Day 1 (Oct 17th,2020)

JSAC 2020
AD HOC ONLINE CONFERENCE SCHEDULE(EST/EDT)
11:00-11:30

Reception/ Opening Ceremonies
Professor Carin Holroyd (President of JSAC, University of
Saskatchewan)
Professor Lily Cho (Associate Dean, Global and Community
Engagement, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies,York University)
Ms, Yuko Shimizu (Executive Director, the Japan Foundation ofToronto)11:30-13:00

Panel 1: Government of Japan

Chair: K. Coates

Japanese Courts and Corporate Executive Compensation
S. McGinty, Associate Professor
Nagoya University Graduate School of Law, Japan

Post COVID-19 Public Policy Communication in JapanL. Tkach-Kawasaki, Ph.D., Associate Professor
University of Tsukuba, Japan

Japanese Public Health Concerns in Treaty-Port Manchuria
B. Sewell, Professor, Department of History
Saint Mary’s University, Canada

Japan 2020: Covid Closures, Losses, and Displacements
M. Creighton
University of British Columbia, Canada

13:00-13:15

Coffee Break

13:15-14:00

Panel 2: Geography of Japan

Chair: D. W. Edgington

Earthquakes and Tsunamis:
Lessons from Japan for British Columbia
D. W. Edgington, Professor Emeritus, Department of Geography
University of British Columbia, Canada

Virtual Interdisciplinary Japan Field Trips
T. Waldichuk, Department of Geography & Environmental Studies
Thompson Rivers University, Canada

14:00-15:00

Lunch BreakDay 1 (Oct 17th,2020)

JSAC 2020
AD HOC ONLINE CONFERENCE SCHEDULE(EST/EDT)
15:00-16:15

Panel 3: Japan & Philosophy

Chair: J. Goulding

Heidegger’s Japanese Interlocutors Revisited
J. Goulding, Professor Dept. of Social Science
York University, Canada

Superhero Philosophy: East and West
P. Lachowicz, Social and Political Thought PhD Program
York University, Canada

Disapparition :Derrida’s (Impossible) Intercultural Dialogue in Japan
T. Correia, Social and Political Thought PhD Program
York University, Canada

16:15-16:30

Coffee Break

16:30-17:45

Panel 4: Japan & Philosophy

Chair: J. Goulding

Japanese Schelling: Nishitani Keiji
C. Satoor, Humanities PhD Program,York University, Canada

Lessons from Zen and Poetry: A Critique of Anthropocentricism
M. M. Bouthillier, Dept. of Politics PhD Program
York University, Canada

From Śūnyatā to Satori

悟りin the Blink of an Eye

J. Lakeit, Social and Political Thought PhD Program
York University, Canada

17:45-18:30

Dinner Break

18:30-19:00

Daikagura: Michiyo Kagami
Performance
Ms. Michiyo Kagami will deliver a stunning Daikagura
presentation through a virtual platform

19:00-20:00

Evening reception & End of Day 1

Day 2 (Oct 18th,2020)

JSAC 2020

AD HOC ONLINE CONFERENCE SCHEDULE(EST/EDT)
11:30-12:30

Keynote Speakers
Building Beyond the Pandemic: Japan and the
COVID Recovery
C. Holroyd & K. Coates

12:30-14:00

Panel 1: History and Culture

Chair: T. Waldichuk

Why Canada Must Embrace a Free and Open Indo-Pacific
S. R. Nagy, Professor, fellowship the Canadian Global Affairs Institute
ICU, JapanJ. B. Miller, fellowship with the Japan Institute of International Affairs andthe Macdonald Laurier InstituteImpact of 'Anti-Japan Tribalism'
N. Ota, Professor
York University, Canada

Designing Japanese Identity and Culture in CanadianArchitecture
H. H. Tsang, Assistant Professor, RAIC Centre for Architecture

Athabasca University, Canada

A Manga-translation of Visual Commentary on Tsurezuregusa
X. J. Yang
University of Calgary, Canada

14:00-15:00

Lunch Break/AGM

15:00-16:30

Panel 2: History & Culture

Chair: A. Fujiwara

Heritage Tourism and Pilgrimage at UNESCO’s Hidden
Christian Sites in Nagasaki
D. J. Telfer & A. Hashimoto, Department of Geography and Tourism
Studies
Brock University, Canada

Day 2 (Oct 18th,2020)

JSAC 2020

AD HOC ONLINE CONFERENCE SCHEDULE(EST/EDT)
15:00-16:30

Panel 2: History & Culture

Chair: A. Fujiwara

Tokyo’s ramen restaurant industry adjusts to Covid-19
T. Reiffenstein
Mount Allison University, Canada

Japanese Art: Yuji Hiratsuka
Y. Hiratsuka
Indiana University, United States

Racism during the 1940s and COVID-19
J. Stanger-Ross, Project Director, Landscapes of Injustice Associate
Professor, History
University of Victoria, Canada
V. W. Rygnestad, Community Council Chair, Landscapes of Injustice
L. Oikawa, President, National Association of Japanese Canadians

16:30-16:45

Coffe Break

16:45-17:30

Panel 3: History & Culture

Chair: J. Kovalio

ABE Shinzō – Japan’s longest serving Prime Minister andhis legacy
Jacob Kovalio
Carleton University, Canada

Subjectivity and objectivity
in construal expressed by learners of the Japanese language
N. Yabuki-Soh, Associate Professor
York University, Canada

17:30-18:00

Conference Wrap- Up Session

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JSAC2020 AD HOC ONLINE CONFERENCE (EST)Day 1: Oct 17th 2020

Government of Japan
Chair: Ken Coates
Japanese Public Health Concerns in Treaty-Port Manchuria
Presentor: Bill Sewell, Saint Mary’s University
In addition to saturating newspaper headlines as they do now, public health concerns expose asociety’s common values and assumptions. This is also true historically, and an analysis of the publichealth concerns evidenced by Japanese empire-builders has much to say about imperial Japanesesociety in the first half of the twentieth century. Not only did Japanese create colonial
spaces in China’s northeast, a region once known as Manchuria, but empire-builders insured thesespaces were hygienic and sanitary for the Japanese who ventured there. They also exploited medical
emergencies to further the imperial project in Manchuria. The involvement of public health officials
and medical doctors in this project at the same time shows the extent to which
Japanese society at large was involved in its empire. It was not only diplomats and soldiers whoconstructed the empire, and civilian involvement complicates the history of this era.

Japan 2020: Covid Closures, Losses, and Displacements
Presentor: Millie Creighton, University of British Columbia
For Japan, 2020 was to be the year of topping the world stage during the Tokyo Olympics—instead it
became the year of the lost Olympics. It was to be the year during which the world might reconsider
the dangers of nuclear stockpiles with the particularly marked 75th anniversary of the atomic bombingsof Hiroshima and Nagasaki—instead public access to the commemorations was denied while thosewishing to participate were displaced to other less seen places, and the world’s attention to thecommemorations was displaced to Covid and racialized violence issues. It was tobe a year where regional areas and local communities re-membered their identities through area
events that recreate community cohesiveness—instead it was a year those events were cancelled. An
example, of such dis-placement covered in the paper is the Awa Odori Matsuri (Festival) in Tokushima
and its well-known throughout Japan dance form, for which cancellation of the annual event reflects
the pivotal hit to community cohesiveness and regional identity such cancellations caused. This paper
discusses the intersections of these missed moments, with the loss and/or dis-place-ment of these
events.

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JSAC2020 AD HOC ONLINE CONFERENCE (EST)Day 1: Oct 17th 2020

Geography of Japan
Chair: D. W. Edgington
Earthquakes and Tsunamis: Lessons from Japan for British Columbia
Presentor: David W. Edgington, University of British ColumbiaThis paper re-examines the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake (the 3.11 disaster) and reflects on what lessons
might be learned for British Columbia (BC) in terms of emergency management and long-term reconstruction.
The west coast of BC (and Vancouver) is vulnerable to a catastrophic magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami
resulting from the rupture of the Cascadia subduction zone fault that lies just 50 kms or so west from Vancouver
Island, Washington and Oregon. The likely damage to both human and buildings would be extensive, both fromthe earth shaking and the tsunami event. However, compared to Japan, BC had lacked earthquake events close topopulation centres and so has little direct experience of a large earthquake and tsunami along the BC coastline.
International comparisons of disasters provide one way of addressing the absence of first-hand knowledge ofthis type of calamity. In this regard, Japan has long been considered the gold standard for earthquake
preparation and it has used the lessons from 3.11 to revise its own emergency response, as well as changing
community and individual behavior to increase preparation and instilling a strong culture of prevention. Basedon extensive interviews in the Tohoku region of Japan as well as in BC, the analysis scrutinizes Japaneseexperience in 2011 and subsequent years in terms of the four pillars of disaster management: (1) risk andpreparedness, (2) the emergency response; (3) recovery, and (4) mitigation. The results indicate practical lessons
for emergency management in BC as well as the need for taking personal
responsibility for preparing for earthquakes and tsunamis.

Virtual Interdisciplinary Japan Field Trips
Presentor: Tom Waldichuk, Thompson Rivers University
This presentation focuses on interdisciplinary and virtual field trips in Japan. Interdisciplinarity is an
important issue at small universities where one can have difficulty amassing enough students from one
discipline, for example, Geography, to run a field trip in Japan, so recruiting students from other disciplines
has to be an option. This may lead to a joint field trip between, for example, a Geography and a language
studies course, where students from the two courses travel to Japan together. But what if the field trip toJapan cannot take place due to, for example, a pandemic? A virtual field trip is the solution. My objective is toreview options for interdisciplinary virtual field trips about Japan. First, I examine learning objectives forinterdisciplinary field trips. Then I focus on virtual field trip options by reviewing literature and educational
software. Virtual field trips can be as simple as having students watch you-tube presentations and do followup activities. Or they can be as sophisticated as having participants wear virtual reality goggles while walking
down the streets of Tokyo. The principal conclusion is that while virtual field trips do not replace face to facetrips, accessible technology is increasingly allowing instructors to engage students’senses and enhancelearning about Japan.

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JSAC2020 AD HOC ONLINE CONFERENCE (EST)Day 1: Oct 17th 2020

Japan & Philosophy
Chair: Jay Goulding
Heidegger’s Japanese Interlocutors Revisited
Presentor: Jay Goulding, York University
Over a five-decade period, the hermeneutic phenomenologist Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) entertains elite
Japanese scholars in what has come to be known as the Freiburg pilgrimage. In this paper, we revisit theseinteractions and the impact on Japanese philosophy and religion. Tanabe Hajime(1885-1962), Yamanouchi
Tokuryū(1890-1982), Kuki Shūzō(1888-1941), Watsuji Tetsurō(1889-1960) and Nishitani
Keiji(1900-1990) are well known students of Heidegger’s philosophy. Others including Zen monks
Tsujimura Kōichi
(1922–2010), Hisimatsu Shinichi(1889-1980) and Abe Masao(19152006) make their mark on a then expanding field of tetsugaku(philosophy) as Japan’s intellectual attempt tohandshake with the Western world. Contrary to Western impulses to whole heartedly accept Suzuki Daisetsu
Teitarō’s(1894-1966) version of Zen from the Rinzai-shu, many Heidegger scholars stresstheory and practice of Sōtō-shū, with Watsuji leading the way in his resurrection of Dōgen Zenji’s(1200-1253) teaching proper. The paper sketches out Suzuki’s engagement with Heidegger as well as that of longforgotten philosopher and one-time Bavarian noble Karlfried Graf Dürckheim (1896-1988). Dürckheim first
introduces Suzuki to Heidegger. Growing up a few kilometers from Heidegger in the Black Forest, and later living
in Japan, Dürckheim’s emphasis on the phenomenology of Zen practice might very well challenge Suzuki for the
nickname of Europe’s first “Mr. Zen.”

⼭内得⽴
西⾕啓治
辻村公⼀
鈴⽊⼤拙貞太郎

⽥辺元
和辻哲郎

九⻤周造

久松真⼀
哲學

阿部正雄

臨済宗

曹洞宗

道元禅師

Superhero Philosophy: East and West
Presentor: Peter Lachowicz, York University
What is a superhero? Is there a difference between Japanese and Western superheroes? Or
is there a mutual interconnection between them? Superheroes East and West have spawned many thousands ofcomic books, animated films and films proper. This paper is a survey of such popular movie and animatedcharacters. According to Top Ten Nerd, the top Japanese superheroes include: Astro Boy, Science Ninja Team
Gatchaman, Megaloman, Honey Kisaragi, Inazuman, Tokusatsu(live action filming and special effects) such as
Kamen Riders alongside Akira, Ultraman, Sailor Moon, Super Sentai and Metal Heroes to name a few. Super Sentai
are obviously the origin of Power Rangers and Metal Heroes are the origin of Space Sheriffs. Most of the others areintermingling of Eastern and Western ideas and powers. As popular aficionados and popular blogs consistently
seem to suggest, DC comic heroes usually have heavy moral consciences whereas Japanese robots have a single
mission with undaunting perseverance. Western heroes use a plethora of skills usually supported by moral
standards such as those of Superman or Batman. Japanese heroes use secret technologies or muster life-energy
forces often from supernatural or extraterrestrial sources. Ghosts become superheroes. Western heroes
sometimes lose their courage or commitment while Japanese heroes usually stay the course or perish. Althoughfocussing on contemporary trends, we shall examine some historical and philosophical underpinnings of Japaneseculture as detailed by Professor Jay Goulding’s work in the last twenty years.

特撮

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JSAC2020 AD HOC ONLINE CONFERENCE (EST)Day 1: Oct 17th 2020

Japan & Philosophy
Chair: Jay Goulding
Disapparition : Derrida’s (Impossible) Intercultural Dialogue in Japan
Presentor: Tyler Correia, York University
Derrida’s famous letter to a Japanese friend is an echo of Martin Heidegger’s many letters and interactions withJapanese scholars over five decades. Derrida’s “deconstruction” (stimulated by Heidegger’s Abbau as dismantling)
speaks to a constellation of absences, silences, and secrets. The act of translating his work into a Japanese idiom
offers pause for reflection on perennial questions of transmissibility of language, its semantic nucleus and theeconomy of substitutions of signs in the spacing, gaps, losses and accumulations of divergent meanings.
“Disapparition” denotes the simultaneous vanishing and appearance of the figure of the sign within the act oftranslation as a metaphor. Derrida’s not-merely deconstructive theory is offered in tandem with examples ofJapanese literatures from Kōbō Abe
and Haruki Murakami. Both authors investigate
linguistic/cultural absences, excesses, disappearances. Firstly, I trace the discussion in Derrida’s “Letter to a
Japanese Friend,” its problematic, and its relationship to exchanges with Japanese scholars. Secondly, I
contextualize his textual oeuvre with a shift from the presence of the “sign” to the trace of the text to disapparition.
Thirdly, I outline how this shift can thematically situate in proximity to a Japanese linguistic and cultural milieu
through a parallel reading of the texts of two literary figures. There will be some discussion of Professor Jay
Goulding’s interaction with Jacques Derrida and their dialogues on Japan and East Asian philosophy.

安部公房

村上春樹

Japanese Schelling: Nishitani Keiji
Presentor: Christopher Satoor, York University
The provocative works of German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling (1775–1854), a contemporaryof Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) have generally seemed to fall into oblivion in the North America
scene until recently. Not so in Japan. Tanehisa Otabe, Professor of Aesthetics at the University of Tokyo
is President of the Japanese Schelling Society which is currently enjoying a blossoming and growth. Japan’sinterest in Schelling goes back to the hermeneutic phenomenologist Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) and his intense
lifetime engagement with Schelling. Tanabe Hajime(1885-1962) and Kuki Shūzō(1888-1941) write
favourably about Schelling’s philosophy of freedom and relations to Heidegger. This paper concentrates
on Nishitani Keiji(1900-1990), a famous Kyoto School philosopher and celebrated student of Heidegger,
who studies in Freiburg for two years and lectures there on the medieval mystical scholar Meister Eckhart (12601328) amongst other topics. Nishitani graduates from Kyoto University in 1924 with a dissertation entitled “The
Ideal and the Real in Schelling and Bergson.” Nishitani later translates into Japanese two Schelling texts including
the all important “Philosophical Inquiries into the Essence of Human Freedom.” Some time will be devoted torecalling Professor Jay Goulding’s meeting with Nishitani and Hans-Georg Gadamer in the early 1970s and its
impact on the development of Japanese phenomenology.

胤久⼩⽥部

⽥辺元

西⾕啓治

九⻤周造

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JSAC2020 AD HOC ONLINE CONFERENCE (EST)Day 1: Oct 17th 2020

Japan & Philosophy
Chair: Jay Goulding
Lessons from Zen and Poetry: A Critique of Anthropocentricism
Presentor: Maxime Marcotte Bouthillier, York University
Natural disasters, environmental changes, geographical changes, and so forth have historically been the biggest
movers of history, especially in Japan. Yet, most history books and history education focus on the role “great
thinkers” and/or “civilizations” play in the unfolding of the world. This tendency to establish the human as themeasure of all things and place it at the centre of history is called anthropocentricism. Still, it is not simply aconsequence (or cause) of the discipline of history. On the contrary, it is endemic to most knowledge production
whether it is science, history, politics, psychology, economics, geography or philosophy. But isanthropocentricism a problem, and what are the possible consequences in our capacity to understand and solve
global crises? Looking at the philosophical and poetic works of Saigyō Hōshi(1118-1190), Dōgen Zenji(1200-1253) and Keizan Jōkin(1268-1325), with insights of contemporary Zen philosopher Masao
Abe(1915-2006), student of Martin Heidegger’s phenomenology, this paper explores steps to answer
these questions through a multidisciplinary intercultural dialogue. The insights provided by Zen monks, poets,and philosophers will then be applied to an analysis of the world’s contemporary dilemmas.

元禅師
阿部正雄

瑩⼭紹瑾

西⾏法師

道

悟り

From Śūnyatā to Satoriin the Blink of an Eye
Presentor: Jeff Lakeit, York University
This paper illuminates (1) the Indian Buddhist Śūnyatā from Theravada’s (the doctrine of the elders) non-self(anātman) and (2) Mahayana’s (Greater Vehicle) intrinsic emptiness (svabhāva). After centuries of Silk Road
transmission, these religious movements trickle into Japan where they fall between the Zen Buddhist ku(emptiness) and mu (nothingness). The paper explores these ideas through Heidegger’s augenblick or
moment of vision, drawn from Being and Time (1927). Augenblick itself stands alongside Zen satoriascomprehending or awakening. Attention will devote to Jay Goulding’s seminal paper, “Three Teachings areOne”: The Ethical Intertwinings of Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism” (2002). With attention to the
Prajñaparamita (perfection of wisdom) including Diamond and Heart Sutras, Goulding argues: “Buddhist‘awakening’ is intimately tied to the dual worlds of reality and non-reality, existence and non-existence. Suzuki
further clarifies ‘suchness’ as Reality in its ‘isness’: Some may say: ‘There cannot be any meaning in mere
isness. But this is not the view held by Zen, for according to it, isness is the meaning. When I see it, I see it asclearly as I see myself reflected in a mirror.’” All the above is collected under what Goulding dubs “Japanesevertical phenomenology.”

無

空

悟り

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JSAC2020 AD HOC ONLINE CONFERENCE (EST)Day 1: Oct 17th 2020

Daikagura Performance:
Michiyo Kagami |鏡味味知代

平成12年(2000年)3⽉国際基督教⼤学卒業後、平成19年(2007年)3⽉まで広報代理店にて会社勤務。その後めでたくOLを卒業し、平成19年(2007年)4⽉国⽴劇場、第5期太神楽研修⽣となる。研修時代には太神楽の技能だけではな
く、獅⼦舞に必要な鳴り物（笛、太⿎）、三味線、また⽇本舞踊なども稽古をつみ、平成22年(2010年)3⽉研修を卒業。得意だったのは笛。今でも寄席で出囃⼦の笛などを吹いている。同年4⽉、ボンボンブラザースの鏡味勇⼆郎に弟⼦⼊り。その後1年間、噺家の前座に混ざり落語芸術協会にて前座修⾏を⾏う。365⽇休みなく勤め、お茶く
み、座布団返し、師匠⽅への着付け等、⾏儀⾒習い⼀般を経験。平成23年(2011年)4⽉浅草演芸ホールにて寄席デビ
ュー。東⽇本⼤震災後の静かな寄席ではあったが、沢⼭のお客様が⾜を運んでくれた。その後、寄席では珍しい語
学⼒を⽣かし、英語で太神楽を上演したり、年に⼀度のペースで海外公演に参加したりと、太神楽の可能性を探っている

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JSAC2020 AD HOC ONLINE CONFERENCE (EST)Day 2: Oct 18th 2020

History & Culture
Chair: Tom Waldichuk
Why Canada Must Embrace a Free and Open Indo-Pacific
Presentors: S. R. Nagy, Professor, fellowship the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, ICU
J. B. Miller, fellowship with the Japan Institute of International Affairs and the Macdonald Laurier
Institute
The Free and Open Indo-Pacific Vision (FOIP) advocated by Japan is a template for Canadian Indo-Pacificengagement and a potential framework to build a strategy upon. Critics advocate for a diverse and inclusive
Canadian Indo-Pacific approach but this over looks the challenges associated with a revisionist power in the IndoPacific and the importance of creating an Indo-Pacific strategy that reflects the shared values that japan andCanada share and the trajectory Of the Indo-pacific.

Impact of ‘Anti-Japan tribalism’
Presentor: Norio Ota, York University
The book ‘Anti-Japan tribalism’ dropped a bombshell both in Korea and Japan. It is an extraordinary criticism
from within in Korea to challenge some of the established and official historical views about issues
surrounding ‘comfort women’ and ‘forced laborers’ under the Japanese imperial government. The book claims
that the so-called official history about the Japanese imperial era is based on so many non-facts, wrong
information and fabricated ‘facts’, that Korean comfort women were not ‘forced’ ‘sex slaves’ and workers not‘forced’ as depicted by the groups of activists who have been pushing this issue. It also questions why
the Korean government and many Koreans have been singling out and focusing on Japan alone. Reexamining
and reassessing the widely accepted view that every problem stemmed from the evil Japanese imperialism has
been considered as “revisionists’” opinions and has been dismissed as anti-Korean, ultra-conservative andtraitorous. In Japan while the revisionists of history in the conservative camp are leaping with joy, those in theliberal camp seem to be dismayed and feel somewhat deceived and betrayed. No matter how hard it is to accept
facts and truths, one must grapple with them in order to improve communication between both peoples.

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JSAC2020 AD HOC ONLINE CONFERENCE (EST)Day 2: Oct 18th 2020

History & Culture
Chair: Tom Waldichuk
Designing Japanese Identity and Culture in Canadian Architecture
Presentor: Henry Hing-Yip Tsang, Athabasca University
Immigrants from Japan first came to Canada in the late 19th century. A century has passed, and today Japanesecommunities can be found in every major Canadian city. Following the war years, the Japanese started to rebuild
their lives by acquiring land and properties to convert or construct new community centre hubs as gathering
spaces and safe spaces. As a home away from, the architectural design of these buildings often reproduces
Japanese spaces and interiors (such as tatami rooms and dojos), whereas exterior facades are designed to fit
within the Canadian context, following local building guidelines. This paper studies the architectural design ofJapanese cultural centres in Canada and how the design of the buildings reflects Japanese culture. Methodology
consists in examining architectural drawings and photographs of the buildings, as well as observational study
wherever possible. Analysis is done by comparing architectural elements that are directly replicated fromJapanese architecture, elements that are Japanese yet modified to adjust to the context in Canada, and elementsthat are specific only to Canada. The results of the study will present the architect’s design strategies andrestrictions with regard to preserving Japanese identity and culture in Canada, creating a uniquely newarchitectural identity.

A Manga-translation of Visual Commentary on Trurezuregusa
Presentor: X. Jie Yang, University of Calgary
In the Edo time, Kenko (1283-1358)'s Trureduregusa (Essays inIdleness) became a classical master piece, deeply
attracted intellectuals. Numerous volumes of commentary were produced and published, and the entire work
was thoroughly examined and deeply appreciated. Although received rather less attention, among thecommentary there were a great amount of approach in pictures. Certain commentary book even provided
pictures to almost each and every of the 243 sections in the original title. These works thus not only enriched thelong and abundant visual tradition in Japan, but also left us a valuable means to read and understandthis medieval classic today. Applying manga as a visual language, I have been attempting to translate such visualcommentary for today's readers. Especially focused on two books, Nagusamigusa (1652) and Tsurezuregusa Esho
(1691), I have selected over 100 sections and reproduced them into GIF motion pictures, released two sections a
week since the end of 2019. This presentation will explain the design, tasks and feedback of this ongoing project.

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JSAC2020 AD HOC ONLINE CONFERENCE (EST)Day 2: Oct 18th 2020

History & Culture
Chair: A. Fujiwara
Heritage Tourism and Pilgrimage at UNESCO’s Hidden Christian Sites in Nagasaki
Presentors: David J. Telfer & Atsuko Hashimoto, Brock University
The Hidden Christian Sites in Nagasaki received UNESCO World Heritage Site designation in 2018. It comprises 12
sites, instead of the original 26 nominated. Nagasaki is the first location Christianity was introduced by
missionary Francis Xavier in 1549 and it slowly flourished under a Christian Daimyo (feudal lord). Hideyoshi
Toyotomi expelled missionaries in 1587 and the Tokugawa Shogunate’s Anti-Christianity Edict started theoppression and persecution of Christians. Many Christians went into hiding, even to uninhabited islands,
disguising the Virgin Mary as Buddhism Kannon so that their faith was not questioned. After over 200 years, theban on Christianity was lifted in 1873 and the hidden Christians slowly emerged building numerous churches in
the Nagasaki area. This research focuses on the significance of the UNESCO Heritage Site designation in terms ofpreservation of unique cultural landscapes surrounding the Nagasaki churches as well as the advantages for
fundraising for maintenance of cultural artefacts and buildings. It also evaluates the Church as heterotopia,
especially with a historical timestamp and designation of Hidden Christianity, along with the commodification ofpilgrimage “tours” to the churches.

Tokyo’s ramen restaurant industry adjusts to Covid-19
Presentor: Tim Reiffenstein, Mount Allison University
As the economic toll of Covid -19 continues to cascade through food and beverage industries around the world, it
is worth investigating regional responses to a common threat. This paper provides preliminary evidence,gathered remotely from key industry informants, of how the Tokyo ramen restaurant industry has responded to
Covid-19. It argues that the ability of the industry to pivot, somewhat successfully, in the face of voluntary shop
closures at home, and mandatory closures abroad rests on business models that were already in place before
2020. These include pre-prepared take-out/delivery such as Takumen and Ramen Stock, physically distanced
dining (already the hallmark of Ichiran), and WFH celebrations of ramen as an accessible everyday food. In
addition, for the first time, the industry collectively lobbied the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. From thestandpoint of labour, the reliance on part time in normal times provides a degree of flexibility. In respect to social
reproduction, the fictive kinship practice of noren wake insulates shops within networks of peer support,
although the hardest hit will likely be the cohort of long serving apprentices who were on the cusp of becoming
independent when Covid-19 hit. Finally, before Covid-19 ramen shows played a key role as temporary clusters(there were 63 nationwide in 2017), the advantages of which can not necessarily be replicated online.

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JSAC2020 AD HOC ONLINE CONFERENCE (EST)Day 2: Oct 18th 2020

History & Culture
Chair: A. Fujiwara
Japanese Art: Yuji Hiratsuka
Presentor: Yuji Hiratsuka, Oregon State University
Yuji Hiratsuka, professor of art at Oregon State University in Corvallis will talk about his work. He will discuss theaesthetic and technical aspects of his prints. Yuji Hiratsuka mixes influences of the western and eastern world in
his work, he draws from the ancient and the contemporary to express the mismatched combinations andhodgepodge, which represent daily life. His images bear a slight resemblance to traditional Japanese Ukiyo-e
prints (which were frequently vibrant colored and featured highly-stylized exaggerated and distorted figures)
while also expressing contemporary aspects of the western world. Ukiyo-e is an art form that was pioneered in
the 17th century. It popularized a decorative and brightly colored style, inexpensively designed for common
people and often featured poster-like caricatures. Hiratsuka will also explain the unique technique of his mutlicolor intaglio (etching) printmaking process. Hiratsuka was born in Osaka, Japan, and received a bachelor’s
degree in art education from Tokyo Teachers’ University in 1978. He taught art at several high schools and juniorhigh schools in Osaka before he moved to the United States in 1985 to pursue graduate degrees in printmaking at
New Mexico State University and Indiana University. He has taught printmaking and drawing at Oregon State
University since 1992.

Racism during the 1940s and COVID-19
Presentors: Jordan Stanger-Ross, University of Victoria
Vivian Wakabayashi Rygnestad, Community Council Chair
Lorene Oikawa, National Association of Japanese Canadians
Jordan Stanger-Ross, project director of Landscapes of Injustice that investigates the dispossession of Japanese
Canadians in the 1940s writes, “I was taken aback when Vivian Rygnestad told me about her experience of
COVID-19 related racism in a local grocery store recently, being subject to verbal abuse. . . you brought thisdisease . . . you’re all killers! . . . go back to where you belong!”. “Despite being aware of the prevalence ofsimilar incidents, I was not prepared for her story. I was shocked when I heard her story to which she repliedthat I shouldn’t be surprised, that this kind of thing happens all the time. Anyone who doesn’t know this, she said,should talk to their Asian Canadians friends, with people of colour.” Vivian will speak in detail about her
reaction and response, both immediate and in the days to follow and the varied reactions she received.
Lorene Oikawa, president of the National Association of Japanese Canadians will share how they are helping
people identify and develop strategies when encountering racist actions through dialogue, seminars andawareness training. Jordan brings together this material to discuss mechanisms in place in the past andsimilarities in the present.

PANEL ABSTRACTS

JSAC2020 AD HOC ONLINE CONFERENCE (EST)Day 2: Oct 18th 2020

History & Culture
Chair: J. Kovalio
ABE Shinzō – Japan’s longest serving Prime Minister and his legacy
Presentor: Jacob Kovalio, Carleton University
In late August 2020, Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzō announced his sudden resignation caused by a chronic
intestinal malady which had forced him out of office in 2007. In December 2019, Abe became the longest serving
prime minister in Japan’s history. This presentation examines the most salient domestic and foreign policies of
the two Abe administrations: 2006-7 and since 2012. The list of initiatives, policies and challenges to theirimplementation is very long :from Abenomics, education/employment/immigration/social/statesecrets/environment legislation, constitutional amendments and the Olympics to the sudden and daunting New
Coronavirus challenge, as well as relations with the US, China , South Korea , Russia, India and the EU/Britain,
through FOIP , QII , CPTPP [thus relations with Canada] etc. Brief remarks will be made on the consequential
impact of major historical events commemorated in 2020 and relevant to the study of Japan : the 75th
anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Liberal Democratic
Party [LDP] and the 60th anniversary of the Security Treaty [ANPO] with the United States and to Mr. Abe’s
personal background and legacy.

安保

Subjectivity and objectivity in construal expressed by learners of the Japanese language
Presentor: Noriko Yabuki-Soh, York University
When describing a scene, the speaker decides from what viewpoint the given events are told, andthere are
preferred argument structures (e.g., active versus passive) that may differ between two languages (e.g., “Someone
stole my wallet” in English versus “Saifu o nusumareta—(I) had (my)wallet stolen” in Japanese). As Ikegami (2016)
suggests, the prototypical construal in English is to take an objective stance, while Japanese tends to take a
subjective stance in which the speakers immerge themselves into the described scene. In order to investigate howsuch differences are reflected in second language learners’ storytelling, the present study examine the use of
expressions of viewpoint found in the narratives of 15 English-speaking learners of Japanese at the intermediatelevel. Participants told stories about cartoon strips that involved multiple characters, first in Japanese and later inEnglish. Participants were also interviewed about specific expressions that they used in their stories. Learners’
use of expressions of viewpoint related to each character was analyzed using the data from Japanese native
speakers’ narratives as the baseline. The results indicated that while native speakers employed passive sentences
to stay with the viewpoint of characters that are adversely affected by an event, learners often presented theagent of an action as the subject of a sentence to describe the same event. Learners also employed expressions ofemotion and assessment instead of passive sentences, and their viewpoints were found to be similar to those in
their English narratives. The results of the follow-up interviews indicate that learners were not aware of thedifferences in narrative viewpoint between English and Japanese. It would be beneficial for learners to be awareof such differences and to employ structural devices related to subjectivity in construal in order for them toeffectively describe certain events in Japanes