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Sports: Organisers vs public opinion

I have written about the Tokyo Olympics in several of these blog posts and while there are so many other things going on in Japan to write about, given the global significance of the Olympic Games, they are hard to ignore. As I have written about before, during this past year, public sentiment in JapanContinue reading “Sports: Organisers vs public opinion”

Call for Papers: Internationalisation Interrupted

Research Workshop Thursday 1st & Friday 2nd July 2021 The Centre for Japanese Studies at the University of East Anglia and the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures invite scholars to submit papers for a special two-day workshop event to discuss the global role of Japan in relation to the TokyoContinue reading “Call for Papers: Internationalisation Interrupted”

Online Summer Programme 2021: Applications Now Open!

The Centre for Japanese Studies at the University of East Anglia and the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures are pleased to invite applications for a special Online Summer Programme in Japanese Cultural Studies, running from Monday 12th to Friday 23rd July 2021. This is an entirely new programme, building onContinue reading “Online Summer Programme 2021: Applications Now Open!”

Cash is king in Japan – but for how long?

If you’ve ever been to Japan, then you will know that it is incredibly common to pay for things in cash, carrying wads of 1000¥ notes in your wallet at any given time. In the UK, I’ll usually pay by card for anything over £20, or even for lower amounts if I have neglected toContinue reading “Cash is king in Japan – but for how long?”

Disaster Tourism in Fukushima: Respectful or Dark?

In Oliver’s Friday Food For Thought, he wrote of a call from some Fukushima residents to turn ruins of the tsunami into a heritage site, similar to the Genbaku Dome in Hiroshima. The disaster should certainly be remembered, but what is the right way to do so? In 2018, CNN described Fukushima’s tourism “comeback”, citingContinue reading “Disaster Tourism in Fukushima: Respectful or Dark?”

International Women’s Day

Today is International Women’s Day, an occasion which seeks to promote anti-discrimination, anti-sexism, and women’s rights, with roots in the history of women’s suffrage. In many countries it is a national holiday. While this is not the case in the UK or Japan, many people still mark the day. On SISJAC’s Twitter feed we haveContinue reading “International Women’s Day”

Finding Company in Covid

Coronavirus lockdowns have been isolating experiences for many of us across the world, and for those that live alone, even more lonely. While lockdowns may be easing in some parts of Japan, it remains important to social distance and work from home if possible, making socialising difficult. To help with this, later this year YamahaContinue reading “Finding Company in Covid”

#ComfortWomen: Revisionist history, the Harvard effect, and controversial opinion

Over the past few days, #AcademicTwitter has been alive with activity concerning a journal article by Harvard University’s J. Mark Ramseyer that argued that “comfort women” during the Pacific War freely negotiated contracts, made money, and were able to leave at any time. The issue of comfort women, women forced into work at Japanese military-runContinue reading “#ComfortWomen: Revisionist history, the Harvard effect, and controversial opinion”

3/11 Still Felt 10 Years On

On Saturday, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 struck the northeastern coast of Japan, causing disruptions and power cuts in Tohoku. It seems an odd coincidence that this happened almost exactly 10 years after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011, but according to experts it is no coincidence at all,Continue reading “3/11 Still Felt 10 Years On”

Sexism in the City

Last week, the head of the Tokyo Olympics committee (and former Prime Minister) Yoshiro Mori made the news after saying that women talked too much during meetings and that if the number of female board members of the committee were to increase, their speaking time would have to be restricted. Understandably, Mr Mori’s views, expressedContinue reading “Sexism in the City”