International Conference on New Frontiers in Japanese Studies
17-19 September 2018
The University of Melbourne
Asia Institute, together with the Japan Foundation, the University of Melbourne Law School, Asian Law Centre and the Hokkaido University Research Faculty of Media and Communication presents the International Conference on New Frontiers in Japanese Studies. The conference features papers from Japanese Studies academics and researchers from institutions around the world.
Overview
The International Conference on New Frontiers in Japanese Studies represents the work of a new generation of scholars in the field of Japanese Studies. The conference will present new approaches and ideas in Japanese Studies scholarship, focusing in particular on approaching global challenges in the twenty-first century. (Topics include environmentalism, ageing society, energy policy, tourism, lifestyle, gender equality, social media, multiculturalism, civil society).
Japanese studies scholarship has spread globally, and while it has been dominated by Western scholars in the US, Europe, and Australia, in hope of integrating multiple perspectives on Japanese society, we also include scholarship from centres of Japanese Studies in the Asia Pacific region. We believe this effort will push existing boundaries of the field, and make this conference a starting point for a new dialogue on Japanese Studies scholarship.
The International Conference on New Frontiers in Japanese Studies will be a kick-off conference for the Modern Japanese Studies Consortium - a new academic initiative institutionalising research hubs in Japanese Studies. The founding institutions of the Consortium are the University of Melbourne Asia Institute, and Tokyo University of Foreign Studies Department of International Japanese Studies (provisional name) which will admit its first students in April 2019. We will open the research network internationally.
This conference will provide a solid knowledge foundation for the establishment of the Consortium, with two major aims:
- to enhance the prominence of Japan and Japanese Studies within global academia
- to root Japanese Studies as a discipline more firmly within the international environment and academic disciplines
The Consortium will help improve new collaborative international research in Japanese Studies and expand student exchange opportunities
Conference sponsors
- Japan Foundation
- The University of Melbourne Asia Institute
- The University of Melbourne Law School, Asian Law Centre
- Hokkaido University Research Faculty of Media and Communication
Facilitators
Name | Institution |
---|---|
Akihiro Ogawa | Professor, the University of Melbourne, Australia |
Philip Seaton | Professor, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan |
Talk hosts and panel chairs
Name | Institution |
---|---|
Jun Ohashi | Senior Lecturer in Japanese Studies, the University of Melbourne, Australia |
Jonathan Glade | Lecturer in Japanese Studies, the University of Melbourne, Australia |
Maki Yoshida | Teaching Specialist in Japanese Studies, the University of Melbourne, Australia |
Akina Mikami | PhD candidate, the University of Melbourne, Australia |
Stefan Fuchs | PhD candidate, the University of Melbourne, Australia |
Shuntaro Iizuka | PhD candidate, the University of Melbourne, Australia |
Asha Ross | PhD candidate, the University of Melbourne, Australia |
Adam Eldridge | PhD candidate, the University of Melbourne, Australia |
Research presenters
Name | Institution |
---|---|
Simon Avenell | Associate Professor, Australian National University, Australia |
Karl Ian Uy Cheng Chua | Professor, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines |
Sachiko Horiguchi | Associate Professor, Temple University, Japan |
Melvin Jabar | Associate Professor, De La Salle University, Philippines |
Ji Hee Jung | Assistant Professor, Seoul National University, South Korea |
Sungmin Kim | Associate Professor, Hokkaido University, Japan |
Susanne Klien | Associate Professor, Hokkaido University, Japan |
Bill Mihalopoulos | Lecturer, University of Central Lancashire, UK |
Mooam Hyun | Associate Professor, Hokkaido University, Japan |
Olivia Meehan | Curator of Academic Program, Ian Potter Museum of Art, the University of Melbourne, Australia |
Mark R. Mullins | Professor, University of Auckland, New Zealand |
Katrina Navallo | Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University, Japan |
Antonius R. Pujo Purnomo | Associate Professor, Universitas Airlangga Surabaya, Indonesia |
Md. Siddiqur Rahman | Associate Professor, Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh |
Deirdre A.L. Sneep | Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany |
Stacey Steele | Associate Professor, Asian Law Centre, Melbourne Law School, the University of Melbourne, Australia |
Svetlana Paichadze | Assistant Professor, Hokkaido University, Japan |
Mayumi Usami | Professor, National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics, Japan |
Information on conference and dinner registration
Conference registration
Date and time: The conference will take place Monday 17 September to Wednesday 19 September, 9.00am - 5.30pm.
Venues: Check the conference programme for detailed venue information.
The conference is open to all staff and students of the University of Melbourne, and members of the general public may attend for a small fee to cover refreshments.
Please note: Registration are now closed
Dinner
A two-course conference dinner will be held at
Date and time: Tuesday 18 September 6.30pm
Venue: Upper East Dining Room
University House (Building 112),
Professor's Walk, the University of Melbourne
The price of the dinner will be $66, which includes entrée, main, and one alcoholic drink. Please use the link below to register for dinner.
Sixth Inagaki seminar
Date and time: Monday 17 September 4.40 - 6.00 pm
Venue: Yasuko Hiraoka Myer Room,
Level 1, Sidney Myer Asia Centre (Building 158)
The University of Melbourne, Parkville
VIC 3010
Professor Philip Seaton's presentation 'Japan Studies in the 21st century' requires a separate registration, but attendance is free of charge.
Download the conference programme
Overview
The conference will take place over three days and features presentations and panel discussions on special topics in Japanese Studies, including the next in the Inagaki Seminar series from Professor Philip Seaton of the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. The University of Melbourne's Professor Akihiro Ogawa will host panels throughout the conference, showcasing scholarship in Japanese Studies from across the Asia Pacific and bringing together a diverse range of voices to speak on topics ranging from the ageing society to gender equality. We are delighted to welcome Hirotaka Tateishi, president at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies to the opening ceremony for the Global Japan Office..
Keynote speaker
Professor Philip Seaton

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
Philip Seaton has been a professor in the Institute of Japan Studies, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies since April 2018. Previously, he spent 14 years at Hokkaido University, where he was convenor of the Modern Japanese Studies Program. His main research areas are war memories and tourism, and he is the author/editor of Japan's Contested War Memories (Routledge 2007), Voices from the Shifting Russo-Japanese Border (with Svetlana Paichadze, Routledge 2015), Local History and War Memories in Hokkaido (Routledge 2017), and Contents Tourism in Japan (with Takayoshi Yamamura, Akiko Sugawa-Shimada, and Kyungjae Jang, Cambria Press 2017).
Tandem Language Learning Project (TLLP) 2018 Presentations
TLLP is a bilingual research exchange conducted by the Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne and the Graduate School of International Media, Communication and Tourism Studies at Hokkaido University.
The program pairs Melbourne and Hokkaido students, who then engage in research information exchange, supporting each other's acquisition of relevant target academic language skills. During the exchange, students prepare a research abstract, presentation slides and script in their target language. Melbourne students receive feedback from Hokkaido students on their Japanese work, and return give feedback to Hokkaido students on their English.
At the end of the program, all students prepare a paper in their target language with the help of their program partner.
Organisers
- Etsuko Toyoda, Senior Lecturer, the University of Melbourne
- Akiko Tashiro, Associate Professor, Hokkaido University
Date
Monday 17 September 2018
Sidney Myer Asia Centre (Building 158) Room 321
Programme
Date | Details |
---|---|
8.45-8.50 | Opening Remarks |
8.50-9.25 | Presentation 1: Riichi Endo (HU) 'The Role for Tourism in the Cultural Reconstruction in Occupied Japan' |
9.25-10.00 | Presentation 2: Akina Mikami (MU) 'Transnational Civil Society and Social Resilience' |
10.00-10.10 | Break |
10.10-10.45 | Presentation 3: Patrick Murphy (MU) 'Genre and Gay Manga: A Comparative Study of 'Gay' and BL Manga' |
10.45-11.20 | Presentation 4: Takuya Saito (HU) 'Identity Formation in the 1990’s Japanese Gay Liberation' |
11.20-11.55 | Presentation 5: Stefan Fuchs (MU) 'Mobility and Consumption: the interrelation of public transport networks and shopping malls in urban Japan' |
12.00-12.50 | Lunch Time Lecture 1 by Professor Usami |
13.00-13.50 | Lunch Time Lecture 2 by Dr Kim Sungmin (HU) |
14.00-14.20 | Presentation 6: Somsiaw Natthay (HU) 'The relationship between content strategy on SNS and purchasing intention: Focus on official Facebook page of Japanese retailing company in Thailand' |
14.20-14.40 | Presentation 7: Natsumi Sugiyama (HU) 'Popular participation in Japan's public diplomacy?' |
14.40-15.00 | Presentation 8: Daniel John Kowalski (MU) 'Nationalism in Japan: Why is nationalism in Japan 'resurging' in the 21st century?' |
This section contains information about the conference venue, accommodation providers near the University of Melbourne, public transport, and visitor information for Melbourne.
Contact information
For more information please email the Conference Organising Committee
(benedict.morgan@unimelb.edu.au)
Chief Conference Coordinator: Email Dr Akihiro Ogawa
Venue
Sidney Myer Asia Centre (Building 158)
Corner of Swanston Street and Monash Road
The University of Melbourne
Parkville
Victoria 3010
Please note: Most events are held in the Yasuko Hiraoka Myer Room at the Asia Centre; please check the programme for detailed venue information.
Accommodation
Rydges on Swanston
Rydges Carlton is a five minute walk from the Asia Centre. More information...
Transport
Information on traveling to/from Tullamarine Airport to/from Melbourne city by taxi and shuttle bus.
Public transport to and from the University of Melbourne
Visiting Melbourne
Melbourne is one of the great cultural capitals of Australia (Melburnians would say 'the cultural capital') and there is much to see and do.
Business Victoria has information on both the city itself and regional Victoria.