From the Acting Director

It is my great pleasure to write this message as the Acting Director of the Centre for Japanese Studies (CJS) for this academic year.

Before I assumed the post, I had three wonderful months as a visiting fellow at the Center for North-East Asian Studies of Tohoku University in Sendai. I entered Japan among the first foreigners following the easing of some COVID travel restrictions in March. Being able to travel to Japan after two long years of the pandemic was an invaluable opportunity to not only do research but also reconnect with colleagues and friends at various institutions. I was especially glad to be based at Tohoku, which is one of UEA’s long-term partner universities, and to visit Ritsumeikan University another important partner institution twice during my stay.

In August, the UEA’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Institute of International Relations and Area Studies of Ritsumeikan University. This agreement will strengthen and expand the strong links between the institutions, enabling faculty members to spend time at the partner institution to conduct research while benefiting from the facilities of the host university. This opportunity will undoubtedly help CJS members, and other academics at the Faculty, who plan to visit Kyoto for research.

In early September we received another generous donation of Japanese and Japan-related books from Professor Glenn Hook of Sheffield University, following a donation from Professor Ian Nish earlier in the year. This collection of books and journals contains over 2,000 volumes in English and Japanese, and has been catalogued by Tsuji Hirohito, a PhD candidate at the UEA.

Autumn has been eventful for the Centre for Japanese Studies. For the first time since 2020, we held our research seminars in hybrid format, inviting four scholars of Japan to share their research with us. We are grateful to all of this semester’s speakers, whose wide range of topics and expertise has encapsulated the interdisciplinary nature of CJSyou can view recordings of these sessions on our CJS YouTube channel

This instalment of the CJS newsletter will take a look back at some of the key events and activities of the centre over the last year– from conferences, to lectures, and even our own cherry tree planting and hanami 花見 ceremony. Professor Simon Kaner also provides an interview with Paul Madden CMG, former British Ambassador to Japan and special advisor to CJS, ahead of his lecture on Thursday 15th December.

As we head into the Christmas break, I would like to wish you all a happy and joyful festive season and a bright start to the new year.

Sherzod Muminov