Events at: Asian Centre, Room 604

Kyojin, Taihō…and Repatriation?: On the Legacies of Repatriation in Postwar Japan

In 1960s Japan, it was said that there were three things that all Japanese children loved: the Yomiuri Giants (nicknamed Kyojin), the yokozuna Taihō Kōki, and tamagoyaki. The catchphrase “Kyojin, Taihō, tamagoyaki” reveals how the rapid postwar proliferation of mass media and commodity goods allowed for an emergence of a popular culture that came to […]

The Giants of Modern Persian Literature: A Critical Examination of the Concept of “Greatness” in Literature

The sessions are all in Persian Persian Literature Reading Club’s new panel discussion series in the year 2025-2026 will focus on: The Giants of Modern Persian Literature Initiated by: Dr. Farzan Sojoodi Dr. Hessam Dehghani Location: Seminar Room, Department of Asian Studies Presented by the UBC Persian Literature Reading Club in collaboration with the Department […]

Everyday Indigenous Experiences in the CHT, Bangladesh: Voices from Indigenous Women

This roundtable centers the voices of Indigenous women from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh as they speak about everyday experiences of gendered violence, displacement and representation of Indigenous women and Indigenous people in the national discourse. The event also responds to the brutal rape of an Indigenous Marma schoolgirl in September 2025, which […]

Stakeholder Perspectives on Language Support for Ethnic Minority Children in Japan: Centering Voices That Matter

Join us for a talk by Dr. Michi Ann Saki (Visiting Scholar from Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts), who will discuss viewpoints and experiences of educational stakeholders engaged in offering Japanese language assistance to ethnic minority children in public elementary schools in Japan. Saki will discuss a 2020 study she carried out on the […]

A Paradigmatic Case? The Unpredicted Revitalization of Newar Buddhist Traditions in the Kathmandu Valley

Historically viewed as declining, Newar Buddhism in Kathmandu has experienced a significant revival in recent years. Led by young leaders and supported by the community, it has introduced reforms and new institutions, exemplified by a new monastery in Lumbini. This resilience offers valuable insights into modern Buddhist revitalization worldwide. This lecture is sponsored by UBC […]

Contested Frames: Women, Photography, and the Politics of Seeing in Modern Japan

Join us for a talk by Dr. Kelly McCormick (University of British Columbia), who will discuss her book project on the history of Japanese women photographers and their untold stories. Kelly McCormick’s Contested Frames: Women, Photography, and the Politics of Seeing in Modern Japan tells the history of Japanese women photographers from their collaboration with […]

Critical Perspectives on “Great Authors” of Feminist Literature

The sessions are all in Persian Persian Literature Reading Club’s new panel discussion series in the year 2025-2026 will focus on: The Giants of Modern Persian Literature Initiated by: Dr. Farzan Sojoodi Dr. Hessam Dehghani Location: Seminar Room, Department of Asian Studies Presented by the UBC Persian Literature Reading Club in collaboration with the Department […]

Emotion and Entertainment in the Mobilization of the Japanese Empire, 1937-1945

From the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, a storytelling medium called kamishibai was used extensively by the Japanese government in its efforts to mobilize all imperial subjects in support of the war: young and old, women and men, soldiers and civilians, residents of the Japanese islands and residents of the colonies and […]

A Japanese Work Community in Palestine: Japan’s Foreign Interface through Heritage Tourism Architecture and Construction

Please join us for a talk by Dr. Millie Creighton (Department of Anthropology, UBC), who will discuss Japan-Palestine connections, and the Japanese residential community’s involvement with Palestinians. This paper presents Japan-Palestine connections via research done on Japanese residing long-term in Palestine who were sent to work there on a construction project by their Japanese employer. […]

The Fight for Recognition: Double Abandonment and Resistance from Wartime Canada to Postwar Japan (1942–1965)

Please join us for a talk by Dr. Naoko Kato, who tells the stories of members of the Japanese diaspora who were “doubly abandoned” by both the Canadian and Japanese states during the postwar period. Why did postwar Japan recognize some displaced populations as “war victims” while rejecting others such as Japanese Canadian deportees? This […]