Kobe University Law Department Workshop

Is Japan a Viable Hard Power in the Academe?
Following up the State of Japanese Studies in Europe 2013”
Date and Time: October 10 at 13:00 pm – 17:00 pm
Organizer: Profs. Yuki Sekine and Tosh Minohara (Kobe University, Law Department)
Venue: Kobe University Brussels European Centre (KUBEC) – see below for directions
http://www.office.kobe-u.ac.jp/ipiep/materials/flyer20131009_en.pdf
Project objectives:
The seeds of this workshop emerged in 2012, while taking part in a large international
conference in Toronto, Canada. During numerous discussions over the state of JapaneseStudies in North America, it became quite evident that the state of Japanese studies was in
midst of a dire situation. The twenty years Japanese decline had contributed to a worrying
trend where vast majorities of new generation of scholars of East Asia were now shifting theiracademic focus towards China. In our perception this has contributed to a waning ofJapanese studies as field, particular in disciplines that deal with Japan as a hard power. The
reduced public interest also leads to a decline in financial and institutional support and thus
leads to a vicious cycle.
A strong chord was struck within the concerned circles when such words as “Where has JapanGone?” and comments like “Japan has all but disappeared” were casually tossed around. If
this is the case in North America, then what is the situation in Europe where academic
research is often less “trendy” than in the United States? Is the situation not as severe andcan one be a bit more optimistic? At the same time, we cannot ignore the active andexpanding role played in Europe by the Chinese government sponsored Confucius Institute,as well as the closure of prominent Japanese Studies Departments in universities acrossEurope.
With this in mind, and after a successful workshop in KUBEC last year, we thought that it
would be prudent to follow-up with another workshop this year but with a different group ofparticipants so that we can obtain a more diverse feedback. With this in mind, the objectiveof this workshop will be to freely and openly discuss and assess the state of Japanese studies
in Europe. By doing so, we also hope to strengthen and expand the network between Kobe
University and Japan scholars in Europe.
Program Schedule:

13:00: Welcome by Tosh Minohara13:05-13:30: Self-introduction by participants (over lunch; sandwiches will be served)<10 min break>
13:40-15:10: Session I (moderated by Tosh Minohara)
・ Linus Hagstrom (20min)
・ Tomoaki Shimane (20min)
・ Ryoichi Teraguchi (20min)<10 min break>
15:20-16:50: Session II (moderated by Yuki Sekine):
On working with Japanese scholars: Challenges and Opportunities
・ Yannick Vanderborght (20min)
・ Sebastien Lechevalier (20min)
・ Masahiko Kiya (20min)
16:50-17:00: Closing remarks by Tosh and Yuki
18:00: Conversations to be continued over dinner (courtesy of Kobe University).
Regrettably, alcoholic beverages cannot be covered. PLEASE RSVP todrminohara@hotmail.com

Dinner Participants：
1 Tosh MINOHARA : Professor, Grad. School of Law, Kobe University
2 Yuki SEKINE: Professor, Grad. School of Law, Kobe University
3 Dimitri VAN OVERBEKE: Professor, Faculty of Arts, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
4 Yannick VANDERBORGHT: Professor, University Saint-Louis Brussels and Université
catholique de Louvain, Belgium

5 Sebastien LECHEVALIER: Associate Professor, EHESS, France
6 TBD: Researcher, Brueguel Institute7 Linus Hagstrom: Senior Researcher, Swedish Institute of Int’l Affairs
8 Ryoichi Teraguchi: Bureau Chief, Brussels office, The Yomiuri Shimbun
9 Wouter VAN CLEEF: Foreign Correspondent for the Belgian and Dutch Presses
10 Masahiko KIYA: Japanese Embassy in Belgium
11 Tomoaki SHIMANE: Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange Department, the JapanFoundation