Annual Newsletter of the Slavic-Eurasian Research Center, Hokkaido University

LAVIC-EURASIANESEARCHENTER NEWSNo. 27
March 2021

2020 Summer International Symposium“Northeast Asia: Pitfalls and Prospects,
Past and Present”

On July 2–3, 2020, the Slavic-Eurasian Research Center held
its international summer symposium on “Northeast Asia: Pitfalls
and Prospects, Past and Present.”
As a response to COVID-19, theevent was held online over Zoom,
rather than in person. The first halfof the symposium, sessions 1 and
2, were devoted to providing aplatform for researchers associated with the NIHU Area Studies
Project for Northeast Asia (NoASRC) to discuss their findings
Zoom symposium outgoingwith researchers from overseas,
while the latter half, sessions 3 and 4, was turned over to debate among the members ofDavid Wolff’s JSPS project on “Multi-Archival Analysis of Critical Junctures in Post-war
Northeast Asia.”
With the strategic concerns of the United States and China shifting south, to the Indo-Pacific, the focus of Sessions 1 and 2 was on bringing novel perspectives and shining
new light on Northeast Asia as a regional ideal, one which has not been institutionalized in
the aftermath of the Cold War. Session 1, on “Bottlenecks to Regional Cooperation,” wasdivided into two parts. The first of these debated the hard bottleneck of contested sovereignty,
and the soft bottleneck represented by the ‘politics of distrust’ in Japan and Korea, which
not only poisons international relations between the two countries but also is at the root ofmany social problems.
The second half of the session re-examined the regional ideal of Northeast Asia from its

No.27 March 2021

borders and interstitial spaces. The
papers emphasized that the region
was an open one due to the presence of external actors like Russia
and the United States, and theirstrong links with Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, that
disputes over islands and maritime
areas were deeply significant, andthat in such a borderland, whether
borders function as “walls” or as“gateways” provided a litmus test
Online live
for whether international relations
between the region’s states would be characterized by contestation or cooperation.
The session was followed by the Special Lecture of Jarosław Jańczak on “Reborderingin the EU under COVID-19: Lessons for Northeast Asia?” with commentary from Kazuto
Suzuki: the exchange has since been published as Volume 11 of the Eurasia Border Review.
Session 2, “Reconsidering the Regional Challenges,” examined competition between Japanand Korea over fishing, new and old dangers in North Korean policy under Trump, and landsales to Chinese in the Russian Far East, in each case focussing on the impact such issues
had on regional international relations between the countries concerned.
Sessions 3 and 4 provided a space to discuss the results of cutting-edge research on Japan in the Cold War period. Since Japan’s Freedom of Information Act was enacted in 1999
and came into force in 2001, a tremendous volume of newly-declassified archival material
has come to light. The presenters involved in these two sessions have all been involvedin freeing up more material through the submission of Freedom of Information requests.
Thanks to their efforts, it has become possible to revise our understanding of Japan’s Cold
War role in Northeast Asia and the Pacific on the basis of new archival sources. All of thepapers made use of Japanese archival material in conjunction with the US, Chinese, Korean,
and Russian sources.
These exciting projects have the potential to revolutionize our understanding of Japan’sCold War history. For example, the autonomy exercised by Japan in its foreign policy, thekey behind-the-scenes role of bureaucrats, and the degree of exchange taking place with the
US, China, Russia and Korea after the Second World War are all factors which will have to
be considered anew. They all may be considered as the seeds of today’s regional divisions,and continue to impact upon what Emeritus Professor of the University of Tokyo, Wada
Haruki, refers to as the “Northeast Asian Communal House of Nations.”
Over the course of the two days, over 160 people joined us on zoom, from both within
Japan and abroad. We would like to offer our sincere thanks to the efforts of our wonderfulcollaborative researchers who are aiding us in sketching out both Northeast Asia’s past, andits future.
Iwashita Akihiro, David Wolff, Kato Mihoko, Isahaya Yoichi, and Edward Boyle

Speakers at the Symposium

Kato Mihoko (SRC), “Competing Sovereignties in Northeast Asia”
Naomi Chi (Hokkaido University, Japan), “Politics of (Mis)Trust in East Asia: Social Inclusion, Empathy andReconciliation”
Edward Boyle (Kyushu University, Japan) & Iwashita Akihiro (SRC), “Regions, Rims, and Northeast Asia’s
Borders”

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Amano Naoki (Yamagata University, Japan), “Exorcising Phantoms: Development of Border Islands inNortheast Asia”
Jarosław Jańczak (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland), ”Re-bordering in the EU under Covid-19: A Lesson
for Northeast Asia?”
Fukuhara Yuji (University of Shimane, Japan) & Daesong Hyun (Korea Maritime Institute, Korea), “Maritime
Challenges within/beyond the Region”
Mimura Mitsuhiro (Economic Research Institute for Northeast Asia, Japan), “Crises for North Korea andits Neighbors”
Horie Norio (University of Toyama, Japan), “Chinese Land Deals and Migration in the Russian Far East”
Izumikawa Yasuhiro (Chuo University, Japan), “Japan’s Multiple Quests for Foreign Policy ‘Independence’and Soviet-Japanese Diplomatic Normalization Talks in the 1950s”
Jong Won LEE (Waseda University, Japan), “The United States and the Normalization of Japanese-South
Korean Relations: The Process Leading to the Kim-Ohira Memo”
Inoue Masaya (Seikei University, Japan), “From ‘Two-Chinas’ to ‘One China’: The Normalization of
Sino–Japanese Relations and the Taiwan Issue, 1969–1972”
Kusunoki Ayako (International Research Center for Japanese Studies), “From the “Base-Lease Agreement”
to the “Alliance”: U.S.-Japan Security Relations in the 1950s”
Komine Yukinori (Harvard University, USA), “Now We Know: Unveiling Secrecy in the Okinawa Nuclear
Deal”
Yoshida Shingo (Kindai University, Japan), “Credibility Imperatives vs. Domestic Antimilitarism: Japan’s
Alliance Policies during Détente”

2019 Winter International Symposium“Tsars’ Regions between Literary
Imaginations and Geopolitics”
December 13 and 14, 2019The Slavic-Eurasian Research Center has remarkably expanded and reinforced its connectivity with academic communities outside Russian and Eastern European studies, with its
mega-projects of Comparative Studies of Regional Powers (2008–2012) and Border Studies(2009–2013) working as a driver probing the place of our field in a broader world. The 2019
Winter Symposium assembled experts from the former territory of the Russian Empire andthereby elaborated a new research agenda addressing the kaleidoscopic diversity of the Romanov and Soviet empires.
In fact, 2019 also saw
Hokkaido University
enter into an exchange
agreement with Russia’s
National Research University Higher Schoolof Economics (HSE)at the SRC’s initiative.
Our symposium was thisagreement’s first joint
effort working together
with HSE’s International
Laboratory “Russia’s
Speakers at Session 1; from left to right, Gorskaia, Boltunova,
Regions in Historical
Liubichankovskii, and Savchenko

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No.27 March 2021

Perspective” led by Ekaterina Mikhailovna Boltunova[https://www.hse.ru/rrh/]. In
marked contrast to our past
symposia, our meeting’s primary language was Russianwith English supplementary,which facilitated a lively andfruitful conversation amongscholars struggling to connect
their profoundly local empirical findings to an analyticallanguage intelligible to specialOur audience
ists of other regions as well as
the international scholarship of empire.
Our conference focused on literary images and geopolitics as drawn by a wide arrayof local peoples and travelers covering Lithuania and Belarus, Ukraine, Smolensk, Central
Russia, Orenburg, Eastern Anatolia and Caucasus, Central Asia, Siberia, and the Far East.
Our timeframe mainly ranged from the eighteenth century to the 1930s, but included the late
Soviet period and even the 1990s and 2000s. To be sure, the “imperial turn” in Russian andEurasian history has significantly enriched our knowledge of regions as an interface of interactions with the state thanks to the “archival revolution.” Yet it seems that much remains to
be done concerning the role of subjectivity and emotion, individual or collective, in shaping
the experience of the tsarist and Soviet empires. And this is what we addressed using a variety
of multilingual sources encompassing diaries, maps, travelogues, poems, and films alongwith archival documents from Russia and beyond. For two days we had 119 participants,
including 59 overseas guests. We will stay committed both to expertise deeply embedded inregions and to the big global conversations that give the widest meaning to our field.
Naganawa Norihiro

Speakers at the Symposium

Ekaterina Boltunova (HSE, Russia), “Central Russia as a Periphery: Historical and Geographical Presentation
Models in Imperial Russia”
Nataliia Gorskaia (Smolensk State University, Russia), “Poland and Polish Uprisings in the Nineteenth Century
as Seen in the Nobles’ Memoirs: Cases from Smolensk Province”
Sergei Liubichankovskii (Orenburg State Pedagogical University, Russia), “The Image of the Orenburg Regionin Civil Governors’ Records at the Turn of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries”
Anatolii Savchenko (Institute of History, Archeology, and Ethnography of Peoples of the Far East, Vladivostok,
Russia), “Geopolitical Mythology of the Russian Far East”
Darius Staliunas (Lithuanian Institute of History, Vilnius, Lithuania), “North-West Region in the Mental Mapsof Tsarist Authorities and Non-Dominant Ethno-Confessional Peoples”
Naganawa Norihiro (SRC), “North-West Region in the Mental Maps of Tsarist Authorities and Non-DominantEthno-Confessional Peoples”
Nikolay Tsyrempilov (Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan), “Moscow as Shamballa: One Buryat Lama’s
Observation of Coronation Ceremonies in 1896”
Evgeny Dobrenko (University of Sheffield, UK / SRC), “ ‘What Will I Pay to Good Russian People’: Productionof National Cultural Canons and Images of the Pre-revolutionary Past in Stalin’s Cinema”
Elena Penskaia (HSE), “The Concept of ‘Imperial Backyards’” in Russian Travelogues at the Turn of theEighteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries”
Toriyama Yusuke (University of Tokyo, Japan), “Literary Images of the Russian Empire at the Turn of theEighteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries”

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Shioya Akifumi (University of Tsukuba, Japan), “Great Game and Abolitionism in Khiva: Anglo-Russian
Rivalry in Nineteenth Century Central Asia”
Ono Ryosuke (Waseda University, Japan), “How the Japanese Attempted to Cut into the Great Game in the
1930s Based on Sultanbek Bakhtiyar’s Odysseys”
Nozima Davletova (University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Uzbekistan), “The Great Games of the
Small: The Great Illusion Produced by the Karimov Era”
Halit Dundar Akarca (Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan), “Kurds between the Ottoman and Russian Empires
during WWI”
Gennadii Korolov (Institute of History, Ukraine / SRC), “In Search of the Lands of Rus’: Imagination of
Ukraine in the Perception of the Little-Russian Movement (1917–1919)”
David Rainbow (University of Houston, USA), “Revolution from Abroad: Siberian Regionalism in the 1920s”

New Project on Arctic Studies Launched

In June 2020, the Arctic Challenge for Sustainability II (ArCS II), the five-year project
funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEXT), was launched. This Project isjointly managed by the National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR), the Japan Agency for
Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) and Hokkaido University. This is a successor to the Arctic Challenge for Sustainability (ArCS) project that operated from 2015 to2020. There are 11 research programs in ArCS II. One of them is a project entitled “Human
Security, Energy and Food in the Arctic under Climate Change,” PI (Principal Investigator)of which is Prof. Hiroki Takakura of Tohoku University. This research program consists ofthree sub-programs, one of which is a project, entitled “Energy resource development andregional economy.” Prof. Tabata of the SRC is responsible for this sub-program. He was PI
of one of the themes of ArCS, entitled “People and community in the Arctic: possibility ofsustainable development” and will continue Arctic studies in the field of social sciences in
ArCS II. One of the main characteristics of the ArCS lay in the fact that for the first time in
the history of nation-wide Arctic research in Japan, scholars of humanities and social sciences joined. In the ArCS II project a larger number of researchers in these fields participated,which confirms the necessity and importance of Arctic studies from the viewpoint of humanities and social sciences. Through the project “Energy resource development and regional
economy,” Prof. Tabata plans to study the impact on regional economies of energy resource
development (particularly oil and gas) in the Russian Arctic (especially Sakha Republic andYamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug).
Website of ArCS II project: https://www.nipr.ac.jp/arcs2/e/
Publication of ArCS project: S. Tabata, N. Otsuka, M. Goto, and M. Takahashi, “Economy,society and governance in the Arctic: Overview of ArCS research project in the field of
humanities and social sciences (2015–2020),” Polar Science, 2020
[https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polar.2020.100600].
Tabata Shinichiro

Agreement with UCL SSEESSRC has established a cooperative relationship with UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES). Founded in 1915, SSEES is one of the UK’s largest institutions forresearch and teaching on the East European and Slavonic region, including Russia and Central
Asia. The fields of about 80 academics include business and economics, history, literature5

No.27 March 2021

and culture, politics, sociology and theteaching of 18 foreign languages.
We agree to act jointly in orderto undertake collaborative research,educational and cultural activities inareas of shared interest. SRC very much
looks forward to continuing to workwith SSEES as we together contributeto the further development of Slavic
studies.
Prof. Rubins at Kyoto University
This collaboration is a fruitful
outcome of SRC’s Foreign Visitors Fellowship Program (FVFP). Professor Maria Rubins,
who stayed at SRC as 2019–2020 FVFP Fellow, has made a great contribution to realizing
the cooperation. We are grateful to Professor Rubins and all the other colleagues of SSEES,
especially Director, Professor Diane P. Koenker, who has provided continuous support.
Adachi Daisuke

International Online Conference on
Literature “XI Korolenko Readings”

On November 11-12, 2020 the International conference “XI Korolenko Readings” was held
online on the platforms of e-Tutorium and Google Meet. The conference was organized by
Poltava National Pedagogical University, SRC, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine,and Poltava Literary Memorial Museum of V.G. Korolenko. Representing SRC, Dr. Daisuke
Adachi served as a member of the Organizing Committee. It is worth mentioning that lastyear SRC concluded the inter-divisional agreement with the Scientific andMethodological Center of the English
Language and World Literature Studies
Quality Control, Poltava National Pedagogical University, and has continued
cooperation with them.
This two-day conference addressed
diverse issues in 19th and 20th century
fiction. Two Gogol specialists at SRC,
Dr. Adachi and Masayuki Uemura (PhD
student) gave talks in Russian as follows:
Lecture from Poltava National
Adachi Daisuke, “Melodrama and thePedagogical University
Melodramatic Imagination in Russian
Culture of the 1830s – 40s ”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESkGcq_GNH4
Masayuki Uemura, “The Cossack Image in Fiction: Based on the Examples of the Works ofI. Kotliarevsky and N. Gogol”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJuFM0mQmX0
The wide range of participants always characterizes the seminars and symposiums organized
by Professor Olga Nikolenko, Head of the Department of World Literature, Director of
the Scientific and Methodological Center of the English Language and World Literature
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Studies Quality Control, and Director of
the recently opened Korolenko Center
for Regional Studies. This year morethan 150 professors, teachers, students,
and graduate students took part in theconference. Some papers were presented
in English, which demonstrates an orientation towards international scientificdialogue in English.
The conference is a significant
Rector Prof. Stepanenko (middle) andevent for Poltava National PedagogicalProf. Nikolenko
University, which was named after thegreat writer. Although the Organizing Committee had to decide to hold it online due to theworldwide spread of COVID-19, it turns out that a new form of scientific communication
gave a lot of positive suggestions in order to promote international exchanges between distantcountries and regions.
Adachi Daisuke

Our Staff (FY2020)

Adachi Daisuke: Associate Professor, Modern Russian literature, and culture; History of representation in
19th-century Russian literature
Aoshima Yoko: Associate Professor, Russian imperial history
Iwashita Akihiro: Professor, Border studies; Tourism; Foreign policy; Northeast Asian studies; Political
geography
Naganawa Norihiro: Professor, Modern History of Central Eurasia
Nomachi Motoki: Professor, Slavic linguistics; Sociolinguistcs; General linguistics
Sengoku Manabu: Professor, Comparative politics; Political economy; Welfare policies; East European Politics
Tabata Shinichiro: Professor, Russian economy; Comparative economics; Economy of the Russian Far Eastand North
Uyama Tomohiko: Professor, Modern history and politics of Central Asia; Comparative imperial history;
Comparative politics
David Wolff: Professor, Russian and Soviet History; Siberia and the Far East; Cold War; Northeast Asian
region construction

Assistant Professors

Isahaya Yoichi: History of Premodern Central Eurasia, Mongol Empire and sciences
Takahashi Minori: International Politics, Contemporary Greenlandic and Arctic studies

Specially Appointed Assistant Professors

Goto Masanori: Cultural anthropology
Kato Mihoko: International Relations; Russia’s Foreign Policy; Regionalism in East Asia

Research Fellows

Kiyosawa Shiori: Language politics, Slavic linguistics, Belarusian studies
Matsushita Takashi: Contemporary Russian Literature (Until September, 2020)
Miyazaki Chiho: Modern history, History of cross-cultural exchanges, Eurasian history, History of medicine,Tourism studies
Nakazawa Takuya: Contemporary History of Yugoslavia, History of Japan-Yugoslav relationship, Montenegrin
studies (Since September, 2020)7

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Library and Information Service Staff
Osuga Mika: Research Associate, Publications
Tonai Yuzuru: Associate Professor, SRC Head Librarian

Ongoing Cooperative Research Projects
Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research by the Japan Society for
the Promotion of Science, Excluding “Grants-in-Aid for JSPS
Fellows” and “Grants-in-Aid for Publication of Scientific Research Results: Scientific Literature”
Scientific Research A

Headed by Nomachi Motoki: “Multi-hierarchical Approaches to Kashubian Grammar on
the Basis of a Newly Devised Corpus” (2017–21)
Headed by Uyama Tomohiko: “Comparative Study of the Rise of Authoritarianism andPopulism” (2018–21)
Headed by David Wolff: “Multi-Archival Analysis of Critical Junctures in Post-war Northeast
Asia” (2019–23)
Headed by Sengoku Manabu: “Correlation between Changes in Political Parties and Changes
in Social Policy” (2020–23)

Scientific Research B

Headed by Sengoku Manabu: “Economic Policies of the Emerging Democracies in the
Post-neoliberal Period” (2016–20)
Headed by Aoshima Yoko: “Emerging Nationalisms and Transformation of the Ruling
System in Late Imperial Russia: In the Case of the Western Borderlands” (2018–20)
Headed by Naganawa Norihiro: “Democracy by Violence in the Twentieth Century: A
Transnational History” (2018–22)
Headed by Tonai Yuzuru: “The Siberian Intervention and the Changing East Asian International Environment” (2019–22)
Headed by Adachi Daisuke: “A Comprehensive Study on the Melodramatic Imagination in
Russian and Former Soviet Culture” (2019–23)
Headed by Iwashita Akihiro: “Representations of ‘Territory’ and Social Transformationin Northeast Asia” (2020–24)

Scientific Research C

Headed by Miyazaki Chiho: “The Formation of Imperial Medicine in Modern Russia andMedical Topography” (2017–20)

Challenging Research

Headed by Komoto Yasuko: “Examination of Materials Left by Japanese Army Concerned
Religions in China, Manchuria, Mongolia and Tibet” (2017–20).

Grants-in-Aid for Young Scientists

Headed by Matsushita Takashi: “Representation of National Identity in Contemporary
Russian Culture after the Collapse of the Soviet Union” (2019–22)
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Headed by Murakami Tomomi: “Circulation of Ancient Textiles and Transmission of Textile
Techniques from the Perspective of Central Eurasian Archaeological Materials” (2019–22)
Headed by Takahashi Minori: “Empirical Political Science Research on the Issue ofCompatibility and Contradiction between Science and Indigenous Knowledge in the Arctic
Island of Greenland” (2019–22)

Grants-in-Aid for Young Scientists B

Headed by Kato Mihoko: “Russia’s Asia Policy after the Annexation of Crimea: Sinocentrism
and/or Diversification” (2017–20)

Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research

Headed by Murakami Tomomi: “A Study of Textiles Collected by the German Expeditions
and Newly Excavated Textiles in the Xinjiang Region” (2020–22)

Visitors from Abroad

Jouko Niinimäki (President, University of Oulu, Finland), Mauri Ylä-Kotola (President,
University of Lapland, Finland) (November 2019)
Pami Aalto (Tampere University, Finland) (November 2019)
Vadim Gataulin (Perm State University, Russia) (February 2020)

Guest Lecturers from Abroad

Jasmina Gavrankapetanović-Redžić (University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina)“Post-Genocide Bosnian Muslims Female Identity: Visualizing Motherhood, Violence andVictimhood” (December 9, 2019)
Esen Usubaliev (Analytical Center “Prudent Solutions,” Kyrgyzstan) “Самостоятельная
интеграция стран центральной Азии: соперничество, преодоление противоречий иповышение доверия между странами” (February 5, 2020)
Romuald Huszcza (University of Warsaw, Poland) “Linguistic Evolution or Revolution?
The Current Debate on the So-Called Femininative in Polish” (February 13, 2020)Повседневная жизнь в Саппоро

Evgeny Dobrenko (University of Sheffield, UK / SRC Foreign Fellow, 2019)Я провел в Центре Славянско-Евразийских исследований Университета Хоккайдо
осенний семестр 2019–20 учебного года. Сейчас, задним числом, я понимаю, какмне повезло, что я успел поработать в Японии до начала пандемии. Моя работа вСлавистическом Центре была исключительно продуктивной. Я многое успел сделатьиз того, что планировал по теме своей новой книги о многонациональной советской
литературе, во многом благодаря прекрасным условиям работы, богатой библиотеке,отличной организации и прекрасным людям, работающим в Центре. У меня остались
очень теплые воспоминания о моем пребывании в Саппоро. Причем, запомнилисьне только яркие впечатления, но даже нерабочие (праздничные) дни, субботы ивоскресенья (а они у меня почти все были рабочими), проведенные в Центре, когда
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на кампусе нет студентов и непривычно тихо. В эти дни Центре особенно хорошо
работалось.
Конечно, непрерывное пребывание в одном месте в течение четырех месяцев
могло бы быть слишком утомительным. Однако поездки по стране наполнили время
пребывания в Японии разнообразием и множеством незабываемых впечатлений. Ядважды побывал в Токио – с лекциями в Токийском технологическом институте иТокийском университете иностранных языков, принял участие в ежегодном симпозиуме
японских русистов, где мне удалось познакомиться со многими прекрасными японскими
русистами, а также с теми японскими коллегами, с которыми я был давно дружен. Вовремя этих поездок мне удалось хорошо познакомиться с Токио, а также съездить вКамакуру с Дайсукэ Адати. Запомнилось время, проведенное в Киото, куда я приехал изТокио с лекцией в Киотском университете и незабываемая поездка с моими дорогими
друзьями Тадаши Накамура и Куми Татэока в волшебной красоты Аманохасидатэ.
Эти поездки позволили мне не только пообщаться с коллегами, завести новых друзей,обсудить совместные научные проекты, но и увидеть Японию такой, какой я никогдане смог бы ее увидеть один, как турист.
Отдельно хотел бы сказать о сказочной японской природе. Мне довелось жить наВосточном побережье США и из природных чудес света, которые мне посчастливилось
увидеть, одним из самых незабываемых была осень в Новой Англии. Мне казалось,что ничего более красочного и яркого
природа не создавала. Но это до тех пор,пока мне не посчастливилось увидеть осеньв Японии и в особенности на Хоккайдо.
Такого буйства цветов, такой интенсивностии изысканности красок просто невозможно
себе представить. Неповторимость цветовой
гамме придают хорошо продуманная
высадка разных экзотических сортов
растений и фантастические ландшафты.
Часто замечал, как все вокруг меня ходят с«Концерт» русской песни на праздновании
фотоаппаратами, толпами стоят на улицах,Рождества и Нового годабез конца фотографируя – идя на работу ис работы, по делам, в магазин... Мимо этой красоты просто невозможно пройти. Ятоже фотографировал почти безостановочно – в надежде ухватить цвет и свет. А ещемне удалось захватить зиму в Саппоро – с обильным снегом и гололедом. И это былопрекрасно – после довольно мягкой и сырой зимы в Англии. В каждое время годакампус университета Хоккайдо необычайно красив – я застал его зеленым летом (вавгусте), затем «горящим» самыми немыслимыми цветами осени и, наконец, в декабре,заснеженным, как декорации к «Щелкунчику».
Работа в центре подарила мне возможность познакомиться и подружиться сдругими стипендиатами Центра – Ярославом Горбачевым, Розалией Гариповой,Геннадием Королевым, с которыми мы проводили много времени как в университете,так и за его стенами. Ведь много интересного можно увидеть и в самом Саппоро –это и прекрасный Ботанический сад, и интересный музей современного искусства,и незабываемая выставка икебаны, и, наконец, концерты классической музыки ввеликолепном концертном зале «Китара», которые нам довелось посетить. Навсегда
запомню прекрасный Саппоро в рождественских огнях и прекрасный праздник встречи
Рождества и Нового года, устроенный в Центре сотрудниками и студентами.
Впервые я побывал в Японии в 2006 году. Это был краткий приезд для участия в
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No.27 March 2021двух конференциях – в Саппорои Киото. Уже тогда я былочарован волшебной красотой
Японии. Но в этот раз я смогнамного лучше познакомиться с
ней – уже не только как турист,но увидеть повседневную жизнь
людей, ближе узнать страну иполюбить ее. За все это я очень
благодатен Славистическому
Центру.
Мне приходилось иЛекция «Искусство ненависти:раньше бывать на различных
Насилие в советской военной культуре»стипендиях, но никогда все небыло так прекрасно организовано для гостей университета, когда за каждым из нас былзакреплен сотрудник Центра, который не только помогал во множестве самых разных
бытовых ситуаций, но и стал настоящим другом. Я счастлив, что встретил прекрасных
коллег – Дайсукэ Адати и Мотоки Номати, которые оказались не только незаменимыми
помощниками в моей японской жизни, но остались настоящими друзьями. С ними мыиспробовали меню почти всех ближайших ресторанов – сказочную кухню Саппоро,побывали в горах, ездили в Отару, гуляли по городу. Я благодарен Дэвиду Вольфу заего расположение и дружбу, внимание и интерес к моей работе. Время, проведенноев Центре, было наполнено большой работой и настоящим теплом и гостеприимством
хозяев. Но и уехав из Японии, я продолжаю свое сотрудничество с Центром. В настоящее
время вместе с Дайсукэ Адати мы готовим специальный номер издаваемого Центром
журнала «Acta Slavica Iaponica» на тему «Соцреалистическая институционализацияв СССР», в котором участвуют коллеги из Японии, России, США и Великобритании.

Four Months in Touch with Serenity
Gennadii Korolov (Institute of History / Foreign Fellow, 2019)

Honestly, conducting research at Hokkaido University has been my dream for several years.
The Slavic-Eurasian Research Center, where I applied in the fall of 2018, has a high academic
reputation among Slavists, historians, philologists allaround the world. Without exaggeration, this is one of
the best research institutes in the whole of Asia in Slavic
studies and history. Having received a scholarship award
message, I was sincerely happy.
In the spring of 2019, I had just finished a large tenyear project, and in a hurry, I was preparing a monographfor publication, while I was thinking about new researchplans. At the same time, confidence appeared: in Sapporo
I will be able to understand how to “reorient” my scholarship. To summarize, this is what happened, when I returned
from Sapporo, I have been started to work on new topics
about the violence during the “wars and revolutions” The author on the Ginkgo Avenue(1914–1923) and the entangled history of the idea ofat Hokkaido University11No.27 March 2021

national autonomy in Central andEastern Europe (1903–1926). To
sure, the fellowship in Sapporo
was very fruitful. I managed totake part in the conference inTokyo, the winter symposium in
Sapporo, gave a public lecture at
the Center, and much more. Also, I
have prepared several articles anda draft of a future book. However,in this essay I would like to tellwhat will remain in my memory
forever.
With family under autumn leaves
My journey to the “Land of
the Rising Sun” was in late August, I flew there with my family. At Chitose Airport, we weremet by Professor Tomohiko Uyama, who was my mentor during the fellowship. When wewere traveling by train to Sapporo station the professor told me about all the features andnuances of everyday life. After arriving at the station, we went to the apartment, which, as itturned out, was located on the campus of university, and was intended for foreign fellows.
The building was located at the foot of the mountains and fields of the university’s agricultural
department. Air, views, people, and everything was pleasing to the eye.
The next day, I registered in the municipality. In the first weeks Ikuo Teraoka, a doctoralcandidate of the Center, who prepares a thesis on the geography of Ukraine, helped me alot. I think we somehow immediately became friends and subsequently remained in contact.
Ikuo very often advised me on many current issues in Sapporo.
The day after my arrival, I saw the beauty of the campus of Hokkaido University. It was
all in a deep green color which is the symbolic color of the university. In October, the campus
became even more beautiful on the avenue of ginkgo trees. The rich colors of yellowed leaves
and the friendly smiles of the Japanese are now in front of my eyes.
At the Center, I was given a separate office and wonderful working conditions. I havebeen on many fellowships and taught at several universities in Europe, but in Sapporo I got
the best conditions for research. By the way, I would
recall the amazing, practical, and modern libraryof the Center. With great appreciation, I remember
its employees. In the library, I worked with books
and materials from the personal collections ofGeorge Shevelov and George Vernadsky, whichwere specially acquired by the University for thedevelopment of Slavic studies in Hokkaido.
Sapporo has many wonderful sights. My
family and I visited the local zoo, the 1972 WinterOlympics Museum, the Hokkaido Museum ofHistory, and Museum of Contemporary Art. Sincechildhood, I have always been interested in thehistory of sports, so visiting the Olympic Museum
was one of the important missions during my stayin Sapporo. I have been there several times. The
magnificent “Makomanai Park” is divided into
With other foreign fellows at the SRC
several parts: sports facilities of the competition, an12

No.27 March 2021

ice arena, a stadium, an interactive
and informative parts. The climb
to Okurayama (the former Olympic trampling for ski jumping)left a lot of impressions for life.
I recall how Sapporo has also
prepared for the Tokyo Olympic
Games, in shopping malls one
could buy symbols and souvenirsof the summer Olympics. Many
people wore Olympic signs on
their clothes. It is a pity that the
pandemic forced the authorities to
In front of the main administration
postpone this wonderful holiday
building of the Universityof sport, peace, and beauty.
For a long time, the Observation Hill of Hitsujigaoka will be in my memory. It takes
the name as a place for sheep breeding. There is also a monument to Dr. William Clark, thefirst president of Hokkaido University. The American agronomist first founded the Agrarian
College, which later became the university. From the monument one has a magnificent viewof the entire city from a bird’s eye view.
In November-December time in Sapporo all was very comfortable and calm. My family
walked in Odori Park, especially during the holiday fairs. My wife still recalls the “Shiroi
Koibito” chocolate factory, with its amazing British-style park and sweet cookies. The
factory produces the famous Hokkaido cookies. We visited this place several times, but it
was especially atmospheric there in December and in the evening time.
Summa summarum, I regard my research stay at the Slavic-Eurasian Research Centerof Hokkaido University as the most fruitful stage in my academic career. The beauty of
Hokkaido, the friendliness of Sapporo, and the wonderful working conditions at the Center
have remained forever in my memory. I recall with a smile my colleagues at the Center:affable, sincere, and responsive. And I become calm. Thanks Hokkaido.

Publications (2019–2020)

Manabu Sengoku, ed., Rethinking ‘populism’ in Central Eastern Europe and Latin America,(Sapporo: SRC, 2020) (in Japanese).
Slavic Studies, No. 67, 2020, refereed journal in Japanese with summaries in English or
Russian.
Acta Slavica Iaponica vol. 40 and vol. 41, 2020 refereed journal in English and Russian.
Eurasia Border Review vol. 10 and vol. 11, no. 1, 2019 and 2020, refereed journal in English.
Japan Border Review, no. 10, 2020, refereed journal in Japanese with summaries in English.

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No.27 March 2021

Contents
2020 Summer International Symposium “Northeast Asia: Pitfalls and Prospects,
Past and Present”............................................................................................ p. 1
2019 Winter International Symposium “Tsars’ Regions between Literary
Imaginations and Geopolitics”........................................................................ p. 3
New Project on Arctic Studies Launched................................................................ p. 5
Agreement with UCL SSEES.................................................................................... p. 5
International Online Conference on Literature “XI Korolenko Readings”.............. p. 6
Our Staff (FY2020).................................................................................................. p. 7
Ongoing Cooperative Research Projects................................................................ p. 8
Visitors from Abroad.............................................................................................. p. 9
Guest Lecturers from Abroad................................................................................. p. 9
Essay: Повседневная жизнь в Саппоро
by Evgeny Dobrenko............................................................................................ p. 9
Essay: Four Months in Touch with Serenity
by Gennadii Korolov.......................................................................................... p. 11
Publications (2019–2020)..................................................................................... p. 13

Slavic-Eurasian Research Center
Hokkaido University
Kita-9, Nishi-7, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0809 Japan
Telephone: (81) 11-706-2388
Facsimile:(81) 11-706-4952
E-mail: src@slav.hokudai.ac.jp
Internet home page:
http://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/index-e.html

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