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  • 2026 Informasia lectures

    2026 INFORMASIA PRESENTATIONS January - December 2026

    Informasia #1, January 19, 2026

    Paul Martin

    An Introduction to the Beauty of Japanese Swords

    Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/1156739046?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci

    Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VohU6KT3xteDDi6kIeYJVQwq-gwZKPsc/view?usp=sharing

    Paul Martin (thejapanesesword@gmail.com)

    An introduction to Japanese swords as art. The sword has been an integral part of Japanese culture since earliest times, included among burial goods along with other sacred items. Swords continue to be devoted to shrines as vessels in which for the patron deities to reside, or for spiritual protection. Although it is fundamentally a weapon,
    they were the least used item within the warriors arsenal. This talk introduces the sword from its spiritual roots and influence on Japanese culture, its development as a weapon, and its unique aspect as fine art.

    Paul Martin's publications include:

    Japanese Swords and Armor, Paul Martin. Tuttle 2024, (Also in Italian, French, Spanish, (and Taiwanese 2026) Nuinui)

    Hidden Treasures of Samurai Art, Ogawa Morihiro (Trans, Paul Martin) 2023. NHK Shuppan

    NHK Shumi Doki! Token Lovers Tankyu, Paul Martin 2023, NHK Shuppan

    NHK Shumi Doki! Token Lovers Nyumon, Paul Martin 2022, NHK Shuppan

    Masterpiece Swords, Sacred Treasures and Ritual Implements of Nikko Futarasan-Jinja
    Shrine, Edited by Ogawa Morihiro (Trans, Paul Martin) 2020, Futarasan Jinja/Sogeisha.

    Swords of Kyoto (Special Exhibition): Master Craftsmanship from an Elegant Culture. Kyoto National Museum
    (Trans, Paul Martin and Melissa M Rinne [Kyoto National Museum], 2018, Kyoto National Museum

    Paul Martin is a former curator in the Japanese section at the British Museum, London. He holds an M.A. in Asian Studies (Japan) from the University of Berkeley, California, and has resided in Japan working as a Japanese sword specialist for over twenty years. He is a regular presenter of swords on NHK E-Tele and NHK World. He is also a trustee of the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Sword Culture (NBSK), a recognized specialist by the Ministry of Land Infrastructure, Tourism and Transport, and has produced several books and DVDs on Japanese swords.

    Paul Martin comes to Informasia through his presentation to the Yokosuka Council on Asian Pacific Studies (YCAPS) on July 29, 2025.

    His website: https://www.thejapanesesword.com/

    Discovered through a YCAPS online presentation on this subject.

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    Informasia #2, February 16, 2026

    Informasia #2, February 16, 2026

    Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/6338045613

    February 16, Tarinainanika, stage performance artists in Japan

    Tania Coke and Kentaro Suyama

    "Journey to the East: The Arrival of Corporeal Mime in Japan"

    Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/1165337975

    Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TVCZdkZkc2wNwgBE4SXS4qavH5FpvD8y/view?usp=sharing

    Who

    Tania Coke and Kentaro Suyama.

    Recommended by Tim Harris.

    Abstract

    Étienne Decroux's (from Paris) Corporeal Mime is Informasia's second presentation aboutbody motion. How to express drama on stage without the standard academic devices of words, writing, and speaking. Tania Coke and Kentaro Suyama brought this theatrical form to Tokyo, then Osaka. They will explore the connections between corporeal mime and traditional Noh theatre and themodern Butoh.

    Informasia's first dance and physical movement presentation, including pole dancing, was by Caitlin Coker (no relation) in November 2023. Limber up and please join us!

    Our Speakers

    Tania Coke and Kentaro (Ken) Suyama. "Our company name is 'tarinainanika' from the Japanese 足りない何か or "missing something".

    She and Ken met in London, then moved to Tokyo, and finally established their theatric training school in an abandoned tatami factory in Osaka.

    Publications

    A representative few past newsletters:

    #65 1st Oct 2025 https://www.tarinainanika.com/so/a2PcNJnG3?languageTag=en

    #64 1st Sep 2025 https://www.tarinainanika.com/so/a8PZ_Ipsy?languageTag=en

    #63 1st August 2025 https://tarinainanika.com/so/65PXYRXI9?languageTag=en

    E-mail

    Tania and Kentaro share: tarinainanika@gmail.com

    Website

    Taranainaika is their studio name.Taranainaika website:

    https://www.tarinainanika.com/



    Speaker's website: https://www.~/

    Recommended by Tim Harris.

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    Informasia #3, March 16, 2026

    Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/6338045613

    The Road to Spring Castle:

    Translation, Kotodama, the Literature of IshimureMichiko

    Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/1174171198

    Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Xewam1a4y9tcHLW5QaNFFjMJJhNGwKjU/view?usp=sharing

    Who

    Bruce Allen is a longtime translator of Japanese to English, and also a regular, along with his nephew from time to time, of the Informasia Zoom sessions. I captured him at our 2025 Informasia Tokyo Holiday party into agreeing to share his pathway as a translator. With my own admittedly basic Nihongo, I am in awe of his ability. Let’s hear his story. In sharp contrast to last month’s presentation about nonverbal dance theater, this is completely oriented around text and reading.

    Abstract

    What do translators have to negotiate? Allen focuses on kotodama (the spirit of words), narrative styles, dialects, first impressions, deeper nuance, the solidary work imbedded in broader context, causes, implications, and more.

    Our Speaker

    https://apjjf.org/authors/view/14935

    Bruce Allen is a recently retired professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at Seisen University, Tokyo, where he taught courses in translation, environmental literature, and comparative literature.

    Publications

    He specializes in the writing of Ishimure Michiko and has translated her novel Lake of Heaven [天湖] (Lexington Books, 2008), her Noh play Shiranui [不知火] (Lexington Books, 2016), and a documentary film about her work, Toward the Paradise of Flowers [花の億土へ] (Fujiwara Shoten Publishing Co., 2014). He translated Ishimure’s historical novel about the Shimabara Rebellion, Hara Castle [春の城, Haru no Shiro].

    He has co-edited and contributed two chapters to a collection of ecocritical essays on Ishimure Michiko’s writing; Ishimure Michiko’s Writing in Ecocritical Perspective: Between Sea and Sky (Lexington Books, 2016). He also co-translated a collection of ninety tales from the Konjakumonogatari shu; Japanese Tales from Times Past: Stories of Fantasy and Folklore from the Konjaku Monotatari Shu, (Tuttle, 2015).

    E-mail

    beallen@icloud.com

    At the request of Patricia Yarrow.

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    Informasia #4, April 20, 2026

    Peter Matanle

    Towards an Agenda for Researching Global Population Decline: Japan as the Depopulation Vanguard Country for Northeast Asia

    Vimeo video: posted after the lecture

    Audio: posted after the lecture.

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    Recommended by Joel Littler.

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    Informasia #5, May 18, 2026

    Susanna Fessler

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    Recommended by Alex Byrne.

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    Informasia #6, June 15, 2026

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    Informasia #7, July 20, 2026

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    Informasia #8, August 18, 2026

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    Informasia #9, September 21, 2026

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    Informasia #10, October 19, 2026

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    Informasia #11, November 16, 2026

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    Informasia #12, December 21, 2026

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