

https://m.soundcloud.com/l-l-609469929/mix-by-audio-joinercom

si=bd88faa7e3d5433b82a8a21e6816c3b4&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

I think this could be a very interesting piece for our American audience, as they might find it funny that Hungarians think that they are related (linguistically and genetically) to the Japanese - a story that would definitely raise a few American eyebrows for sure. Of course, the whole notion is pseudoscientific, but at least it has some comedic value for non-Hungarians!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Informasia #6, June 16, 2025

Michael Trull

"Britain’s Forgotten Diplomats: Chargés d’Affaires in Japan, 1858-1902"

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/1093691248?share=copy#t=0

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18Mei_ky2i1OtH1m5loymurCAASCuzsF0/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

Michael Trull (m.trull@yahoo.co.uk)

“Dr. Michael Trull recently completed his doctoral thesis at Cardiff University and is now an independent scholar. He is continuing to research Western-Japanese history from the nineteenth century onwards and is now also undertaking research on his local area of South Gloucestershire in the UK. His experience of Japan has primarily come through a love of its history, and he last visited for a few months back in 2023 when he was attached to Waseda University.”

Anglo-Japanese relations were a progressive diplomatic relationship, where ties slowly moved away from a complex colonial association to a unique and era-defining alliance. Historical scholarship has emphasised that Britain’s part in this positive development was pushed forward thanks to its many capable chief diplomats. That because of their largely successful efforts, Britain was always Japan’s preferred diplomatic partner. This is only a half-truth however. It negates the significant contributions of many other diplomatic and consular staff who also enhanced Anglo-Japanese relations.

One key group was the chargés d’affaires. They were required to take charge whist the chief diplomat was indisposed; sometimes for months, sometimes for years. Yet, despite the numerous occasions where they were required to lead British diplomacy with Japan, often at critical historical junctures, they remain almost entirely absent from wider scholarship. My research seeks to rectify this fact, explaining how these forgotten diplomats took the reins of diplomatic power in Japan, not as simple cover diplomats, pausing and smoothing over relations until their chief returned, but as leading diplomats in their own right, with their own independent agency and ideas. I will achieve this by looking at four individuals who took on this role during the second half of the nineteenth century as interlinked case studies.

Namely, Edward Neale, Dr. Charles Alexander Winchester, Robert Grant Watson, and RalphSpencer Paget. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Informasia #7 June 21, 2025

Daniel Gallimore

"The Japanese Shakespeare: Language and Context in the Translations of Tsubouchi Shōyō"

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/1103260810

Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rYTtg4YsjOvzZUPCzmCcSf4BkAPHI8am/view?usp=sharing

Abstract

Daniel Gallimore (garimoa@gmail.com)Website: www.sheikusupia.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-gallimore-012bb347/

Daniel Gallimore is a professor in the School of Humanities at Kwansei Gakuin University (Kangaku), Nishinomiya (Just east of Kobe), Hyogo, Japan. He completed his DPhil in Oriental Studies at Oxford University, UK.

Offering the first book-length study in English on Tsubouchi and Shakespeare, Gallimore offers an overview of the theory and practice of Tsubouchi’s Shakespeare translation and argues for Tsubouchi’s place as “the Japanese Shakespeare.”

Shakespeare translation is one of the achievements of modern Japanese culture, and no one is more associated with that achievement than the writer and scholar Tsubouchi Shōyō (1859–1935). This book looks at how Tsubouchi received Shakespeare in the context of his native literature and his strategies for bridging the gaps between Shakespeare’s rhetoric and his developing language. Offering a significant contribution to the field of global Shakespeare and literary translation, Gallimore explores dominant stylistic features of the early twentieth-century Shakespeare translations of Tsubouchi and analyses the translations within larger linguistic, historical, and cultural traditions in local Japanese, universal Chinese, and spiritual Western elements.

This book will appeal to any student, researcher, or scholar of literary translation, particularly those interested in the complexities of Shakespeare in translation and Japanese language, culture, and society. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Informasia #8, August 18, 2025

Rosemary Chiba

“The Rice In Your Rice Bowl”

Vimeo video:

https://vimeo.com/1111078733?share=copy

Audio link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CsjXISHMqwQKP0grFb1zbU_cEJX43py0/view?usp=sharing

Rosemary Chiba lives in northern Japan in Iwate, on the family rice farm.

Abstract

Coming soon!

Rosemary Chiba (rosemarychiba@gmail.com)

Short Biography

Coming soon!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Informasia #9, September 15, 2025

Shaun O’Dwyer + three others

Confucian politics: China & Japan

Vimeo video: will be posted September 16

Audio: Will be posted September 16

Abstract

Forthcoming.

Shaun O'Dwyer (shaunodwyer@yahoo.com.au)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Informasia #10, October 20, 2025

Thomas Lockley

A Gentleman from Japan

Vimeo video: will be posted October 21

Audio: Will be posted October 21

Abstract

Forthcoming.

Thomas Lockley (lockleyta@gmail.com)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Informasia #11, November 17, 2025

Benjamin Blandin

Geopolitics of China's asymmetric warfare in its near seas and in Asia Pacific (TBC)

Vimeo video: will be posted November 18

Audio: Will be posted November 18

Abstract

Forthcoming.

Benjamin Blandin (bn.blandin@gmail.com)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Informasia #12, December 15, 2025

Anne Allison

Future of Funerals in Japan (TBC)

Vimeo video: will be posted December 16

Audio: Will be posted December 16

Abstract

Forthcoming.

Anne Allison (anne.allison@duke.edu)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~