This pre- AAS workshop will consist of two research talks open to the public on March 10 (no RSVP required)\, followed by a professional development session for graduate students on the topic of job-hunting and networking in Japan on M arch 11 (RSVP required).
Both days will be held primarily in Japanese . Those interested in attending may choose to go to either or both days\, b ut please note that the professional development session is for graduate st udents only.
Dr. Toeda Hirokazu will begin by giving a lecture entitled “Tracing the Legacies of the Shinkankakuha in the Literature\, Media\, and Tourism of the Era of High-Speed Economi c Growth.” Although Kawabata Yasunari’s reputation in North America is that of a writer deeply engaged with the “traditional” aesthetics of Japan\, Ka wabata in fact launched his writing career in the 1920s through the avant-g arde literary movement known as the Shinkankakuha (Neo-Perceptioni st School). The talk will illuminate how Kawabata’s novels came to be regar ded as “masterpieces” during Japan’s postwar era of high-speed economic gro wth by analyzing various related forms of media and tourism trends from tha t time.
We will then have a lecture by Dr. Tanaka Yukari\, entitled “ The Language and Literature of the Era of Economic High-Speed Growth: On ‘D ialect Newspaper Novels’.” In Japan\, newspaper novels emerged as a form of sales promotion. Analyzing the authors\, themes\, and literary representat ions of such novels affords us a window into the linguistic society of Japa nese (Nihongo shakai) of that time. The talk focuses on Kawabata Y asunari’s Koto (The Old Capital\, 1961-2)\, which was serialized i n the morning edition of the Asahi Shinbun in the midst of Japan’s high-speed economic growth\, in order to elucidate the workings of the “di alect newspaper novels” of this era.
Drs. Kim Younglong and Sakasai A kito will moderate the event.
Date & Time:
Tues
day\, March 10\, 2026 | 11:00am – 12:30pm PT
Location:
Room 604\, Asian Centre\, 1871 West Mall\, Vancouver
Toeda Hirokaz u serves as co-director of the Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanes e Humanities at Waseda University. A distinguished professor of Japanese li terature at Waseda University\, his research deals with the production\, mo dification\, and canonization of literary works and the transformation of w riters into well-known cultural figures in relation to the development of p ublishing and visual media from the 1920s to the 1960s.
Tanaka Yukari is P rofessor in Nihon University’s College of Humanities and Science. Her multi -faceted research interests concern images and valuations of linguistic var iance across various media and content\, as well as how linguistic societie s and their structures are diversified through people’s linguistic consciou sness.
Sakasai Akito is an associate professor of Modern and Co ntemporary Japanese Literature\, affiliated with the Graduate School of Art s and Sciences at the University of Tokyo. His research topic covers modern and contemporary Japanese literature\, focusing on novels and poetry writt en from the 1930s to the 1950s. The main objective of his research is to an alyze the impact of Japanese imperialism during this period and the resista nce of people to it through literary expressions.
Kim Younglong is an associate professor in the Department of Japanese Language and Literature\, Faculty of Humanities at Otsuma Women’s University. Her research field is modern an d contemporary Japanese literature through the interdisciplinary approach\, “Law and Literature\,” on topics ranging from literary production under th e Peace Preservation Law regime to war crimes trials in Japanese literature .
On March 11\, we w ill hold a professional development seminar for Japan Studies graduate stud ents featuring presentations and discussion by Toeda Hirokazu (Waseda Unive rsity)\, Tanaka Yukari (Nihon University)\, Kim Younglong (Otsuma Women’s U niversity)\, Sakasai Akito (Tokyo University)\, Tokinoya Yuri (Waseda Daiga ku Kōtō Gakuin)\, and Bent Yusuke (Waseda University).
Date &
Time:
Wednesday\, March 11\, 2026 | 11:00am – 1:00pm PT
[buttons][button link_text="(Graduate students only) Regi ster for the seminar" link_url="https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7 PrAur7UE9mwbxI"][/buttons]
[buttons][button link_text="Learn more abo ut the Japan Lecture Series" link_url="https://asia.ubc.ca/events/event/the -japan-lecture-series/"][/buttons]
CATEGORIES:Featured Events,Featured Japanese LOCATION:Asian Centre\, Room 604 GEO:49.263704;-123.254783 URL;VALUE=URI:https://asia.ubc.ca/events/event/local-japan-global-japan-thi nking-forward-through-the-past/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asia.cms.arts.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2026/02/flyer-condensed.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Vancouver BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 DTSTART:20260308T100000 TZNAME:PDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR