Southeast Asia and Japan: Bonds and Connections towards 2030
7th Biennial International e-Conference of the Japanese Studies Association for Southeast Asia
15 – 17 December 2021
Day 1 (15 December 2021)
Zoom Link
Meeting Id: 891 6504 0020
Password: 197785
Time is according to Philippine Standard Time
3:00 pm – 3:15 pm Welcome Remarks
Karl Ian Uy CHENG CHUA
JSA-ASEAN Steering Committee Member
3:15 pm – 3:30 pm Opening Remarks
Dr. SATO Yuri
Executive Vice President
The Japan Foundation
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm Keynote Address
Japan’s Aging Peace: Demographics, Security and Justice
Tom Phuong LEPomona College
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm Plenary Session
Early Twentieth Century Vietnamese Intellectuals’ Perceptions of the Meiji Restoration and its Lessons for
Manpower Cultivation
Phan Hai LINH
Vietnam National University – Hanoi
Reformist and Revolutionaries: Filipinos view Meiji Japan, 1880s – 1912
Ricardo Trota JOSE
University of the Philippines – Diliman
Discussants:
Timothy David AMOS, National University of Singapore
Akiko ISHII, National University of Singapore
Yuriko YOKOYAMA, National Museum of Japanese History

Southeast Asia and Japan: Bonds and Connections towards 2030
7th Biennial International e-Conference of the Japanese Studies Association for Southeast Asia
15 – 17 December 2021
Keynote Address:
Japan’s Aging Peace: Demographics, Security, and JusticeThis talk challenges the conventional “normal nation” narrative in international relations scholarship byexplaining why Japan has not remilitarized despite the changing international context. By way of examining
Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) recruitment limitations to peace monuments, the talk reveals
how Japanese security policy is shaped by the interaction of ideas and the material world, such as
demographics, gender norms, and technology.
Tom Le is an associate professor of politics at Pomona College and a research associate at the PRIME
Institute at Meiji Gakuin University. Le is the author of Japan’s Aging Peace: Pacifism and Militarism in theTwenty-First Century (Columbia University Press, June 2021). Le received a PhD in political science fromthe University of California, Irvine, and BAs in history and political science from the University of California,
Davis.

Southeast Asia and Japan: Bonds and Connections towards 2030
7th Biennial International e-Conference of the Japanese Studies Association for Southeast Asia
15 – 17 December 2021
Plenary Session:
Early Twentieth Century Vietnamese Intellectuals’ Perceptions of the Meiji Restoration and its Lessonsfor Manpower Cultivation
Manpower autonomy and cultivation are crucial achievements of the Meiji Restoration. They laid afoundation for sustainable development in modern Japan. Success of the Meiji Japan was indirectly
perceived by Vietnamese intellectuals via foreign books and magazines, especially Chinese “new books”
which were understood in their own historical contexts. With a desire to rescue the country from poverty
and dependence, many Vietnamese intellectuals were inspired and sought to explain the success of Japan.
These intellectuals had their own ideologies before they learned about Meiji Restoration and suggested
specific paths of action to strive for the goals they perceived to be underpinning Meiji success. Morespecifically, there were two different trends in viewing Japan as a successful model, one that emphasizedreform and the other violence.
This paper focuses on the perceptions of the Meiji Restoration’s lessons on manpower autonomy andcultivation among Vietnamese intellectuals in the first two decades of the twentieth century, explains of
the strengths and weaknesses of each movement, using materials related to Dong Du movement led byPhan Boi Chau in Japan, as well as the Dong Kinh nghia thuc movement led by Phan Chu Trinh in Vietnam,
in addition to some articles in journal Nam Phong tap chi.
Phan Hai Linh is Associate Professor of the Department of Japan studies, Faculty of Oriental studies,
University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH), Vietnam National University Hanoi (VNU Hanoi). She
currently serves as Chair of the Science and Education Council of the Faculty of Oriental studies. Her fieldof speciality is medieval manors (shōen), history of Japan-Vietnam exchange, preservation of culturalheritages. She had served as a visiting scholar at Osaka University, Nichibunken. She also had been invited
as a visiting lecturer of National University of Singapore, Summer Institute hosted by The Japan Foundation,Vietnam Japan University. She holds undergraduate degree from Showa women's University (Japan) andgraduate degrees from VNU Hanoi.

Southeast Asia and Japan: Bonds and Connections towards 2030
7th Biennial International e-Conference of the Japanese Studies Association for Southeast Asia
15 – 17 December 2021
Reformists and Revolutionaries: Filipinos View Meiji Japan, 1880s-1912
The Meiji Restoration coincided with the development of nationalist movements and consciousness in theSpanish-colonized Philippines in the late nineteenth century. Filipino reformists - who sought peacefulchange within the Spanish colonial system - and revolutionists - who sought a violent overthrow of theSpanish yoke - both eyed Meiji Japan as a source of inspiration and moral and physical aid. The Philippine
Revolution that broke out in 1896 did actively solicit Japanese aid. Even as the United States’ war against
Spain thwarted Philippine independence and resulted in a new colonial order, Filipinos continued to lookat Meiji Japan as an ally and a source of inspiration in building the Philippines. This chapter examines
Filipino views of Japan at that time, and segue over to impressions of the Meiji Restoration as a model for
Philippine development.
Ricardo Jose is Professor of History in the Department of History, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy,
University of the Philippines (Diliman). He has specializations in World War II in the Philippines, Military
History, Diplomatic History, and Japanese History. He was awarded the Metrobank Foundation Prize for
Outstanding Filipinos in 2019.