July, 2020 Edition

02

Hasekura in the Time of COVID-19
This follow-up to our initial issue of the Bulletin

March, when Tohoku University’s participation in ancomes at what must be one of the strangest and mostinaugural event with our new League fellows at thechallenging times most of us have experienced. The

University of British Columbia had to be significantly

worldwide spread of the novel coronavirus – which, atreduced. Looking forward, plans for upcoming events

the time of this writing, shows no sign of slowing – hashave to be abandoned or completely rethought, mostin the space of weeks shattered assumptions related tonotably in the case of our planned symposium in Rometravel and social intercourse, upturned economies bothin the autumn. Discussions are currently underway tonational and international, and transformed, in ways

delay that event until the spring of 2021 and hold it in athat are probably permanent, the nature of work andnumber of locations concurrently, connected with one

employment. Most of us have first-hand experience withother electronically in a live-virtual hybrid event.

the influence that these dislocations have had on theNor are such compromises entirely negative. Whileacademy, teaching classes electronically, working fromthese necessary measures mean the sacrifice of much, ifhome, and struggling to help students understand andnot all, of the valuable face-to-face interaction that takes

navigate through a crisis that few, if any, of themplace at symposia, they also present opportunities forimagined possible.

increased participation from colleagues who might

Alongside its more universally destructive effects, theotherwise find it difficult to travel, as well as allowing for

pandemic presents challenges directly affecting key

audiences far beyond the sizes possible in non-virtual

concerns of the Hasekura League. The current ban upon,

space. It is with a view of both these challenges andand likely permanent changes to, international travel

opportunities that we are planning the next phase ofpresent barriers to many of the League’s signature

Hasekura League activities. We welcome anyactivities and have disrupted our planning for upcoming

suggestions or ideas and look forward to charting a newevents.

path for the future with you.

The extent of this disruption first manifested itself inEdition book, Furusato: ‘Home’ at the Nexus ofPolitics, History, Art, Society, and Self. Published by・In recognition of over 30 years of ground-breaking

Mimesis International of Milan, the volume collects

research into Japanese theatre, literature, and the arts,

works based on the papers presented at the November

on April 29 the Japanese government awarded2018 Hasekura Symposium in Venice.

Hasekura League founder and editorial board member
Professor Bonaventura Ruperti of ‘Ca Foscari・As touched upon in the introductory remark, ourUniversity of Venice The Order of the Rising Sun, Goldcolleagues at Tohoku University and Sapienza

Rays with Neck Ribbon.

University of Rome are currently revising the plans forthe symposium originally scheduled for November of・March saw the publication of the latest Hasekura

this year. More details will be coming soon.

July,2020 Edition | vol.02

December 2020 (tentative)

March 2021 (tentative)

Hasekura League Symposium: COVID-19 and theHasekura League International Symposium: The Long

Academy (in Japanese). Presented by Tohoku

1960s in Japan and Italy. Co-presented by Sapienza

University.

University of Rome and Tohoku University

Rafael Abad and Jesús San Bernardino (Universidad deSevilla). Date Masamune and the Letter to Seville: A New
Translation [Electronic Publication]. Hasekura
Association of Coria del Río, 2020.
Igor Melani (Università di Firenze). Rinascimento inMostra. La civiltà Italiana tra storia e ideologia
all'Esposizione Universale di Roma (E42). Rome:Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2019.
Chelsea Szendi Schieder (Aoyama Gakuin University).
“Demanding Publics: Women and Activism.” In The
Routledge Companion to Gender and Japanese Culture.
London: Routledge, 2020.

Chelsea Szendi Schieder (Aoyama Gakuin University) issoliciting proposals for short pieces for Teach311.org, aresearch and educational collective that has recentlyexpanded its mission to include “TeachCOVID-19”.
Interested parties can see https://www.teach311.org for alist of theme areas.
The call for papers from participants to last year’s Bologna
Hasekura Symposium: Images, Philosophy,Communication, co-organized by Università di Bologna
and Tohoku University will be issued in the near future inpreparation for the publication of the proceedings. We
would be delighted to see papers from as many
participants as possible.

Our next edition will feature more news, including revisions to the calendar of upcoming
Hasekura events. We would also invite anyone interested in writing short pieces on theirexperiences as teachers and researchers during the current pandemic to submit those forpublication. As always we welcome any news about publications and academic events andinvite any comments or suggestions that you might have.

The Hasekura League was formed in Florence in 2015 withrepresentatives from 15 universities in Europe and Japan.
Centered on a new international and interdisciplinary viewof Japanese Studies, the League has expanded broadly in theyears since, connecting with scholars in a wide variety offields from institutions around the world. In 2020, HasekuraInternational Graduate Programin Japanese Studies,
Tohoku University.
GPJS Office
Graduate School of Arts and Letters,
Tohoku University27-1 Kawauchi, Aoba-ku, Sendai,

will continue its development and launch new initiatives in980-8576, Japan

North America and Asia.

e-mail: gpjs@grp.tohoku.ac.jp