Keynote Abstracts
Lee, Seung Hyok. Japan's relations with North Korea and its implications on Japanesenational security
Japanese security is undergoing a significant transformation as a result of the unending
missile/nuclear provocations from North Korea and the increasingly threatening rise of
China. Although the biggest current concern around Japanese security is understandably
focused on the US-China rivalry in the Asia-Pacific region and Japan’s role within thatframework, I will argue that North Korea constitutes an equally significant factor in deciding
the trajectory of Japanese national security thinking. Worsening images of North Korea inthe minds of the Japanese public have provided both society and government with arationale for Japan’s gradual post-Cold War security transformations. In this talk, I will firstprovide a historical overview of Japan-North Korea interactions on both the social andpolitical levels, highlighting the fact that North Korea-related issues have been embedded
in Japanese domestic politics throughout the postwar period. I will also emphasize thesignificance of the 2000s in transforming the nature of the bilateral relations in the mindsof Japanese public. I will conclude the talk explaining how such historical trajectory has led
to the current Japanese reaction to North Korean security threats, and the unlikeliness ofimproved bilateral relations in the foreseeable future.

Nagy, Stephen. The Japan-China Paradox: Coexistence through engagement, resilience,and deterrence
Japan’s position in the Indo-Pacific is complex. It is deeply embedded in the politicoeconomy of the region with large economic footprints in ASEAN and the greater China
region. At the same time, territorial issues, history, and competing security imperatives
with China and to a lesser degree South Korea, continue to be sources of instability in theregion driven by domestic politics in each country.
Despite this Japan-China paradox, Japan remains wedded to deepening economic
relations with its largest neighbour based on the pursuit of coexistence throughengagement, investing in resilience and deterrence. This approach includes: 1) a selective
accommodation of China’s rise; 2) deeply integrating Japan into the Indo-Pacific politicoeconomy and rules-making process; 3) tightening the Japan-U.S. alliance and cementing
the U.S. into the region; and 4) diversifying and deepening its strategic partnerships.

By discussing these four approaches, this dialogue will highlight the nuanced approach to
how Japan views and engages with China and the region through leveraging its extensive
economic ties, commitment to development and its security partnerships such as the USJapan alliance, the Quad and the recently signed Japan-Australia Reciprocal Access
Agreement.

Tadokoro, Masayuki. Is Japan Still Relevant Today?
Ever for a long time since the West discovered Japan in the 16th century, Japan was an objectof indoctrination for the West. Not surprisingly, It was regarded as an underdeveloped
example of the dominant Western model, which was sometimes represented as a good
student, sometimes as a delinquent and sometimes as a comical imitator.

The Japanese catch-up with Western modernity was probably completed by the 1980s. At
the same time, modernisation of East Asian countries in contrast with Japan’s economic
stagnation rendered Japan banal boring. At the same time, views emphasising Japan's
otherness lost their appeal. In fact, Japan over the past “lost three decades” became acountry that shared many problems with Western countries. And in several respects, itoffers a leading example of postmodern challenges.

However, with geopolitical tensions on the rise, the world seems to be undergoing a remodernisation. Japan's role is taking on new meaning in the context of global challenges toliberal democracy. Japan is now a frontline state between an authoritarian China and anincreasingly unreliable US. Its geopolitical role will be of vital importance for the fate ofliberal democracies.

Mokottunas Kitahara. Beliefs and Myths of the Ainu People
This presentation will discuss the history of the Ainu people, new laws regarding the Ainu
people and cultural continuity with North American indigenous peoples (including fishinggear for catching salmon, rituals to welcome the first salmon, folklore about the rainbow
and legends of heroes born by the power of the sun).

Despite differences in the places where they have lived and their history, the Ainu andCanadian First Nations have much in common in terms of traditional culture and the social
status and difficulties they face today. We would be greatly strengthened by knowing eachother.

Abstracts
Baycroft, Anne.

Japanese Buddhists, American Christians, and the Development ofModern Typography in Japan”
In the mid-nineteenth century, Protestant missionaries ran the largest mission press in theworld—the American Presbyterian Mission Press (APMP)—in Shanghai, China. This press
printed millions of pages of Chinese and Japanese language texts every year using metal
fonts of type developed specifically for religious printing. This paper explores the early
exposure of Japanese Buddhist scholars to the modern, typographically printed books of the
APMP in Shanghai through a study of the movement, reproduction, and dissemination of
APMP publications in Japan during the first years of the Meiji era 明治時代 (1868-1912).
Japanese intellectual-scholar monks like Ugai Testujō 養鸕徹定 (1814-1981) engaged intheological discourses with Christian missionaries in China by reproducing and responding
to the Chinese language scholarship printed by the mission press. The movement of printed
books between China and Japan also fostered technological exchange. Coincidentally,
Japanese Buddhists were some of the first adopters of modern typographic printing in Japan.
They used this technology to increase the scale of educational and transportable Buddhist
literature throughout the 1870s and 1880s. Operating independent of direct Protestantmissionizing, yet tangential to the global outlook of missionary printing, Jōdo 浄土 andJōdo Shinshū 浄土真宗 Buddhists endeavored to refine the teachings of their sect into
authoritative, accessible, and transportable books. Secular and Buddhist printers alikewanted Kanji, kana, commentary, annotation, reading marks, and punctuation, all of whichcould be achieved with the modern typography developed by American Presbyterian
missionaries in China.

Covatta, Alice.

Architecture as spatial and social fabric: Japanese perspectives to reducesocial isolation in high density
Tokyo is the paradigm of a city growing denser over time (Ashihara, 1992). Faced withmultiple opportunities and challenges, this metropolis has always been a pioneer in
exploring new solutions for high-density housing (Boontharm & Radovic, 2012). In recent
years, cases of social isolation have rapidly increased due to densification and the change inlifestyle towards the atomization of Japanese society (Maki et al., 2019). Isolation results ina quantitative and qualitative lack of social contacts (Delisle, 1988), a situation that involves
few social contacts and roles, as well as an absence of mutually enriching relationships withothers (Clifford, 2018). At a time when the risks associated with social isolation are growing
in global cities (Adli et al., 2017), especially in the face of the consequences of COVID-19 oninterpersonal relationships (Yamada et al., 2021), it seems necessary, even urgent, toexplore architectural solutions for contemporary cohabitation, in order to better understandthe role that architecture should play in promoting social interactions in high-density areas.
The objective is to understand which architectural forms target development towards
densification while integrating strategies to reduce social isolation. These practices have thepotential to provide better urban resilience and improve mental health, from Tokyo to global
metropolises. We began the research by consulting articles, site visits, videos, exhibitions
and books. This led us to four recently completed projects that share the same urban

challenges within high-density residential neighborhoods in Tokyo. These were selected fortheir recent construction (2009-2014) and are located in high-density residential
monofunctional neighborhoods. In addition, the architects of these projects have affirmed
their intention to increase social interaction between residents through an innovative layout.
The selected projects are: Apartment with a small restaurant (Naka Architect’ Studio 2014),
Dragon Village (Eureka 2013), House for seven people (Mio Tsuneyama/mnm 2013) andYokohama Apartment (Osumu Nishida+Erika Nakagawa 2009). The method of typomorphological analysis has been developed to reveal the physical and spatial structure of
the selected projects, based on detailed classification by types of the elements that shapeits urban form: open spaces, buildings or streets. The analysis reveals that each project
integrates urban spaces (i.e. loggia, verandas, alleys..) into the building’s design. Theseurban types are designed to facilitate interaction and act as catalysts for daily encountersand occasional events. Even if they often have an interstitial character, the study highlights
how these types act at multiple scales to strengthen the link between social space andpersonal space, but also between the building and the neighborhood.

Creighton, Millie.

Japan’s ‘Art Seto’ and Global Uses of Tourism to Offset Rural

Depopulation
Japan is an archipelagic country comprised entirely of islands. However, Japan’s four ‘main
islands’ are considered more central than its thousands of other islands. These ‘other’islands held vibrant communities of smaller cities, towns, and villages. With the tripleforces of rural exodus, low birth rate, and aging population these communities struggle forsurvival. The Seto Inland Sea islands developed an international art (and architecture)
festival, the Seto Inland Sea International Art Triennale, to attract tourists. The broader
concept ‘Art Seto’ includes art visible then and other times. Occurring every three years,
the festival highlights world famous museums and resort hotels built on these islands by
renowned Japanese architects, and installations of Japanese and foreign artists. ‘Art Seto’
allows the communities to ‘survive,’ but one question is whether incoming flows offoreign and Japanese outsiders really constitute community survival. However, locals
redefine their identities rather than simply being caught in globalization, while tourists
navigate Seto Inland Sea island hopping via different travel mobilities. My presentation
also explores social, environmental and human rights issues ‘Art Seto’ addresses such as
rural youth suicides, environmental degradation, and Japan’s previous incarceration ofHansen’s Disease (aka Leprosy) patients. I also present recent research done in November
2022 on four islands that are only part of the festival during autumn. While showing how
rural and remote communities in Japan resist decline via tourism, I resist the notion that
this represents a declining Japan, and instead relate this to global movements of rural andsmaller communities in developed countries adopting tourism incentives to survive
through regional celebrations, art, music, theatre or film festivals, or recreating
themselves as so-called book towns, etc.
Dahl, Shayne. Signs of Hope in a Forgotten Mountain: Shugendo, Counterculture, andRural Revitalization
In a small farming village, high in the mountains of Western Japan, oral history tells that anearby summit is a dyad of the womb and diamond realms in esoteric Buddhism. Yet, noone, not even the oldest living resident in this rapidly depopulated village, know what thismeans or where, exactly, the realms might be. In July 2022, a young mountain ascetic who
recently moved into a growing countercultural community near the mountain discovered
the realm sites while wandering by intuition through the trees. He then organized acommunity excavation, finding unusual rock formations that soon became new sites ofworship. In this presentation, I consider how the local archaeological discovery of the realm
sites has affected religion in the community, intensifying their felt connection to theancestral past as well as inspiring waking visions of an imminent spiritual revolution. This
paper considers especially how despite outward signs of decline in Japanese society related
to a low birth rate and rapidly ageing population, millennials are repopulating formerly
depopulated rural communities and seeking to revitalize local communities, reimagining
Japan from the periphery.

Fujiwara, Gideon.

Utakai Hajime in Modern Japan: The Imperial New Year Poetry

Ceremony from Meiji to Contemporary Society
In the New Year, Japan’s imperial court hosts a ceremony to present readings of waka poetryby members of the imperial family and general public, composed on a preannounced theme.
For several centuries this Utakai hajime ceremony had been conducted exclusively within
the court, but in the early years of the Meiji period (1868-1912) the court began to accept
poems from the general populace. Such changes reflect larger developments in both society
and the practice of the poetic form, as well as efforts to make the modern monarchs visible

to the public and build a nation of subjects who would also partake in waka compositionpassed down for over a millennium.
This presentation examines how the Utakai hajime has been developed and popularized
over the course of its modern history. I look at how the court gradually engaged a broader
demographic of people across lines of gender, class, age, geography, and ethnicity tocompose and submit waka for this annual ritual. Through such examples I explore how thepoetry and ceremony itself was developed through Japan’s tumultuous era of modern
reforms, empire, and wartime and postwar societies.

Ha, Linh. ASEAN-QUAD synergies in Indo-Pacific? Evaluating Japan’s bridging role
In Southeast Asia, Japan stands out as the QUAD member that understands the region
the best and is most willing to cater to the needs of individual regional states. Japan’s
reputation as the most trusted partner in the region and its unique brand of development
diplomacy have been consistently highlighted in The State of Southeast Asia’s annual survey
reports. Additionally, Japan is considered a leading player in the QUAD and a crucial link
between member states. The idea of the QUAD was initially proposed by Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007 while the concept of a free and open Indo-Pacific was first
introduced by Abe in 2016, creating a foundation for ASEAN and other QUAD members toformulate their own Indo-Pacific versions. This paper aims to answer the following questions:
1. Why is Japan uniquely positioned to serve as a bridge between ASEAN and the QUAD
for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region?

2. Can Japan successfully fulfill this role, and what are its strengths and limitations in doingso?
3. How will ASEAN respond to Japan’s involvement in shaping partnerships with the
QUAD?
4. Do other QUAD members share the same objectives as Japan regarding ASEAN?

Harrison, Scott and Momo Sakudo. Are immigration policies the end-all solution to Japan’s
rapid population decline?
Japan’s population is shrinking and ageing at an alarming rate, but even the best natal policies
and programs cannot completely solve what is an inherently multidimensional issue. Prime
Minister Kishida Fumio spoke directly to this issue during his opening speech at the 2023
Parliamentary session when he said that Japan was on the “brink of social dysfunction” due tothe declining birthrates. While efforts to support the equality of women and children in Japanare needed and notable, Japan’s population decline is not only about birthrates. In the short tomedium term, immigration will also play an essential role in addressing the challenges of
population decline and offset labour shortages. Currently, in the absence of a national
immigration system, Japan has piecemeal migration policies overseen by several ministries andagencies. And discussions of a more holistic, national system have historically been a politicaltaboo. However, the increase of foreign residents in Japan despite a national immigration
system and the growing number of migration-related policies are a nod of recognition forJapan’s shifting priorities. While migration alone will not solve Japan’s demographic challenges,
realities on the ground point to both Japan’s need for immigration and that change is already inthe air.

Hashimoto, Atsuko and David Telfer. Historic and Heritage Tourism Along the TōkaidōRoad in Edo JapanThe legendary Tōkaidō Road built during the Edo period (1603-1867) connected Edo (Tokyo)
the home of the shogun, with Kyoko, the home of the emperor. Along the road were 53 poststations (shuku) that served the many travellers from pilgrims to great lords (daimyo)
traversing

the road offering food, supplies and accommodation. Guidebooks andliterature of the time along with the images of woodblock prints fostered a sense ofadventure awaiting those setting out on the 12-day trip between the two cities. The policyof sankin-kōtai (alternate attendance for daimyō in Edo and in their domains) also saw great
processions of daimyō accompanied by thousands of retainers travelling along the Tōkaidō.
This presentation first examines historic tourism along the Tōkaidō Road through Edo period
travel guides and literature as well as through Utagawa Hiroshige’s woodblock print series‘53 Stations of the Tōkaidō’. It then examines contemporary heritage tourism of thepreserved post-station of Seki and the reconstructed checkpoint of Hakone offering a lookback on travel during the Edo period. An examination of both historic travel andcontemporary heritage tourism offers insights into the continuing lore of the Tōkaidō Road.
Iwata, Shinsuke and Kentaro Okada.

The Appeal of Canada in Travel Media for

Women: Focusing on the "Rurubu Canada" Series

The purpose of this presentation is to explore how the attractiveness of Canada has been
represented in tourism through a content analysis of travel media, with a focus onunderstanding the grassroots aspects of international relations between Japan andCanada.
The analysis primarily centers around Japan's travel media for women, specifically one of
the country's most popular travel guidebook series, "Rurubu Canada." The aim is to clarify
how the appeal of Canada has been portrayed in the series over the past 20 years.
The analysis reveals the following three points. Firstly, geographically, Canada's
attractiveness is primarily concentrated in two regions: the west (British Columbia andAlberta) and the east (Ontario, southern Quebec, and Prince Edward Island). Central
Canada, for example, is rarely chosen as a main attraction, even if there are parts toshowcase it.
Secondly, a significant portion of Canada's attractions is based on natural resources, suchas the Canadian Rockies, Niagara Falls, fall foliage, glaciers, auroras, and wildlife. Even
sections on "Anne of Green Gables" emphasize the natural landscape surrounding Green
Gables, presenting it as an integral component of Canada's natural beauty.
And thirdly, it is evident that the multicultural aspect of Canada is largely overlooked, as
indicated by the rarity of the term "multiculturalism." While cultural elements related toindigenous peoples are often displayed in souvenirs and other products, and ethnic townshave been highlighted in Toronto in recent years, it can be argued that they have deviatedfrom the national image of Canada as a multicultural nation.
Kato, Ken; Kimiko Katuyama and James Tiessen. Research Ethics Committees for Medical
Research in JapanThe development of medical care can be seen as the result of medical research. However,
it is undeniable that some research has been conducted in such a way as to trample on the
dignity of people and animals. Against this background, and especially in light of thereflections on human subjects’ cases against prisoners of war during World War II, research
ethics in medical research, as represented by the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical
Association, has become important. In Japan, medical research is conducted by the "Ethical
Guidelines for Life Sciences and Medical Research Involving Human Subjects" and otherguidelines. In this process, research ethics committees play an important role, but not all
research ethics committees can conduct sufficient ethical reviews. This is because, forexample, many hospitals have ethics committees. Although ethics committees are required
to include people who represent the public, there is a shortage of people who can conduct
ethics reviews from such a position. The purpose of this presentation is to provide an
overview of the current status of research ethics committees in medical research in Japanby comparing it with Canada and to provide clues for considering how an effective research
ethics committee, including its organizational structure, should be organized.

Kovalio, Jacob. Japan and Canada between 2020-2023: similarities and differences
The presentation is a comparative tour d’horizon of the most salient elements in thedomestic and foreign policies of the two nations.

Lipscy, Phillip. Japan as a harbinger?
Why study Japan? Research on contemporary Japanese politics and foreign policy faces
headwinds from the relative geopolitical decline of Japan and scholars skeptical about
single-country studies. An overview of Japanese politics publications in English-language
journals over the past four decades suggests the subfield remains active and robust.
However, there is still room to grow. I argue that Japan is a harbinger state, which
experiences many challenges before others in the international system. As such, studying
Japan can inform both scholars and policymakers about the political challenges othercountries are likely to confront in the future. In turn, scholarship on Japan offers a critical
opportunity to develop theoretical insights, assess early empirical evidence, and offer policy
lessons about emerging challenges and the political contestation surrounding them. I
consider the reasons why Japan so often emerges as a harbinger across issue areas andsuggest areas for ongoing scholarly attention.

Matsui, Shige. Facing the Disastrous Lowest Child-birth Rate and the Drastically Aging
Society: Vital Importance of the Constitutional Right to Sexual Autonomy
Japan is facing a disastrous lowest child-birth rate. The number of child born is rapidly
declining. As a result, the number of people in the working age is dropping rapidly andJapanese society is facing a serious labor shortage. On the other hand, the people areaging so fast. With the significant speed of aging, the huge number of seniors isnecessitating the government care. The government must come up with the effective andpromising measure to face both evident tendencies. Probably, the government would
need a miracle to solve this most daunting task. Regardless of the international conflict or
any kind of natural disasters, these internal conflict could possibly ruin the Japanese
government and the Japanese society. The government has been enthusiasticallypromoting marriage and child-birth. Yet, the government measures so far fail to stop thisdilemma. The government need to find a much better solution. However, in order toadopt any measures, it is vital to remember that each individual should have a right tosexual autonomy. Indeed, the right to sexual autonomy needs to be constitutionallyprotected and should be granted the prime importance in adopting any government
measures or in implementing them. This paper highlights the importance of the right tosexual autonomy and cast serious doubt whether the government realizes this primaryconstitutional mandate.
Ogata, Ken. Sunset of the samurai: A study of deinstitutionalization processes
The Meiji Restoration in 1868 marked the relegitimation of the Emperor as the sole headof state, replacing the former Tokugawa Shogun government. The Restoration enabledsocietal level institutional change, transforming Japan from an agrarian feudal society, intoa modern industrialized nation by the advent of the twentieth century. Restoration
leaders used the past (Heian period) as the basis for creating the future (restoration ofImperial rule), while dismantling contrary elements of the past (demise of the samurai).

Key to the success of Japan’s subsequent modernization was the delegitimation anddeinstitutionalization of the samurai class. However, deinstitutionalization did not occur
rapidly as suggested by the precipitating jolt institutional change literature, but rather
required considerable creative destruction by the new Imperial government over a tenyear period (1868-77), culminating with the Satsuma Rebellion and death of Saigo
Takamori.
Despite the critical role of deinstitutionalization to institutional change, few studies havebeen conducted of this process. As such, limited theorizing of the deinstitutionalization
process has occurred, with much presumed about its characteristics andtrajectory. Building upon Oliver’s (1992) three suggested pathways fordeinstitutionalization (rejection, replacement, dissipation), and Scott’s (2008) institutionalpillars framework (regulatory, normative, cultural-cognitive), this paper traces the effortsof the new Imperial government to deinstitutionalize the samurai, and how their actions
disrupted and dismantled associated institutional pillars and supporting social
structures. Based upon this case study of the samurai, a framework fordeinstitutionalization processes is proposed, with an emphasis upon elaborating thedissipation pathway of institutional demise.
Ota, Norio.

Language education at a crossroads

Humanities, and languages in particular, have been experiencing an onslaught in university
education for many years. In the US, for example, 651 foreign language courses were
eliminated in three years between 2013 and 2016. (Johnson 2019) In Canada the same trendhas been observed in recent years. In this presentation, aspects of language teaching whichhave been ignored for a long time will be discussed, by focusing on educational aims
involved in language learning. The narrative approach proposed in Ota (2021) to enhanceadvanced and post-advanced Japanese language courses is one of such attempts.
In the second part of this paper, the computer technology and the Internet, which havechanged the field of language teaching and learning immensely in the past forty years, will
be discussed in reference to the emergence of generative artificial intelligence, which is
expected to revolutionize the field further. The spearhead of this trend is ChatGPT, withwhich a professional or an academic in any field could write very cohesive papers, theses
and even dissertations. In language courses an intermediate student, for example, could
come up with an almost perfect essay in Japanese. This is already happening. A translation
assignment is more accurate now based on powerful computing and big data. Is this the
beginning of AI taking over the language teaching profession?

References:
Johnson, Steven (2019) “Colleges Lose a ‘Stunning’ 651 Foreign-Language Programs in 3
Years”, The Chronicle of higher education, January 22, 2019.
Ota, Norio (2021) ‘Narrative-based advanced and post-advanced Japanese language
courses’, a paper presented at the 33rd Japan Studies Association Annual Conference (online) at Thompson Rivers University, October 1-3, 2021.

Murphy, Thomas. Middle Power Cyber Security Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific: An
Analysis Through the Lens of Neo-Middle-Power Diplomacy

As technology has advanced and our world has become increasingly interconnected,
cyberspace has become an invisible but consequential battlefield in great powercompetition. The Indo-Pacific is a region that has found itself particularly vulnerable in thisnew reality – the paucity of institutions, heterogeneity in development, and the region
being the primary zone of US-China strategic competition fueling these vulnerabilities. Data
from private and public sectors are targeted as both state and non-state actors seek to takeadvantage of this relatively underdeveloped security environment. What is clear is that thedomain of cyberspace provides a multitude of national security threats posed by states,
non-state actors and state sponsored actors. Despite this, in the published Indo-Pacificstrategies of middle powers such as Canada, cybersecurity takes a backseat to hard security,
energy security, and economic security issues – underrepresented in comparison despite its
critical importance. Using the concept of neo-middle power diplomacy, this paper examines
why the limited cybersecurity cooperation among middle powers in the Indo-Pacific hastaken the shape it has. This paper finds that the two most promising areas of cooperationin cybersecurity for middle powers are through confidence building measures and capacity
building measures, and that this cooperation stems from a lack of an institutionalframework, a gap in cyber capabilities in the region, the variety of challenges middle powers
face from cyberspace, and the rapid development of offensive cyber capabilities. Throughactively pursuing these two measures, middle powers are able to become more effective,
capable, and autonomous stakeholders within the Indo-Pacific.
Nedal, Dani K. How Urban Vulnerability Promotes Peace: Evidence from Cross-National
Statistics and a Longitudinal Study of JapanHow do states deal with vulnerability? Some scholars identify vulnerability as a leading
cause of aggressive behavior. Vulnerability raises the costs of inaction and the risk of
predation. Preventive action is advised and concerns over relative gains prevail. Intense
security competition and aggressive behavior follow. Others propose that states respondby avoiding conflict, and even by cooperating to mitigate perceived vulnerabilities.
Heightened vulnerability, in this view, does not necessarily promote predatory behavior,
but may instead engender caution, inhibition, or pro-social behavior. I focus on a single
critical source of national vulnerability in the modern age – the vulnerability of cities tomodern war – and one related source of inequality among countries – their levels of urban
concentration. In some countries, like the United States or Spain, population (as well as
wealth and power) is dispersed throughout various cities, while others, like South Korea or
Sudan, feature one or two dominant urban centers. As a result, the strategic significanceof cities and overall degrees of vulnerability differ considerably from country to country.
Through a quantitative analysis of urban concentration and interstate conflict, I show thatstates more often deal with urban vulnerability by avoiding conflict, not seeking it out.
Japan, one of the most urbanized and concentrated countries, was one of the first to
grasp the challenges posed by urban vulnerability. A longitudinal study of Japanesesecurity policy throughout the 20th century illustrates the predominantly cautionary
responses to urban vulnerability as well as a critical, outlier, case of tragically selfdefeating aggressive behavior.
Pavlenko, Svitlana. The Japanese consulate in Odesa and the hunt for Japanese spies
during the 1900-1930s

Odesa is a South Ukrainian port city. It became a powerful trade center in the 19th century.
Almost 20 foreign consulates have worked there. Among them was the Japanese one, which
worked during 1889 – 1909 and 1926–1937. The Japanese-Russian and then JapaneseSoviet relations influenced the consulate’s work. For the first 15 years, the Russian secretpolice did not pay any attention to the activity of the Japanese consulate in Odesa. Evenfrom 1903 to January 1904, the counter-intelligent didn’t assume that consul Kametaro
Iijima could work as a Japanese spy agent. However, he was doing it. Everything changed
after the Russian-Japan war. From 1907 Russian secret police tried to watch out for the
consulate`s workers and other guests from Japan. The State Archive of Odesa Region keeps
the report 1907 about watching for vice-consul Naohiko Fukuda. Although the secret police
did it very carefully and tried to avoid any influences on the consulate's activity.
The opposite situation was during the Soviet era. Japan was an ideological and politicalenemy of the Soviet State. The Soviet secret police didn`t only watch out for the Japanesein Odesa they also had secret agents among consulate workers and checked out eachdocument that was sent to or from the consulate. The Soviet counter-intelligent service
believed that all the Japanese, who were in the USSA worked for a Japanese spy system. It

is why the secret police tried to paralyze the work of the consulate. Of course, they didn`t
get any evidence.

Reiffenstein, Tim. Geographies of elite Tokyo ramen noodle shops. Or where can we
expect to see sidewalk queues in Tokyo?

This article examines the geographies of elite Tokyo ramen noodle shops. It does this firstby using Arc GIS to map ten years of locational data (2012-2021) of prominent and emergent
Tokyo ramen shops, here defined according to Tokyo Ramen of the Year magazine’s curated
annual rankings in established and rookie categories. Outside of Tokyo’s core, elite shop
distributions radiate outwards along the rail lines. Within Tokyo’s core, GIS kernel density
highlights agglomerations of elite shops in an arc from Kanda to Takadanobaba. Shops
outside these hot zones calculate that quality will attract committed customers to make thetrek to suburban and ex-urban locales, often to wait in a lengthy queue when they arrive.
Consequently, the second part of the paper analyzes ramen consumer time-space accountsof elite shop visits, as published on peer-to-peer site Ramen Database. These
complementary approaches position the paper to argue that elite ramen shops command
unique time geography commitments from their customers. These time costs sit at odds
with the quick and affordable identity of ramen characterized by the moniker b-kyu gurume(b class gourmet).

Sinclair, Paul. Japan Doubles Down on English: How Foreign Language Education Policy
Reflects Japan’s Political Priorities in East Asia
This presentation indirectly tackles the conference’s “Japan in Perilous Times” theme byasking how Japan’s language education policy reflects the country’s current geopoliticalpriorities. Our presentation begins with a brief historical tour of Japan’s approaches tolanguages like English, French and German, which had cultural value, and languages like
Chinese, Korean, and Russian, which had utilitarian value. Then we move our focus to thepresent. Looking back over the past two decades, we argue the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology began to strategically focus its resources on
English language education at the turn of the 21st century. For example, we explore the2002 “Strategy to cultivate Japanese who can actually use English” and the gradual spreadof English programming through elementary schools. While the Foreign Language Sectionof the Central Council for Education intoned its support for languages other than English
during its deliberations in the mid-2000s, the Council’s real interest was English education,
we show. And the Monbukagakushō redoubled its efforts as it began to prepare its
citizens for the 2020 Olympics, striving for “top-class English proficiency in Asia” [italicsmine]. We then discuss how, during the same period, lukewarm support of Chinese,
Korean, and “languages other than English,” stymied the education of those languages
even when enthusiasm for the languages was growing amongst the public. To make ourcase, we discuss Japanese universities’ tepid efforts to establish language programs for
Korean and Chinese in the past two decades, recent policies for National Center forUniversity Entrance Examinations regarding foreign languages other than English, andJapan’s support for the US hardline position on China’s Confucius Institutes.
Seko, Yukari and James Tiessen. Aging well with culturally appropriate food: Meal
provision for Nikkei seniors in Canada
Food is a vital resource for healthy aging. Meal programs for older adults, such as “Meals on
Wheels” (meal delivery to home) and Congregate Community Dining (CCD) that provides anopportunity for participants to eat together have proven effective in mitigating foodinsecurity and promoting psychosocial well-being. However, existing research in Canada
focuses predominantly on the nutritional value of these programs. Less attention is paid totheir social aspects, particularly in culturally and linguistically diverse populations.
In this presentation, we explore CCD programs for older Canadians of Japanese cultural
backgrounds (Nikkei) delivered by the Momiji Health Care Society (MHCS) in the Greater
Toronto Area. We discuss Nikkei seniors’ experiences and memories related to food in theirown lives, what meaning they may associate with Japanese-style meals, and whether andhow the CCD program has contributed to aging well in place. Further, we examine how the
MHCS has navigated challenges to deliver this program over many years and adapted to achanging environment during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The presentation
concludes with a discussion on the meaning and function of “Japanese culture” in themulticultural city of Toronto where residents’ ethnocultural identities are in constant flux.

Somerville, Matthew. Nihonjin Kyoushi Dake!?: The Perceptions of a Non-Native Speaking
Teacher in a high-intermediate Japanese language class.
Previous research has highlighted challenges faced by non-native speaking teachers (NNSTs)
due to the pervasive beliefs favoring native-speaking teachers (NSTS) for their perceived
linguistic and pedagogical capabilities. This divide, upheld by students, teachers, andadministrators, impacts students’ learning experiences and escalates NNSTs’ anxieties,
confidence issues, and workplace challenges. While NNST research on instructors within
English and other language fields has received attention, limited focus is given to NSTs in the
Canadian JFL context.
This presentation aims to address this gap by examining an NNST in high-intermediate
Japanese class within a Canadian post-secondary setting. Utilizing qualitative tools (pre- andpost-course open-ended questions, reflexive journal entries, language logs, and interviews)
and quantitative data (pre-and post-course Likert scale questionnaires), the study
investigates the instructional practices employed by the NNST and the perceptions andbeliefs held by both students and the instructor regarding the NNST’s qualifications.
The results from this study shed light on NNSTs’ capabilities and students’ perceptions of
their instructors. These findings contribute to the specialized NNST research field, offering
empirical and practical implications for research, language teaching, teacher education, andprofessional development within the Canadian JFL field. In alignment with the conference
theme “Japan in Perilous Times,” this presentation underscores the social challenges NNSTs
confront due to long-standing NST biases while offering recommendations aimed at
empowering NNSTs within the JFL field in Canada.

Telfer, David and Atsuko Hashimoto. The Growth of Kominka Restoration as Heritage
Tourism in JapanThe conversion of old storage and industrial buildings in or near ports into shops, restaurants,
museums, and other tourist facilities to redevelop the region and its economy has occurredin many places such as Otaru, Yokohama, Kurashiki, and Moji in Japan. In a similar vein,
kominka, or old residential houses, often with thatched roofs, are recently attracting new
attention as part of kominka projects in remote rural areas to establish tourism as a new
economic activity. Kominka used to be considered old-fashioned with cumbersome
maintenance issues, and many home-owners starting in the 1970s changed them intomodern homes with contemporary building materials. Exceptions to this modernization
were in cultural heritage designated areas like Shirakawagō in Gifu where the entire
community of kominka buildings were conserved. Recently preserving individual kominka
houses has become part of tourism redevelopment strategies as they are transferred into
fashionable accommodations, shops, cafés, and restaurants while maintaining the historiccharacter of the buildings. In some cases, individual komika are relocated while others arepreserved in place as part of a larger cluster of komika. Interestingly, it has been nonJapanese who have pointed out the value of the kominka and have been restoring them inrural areas which are attracting increasing numbers of tourists. This presentation will
examine successful kominka project cases including Kyoto, Kawaba, Ojika Island and Iya
Valley highlighting their potential as tool for rejuvenation through tourism.

Telfer, Kyoko. Talking chairs and godly cats: Mediating the cultural trauma of the 3/11
disaster in Shinkai’s Suzume no Tojimari (2022)

This paper argues that Makoto Shinkai’s animated film Suzume no Tojimari reinscribes anarrative of resilience and remembrance of the 3/11 tsunami and earthquake disaster as ameans of mediating a collective cultural trauma. Through a literature review and close
textual analysis of the film, this analysis follows three lines of inquiry to demonstrate how
Shinkai integrates the 3/11 disaster into narratives of a mythic past, the historical past, andpresent cultural consciousness as part of the mediation process. Regarding the mythic past,
analysis considers the fantastical elements of the film and locates them within the wider
context of Indigenous Shinto religion. In attributing the cause of natural disasters to mythicalcreatures, Shinkai provides an instigator of this specific cultural trauma while also
complicating the question of culpability. Situating the film’s events into a connected
geographic context, the road trip genre also situates both the characters and the 3/11
disaster into a historical tradition of natural disasters by featuring locations that haveexperienced past earthquakes and tsunamis. Narrativising 3/11 as part of a history ofnatural disasters softens its immediacy and establishes it as a past event. With its setting in
the present day, the film represents past and present through the framework of the titularcharacter’s coming of age. Presenting memory as a key characteristic of achieving adulthood,the lasting impact of 3/11 as a cultural trauma is acknowledged, then neutralized. Finally,
the translation of Suzume no Tojimari’s extratextual elements into tangible fan experiences
will be briefly considered.

Takagaki, Cary. The apocalypse genre in manga and anime: where’s the ‘peril’?
In 1988, during the height of the bubble period, two remarkably diﬀerent anime werereleased in Japan. One was the bucolic, nostalgic look back to a simpler 1950s Japan,
Miyazaki Hayao’s My Neighbour Totoro. The other was an apocalyp�c anime set in a corrupt,
violence plagued future Tokyo, Otomo Katsuhiro’s Akira. Miyazaki’s Totoro could be seen as
an atempt to recapture interpersonal and family values that seemed to be slipping away inthe economy driven 1980s where money was plen�ful and consumerism was reaching
unprecedented heights. But what had given rise to the bleak nihilis�c future that Akira
foretold? Moreover, it was only one of other similarly themed manga and anime, such as
Grey, and Appleseed. These all had their origins during the bubble period and were followedby other apocalypse themed manga and anime such as Neon Genesis Evangelion. Yet Japan
was the second largest economy in the world at the �me and the pressing concerns overclimate change and terrorism were over a decade away. So what explains the end of theworld narra�ves that drove these manga and anime? This paper looks for the “peril” that
had induced such anxie�es in these genres of popular culture aimed at Japanese youth.

Waldichuk, Tom. Culture and Environmental Attitudes in Japan
Attitudes toward the environment in Japan, e.g., concern for the environment, do not seemto differ with those of people from other developed countries such as Canada.
Environmental attitudes do differ when comparing Japanese residents with those residents
of poorer countries with a lower GDP per capita. Regardless of country, statisticallysignificant attitude differences exist among all people based on social demographic

variables such as gender, age, education, and income. Political party affiliation, trust inothers, and post-material values can also affect attitudes. Researchers note that historically
Christian values have negatively influenced the development of pro-environmental valuesin Western countries, whereas in East Asian societies the presence of Buddhism andConfucianism may have led to more eco-friendly values and attitudes. However, it is difficult
to measure the influence of religion – or more broadly culture -- on environmental attitudes.
The purpose of this talk is to describe – based on a literature review and using examples -how religion and culture have influenced environmental values, attitudes, and behaviours
in Japan. How do these attitudes vary with those of other East Asian nations? I then reflect
on first, how culture can influence modern-day environmental attitudes, such as attitudes
toward climate change and the preservation of green space, and second, the importance ofconsidering culture when making global comparisons of environmental attitudes.

Winberg, William. EU, Germany and coopera�on within Japan’s Free and Open IndoPaciﬁc
Since the second premiership of Prime minister Shinzo Abe, there’s been a shi� towards amore proac�ve Japan in the realm of foreign policy. A once passive Japan, (in)famously “freeriding” on American power projec�on in the Paciﬁc, is now engaging in its extended
neighborhood in a previously unseen manner. The Abe administra�on formally launched its“Free and Open Indo-Paciﬁc” (FOIP) strategy in 2016, which has since become thecornerstone and guiding ra�onale of its approach to foreign policy.

In light of the increasingly hos�le security environment in which Japan ﬁnds itself, it has
become increasingly evident that Japan must seek to strengthen its security posture. The
Japanese government launching the FOIP highlights the growing importance of the IndoPaciﬁc region.
Simultaneously, the security situa�on in Europe is deteriora�ng at a similar rate. Japanese
government white papers repeatedly name the European Union as one of the key partners
for Japan and within the FOIP framework. The EU formally adopted a strategy forcoopera�on in the Indo-Paciﬁc, mirroring Japan’s view of the importance of the region.
Countries within the EU have done the same. Japan and the EU similarly work primarily as
value-based actors, promo�ng liberal values of freedom of naviga�on and commerce, as
opposed to focusing on tradi�onal security. Japan’s FOIP strategy has a clear emphasis onliberal values of ensuring inclusive and rule-based norms in the Indo-Paciﬁc region, whichmakes the like-minded EU a natural partner for coopera�on, as evidenced by the recently
agreed upon bilateral free trade and strategic partnership agreements.
The goal of the research is to map current areas of coopera�on between EU, Germany andJapan and subsequently explore what future poten�al there is for further coopera�on
within the FOIP framework. In part due to its novelty and complexity, Japan’s FOIP is
woefully understudied in poli�cal science as it relates to coopera�on with both the EU andGermany. The running hypothesis for this case study is that there is a need and possibility
for increased coopera�on between Europe and Japan. The recently agreed upon
aforemen�oned agreements and the sudden launch of various European Indo-Paciﬁcstrategies is testament to the exis�ng common ground with similar interests in the region.

The overall aim of the study is to shed light on how Japan and its European counterparts
ought to approach the Indo-Paciﬁc region in the coming years.

Yabuki-Soh, Noriko. Rethinking technology-enhanced learning in higher education: A
university Japanese writing course example
In this uncertain post-COVID era of higher education, the effective use of online technology
is once again in constant debate after the return to in-person teaching and learning, and therelease of AI tools, such as ChatGPT, has raised academic integrity concerns. It is therefore
increasingly important for educators to adapt their teaching and assessment practices tosuch realities: the current situation in teaching Japanese as a foreign language in universities
is no exception. This study reports on the development of the Intermediate Written
Communication in Japanese course that adopted the globally networked learning (GNL)
approach. The study presents the process of organizing and implementing the GNL portionof this new Japanese writing course, which was offered in 2022-2023. In collaboration withthe university’s international centre, where the author teaches, and its counterpart office ina sister-university in Japan, students who were enrolled in the course were connected withthe student community in Japan and various other locations around the world solely
through their writing, which was accomplished through the use of online platforms such as
Google Docs. As for student assessments, portfolios and formative assessment that focusedon in-process evaluations were primarily used so that students could monitor their own
progress. Survey results suggested that, overall, participants found this project helped
enhance student learning. After discussing the pros and cons of technology-enhanced
learning, the study makes pedagogical suggestions that show how this model of teaching
and learning could benefit language learners and be adapted to courses in other disciplines.

Yamamoto, Ai. Girl Warrior Narratives in Shōjo no Tomo
This presentation will discuss Ōike Tadao’s Inochi no kagiri (To the Death), which wasserialized from 1942 to 1945 in the girls’ magazine Shōjo no tomo. Ōike wrote many stories
inspired by historical incidents from the Meiji Restoration for educational purposes, and thistext can be understood as one of them. The propagandistic story draws upon historicalincidents to encourage female readers to die for the nation. At the same time, however, it
complicates expected gender roles for girls in its depiction of woman fighters. Even in the
final stage of the Fifteen Years War, women were not conscripted to fight in Japan. Givensuch circumstances, depicting a girl on the battlefield could contradict or even subvert
conventional norms. Inochi no kagiri shows a submissive girl turning into a brutal fighter
who kills even her own sister for the cause. Stories in girls’ magazines often functioned tosupport patriarchy by showing readers role models who fit into patriarchal gender norms.
The submissiveness of the protagonist in Inochi no kagiri adheres to patriarchy, but hertransformation in the battlefield cannot be so easily contained. By analyzing hertransformation, I argue that this story unintentionally destabilizes patriarchal gender norms
through the use of wartime sentiment.

Zhou, Jiajia. Clarifying the threat of populism: Japan as a case of curtailment and notabsence
The rise of populism has been viewed as closely related to instances of democratic
backsliding (Berman 2021). Populists often advance particularly authoritarian modes of rule,
which demand a rolling back of democratic norms and institutions (Levitsky and Ziblatt

2018). However, even though populist rhetoric has been observed alongside worrying
trends, the universe of cases does not present clear evidence and explanation for thesuggested relationship.
In this paper, I develop a theory to discern the populist threat from its rhetoric. I attempt tobridge the gap between micro-level explanations of politician strategy and voter demands
on one hand and macro-level explanations of crisis and globalization on the other by offering
a deeper understanding of parties, party system structures, and policy competition. I test
my hypotheses in a cross-national analysis of democratic party systems, followed by a casestudy of Japan focusing on the Koizumi administration. I utilize a mixed methods approach
involving unsupervised text analysis, statistical methods, and process tracing. This paper
calls into question existing views of the populist threat as firstly, resulting from the ideology
or electoral strategy of individual political actors and secondly, being uniquely tied to thechallenges of globalization. More broadly, the paper aims to bring clarity to questions of aphenomenon that involves both seemingly genuine pursuits of stronger representation andpotential threats to democratic stability.