Online Summer Programme in Japanese Cultural Studies 2022

The Centre for Japanese Studies at the University of East Anglia and the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures were delighted to run the Online Summer Programme in Japanese Cultural Studies for a third year.

This year’s iteration, running from Monday 1st to Friday 12th August, focussed on the theme of “Tourism and Heritage in Post-Lockdown Japan”. As with previous years, the series of lectures, talks, and workshops was run as a free programme and organised in partnership with the Toshiba International Foundation. The programme was originally conceived as a temporary replacement for our in-person summer schools, which were prevented due to the Coronavirus pandemic. However, the programme has attracted incredible interest from across the globe, demonstrating a strong appetite for Japanese Studies internationally. The report for 2021's Online Summer Programme is available here

This edition of the programme considered directly the impacts of the pandemic on Japan. Throughout the world, tourism has been one of the industries most profoundly affected by the pandemic. For Japan in particular, which has sought to become a “Tourism Nation” and was host for the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games, the consequences have been significant. At the time of the programme this year, while Japan began to gradually open to overseas tourists, the strict entry requirements were a far cry from the experiences of the 34 million who visited in 2019. For organisers Oliver Moxham, Research Project Coordinator at the Sainsbury Institute, and Dr Christopher J. Hayes, Lecturer in Tourism & Events at Teesside University, these restrictions alongside rising cases of Covid at the time in Japan necessitated an adaptable programme that catered to the post-pandemic world in which we live. With this in mind, it seemed appropriate to take this time to reconnect with Japan and explore what tourism in Japan means postCOVID-19. The programme also explored Japan’s cultural heritage, and how COVID-19 has affected the heritage industry, discussing the uses and value of heritage in the absence of international tourism.

As with previous years, we received a strong selection of applications – with 256 applicants in total from a range of nationalities, the top places being India (16.4%), US (11.3%) and UK (10.2%). Additionally, 72.7% of applicants had not attended one of the previous iterations of the programme, and it was promising to see that the course was continuing to reach new audiences in its third year.

A series of roundtable discussions were planned across three locations in Japan – Tokyo, Kyoto and Fukuoka, with panels formed of a mix of academic researchers and heritage and tourism industry professionals, ensuring a diversity of viewpoints and experiences to stimulate interesting conversations. Unfortunately, due to rising Covid cases in Japan at the time of the programme, the panel sessions were moved online but still retained their geographic focus. For the roundtables, the insights of high-profile and influential academics, including Professors Philip Seaton, Joseph Cheer, and Natsuko Akagawa, among others, were complimented by industry perspectives from professionals such as luxury travel designer Satoko Nagahara, international tourism manager Pepijn Cox, and Kenny Macphie of the Fukuoka Convention & Visitors Bureau. Discussions touched on a range of topics and issues, including overtourism, sustainability, difficult heritage, host-visitor relations, the influence of popular culture on tourism, the impact of COVID19, and what lies in the future for heritage and tourism in Japan.

This year’s programme also incorporated a new feature in the form of livestreamed tours of tourist sites across the three locations. Despite not being able to visit Japan themselves, this gave participants the opportunity to explore the sites and note the stark contrast in tourist attendance compared to pre-pandemic levels. Organisers Chris and Oliver remained mindful of restrictions throughout their time in Japan, and were very adaptable to a situation that was continuously changing. We are grateful to them for all their hard work in arranging another successful programme which has introduced more participants to Japanese studies, as well as the growing community that has come out of this series of programmes. As Japan’s borders have now opened to near pre-pandemic levels, we will watch with interest to see how the themes addressed in this year’s programme shift and change as tourists begin to re-enter sites and locations across the country.

A message from our alumni:

I found last year's Online Summer Programme 2021 and also the Online Summer Programme 2020 from two years ago very interesting for the opportunity to participate in such structured summer schools and interesting for the variety of insights provided. The variety of the summer school made it possible to follow the talks by specialists and read specific articles, deepen one's own interests, and above all discover new ones! It was useful to keep the curiosity about Japan and all its cultural aspects alive at a time of stalemates such as the lockdown and the still uncertain following months. It was also useful to meet other students who are passionate about this sphere outside of my own context, I recommend it to everyone!

Eleonora Lanza (PhD Student, University of Milan)