This page intentionally left blankThirtieth Annual
Japan Studies Association Conference
Co-hosted by University of Hawaii Kapi’olani Community College
and with Generous Support by
the Center for East Asia Studies University of Kansas
and the Center for Japanese Studies, University of Hawaii, Manoa.
Special thanks to the University of Hawaii Kapi’olani Community College
and the Center for Japan Studies
for supporting JSA’s Two Featured Linked Sessions:Japan Studies Association Dialogue I: Women in Asian Studies andJapan Studies Association Dialogue II: The Future of Asian Studies

Program
3-5 January 2024
The Hyatt Place Waikiki Beach Hotel
Honolulu, Hawai’i

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Acknowledgements
Conference Program Committee
Paul Dunscomb, University of Alaska Anchorage
Andrea Stover, Belmont University
Local Arrangements
Joseph Overton, Kapi’olani Community College
Conference Co-HostKapi’olani Community College
JSA Executive Board
President
Vice President
Vice President, Special Projects
Secretary
Treasurer
Member at Large
Member at Large
Member at Large

Joseph L. Overton, Kapi’olani Community College
Dawn Gale, Johnson County Community College
Fay Beauchamp, Community College of Philadelphia
Michael Charlton, Missouri Western State University
Stacia Bensyl, Missouri Western State University
Andrea Stover, Belmont University
Paul Dunscomb, University of Alaska Anchorage
James Peoples, Ohio Wesleyan University

Attribution: program cover image

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Conference Presentations
All meeting rooms are on the second floor

Wednesday, 3 January 2024
9:00-11:00
am

JSA Board Meeting
Room: Lokahi 3, 2nd floor

Noon-2 pm

Executive Board Meeting

3:30-5:30 pm

Conference registration
Table outside Pua Melia Ballroom, 2nd floor

5:30-7:00 pm

Conference meet and greet
Meet in conference hotel reception gallery (in the lobby) for welcome drinks

7:00-

Dinner on your own

Thursday, 4 January 2024

8:30am2:30pm

Conference registration
Table outside Pua Melia Ballroom, 2nd floor

9:00-9:15

Opening Remarks, President of JSA Joe Overton
Room: Pua Melia Ballroom, 2nd floor

9:15-9:30

Welcome by the Consul General
Room: Pua Melia Ballroom, 2nd floor

9:30-10:30

Plenary Session
Keynote Presentation: Michiko Yamanae
Hiroshima World Friendship Chair, 2012-2022
Continuing the Work of Hiroshima’s World Friendship Center in the 21st Century
Room: Pua Melia Ballroom, 2nd floor
Introduced by Fay Beauchamp

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10:30-10:45

10:45-12:00

Coffee/tea break: Outside Pua Melia Ballroom

Panel 1 Considering the Wartime Legacy: Japan and World War II Legacies
Room: Pua Melia Ballroom, 2nd floor
Chair: Michael Charlton
Fay Beauchamp, Community College of Philadelphia
Civilian Deaths and Justifications: Remembering Hiroshima in 2023?
Xinghan Ma, Keio University
Who Were Selected as Repatriate? —A Case Study on the Japanese Repatriation of the First
Exchange Ship in 1942
Barbara Lass, City College of San Francisco
The WWII US Occupation of Japan: A Personal Perspective

10:45-12:00

Panel 2: What Nature in Japan Can Teach Us
Room: Lokahi 3, 2nd floor
Chair: Andrea Stover
Gabrielle Bryant, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Yin and Yang: How the Goddess Chronicle’s Feminism Harmonizes a World of Nature
Mara Miller, Research Scholar
The Wisdom of Trees in Japan
Adam Silverman, Yale University
Landscape Theories, Visual Culture, and the Postwar Invention of ‘Frontier’ Hokkaido

12:00-1:15

1:15-2:30

Lunch on your own

Panel 3: Japan Studies and Japanese Students at U.S. Community Colleges: A Panel
Discussion
Room: Pua Melia Ballroom, 2nd floor
Chair: Joseph Overton
This panel will explore the development of Japan Studies in U.S. Community Colleges using
the examples of Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, KS, and Kapiolani
Community College in Honolulu, HI.
Dawn Gale, Johnson County Community College
Takashi Miyaki, Honda International Center, Kapiolani Community College
Leon Richards, former Chancellor, Kapiolani Community College

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1:15-2:30

Panel 4: Japan’s Evolving Post-Postwar Political Economy and Identity
Room: Lokahi 3, 2nd floor
Chair: Hanae Kramer
Kathryn Ibata-Arens, DePaul University
Cultivating a Medicine Commons: A Comparative Analysis of Neo-Traditional Medicinal
Practices in Japan and China
Zhihai Xie, Kyoai Gakuin University
Understanding Japan's Economic Security Policy
Ryoko Yamauchi, Tokyo University
The Production Methods and Positioning of Picturebooks Within the Publishing Industry

2:30-2:45
2:45-4:00

Coffee/tea break: Outside Pua Melia Ballroom
Panel 5: Rethinking Aspects of Japanese Culture and Religion
Room: Pua Melia Ballroom, 2nd floor
Chair: Barbara Lass
Chunyan Zhang, University of Rochester
Continuity in Flux: The General Subjects’ Practice of Kagura from Premodern Japan
Diego Oliveira, Nihon University, College of International Relations
Exploring the Motivations and Challenges of Writing an Ending Note in Japan
Jennifer Welsh, Eastern New Mexico University“Have your servant bake bread in the rice pot”: Travel and Cultural Advice for Western
Tourists in the Meiji Era

2:45-4:00

Panel 6: Potpourri
Room: Lokahi 3, 2nd floor
Chair: Stacia Bensyl
Andrea Thimesch, Johnson County Community College
Anime and Manga in America: Rise in Censorship and Sanitation
Paul Dunscomb, University of Alaska Anchorage
Now It Can be Told! The Story of Heisei Japan
Michael Charlton, Missouri Western State University
Meet Godzilla, Again and Again: The Millennium Era and the Monster’s Identity Crisis

4:00-4:15

Coffee/tea break: Outside Pua Melia Ballroom

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4:15-5:30

Panel 7: The Obligatory History Panel
Room: Pua Melia Ballroom, 2nd floor
Chair: Dawn Gale
Erik Glowark, Johnson County Community College
The Maritime World of Kyushu: International Trade, Diplomacy, and Buddhist Monks andChristian Missionaries in the Late Medieval Period
Hanae Kramer, University of Hawai’i
Hayashi Shihei and Japan’s Southern Advance
Annette Condello, Curtin University Australia
The Afterlife of Tokyo’s Imperial Hotel

4:15-5:30

Panel 8: Wrestling With the Inescapable: Reform Initiatives in Japan
Room: Lokahi 3, 2nd floor
Chair: Narumi Ito
Safa Choi, Doshisha University
Human Rights Politics: Permanent Residency for Pro-North Koreans in Japan
Wade Huntley, Naval Post Graduate School
What's Next for Japan? An International Security Perspective
Zhuoran Li, John’s Hopkins SAISThe Farm Lobby’s Stranglehold on Japanese Politics Chokes Reform Agenda [ZOOM]

6:00

Dinner on Your Own

Friday, 5 January 2024
8:30am-2:30

Conference registration
Table outside Pua Melia Ballroom, 2nd floor

9:00-10:00

Plenary Session
Keynote Presentation: Ethan Segal
Michigan State University
Can Samurai Teach Critical Thinking: Using Myth and History in the Classroom

Room: Pua Melia Ballroom, 2nd floor
Introduced by Paul Dunscomb
10:00-10:15

Coffee/tea break: Outside Pua Melia Ballroom

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10:15-11:30

Panel 9: Rewards and Challenges of Understanding Japan Through Popular Culture
Room: Lokahi 3, 2nd floor
Chair: Douglas de Toledo Piza
Robert Curl and Jesse Burns, Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment
Shoshinsha Asobikata: Beginner Techniques, Methods, and Contacts for Teaching andResearching Japanese Video Games and Software.
Minna Nizam, Monmouth University (mnizam@drew.edu)
Japan and the Western World: How Western Museums Seek to Represent Japan

10:15-11:30

JSA Presents Linked Roundtable l: Women in Asian Studies: Personal Stories ofProfessional Development(s).
Room: Pua Melia Ballroom, 2nd floor
Moderator: Alisa Freedman
These two Roundtables acknowledge the resources of faculty from the University of Hawaii.
This roundtable brings together four scholars from different disciplines (history,
anthropology, sociology, and cultural studies) for lively discussion about the diverse roles
that women have played in cultivating Asian Studies.
Patricia Steinhoff, Professor Emerita, University of Hawaii
Barbara Andaya, Professor Emerita, University of Hawaii
Cathryn Clayton, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Asian Studies,
University of Hawaii
Alisa Freedman, Professor, University of Oregon, Moderator and Participant

11:30-12:30

Lunch on your own

12:30-1:45

Panel 10: The Forgotten and the Unseen in Japanese Literature
Room: Lokahi 3, 2nd floor
Chair: Diego Oliveira
Narumi Ito, Kanazawa University
The Representation of Japanese-Brazilian Identity in Nihonjin (2011), by Oscar Nakasato
and Brazil-Maru (1992), by Karen Tei Yamashita
Douglas de Toledo Piza, Lafayette College
Mnemonic Activism of Brazilian Nikkei: Acknowledging Brazil’s Anti-Japanese Oppression
Makoto Sakai, Meiji University
An analysis of contemporary literary works set in Japan's regional cities and countryside

12:30-1:45

JSA Present Japan Studies Dialogue II: The Future of Japan Studies
Room: Pua Melia Ballroom, 2nd floor
Moderator: Alisa Freedman

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Dr. Alisa Freedman will moderate and take part in informal discussion by University of
Hawaii faculty. Guiding questions will include “What would you like to see as the future ofJapan Studies? What is most exciting or important to you in the field now? What importantchanges have you observed? What advice would you give junior colleagues?” Panelists willbring their perspectives from different stages in their careers:
Mark Levin, Director, Center for Japanese Studies, University of Hawaii
Gay Satsuma, Associate Director, Center for Japanese Studies, University of Hawaii
Jayson Makoto Chun, Associate Professor, University of Hawaii, West O’ahu
Alisa Freedman, Professor, University of Oregon, Moderator and Participant
2:00-2:45

Plenary JSA Membership Meeting
Everyone is welcome
Room: Pua Melia Ballroom, 2nd floor
Chair: Joseph Overton, JSA President

Final Special
EventJapanese Culinary Experiences with Chef Alan at Kapi’olani Community College

Bus leaves at
3:00

Please meet at bus to transport us to Kapi’olani Community College

3:30- 5:30

Japanese Cooking Demonstration and Tasting at Kapi’olani Community College

5:30

Meet at bus to transport us back to Hyatt Place Hotel

6:00

Dinner on your own

NOTES:_____________________

Page 9January 4 Keynote Presentation:
Keynote Presentation: Michiko Yamanae
Hiroshima World Friendship Chair, 2012-2022
Continuing the Work of Hiroshima’s World Friendship Center in the 21st Century
For 78 years since August 6 and 9, 1945, the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings haveincreased their visibility and given witness to their experience. The World Friendship Center (WFC) has
been a vital part of channeling the horror of those two days into implementing the words “never again.”In 2023, as the hibakusha themselves have died or considerably aged, members of the WFC are working
to continue their legacy. Our Plenary Speaker, Ms. Michiko Yamane, will describe WFC’s Quaker
beginning, and her work with dozens of hibakusha and other volunteers. She will discuss how the WFC
envisions its future work for peace and the abolishment of nuclear arms.
JSA’s Plenary Speaker, Michiko Yamane, is among the forefront of those working to keep the message ofHiroshima’s Peace Studies alive into the future. Starting forty years ago, she has supported countless
hibakusha by interpreting their talks into fluent English, while supporting them with friendship. Ms.
Yamane has traveled to the U.S. many times, and to Germany, Poland and Korea on WFC's Peace
Ambassador Exchange program. As the Chairperson of the World Friendship Center from 2012 to2022, she worked with rotating volunteer pairs of American WFC Directors, and the hibakusha Peace
Park guides. After stepping down as WFC Chairperson, Ms. Yamane continues as a volunteer at a nursing
home for 100 hibakusha, and learned ventriloquism for her puppet to bring joy to the aged!
Ms. Yamane helped to build WFC as an active space with special programs around the year, and tomaintain a guesthouse for individuals pursuing peace studies. Our JSA faculty and student groups havebenefitted from WFC’s hibakusha guides and lectures, and more college faculty can benefit from its
resources.
January 5 Keynote Presentation:
Keynote Presentation: Ethan Segal
Michigan State University
Can Samurai Teach Critical Thinking: Using Myth and History in the Classroom
Samurai have long fascinated movie-goers, manga-readers, and members of the general public (and, ofcourse, college students). Although no one alive today has ever met an actual samurai, many people
have a strong sense of who samurai were and what they were like based on encountering them ascharacters in novels, films, video games, and more. But how accurate are the images we get from such
pop culture sources? This talk highlights major moments in the historical development of samurai thatchallenge many popular misconceptions. It also suggests ways to use lessons about samurai to help
students develop better critical thinking skills.
Ethan Segal is Associate Professor of History and Chairperson of the Japan Council at Michigan State
University. He is the author of Coins, Trade, and the State: Economic Growth in Early Medieval
Japan (2011) as well as a variety of articles and book chapters. Topics of his research include monetary
Page 10and economic history, women and gender, foreign relations and early forms of nationalism, anddepictions of Japanese history on television and in film. His research has been supported by a variety ofgrants, including a Fulbright Fellowship that allowed him to conduct new research in Tokyo last year.
Professor Segal is the recipient of several teaching awards at Michigan State, including the Fintz Award
for Teaching Excellence in the Arts and Humanities (2006 and 2018). He is also active in the Midwest
Japan Seminar and has been a speaker for and leader of teacher training workshops for NCTA (National
Consortium for Teaching about Asia), the Japan Foundation, and SPICE (Stanford Program on
International and Cross-Cultural Education).

Maps
Arriving in Honolulu
The Hyatt Place Waikiki Beach Hotel – our conference hotel – is located in Waikiki, at 175 Paoakalani
Avenue (phone: 1-808-922-3861). It is about 10 miles (16km) away from Honolulu International Airport
and about 4 miles (6km) from Downtown Honolulu. You can reach the conference hotel by taxi, airport
shuttle, public transportation (The Bus) or pre-arranged transportation.

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Taxi: The non-rush hour taxi fare between the airport and Waikiki is about $40-45. Cabs in Honolulu
accept payments in cash and by credit card. Once you’ve collected your luggage, follow the signs forground transportation and taxi; see also http://hawaii.gov/hnl/ground-transportation/taxicabs.
Star Taxi – a local’s recommendation: Customers pay a flat fare of $30 per trip between the airport andWaikiki ($25 to UHM) with no luggage surcharge. This means that no matter if one or four people travel ina party to the same destination, the fare remains $30. Cash payments only.
To book a taxi, call 1-800-671-2999 (toll free) or 1-808-942-7827 (local). To see the lists of Waikiki hotels
served and prices to other Oahu locations, go to http://www.startaxihawaii.com/
Roberts Hawaii Express Shuttle
Service between Honolulu International Airport and Waikiki. A representative will meet you at the gate,
help you collect your luggage and then escort you to the shuttle van. Quick and friendly service. Round
trip: $30 per person, $16 one-way; credit card payments in advance only.
Advance reservation required (48 hours): book by phone +1-800-831-5541 (toll free) or +1-808-5399400 (local) or online: English: https://www.airportwaikikishuttle.com/
Japanese: http://www.airportwaikikishuttle.com/jp/
SpeediShuttle
Service between Honolulu International Airport and various points on Oahu, including Waikiki andUniversity of Hawai’i at Manoa campus. One-way ticket to Waikiki: $15.48; return ticket: $29.41. No
advance reservation required for Waikiki but call SdeediShuttle to inquire about transfer to UH, Manoa.
Check in with the shuttle attendant at an airport pick-up zone (outside baggage claims A, C, D and H). The
airport’s SpeediShuttle office is located near baggage claim F in international arrivals; there are also desks
near baggage claims C and G. For more information contact SpeediShuttle by phone or e-mail at 1-877242-5777 (toll free), 1-808-242-7777 (local) or reservations@speedishuttle.com.
For more information, please see http://hawaii.gov/hnl/ground-transportation/speedishuttle.
The Bus: Honolulu International Airport to Waikiki
There are strict baggage rules, so this is a convenient method of transportation only if you travel with acarry-on: no bag brought on board may be larger than 22" x 14" x 9" (56cm x 36cm x 23cm). Eastboundroutes 19 and 20 connect the airport with Waikiki, via Downtown Honolulu.
The bus fare for an adult is $2.50; a visitor pass costs $35 (four consecutive days, unlimited use:
http://www.thebus.org/fare/4DayPass.asp). Buy a ticket from the bus driver as you get on board but
make sure you have the exact change. For more information on bus routes, stops, and schedules, please go
to http://hawaii.gov/hnl/ground-transportation/the-bus and http://www.thebus.org/Route/Routes.asp.

Page 12

The Conference Hotel: The Hyatt Place Waikiki Beach Hotel
175 Paoakalani Avenue in Waikiki
Telephone: 1-808-922-3861

Page 13Hale Manoa and Hale Kuahine: University of Hawai’i at Manoa campus
East-West Center, Housing Office1711 East-West Road, Honolulu, Hawai’i 96848-1711
Telephone: 1-808-944-7805

Buses toDownton Honolulu,
Ala Moana Shopping
Center and Waikiki

Bus #13 to Waikiki
Bus #80A to Downtown
Honolulu

Hale Manoa

From Hale Moana and Hale Kuahine to Conference Hotel
The Bus – route 13 map and schedule: http://www.thebus.org/Route/Routes.asp

Japanese Cooking Demonstration and Tasting: A Taste of Asia
at Kapi’olani Community College 3:30-5:30

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Ka’lkena Laua’e is a fine-dining restaurant and the culinary laboratory of the Culinary Arts Program at
Kapi’olani Community College. It is renowned for “blending the classical techniques with the global
influences of [Hawai’i’s] unique geographic location.”

ParkingKa’lkena and Tamarind
Dining Rooms

Parking

Presentation Abstracts
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Barbara Watson Andaya, Professor Emerita University of Hawai’i at Mānoa.
Women in Asian Studies: Personal Stories of Educational Developments
Professor Andaya’s research interests include women’s history and the localization of Christianity in Southeast
Asia. She is the author of six books and served as president of the Association for Asian Studies (2005-2006).
This roundtable brings together four scholars from different disciplines (history, sociology, anthropology, andcultural studies) for lively discussion about the diverse roles that women have played in cultivating Asian Studies.
Due to laws, social conventions, business practices, and additional factors, women have faced different choices inwork and family and different access to education, jobs, and politics than people of other genders. We discuss how
gender is one important factor that comprises identity; others include age, class, and location.
Our roundtable honors the achievements of trailblazing women, Patricia Steinhoff and Barbara Watson Andaya,
and is a chance to hear the stories of their academic careers. Cathryn Clayton will discuss how personal stories
have been integral to her research on China and her mentorship of colleagues across AsianStudies. Alisa Freedman will moderate the panel and share practical advice from editing Women in JapaneseStudies: Voices from a Trailblazing Generation (Association for Asian Studies, Columbia University Press, December2023), a collection of 32 scholarly memoirs by women who began careers bridging Japan and North America
between 1950 and 1980. While describing women’s lives and experiences in academia, we also address the bigger
picture of how area studies programs have developed and the roles that female academics have played in them. We
reflect on the value of personal stories in disclosing hidden histories and challenging the dominant narrative thatcodify power structures in education. We hope our roundtable starts larger conversations about educational
exchange and gender and inclusion in the academy.
Fay Beauchamp, Community College of Philadelphia, Emerita (fay.beauchamp@gmail.com)
Civilian Deaths and Justifications: Remembering Hiroshima in 2023?
In reactions to the Hamas-Israel warfare in the fall of 2023, there seem to be new appraisals of the U.S. demands
for the unconditional surrender of Japan in 1945, and renewed justifications for the mass killings of civilians as apart of war. This paper will analyze a limited variety of texts – an interview, a lead front page NY Times article, anda couple of book chapters to see a reversal of what “never again” means in the Japanese context. “Never Again” in
the Japanese Hiroshima Peace Park, has given meaning to Hibakusha, that their accounts of suffering may be used
to avoid war totally. The image of Sadako, rising as if on wings, gives hope that sympathy for a child leads to a new
day of peace. While the texts I examine may change by January 3-5, 2024, one text now is a u-tube recording fromCNN November 6, 2023; Israeli Past-Prime Minister Naftali Bennet starts with a terrible description of the Hamas
killing of a baby and moves to the call for the complete “eradication” of a group of people. He stated that this iswhat “America did to Germany and Japan” {because] there was no “surgical way” to “defeat Nazis and Japanese
without unconditional surrender.” The New York Times November 7 front page article began, “Falluja. Mosul.
Copenhagen. Hiroshima”, pointing back to the most famous instance of American mass killing. The paper discusses
the difference between thinking that “never again” justifies wiping out an enemy; and when “never again” means
not engaging in war. Whether the U.S. finally sought the ”unconditional” surrender of Japan or achieved is also
explored.
Gabrielle Bryant, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (gbryan11@uncc.edu)
Yin and Yang: How the Goddess Chronicle’s Feminism Harmonizes a World of Nature
Yin and yang’s philosophical concept has inspired Eastern thought since its origin in ancient China. Japanese
literature’s adoration of nature has defined its arts since before the Meiji period’s rapid industrialization. In her
famous retelling of a Japanese creation myth about yin and yang, Natsuo Kirino explores a natural world
dominated by goddesses and women. I examine The Goddess Chronicle (2008) by analyzing the laws of yin andyang on the island of Umihebi, where the novel takes place. By analyzing the relationship between gender andnature and past and present, I demonstrate how yin and yang expressed by Kirino challenges traditional
assumptions of gender as balanced forces in nature. The introduction of world culture in Japan brought forth anera of the “patriarchal revolution,” an introduction of male gods and priests which overthrew priestesses andPage 16

hyper-emphasized masculinity as the dominating influence in religion (Ellwood 23). Kirino disrupts this postrevolution thought by intentionally representing women to bestow the power of yin and yang. Lastly, I connect yin
and yang’s interpretations to reveal how Japan’s symbiotic relationship with the natural world has become just as
imbalanced as yin and yang is in the Goddess Chronicle. The research is part of an idea that explores ecofeminist
ideology and its application to Japanese culture and society – how women throughout Japanese history have foundtheir voice over time, and how the inherent divide between the femininity of nature and the masculinity of culture
can become a more symbiotic relationship.
Jesse Burns, Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment (jesse@themade.org)
Shoshinsha Asobikata: Beginner Techniques, Methods, and Contacts for Teaching and Researching Japanese Video
Games and Software
Since Shinzo Abe popped up from a pipe wearing a Super Mario hat at the Olympics in Rio 2016, it is now
impossible to ask “What’s next?” for Japan without considering the impact Japanese games have had on the world.
From Hideo Kojima’s treatment of modern warfare as an outgrowth of neoliberalism in Metal Gear to Ikumi
Nakamura’s contributions to the retro-future spiritual world of Ghostwire: Tokyo, regardless of what comes next
in the Reiwa era video games will be a huge part of it. Studying modern games is straightforward: buy the softwareand play it on a modern television or monitor. But what if you wanted to study games from 10 years ago? Whatabout 40? How do you get a 1983 Family Computer to run a BASIC program? Where do you get ahold of the BIOS
for a SharpX68000? What is a BIOS, and why would you need one? How do you assign students video games asreading and have them get something out of it?
This presentation is a crash course in game studies and software preservation with heavy emphasis on the uniquechallenges facing a Japanese studies researcher or instructor. Attendees will learn basic “how to” from a technicaland methods standpoint, including a brief discussion of Japanese game history, archives that could support inquiry,
example questions about game design for use in classes, and a demonstration from the Museum of Art and DigitalEntertainment’s conservator in running old software on an average modern computer.
Michael Charlton, Missouri Western State University (mcharlton@missouriwestern.edu)
Meet Godzilla, Again and Again: The Millennium Era and the Monster’s Identity Crisis
One of the curious features of the Godzilla franchise is that the monster keeps being reintroduced. There are atleast ten different timelines across the Toho-produced movie franchise alone. In some continuities the monster
died in the original film but was reborn somehow. In some continuities the monster did not die in the original film
but all of the other events of the original film happened. In some continuities the monster appeared once or twice
decades ago but has disappeared since then.
In others the monster emerges in the then-present day with no public memory of the monster having ever existed
before. In different versions the seemingly brand new, never-before-seen monster is giving supernatural, alien, or
robotic origins.
What is interesting about this is not so much that Toho (and, more recently, its “Monsterverse” producing partner
Legendary Pictures) keeps rebooting the character. His American inspiration and sometime adversary King Kong
has seen at least four different reboots. What is interesting is that the cycle of these reboots so closely mimics thatsocial pattern of stability, crisis, and anxiety discussed in the conference’s call-for-papers. Godzilla suddenly
becomes a brand new threat or a threat with a different history or origin or a threat embodying different anxieties
as Japanese culture and society enters a new cycle.
This presentation would focus in specifically on the so-called “Millennium” era of Godzilla: the six films released
between 1999 and 2004. Of these six films, only two of them share anything close to a consistent plotline or
identity for the monster. Each film seems to be grasping for a way to fit the monster into the social and culturalanxieties of the era. Is Godzilla a symbol of economic anxieties or political tensions or continuing fights around thelegacy of the war or a stand-in for international
relations? If he no longer makes sense as a symbol of nuclear trauma to a younger generation who have noassociation with such trauma, what even is Godzilla at the turn of the millennium? What if he is more or less an

Page 17

empty metaphor, a giant walking crisis with no clear subtext? The attempt to answer that question leads to a rapid
cycle of reboots where the filmmakers seem to be grasping for a current crisis for the monster to embody.
Safa Choi, Doshisha University (sachoi@mail.doshisha.ac.jp)
Human Rights Politics: Permanent Residency for pro-North Koreans in Japan
This paper explores the purpose behind permanent residency granted by the Japanese government to Koreans
residents in Japan – commonly known as Zainichi Koreans – in 1981. After the liberation of Korea from Japan’scolonial domination, all Zainichi Koreans had Chosen nationality which represented the geographical area covering
the entire Korean peninsula. The Japanese government had not grant official residence status to these Koreans but
approved tentative residence, only on a discretionary basis. In 1948, after the establishment of the South Korean
government, a few Zainichi Koreans changed their nationality from Chosen to South Korea, and since 1965, South
Korean nationality holders can apply for permanent residency based on the Japan-ROK accord. In contrast, Chosen
nationality holders, who were regarded as pro-North Koreans, were left without any legal protection. The different
legislations had to rest upon the premise of the Cold War partnership, but in 1981, the Japanese governmentchanged its policy to grant permanent residency even for Chosen nationality holders. It is reasonable to infer that,
due to Japan’s shift, Japan would ruin the relationship with South Korea. Given the circumstances at the time, why
would Japan go through the trouble of granting permanent residency to pro-North Koreans in Japan? Drawing on
newly discovered primary sources, this paper elaborates on Japan’s diplomatic stance in the wave of the structuralshifting in international politics during the détente in the Cold War. Caring for human rights was by no means themain motivation of Japan’s decision. Rather, allowing Chosen nationality holders’ permanent residency in Japan
was a tool to foster nascent inter-state goodwill with East and Southeast Asia.
Jayson Makoto Chun, University of Hawaii, West O’ahu.
Jayson Makoto Chun is a contributor to the session: Japan Studies Dialogue II: The Future of Japan
Studies. “Guiding questions will include “What would you like to see as the future of Japan Studies? What is most
exciting or important to you in the field now? What important changes have you observed? What advice would you
give junior colleagues?” Panelists will bring their perspectives from different stages in their careers:
Jayson Makoto Chun is Associate Professor of History, UH West Oahu. Born and raised in Honolulu, as he highlights
in his bio, his Ph.D. Univ. of Oregon, 2004; B.A. Georgetown Univ. 1989. He is a specialist in Japanese and East
Asian media history.
Cathryn Clayton, Associate Professor and Chair of the Asian Studies Program, University of Hawai’I, Mānoa.
Women in Asian Studies: Personal Stories of Educational Developments
Professor Clayton’s research and teaching areas explores how issues of sovereignty and imperialism, nationalisms
and transnationalisms, “blood ties,” and collective memory, have played out in twentieth-century China and Chinese
communities abroad.
This roundtable brings together four scholars from different disciplines (history, sociology, anthropology, andcultural studies) for lively discussion about the diverse roles that women have played in cultivating Asian Studies.
Due to laws, social conventions, business practices, and additional factors, women have faced different choices inwork and family and different access to education, jobs, and politics than people of other genders. We discuss how
gender is one important factor that comprises identity; others include age, class, and location.
Our roundtable honors the achievements of trailblazing women, Patricia Steinhoff and Barbara Watson Andaya,
and is a chance to hear the stories of their academic careers. Cathryn Clayton will discuss how personal stories
have been integral to her research on China and her mentorship of colleagues across Asian Studies. Alisa Freedman
will moderate the panel and share practical advice from editing Women in Japanese Studies: Voices from a
Trailblazing Generation (Association for Asian Studies, Columbia University Press, December 2023), a collection of
32 scholarly memoirs by women who began careers bridging Japan and North America between 1950 and 1980.
While describing women’s lives and experiences in academia, we also address the bigger picture of how areastudies programs have developed and the roles that female academics have played in them. We reflect on the valueof personal stories in disclosing hidden histories and challenging the dominant narrative that codify power

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structures in education. We hope our roundtable starts larger conversations about educational exchange andgender and inclusion in the academy.
Annette Condello, Curtin University, Australia (a.condello@curtin.edu.au)
The Afterlife of Tokyo’s Imperial Hotel
Saved from the Grand Kanto Earthquake 100 years ago, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Imperial Hotel in Tokyo wasdemolished in 1967, but the reconstructed entrance lobby now resides at the Meiji Mura architecture museum,near Nagoya. Another Imperial Hotel was built in Tokyo to replace the previous one on the same site in the 1970s.
Why would someone desire to stay in a fake Frank Lloyd Wright suite in Tokyo’s postmodern imperial hotel on the
fourteenth floor for USD 11,000 per night? This paper will outline Wright’s buildings in Japan. It observes how thearchitects who designed Australia’s capital city of Canberra, Walter Burley Griffin, and Marion Mahony Griffin (andother projects in Australia), influenced his Tokyo Imperial Hotel design. Did the Griffins travel to Tokyo? Relegatedto the references found in modern architectural history of European émigrés in Japan via America, this paper willconcentrate on their connections as much on Wright’s Imperian Hotel design in Tokyo as on the broader cultural
framework in which they were produced. It explores the cross–disciplinary influence Wright had upon Japan’s
instructive cityscapes in the context of modern Australian architectural history and landscape architecture. How
did Japanese architecture impact Australia and vice versa through diverse Arts and Crafts projects and did Wright’s
designs provide the segway to cross-cultural transformation of Japan’s contemporary architecture? This paper
aims to impart modern knowledge and outline the significance of cross-cultural connections between Asia,
Australia, and America in terms of urban regeneration and the afterlife of buildings.
Robert Curl, Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment (rob.curl@themade.org)
Shoshinsha Asobikata: Beginner Techniques, Methods, and Contacts for Teaching and Researching Japanese Video
Games and Software
Since Shinzo Abe popped up from a pipe wearing a Super Mario hat at the Olympics in Rio 2016, it is now
impossible to ask “What’s next?” for Japan without considering the impact Japanese games have had on the world.
From Hideo Kojima’s treatment of modern warfare as an outgrowth of neoliberalism in Metal Gear to Ikumi
Nakamura’s contributions to the retro-future spiritual world of Ghostwire: Tokyo, regardless of what comes next
in the Reiwa era video games will be a huge part of it. Studying modern games is straightforward: buy the softwareand play it on a modern television or monitor. But what if you wanted to study games from 10 years ago? Whatabout 40? How do you get a 1983 Family Computer to run a BASIC program? Where do you get ahold of the BIOS
for a SharpX68000? What is a BIOS, and why would you need one? How do you assign students video games asreading and have them get something out of it?
This presentation is a crash course in game studies and software preservation with heavy emphasis on the uniquechallenges facing a Japanese studies researcher or instructor. Attendees will learn basic “how to” from a technicaland methods standpoint, including a brief discussion of Japanese game history, archives that could support inquiry,
example questions about game design for use in classes, and a demonstration from the Museum of Art and DigitalEntertainment’s conservator in running old software on an average modern computer.
Douglas de Toledo Piza, Lafayette College (detoledd@lafayette.edu)
Mnemonic Activism of Brazilian Nikkei: Acknowledging Brazil’s Anti-Japanese Oppression
Commemorating its 115th anniversary in 2023, Japanese migration to Brazil is typically portrayed as successful,erasing the memory of the Brazilian government’s systematic oppression of this community. As a challenge to thisnarrative, activists are raising awareness of discriminatory policies and mobility restrictions against Nikkei(Japanese migrants and their descendants) in Brazil in the 1930s and 1940s. While there is no shortage of research
on Japanese migration to Brazil, activism to acknowledge these rights abuses has received less attention inacademia. This research interrogates how current activism of Brazilian Nikkei shaped new narratives of thehistorical abuses against Nikkei in Brazil. Filling a gap in the literature about the connection between activism andcollective memory, we define “mnemonic activism” as the creation, activation, and diffusion of memory narratives
to support or challenge the mainstream narrative about historical events and correct interpretations of the past
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informing present struggles. Based on the analysis of Brazilian Nikkei activism between 2013 and 2023 in cultural,journalistic, social, and governmental narratives about abuses against Nikkei in Brazil in the 1930s and 1940s, we
argue this activism led to a significant shift in narratives, resulting in acknowledgement, reevaluation, apologies,
and memorialization of the historical events’ impacts on the Brazilian Nikkei community. Investigating thisquestion provides key insights into how activism impacts public discourse and informs claims to recognition,
remembrance, and reparations for the injustices suffered.
Paul Dunscomb, University of Alaska Anchorage (pedunscomb@alaska.edu)
Now It Can be Told! The Story of Heisei JapanI conclude my book, The Crisis in Pro Baseball and Japan’s Lost Decade, observing that the story of the Heisei
Period was that of all the things lost during the Lost Decade, 1992-2004, the most significant was the consensus
about what modern Japan should be.
From the early days of Meiji, Japanese shared a broad based consensus that Japan must be modern in the mannerof the leading nations of its day. This first consensus determined that the possession of empire, and the ability to
spread civilization through it, was the key. The pursuit of empire ended in war defeat and occupation, but thedetermination to pursue front rank modernity remained. The new key criteria would be economic and scientificpower, as possessed by the U.S., with the goal of making Japan an economic superpower. While nowhere near thedisaster of the pursuit of empire, this, too, ended ignominiously with the collapse of the bubble economy and theprolonged death agony of postwar Japan’s political economy we know as the Lost Decade.
Since then, the only consensus appears to be that there is no consensus about what Japan should be. Several
alternative visions for a modern Japan have been suggested, but none have captured the imaginations of ordinary
Japanese quite like being just a run of the mill, affluent, developed nation. What are the prospects for a new vision
emerging anytime soon?
Alisa Freedman, Professor, University of Oregon (alisaf@uoregon)
Celebrating the Thirtieth Annual Conference of the Japan Studies Association, JSA presents Two Featured Linked
Sessions: Japan Studies Association Dialogue I: Women in Asian Studies and Japan Studies Association Dialogue II: The
Future of Asian Studies
Alisa Freedman is Professor of Japanese literature, cultural studies, and gender at the University of Oregon. Herbooks include Japan on American TV: Screaming Samurai Join Anime Clubs in the Land of the Lost; Tokyo in Transit:
Japanese Culture on the Rails and Road; an annotated translation of Kawabata Yasunari’s The Scarlet Gang of
Asakusa; a coedited volume on Modern Girls on the Go: Gender, Mobility, and Labor in Japan; and an edited textbook
on Introducing Japanese Popular Culture.
According to the Association of Asian Studies in a recent email blast to its membership, Alisa’s freshly published
2023 Women in Japanese Studies: Memoirs from a Trailblazing Generation, “pioneers a genre of academic
memoirs, capturing emotional and intellectual experiences omitted from institutional histories. It offers lively,
engaging, thoughtful, brave, empowering stories that start larger conversations about gender and inclusion in theacademy and in Japan-American educational exchange.”
This roundtable brings together four scholars from different disciplines (history, sociology, anthropology, andcultural studies) for lively discussion about the diverse roles that women have played in cultivating Asian Studies.
Due to laws, social conventions, business practices, and additional factors, women have faced different choices inwork and family and different access to education, jobs, and politics than people of other genders. We discuss how
gender is one important factor that comprises identity; others include age, class, and location.
Our roundtable honors the achievements of trailblazing women, Patricia Steinhoff and Barbara Watson Andaya,
and is a chance to hear the stories of their academic careers. Cathryn Clayton will discuss how personal stories
have been integral to her research on China and her mentorship of colleagues across AsianStudies. Alisa Freedman will moderate the panel and share practical advice from editing Women in JapanesePage 20

Studies: Voices from a Trailblazing Generation (Association for Asian Studies, Columbia University Press, December2023), a collection of 32 scholarly memoirs by women who began careers bridging Japan and North America
between 1950 and 1980. While describing women’s lives and experiences in academia, we also address the bigger
picture of how area studies programs have developed and the roles that female academics have played in them. We
reflect on the value of personal stories in disclosing hidden histories and challenging the dominant narrative thatcodify power structures in education. We hope our roundtable starts larger conversations about educational
exchange and gender and inclusion in the academy.
Dawn Gale, Johnson County Community College dgale@jccc.edu
Japan Studies and Japanese Students at U.S. Community CollegesThis panel will explore the development of Japan Studies in U.S. Community Colleges using the examples ofJohnson County Community College in Overland Park, KS, and Kapiolani Community College in Honolulu, HI.
Panelists will discuss how strategic partnerships with local and international organizations have been mutually
beneficial and how those partnerships and faculty development initiatives have strengthened the curriculum andlearning opportunities for students interested in Japan. The panel will also examine the circumstances that attract
Japanese students as the largest population of international students at Kapiolani Community College.
Erik Glowark, Johnson County Community College eglowark@jccc.edu
The Maritime World of Kyushu: International Trade, Diplomacy, and Buddhist Monks and Christian Missionaries inthe Late Medieval Period
In 1549, a small band of missionaries led by Anjirō of Satsuma and the Jesuit Francis Xavier landed in the port cityof Kagoshima. Located on Kyushu, the port seemed to be a rather poor location from which to spread Christianity.
However, the arrival of foreign ships and prelates was hardly out of the ordinary for Kyushu. Long oriented
towards the continent, the island was, as several scholars have noted, “the international gateway to Japan.”Maritime activity and trade flourished around the island, and monks from China frequently passed through andstayed on the island and brought an international dimension to Zen Buddhism.
This presentation will examine how the arrival of Christian missionaries in the sixteenth century was a natural
outgrowth of this maritime and international environment. First, it will explore how Kyushuan daimyo of the latemedieval period actively participated in foreign trade, diplomacy, and religious patronage of foreign Zen (Chan)monks. It will then examine how daimyo, such as Ōtomo Yoshishige and Ōuchi Yoshitaka, likewise fosteredrelationships with new “monks from India” (the Jesuits) through which they could engage in foreign trade anddiplomacy with additional overseas contacts. In situating the arrival of the Jesuits within the island’s long history
of interaction with the continent, we can better understand how Christianity first came to Japan and flourished on
Kyushu itself.
Wade Huntley, U.S. Naval Postgraduate School (wlhuntley@gmail.com)
What's Next for Japan? An International Security Perspective
On December 16, 2022, Japan announced its new "National Security Strategy.” The document identifies China as a“serious concern” and “the greatest strategic challenge ever faced,” and describes other regional threats without
naming countries. The strategy features increase of defense spending to 2% of GDP, and includes plans to obtainnew weapons systems, including US Tomahawk cruise missiles and other systems built in Japan, aiming to provide
precision counterstrike capabilities against military targets in China & North Korea in order to “disrupt and defeat
invasions … earlier and at a further distance.” In the year since, Japan has moved to tighten its alliance relationshipto the United States, particularly in developing a permanent joint command and in planning for use of force
contingencies, and Japan has broken through decades of lingering WWII animosity to strengthen the direct
bilateral defense relationship with South Korea. These developments portend a new, more assertive Japanese
posture in East Asian regional security and raise critical questions concerning Japan’s potential role in any future
conflict regarding the status of Taiwan. On the security frontier, “what’s next for Japan” is in some senses a more
open question than ever before.

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Note: Viewpoints expressed in this proposal are the author's alone, and do not represent positions of the U.S. Navyor U.S. Government.
Kathryn Ibata-Arens, DePaul University (k.ibata-arens@depaul.edu)
Cultivating a Medicine Commons: A Comparative Analysis of Neo-Traditional Medicinal Practices in Japan and China
This paper proposes a comparative study of the moral economy of drug production in Japan, witha focus on neo-traditional natural medicinal preparations, and parallels in China. The term
“moral economy” incorporates notions of fairness and equity into market activity. It examines
the contributions natural medicine practices to diversifying production and access to drugs andmedicines. This inquiry is situated within the broader context of Asian traditional medicine,
particularly emphasizing the use of plant-based biological materials, including herbs, inmedicinal preparations. The analysis is rooted in the theory of commons, examining how thesecollective resources are both instituted and maintained, while providing an alternative to
medicine access to the established global intellectual property rights (IPRs) regime and its highcost monopoly patent based synthetic pharmaceutical drugs.
In Japan, the resurgence of interest in Kampo, a system of traditional Japanese medicine, rooted
in ancient Chinese medicine, offers a compelling case study. Kampo&#39;s reliance on plant-based
formulations, often eschewing patent protections in favor of communal knowledge and practice,provides a stark contrast to the Western-dominated IPR-centric drug production model. This
paper will explore specific examples of Kampo practices, highlighting how they represent a formof resistance against the monopolistic tendencies of global pharmaceutical regimes.
Similarly, in China, the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) precedes that in Japan.
TCM’s extensive use of herbal preparations, deeply rooted in historical and cultural practices,challenges the IPR framework. The paper will delve into specific case studies reflecting ChinaJapan collaborations, demonstrating how TCM&#39;s communal and often open-source approach to
medicinal knowledge operates outside the conventional IPR system. Further, the paper will
outline challenges to the future viability of Japan&#39;s Kampo medicine industry posed by China’s
recent shifts to protect so-called national strategic assets by limiting export and sharing of TCM
related plant materials. Japan has depended upwards of 95% on China for these materials.
This comparative study aims to highlight the economic and medical significance of these neotraditional practices. By examining the institutional arrangements and community practices inJapan and China, the paper seeks to illustrate how these approaches contribute to a more diverse
and inclusive access to natural medicines. The analysis will draw on examples of specific plantbased preparations and their roles in both economies and healthcare systems: turmeric/curcumin
and ginseng-based formulations, among others.
Furthermore, this study will explore the concept of the &#39;commons&#39; in the context of drug
production. It will investigate how the communal management of medicinal knowledge andresources in Japan and China offers an alternative model to the IPR-driven pharmaceuticalindustry. This includes examining the legal, economic, and social mechanisms that support thesecommons-based practices, as well as the challenges they face in a global context dominated by
IPR norms.
In conclusion, this paper will argue that the moral economy of drug production in Japan and
China, as exemplified by neo-traditional medicinal practices, not only offers a viable alternative
to the IPR-dominated model but also contributes significantly to the diversity and sustainabilityof natural medicines. By situating these practices within the broader theory of commons, thepaper aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of how alternative drug production
arrangements can be effectively instituted and maintained.

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Narumi Ito, Kanazawa University (narumiito@hotmail.com)
The representation of Japanese-Brazilian identity in Nihonjin (2011), by Oscar Nakasato and Brazil-Maru (1992), by
Karen Tei Yamashita
Taking into account the concept of “multiple identities”, proposed by Stuart Hall (1996), the Japanese people who
migrated to other countries such as Brazil, the United States and Argentina faced, over time, what we can call as an“identity crisis”. Since they were living in a country other than their own for years, their culture, language andhistory were transformed by this social impact. In Brazil, Japanese immigrants produced literature written in
Japanese, and it was only from 1980 onwards that literature began to be produced in Portuguese, developing theconcept of "Japanese-Brazilian literature", or Nikkei literature.
In this research, we propose to understand the representation of Japanese-Brazilian identity mainly through thefollowing books: Nihonjin (2011), by the Japanese-Brazilian Oscar Nakasato and Brazil- Maru (1992), by JapaneseAmerican Karen Tei Yamashita. In Nihonjin (2011), an award-winning novel written in Portuguese by Oscar
Nakasato, we follow the trajectory of a 3-generation Japanese immigrant family and the conflicts they had to face ina foreign land. Also awarded, Brazil Maru (1992), written in English, Karen Tei Yamashita tells the story of one of
the first Japanese colonies in Brazil. Composed of 5 narrators, the novel traces the story from when they arrived in
the country, until the moment when they considered themselves Japanese-Brazilians, belonging to both Japan andBrazil.
Hanae Kramer, University of Hawaii at Manoa (hanae@hawaii.edu)

Hayashi Shihei and Japan’s Southern Advance
A Tokugawa official in the 1720s urged his government to waste no time in placing the Bonin Archipelago under its
authority. He feared that delay would allow foreigners to take possession of yet more territory that shouldrightfully be Japanese: "We lost Takeshima [Dokdo] to Korea. Let us not repeat our mistake with these islands." Hisplan to colonize the Bonin Archipelago met with failure due to a series of complications. Six decades later, a scholar
named Hayashi Shihei championed the cause of colonizing the Bonins in his 1786 book Illustrated Survey of ThreeCountries. Hayashi too worried about territorial encroachment by foreign powers. Although his book was bannedby the Tokugawa government, it nevertheless made its way to Europe where it was imperfectly translated. This
paper explores Hayashi's scholarship on the Bonins as well as its reception, and then details how
misunderstandings placed Hayashi at the center of a territorial dispute with Western powers from which thehistory of the archipelago has yet to recover.
Barbara Lass, City College of San Francisco (blass@ccsf.edu)
The WWII US Occupation of Japan: A Personal Perspective
The US military occupation of Japan under General A. MacArthur, 1945-1952, was the first time in Japan’s history
that Japan was occupied by a foreign power. The occupation brought about profound changes in military, political,
economic, and social aspects of Japan and Japanese life, and it greatly affected the development of the modern
Japanese nation state. The US occupation was also transformative for individuals in Japan and in the occupying
military force. Through oral history and written letters and memoirs this paper compares Japanese accounts of theoccupation with an account from the author’s father who served in the US Army in Japan from 1946-1948. People
who directly experienced the US occupation of Japan are aging, and it is important to record and study theirexperiences now while they can still share their firsthand knowledge.
Mark Levin is contributor to the session: Japan Studies Dialogue II: The Future of Japan Studies “ Guiding
questions will include “What would you like to see as the future of Japan Studies? What is most exciting orimportant to you in the field now? What important changes have you observed? What advice would you give juniorcolleagues?” Panelists will bring their perspectives from different stages in their careers:
Mark Levin is currently Director, University of Hawaii Center for Japan Studies (CJS) and Director of the Law
School’s Pacific-Asian Legal Studies; past Deputy Director of the Institute of Asian-Pacific Business Law, UH Law
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School. Professor Levin received his Law degree from Yale University and came to UH from the Law Dept. at
Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
Zhuoran Li, Johns Hopkins SAIS (zhuoran0322@gmail.com)“The Farm Lobby’s Stranglehold on Japanese Politics Chokes Reform Agenda”
Prime Minister Abe viewed revitalizing the Japanese agriculture sector as one of the key pillars of his structuralreform agenda – the third arrow of Abenomics. He therefore aimed to introduce competition, weaken JA’s power,
and liberalize agricultural trade. This article hypothesized that the Abe administration would successfully
implement agricultural reform while defining success as overcoming political resistance to enforcing reform. To
test this hypothesis, the article presents three smaller hypotheses. First, the final Agriculture Reform Bill shouldalign with the original proposal put forth by Abe’s cabinet. Secondly, agriculture tribe politicians should not dilutethe reform agenda. Lastly, the administration should not have been required to provide compensation to theagricultural sector. The study discovered that all three smaller hypotheses were invalidated. As a result, despite
introducing changes that weakened the agricultural establishment and centralized power under the Prime
Minister, the Abe administration could not implement its agricultural reform agenda successfully. Several factors
contributed to Abe’s failure. First, Abe’s efforts to appeal to rural voters directly did not achieve the intended
outcome due to the diverse interests of farmers. Second, the single-district voting system amplified JA’s politicalinfluence in elections. Third, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery did not fully support Abe’s reform
agenda.
Xinghan Ma, Keio University (xma@keio.jp)
Who Were Selected as Repatriate? —A Case Study on the Japanese Repatriation of the First Exchange Ship in 1942
With the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Japanese and American governments negotiated for repatriating people
from each side by ship. This study focuses on the first exchange ship in 1942 from the Japanese side.
My research theme developed from my interest in Tsurumi Shunsuke (1922-2015), an intellectual who was activein post-war Japan. Tsurumi stayed in the U.S. until the war started. He was then asked by the U.S. government tochoose between staying or returning to Japan. Tsurumi decided to return by the first exchange ship.
This study examines the Japanese repatriators boarded on the first exchange ship — including Tsurumi — with theresearch question: What kind of people were able to repatriate from America? The study makes use of the primarymaterials such as media and government documents to explore the data behind the first exchange ship.
As a result, this study contends that from the total of 1066 people, most repatriators were either employees of theJapanese government and large Japanese companies, or the family members of those employees. Furthermore,most of the repatriators were not contained in the internment camps. In this sense, people were protected andfurther selected to be repatriated by the Japanese government with the concern of repatriators’ strong connection
with the nation-state.
The study contributes itself to not only the exploration of the U.S.-Japan history, but further to the investigation ofthis choice of staying or returning during the highly pressured and politicalized environment.
Takashi Miyaki, Kapiolani Community College (tmiyaki@hawaii.edu)
Japan Studies and Japanese Students at U.S. Community CollegesThis panel will explore the development of Japan Studies in U.S. Community Colleges using the examples ofJohnson County Community College in Overland Park, KS, and Kapiolani Community College in Honolulu, HI.
Panelists will discuss how strategic partnerships with local and international organizations have been mutually
beneficial and how those partnerships and faculty development initiatives have strengthened the curriculum andlearning opportunities for students interested in Japan. The panel will also examine the circumstances that attract
Japanese students as the largest population of international students at Kapiolani Community College.

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Mara Miller, University of Hawai’i at Manoa (maramiller3@gmail.com)
The Wisdom of Trees in JapanThe earth’s inhabitants—and humans in particular—rely on trees for all kinds of ecological services, fromproviding food, shade, and shelter to filtering air pollutants, stabilizing soil, and sequestering carbon.”Some societies, however, look to trees for more. In Japan, China, and Korea, they perceive wisdom itself.
This paper explores wisdom, in two versions: that portrayed by pines, bamboo, peach, cherry, and plum in Japan(and the rest of East Asia), and a second proposed as the wisdom necessary today to survive twenty-first-century
threats, where “[w]isdom is best understood not as a personal characteristic—an attribute of the lucky aged—but
as the culmination of a progression of data, information, knowledge—and understanding.”
Part II explores some literary and visual representations of trees as embodying wisdom and the varieties of
wisdom portrayed and valued. Most obviously, philosophical are the trees representing Confucian values, such as
the pine, which grows in the harshest, most adverse circumstances; bamboo, whose ability to bend with the windsignifies the flexibility needed in personal and especially professional or official life.
Part III analyzes philosophically the rhetorical and artistic processes included in this complex tradition. How are
we to understand the perception of wisdom in trees?
The trees are more than symbolic or emblematic. They are teachers of the great virtues. The combination of beauty
and their wisdom tradition has guided the elite and the humble since earliest times.
Minna Nizam, Monmouth University (mnizam@drew.edu)
Japan and the Western World: How Western Museums Seek to Represent Japan
How is Japan portrayed in western museums? What have we learned since the disaster of the Enola Gay exhibit
from the Smithsonian in the 1990s? How do we see Japanese artifacts in western art museums, like theMetropolitan Museum of Art? And how have institutions in the west, strengthened ties between Japan and the west
around the world? What can be improved? This talk will address all these questions and more.
Diego Oliveira, Nihon University (oliveira.diego@nihon-u.ac.jp)
Exploring the Motivations and Challenges of Writing an Ending Note in Japan
Japan is on the brink of a significant demographic milestone, colloquially known as the 2025 mondai, when all baby
boomers are expected to surpass the age of 75. This impending demographic shift has been identified by both
media and the government as a potential catalyst for placing additional burdens on family members, elderly careand medical services, and the funeral industry. In response to these challenges, genres such as ending notes havegained notable traction in the country.
Ending notes are notebook-like writing pads that are commonly published, distributed, and sold by a variety ofbusinesses, NPOs, and governmental bodies in Japan. Writers utilize them to document personal information,
express wishes, and outline requests regarding aging, dying, and post-death arrangements.
Through twelve semi-structured interviews with diverse writers, this paper explores the motivations behind
writing an ending note, the topics writers address, and the challenges they encounter in the process. The findings
reveal two primary purposes for writing an ending note. Some writers employ it as a means to challenge prevailingsocial and cultural norms regarding dying and death, such as burial practices and life-prolonging treatment
decisions. Conversely, others perceive the ending note as a tool to conform to societal expectations, particularly infinancial planning for their families and avoiding becoming a burden to others.
This study aims to contribute to ongoing discussions about individual autonomy and the future societal landscapeof Japan in the context of aging, dying, and death.
Leon Richards, Kapiolani Community College (LR24@hawaii.edu)
Japan Studies and Japanese Students at U.S. Community Colleges
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This panel will explore the development of Japan Studies in U.S. Community Colleges using the examples ofJohnson County Community College in Overland Park, KS, and Kapiolani Community College in Honolulu, HI.
Panelists will discuss how strategic partnerships with local and international organizations have been mutually
beneficial and how those partnerships and faculty development initiatives have strengthened the curriculum andlearning opportunities for students interested in Japan. The panel will also examine the circumstances that attract
Japanese students as the largest population of international students at Kapiolani Community College.
Makoto Sakai, Meiji University (msakai@meiji.ac.jp)
An analysis of contemporary literary works set in Japan's regional cities and countryside
Urban centers have been hollowed out with shopping malls popping up all over Japan, and the uniqueness of theland has been increasingly lost. Contemporary novels that reconsider the relationship between land and humans
gained popularity in Japan recently. In this presentation, I analyzes 30 works of contemporary literature in various
parts of Japan depicting the relationship between humans and the land, where landscapes are becoming
increasingly homogenized and depopulation is on the rise. Specifically, I focused on works of best-selling authors
such as Haruki Murakami and Natsuo Kirino, great literary masters such as the Nobel Prize-winners Kenzaburo Oe
and Kazuo Ishiguro, in a variety of genres set in Japan's regional cities and countryside.
While referring to the literary theories of Kojin Karatani and the theories of reflexive modernization of Ulrich Beck
and Anthony Giddens, I explain the possibilities of contemporary literature in Japan's regional cities andcountryside. I will also refer to the relationship between contemporary novels and movies, dramas, manga, and soforth. I will also refer to Japan's new international literary environment. I think literature with roots in local cities
and the countryside has high value as media for remembering and transmitting things such as the livelihood andvalues of the people living there, the history that should be passed onto future generations, and the value ofinternational tourism.
This research presentation will be conducted with research funding support from Grants-in-Aid for Scientific
Research of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.
Gay Satsuma, is a contributor to the session: Japan Studies Dialogue II: The Future of Japan Studies “ Guiding
questions will include “What would you like to see as the future of Japan Studies? What is most exciting orimportant to you in the field now? What important changes have you observed? What advice would you give juniorcolleagues?” Panelists will bring their perspectives from different stages in their careers:
Gary Satsuma, currently CJS Associate Director at UH, received her Ph.D. in Japanese History from UH-Manoa andteaches courses at UH as well as maintaining partnerships in Japan and mentoring students. Her research interests
include Japanese immigration to Hawaii and status of women.
Adam Silverman, Yale University (adam.silverman@yale.edu)
Landscape Theories, Visual Culture, and the Postwar Invention of ‘Frontier’ Hokkaido
Following the end of the Pacific War and the dispossession of much of Imperial Japan’s overseas colonial holdings,
significant cultural attention was paid to Hokkaido in the following decades as it––being one of the sole remainingcolonial spaces contained within the borders of the postwar polity—represented a complex site of alterity in anation-state that was increasingly engaged in constructing national discourses and myths of discrete, unified
historical integrity and ethnic homogeneity. An ‘Ainu boom’ in the 1950s and early 1960s in popular culture
ranging from film, literature, radio music met with growing artistic, political, and intellectual interest in Hokkaido
as a site of national crisis in the face of such popular discourses on Japaneseness (nihonjinron). This paper
considers the legacy of the Hokkaido and Ainu boom alongside two critical postwar theoretical frameworks onlandscape: Matsuda Masao’s fukeiron, or ‘landscape theory’ and Karatani Kojin’s ‘discovery of landscape,’ both ofwhich use Hokkaido as a critical intervention to work through the historical development of Japanese modernity—and how those theoretical frameworks paradoxically both uncritically assume and fundamentally challenge thenaturalization of the postwar (re)-construction of ‘frontier’ Hokkaido. I propose that Hokkaido is fantasized as asempiternal peripheral space—recursively resituated as frontier in perpetuity in order to serve as the dialectical
Other or exergue against which the nation can define or ‘discover’ its own interiority.

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Patricia Steinhoff, Professor Emerita, University of Hawaii
Women in Asian Studies: Personal Stories of Educational Developments
Patricia Steinhoff’s career began at a time when American women rarely progressed in fields related to Asianstudies. Her degrees show her exceptional path: BA, University of Michigan, with high honors in Japanese
Language and Literature, 1963; Graduate language study, Stanford Center for Japanese Studies, Tokyo, Japan,
1963-64; PhD, Harvard University, Sociology (Department of Social Relations), 1969. One of Prof. Steinhoff’s maininterests as an anthropologist has been “the Japanese Radical Left” and “Social Movements.” Thewebsite www.researchgate.net/profile/Patricia-Steinhoff offers an annotated bibliography of 96 (ninety-six) of
her articles and books.
This roundtable brings together four scholars from different disciplines (history, sociology, anthropology, andcultural studies) for lively discussion about the diverse roles that women have played in cultivating Asian Studies.
Due to laws, social conventions, business practices, and additional factors, women have faced different choices inwork and family and different access to education, jobs, and politics than people of other genders. We discuss how
gender is one important factor that comprises identity; others include age, class, and location.
Our roundtable honors the achievements of trailblazing women, Patricia Steinhoff and Barbara Watson Andaya,
and is a chance to hear the stories of their academic careers. Cathryn Clayton will discuss how personal stories
have been integral to her research on China and her mentorship of colleagues across AsianStudies. Alisa Freedman will moderate the panel and share practical advice from editing Women in JapaneseStudies: Voices from a Trailblazing Generation (Association for Asian Studies, Columbia University Press, December2023), a collection of 32 scholarly memoirs by women who began careers bridging Japan and North America
between 1950 and 1980. While describing women’s lives and experiences in academia, we also address the bigger
picture of how area studies programs have developed and the roles that female academics have played in them. We
reflect on the value of personal stories in disclosing hidden histories and challenging the dominant narrative thatcodify power structures in education. We hope our roundtable starts larger conversations about educational
exchange and gender and inclusion in the academy.
Andrea Thimesch, Johnson County Community College (athimesc@jccc.edu)
Anime and Manga in America: Rise in Censorship and Sanitation
This presentation explores the parallel challenges faced by anime in the United States during the ‘90s and early
2000s and manga in more recent times, shedding light on the intriguing similarities between the censorshipstruggles encountered by these two interconnected mediums. Focusing on iconic series like Sailor Moon, Death
Note, and more, this presentation will delve into the multifaceted issues surrounding the censorship of mangabooks and anime, particularly in the context of libraries.
In recent years, books and graphic literature have faced increasingly stringent challenges, with concerns ranging
from perceived explicit content to cultural sensitivity. Libraries are at the forefront of these battles as guardians ofintellectual freedom. Book challenges mirror the censorship controversies surrounding anime broadcasts in years
past. Sailor Moon, a pioneer in the American Shōjo anime landscape, is a case study revealing the nuanced
interactions between societal norms, cultural differences, and a misunderstanding of American audiences andmarkets.
By drawing parallels between the challenges of manga books and anime, this presentation will provide valuablelessons and insights into the interconnected nature of these mediums and how censorship has influenced theperception and reception of Japanese animation and comics in the American cultural landscape. This analysis
contributes to the discourse on preserving cultural integrity while balancing international cultural sensitivity,
creative freedom, and the right to access information.

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Jennifer Welsh, Eastern New Mexico University (jenniferwelsh@enmu.edu)“Have your servant bake bread in the rice pot”: Travel and Cultural Advice for Western Tourists in the Meiji Era
The rapid expansion of middle-class tourism in the second half of the nineteenth century coincided with the
opening-up of Japan following the Meiji Restoration. Western tourists flocked to the country, guidebooks in hand.
Japan occupied a unique position in Western imaginations based on its centuries as a mysterious and isolated land.
Now that visiting was possible, travelers needed to know what to see, where to stay, how to deal with food, andhow to navigate the language and culture. One of the most popular guidebooks was A Handbook for Travellers inJapan, published in nine editions between 1881 and 1913. Following two editions written by British diplomat
Ernest Mason Satow, the remaining editions were written by Basil Hall Chamberlain, well-known for his academic
career in Japan and his book Things Japanese. An examination of the different editions of the Handbook and otherpublications of the time provides a view into the changes that Japan was undergoing during these decades and how
Westerners viewed and interacted with Japanese culture. These texts present a view of Japan in a time oftransition, when the Western fantasy of an ancient and unchanging Japanese culture combined with culture shock,concerns about food, and a desire to take advantage of modern conveniences and modern technologies to travel as
tourists and return home with souvenirs, memories, and opinions. This paper will examine the ways in which
guidebooks helped them to navigate where to go, what to see, and how to perceive the culture they were visiting.
Zhihai Xie, Kyoai Gakuen University (xie@c.kyoia.ac.jp)
Understanding Japan's economic security policy
The Kishida Administration has put forward a robust economic security policy, represented by enaction of theeconomic security law in May 2022, as well as the appointment of the Minister of State for Economic Security inAugust 2022. What are the backgrounds, motives and effects of the economic security policy? This paper aims toaddress such questions. Economic security becomes a salient issue in the international society largely due to theintensified China-US competition in the hi-tech areas, such as semi-conductor, 5G and artificial intelligence.
Economic statecraft, the approach of utilizing economic tools to realize political goals, is reviving in international
relations. Japan’s economic security policy is to first increase its strengths and resilience to diversify the supplychains and cope with economic coercion measures from other countries. Meanwhile, it is also a response to the US
request on the strengthening of US-Japan cooperation in economic area to contain China. Under the framework of
the economic security, Japan has aligned with the US to regulate its export of materials and devices for high-end
semiconductor to China. Japan has also banned the 5G products provided by Chinese companies such as Huawei
and ZTE from governmental contracts. The economic security policy might help Japan to keep its technology
advantages in certain areas. However, the protectionism caused by some of the regulation would also hold back thecooperation in research and development of new technologies with emerging countries. In reality, many Japanesecompanies oppose to the some of the economic security measures, which do harm to their business interests.
Ryoko Yamauchi, University of Tokyo (yamauchi-ryoko785@g.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp)
The Production Methods and Positioning of Picture Books Within the Publishing Industry
Picture books are recognized as important media in the process of a child's growth. Additionally, in Japan, numerous
picture book exhibitions are held every year. Picture books have gained popularity beyond a juvenile readership andhave been positioned as media intended for adults as well, thereby showcasing a cultural vitality that transcends
age. From the perspective of the publishing market, Japan is currently facing a publishing recession; however, bycontrast, the picture book market can be considered relatively robust. Looking at the trends over the past 20 years,
despite a significant decrease in the child population, the estimated sales figures for picture books have experienced
only minor fluctuations, with a tendency towards maintaining previous levels and even showing a mild upward
trend.
Further, in an industry where digital books are growing compared to paper publications, the demand for physicalpicture books remains high, and picture books tend to be digitized at a lower rate compared to other books orPage 28

magazines. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the increased time consumers spent at home is cited
as a factor that accelerated the growth of the picture book market. Additionally, in recent years, certain picture books
and authors have gained attention through mass media and social media, further contributing to the expansion of
the market. In summary, despite the publishing recession, picture books have not only maintained their sales but
also exhibit a demand for physical editions over digital ones. What underlies this trend?
This presentation aims to reflect on the history of picture book production in Japan while examining the expressive
techniques of picture books and the significance of physical picture books. Additionally, I will explore the role that
picture books play in the broader publication market Through these discussions, I seek to comprehend the current
state of the picture book in Japan, deepening the discussion of the characteristics required in the marketplace, which
will sooner or later be affected by digitalization.
Chunyan (Zoe) Zhang, University of Rochester (czhang84@u.rochester.edu)
Continuity in Flux: The General Subjects’ Practice of Kagura from Premodern Japan.
Japanese religion is widely recognized for its vivid, exuberant ceremonies. Several established scholars, such as
Lori Meeks, Gregory Levine , and Jesse LeFebvre, have conducted sophisticated case studies in interpreting
Japanese religious practices. However, these case studies are inadequate for expounding the contemporary
position of Shinto rituals after being reformulated in situations such as the Meiji Restoration and the Humanity
Declaration. Identifying this research gap, my case study on Iwami Kagura, officially designated as one of theJapanese intangible cultural heritage in 2019, aims to illuminate the contemporary significance of the existence
and cultural succession of Japanese regional traditional performing arts. First, I provide a brief survey of the
impacts of the historical reforms of Iwami Kagura from a political and Shinto perspective since the Meiji period.
Second, I would like to evaluate the Gotsu city government and local Kagura association’s various active attempts
over the past ten years to foster pride and attachment in the local community and even to the extent ofstrengthening the soft power of Japanese culture towards foreigners. On top of shedding light on the cultural
significance, I also intend to discuss the role of Iwami Kagura as a regional cultural-tourist resource in facilitating
the continuing downturn of the local economy. In a nutshell, this study could contribute to explaining modern
Japanese secular negotiations in mapping their religious tradition while exposing the potentiality ofcommercializing Kagura the same as other traditional performing arts.

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