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ejcjs Bulletin
1 May 2009
This section of the electronic journal of contemporary japanese studies publishes
information about events, conferences, and academic publishing in the field of Japanese
studies. This page is updated every six months. For more details on the events listed
below please click on the hyperlinks provided.
If you have any information or notices that you would like published on these pages
then please send an e-mail with all the relevant information to the ejcjs Bulletin Editor.
Exhibitions
Museum of East Asian Art in Cologne
Art treasures from China, Korea and Japan
The Museum of East Asian Art in Cologne houses Chinese, Korean and Japanese art. It
was founded in 1913 and was the first museum of its kind in Germany. The core of the
permanent collection is the Japanese collection of the founder of the museum Adolf
Fischer (1857-1914) and his wife Frieda Bartdorff (1874-1945). Their collection which
includes Buddhist painting and wood sculpture, Japanese screen painting, colour wood
prints and lacquer work is regarded as one of the most important collections in Europe.
Other focal points of the permanent collection are religious bronze objects from China,
and Chinese, Korean and Japanese ceramics, above all Korean celadon objects of the
Koryo dynasty from the 10th to the 14th century with their unique glaze. The museum’s
collection of lacquer work and screens are also of international standing.
Website
Art of Esoteric Buddhism
Until 27 November, 2009
Alongside popular Amida-Buddhism and ascetic Zen-Buddhism the secret doctrine of
esoteric Shingon-Buddhism is one of the most important schools of Japanese Buddhism.
It was brought to Japan in the 9th century by the priest Kûkai. In esoteric Buddhism ritual
plays an outstanding role, which is why it found numerous adherents among the nobility of
the Heian period (794-1185). Buddhadom was to be achieved by secret prayer formulae
(mantra), hand signs or gestures (mûdra) and spiritual concentration (internalisation of the
mandalas) on the path to ritual initiation by a master. The exhibition will show paintings
and sculpture from the museum's collection of esoteric Buddhist sculpture. In addition it
will include a unique loan from a private collection: an amulet created by the Shingon-priest
Hôzan Tankai (1629-1716) for the Shogun Tokugawa Ienobu (1662-1712).
Website
Museen Dahlem, Museum für Asiatische Kunst
5 December 2006 - until further notice
Collection of East Asian Art
The Collection of East Asian Art exhibits archaeological objects and works of fine and
applied art of East Asia dating from the early Stone Age to the present. The collection will
again be on show to the public in April of the year 2000 which is the projected completion
date of major extensions and new designs to the exhibition rooms.
Musée Guimet Paris
The Japanese Department collections include some 11000 works, offering an extremely
rich and diversified panorama of Japanese art since its origins during the 3rd and 2nd
millennia BC up until the beginning of the Meiji era (1868).
Website
Maison de la Culture du Japan à Paris
A variety of events and exhibitions in the year of the 150th anniversary of French-Japanese
relations
Website
Museum Rietberg Zurich
The collection's holdings include Buddhist sculpture, Nô masks, paintings, and woodblock
prints.
Though small, the collection of Buddhist wooden sculpture from the Kamakura period
(1185–1333) is exquisite. Among its highlights are two finely carved bodhisattva figures,
Jizô and Kokûzô.
Thirty-four Nô masks donated by Balthasar and Nanni Reinhart are among the most
significant found outside of Japan. All important types are represented: humans, ghosts,
and demons. The majority date to the Edo period (1615–1868); some are even older.
The painting collection consists of a small number of Buddhist paintings with rich colors
and gold from the Muromachi period (1333–1568) and a fine group of literati and Zen ink
paintings of the 18th and early 19th centuries, many from the collections of Julius Mueller
and Heinz Brasch. A large part of these paintings are ink sketches that unite poetry,
calligraphy and painting. The first significant gift of woodblock prints was made by Willy
Boller in 1957. Since the print collection contains representative works of most renowned
artists, it enables a comprehensive overview over this favourite genre of Japanese art.
Website
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
24 February 2009 - 28 June 2009
Itô Jakuchû - Jade Flowers in Mysterious Gardens - Japanese woodcuts
A new presentation in the Graphikkabinett shows woodcuts by Itô Jakuchû (1716 –
1800). The Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe has in its possession a series of 55
woodcuts with plant and animal motifs by the Japanese artist Itô Jakuchû. The prints
were created in 1768 as a book and bear the title "Jade flowers in mysterious gardens“.
This is a special type of Japanese woodcut (ishizuri-e), in which the motif appears in
white against a black background. This way, they imitate Chinese stone-rubbings. Itô
Jakuchû is among the most individual and eccentric of Japanese painters. He did not
restrict himself to one particular style, but he always preferred birds and plants as his
subjects. In this series, the artist combines a realistic depiction of his subject with a
highly decorative composition.
Website
Contemporary Japanese Porcelain
Continuing Indefinitely
Freer and Sackler Galleries, Washington D.C.
Twentieth-century Japanese artists give fresh interpretations to the time-honoured art of
porcelain in this selection of works from the Sackler Gallery's collection.
Website
Online Exhibitions
Masterful Collection: Japanese Prints from the Anne van Biema
Collection
Enter the world of Japanese prints, known as ukiyo-e, or pictures from the floating
world, of theatres, teahouses, and the pleasure quarters of geishas and courtesans in the
great cities of Edo (Tokyo), Osaka, and Kyoto.
Online Exhibition
Red Haired Barbarians
Virtual Exhibition
International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, Netherlands
This is a digital exhibition of a collection of 40 Japanese woodblock prints published
between 1800 and 1865, depicting Dutch traders in Nagasaki.
Isamu Noguchi and Modern Japanese Ceramics
Freer and Sackler Galleries, Washington D.C.
The Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988) made ceramics during short
sojourns in Japan in 1931, 1950, and 1952. These two interactives follow Noguchi’s
three journeys to Japan and introduce the Japanese ceramic artists with whom he
interacted.
Website
Golden Seams: The Japanese Art of Mending Ceramics
Through November 2009
Freer and Sackler Galleries
Washington D.C.
Website
Conferences, Conventions, Lectures, and Workshops
VSJF – Vereinigung sozialwissenschaftlicher Japanforschung
(German Association for Social Science Research on Japan)
VSJF Annual Conference 2009
20 November – 22 November, 2009
Japanese-German Center Berlin, Germany
Website
Risk and East Asia
Across the social sciences, the concept of risk has come to characterise the economic,
political and social transformation of industrial societies at the turn of the 21st century.
Most notably in the work of Ulrich Beck, the idea of a “world risk society” has opened
a new perspective on transnational dimensions of change, challenging the tendency to
view globalisation primarily as an economically driven process of market liberalisation.
At the same time, the risk perspective highlights the ambiguities of contemporary
modernisation processes, between the opportunities raised by the individualisation of
lifestyles and the precarious consequences of the “individualisation of risk.” Moreover,
the balance of opportunities and threats implied by contemporary social, political,
economic and cultural changes are shaped by the changing logic of public institutions,
as the responsibilities for risks are shifted from states to markets, from the public to
private sphere and from collectivities to individuals.
In 2009 the VSJF conference undertakes a balanced representation of two contrasting
cases of East Asian transformations: China with its large-scale mobilisation of rural
populations to urban industrial centres and the rise of a middle class enjoying the
opportunities raised by the individualisation of lifestyles; Japan as an example of
“shrinking” metropolitan regions, a declining middle class, and rising livelihood risks.
The rationale of understanding risk in China and Japan also goes beyond their structural
particularities, given their important standing in the world: China is the most and Japan
the tenth most populated country in the World, and after the USA, Japan is the second
and China now the third largest economy in terms of GDP. In the context of rapid
industrialization in both countries, technological progress has generated a range of
“manufactured risks” ranging from local environmental disasters, regional food security
crises and transnational health and safety risks. The works of Ulrich Beck have received
a wide reception in both China and Japan, yet little is known of what Asian scholars
make of this perspective in the study of their own modernisation processes. The focus
on the East Asian region is of high theoretical interest for an analysis of the “world risk
society” precisely because this is a region of the world with a history of a different mix
between public and collective protections and responsibilities for livelihood risks. A
first aim of the VSJF conference in 2009 is to engage with the “world risk society”
thesis from the perspective of East Asia and with East Asian social scientists, with an
emphasis on the risks as well as opportunities raised by universal processes of
individualisation and transnationalisation in the specific context of East Asia.
A second aim of the conference is to focus on major dimensions of risk from both a
conceptual and an empirical perspective. In East Asian contexts, where central political
elites have traditionally placed a focus on national security and social integration, the
perception and projection of risks are increasingly used to frame attempts at enacting
major political reforms and structural changes. The outcomes of these reforms
increasingly involve the “management” or “governance of,” rather than “protection
from” risks. A first panel will focus on the management and governance of risk in the
political processes of central and decentral political actors, drawing in specific policy
fields. Livelihood security in East Asia has relied mainly on provisions of “corporate
welfare” through state enterprises in China and private firm communities in Japan,
rather than on the provisions of a welfare state. Changes in the employment and welfare
institutions of these countries largely account for rising income inequalities, while other
traditional safety nets (e.g. the family) are also eroding with lifestyle and demographic
changes. A second panel will focus on livelihood risks in relation to employment and
welfare institutions in China and Japan. Food safety has risen as a major concern, most
recently in China, but also in Japan, as large-scale technological production increasingly
replaces traditional forms of agricultural production in the region. A third panel will
focus specifically on the generation and management of food and health risks with a
specific focus on the transnational dimensions of such risks in the East Asian region. A
final panel will focus on the “fictional commodities” land and money, and the risks
posed for sustainable environments and capital formation in light of turbo marketisation
in China and decades of foregrounding economic interests over the quality of life in
Japan.
Organizers:
VSJF members interested in participating in one of the outlined panels are invited to
contact the organiser Professor Karen Shire as soon as possible, as planning is already at
an advanced stage.
Contact:
Karen Shire
Professor of Comparative Sociology and Japanese Society
Institute of Sociology
Universität Duisburg
E-Mail
Association for Asian Studies (AAS)
Annual Meeting 2010
25 – 28 March, 2010
Philadelphia
Website
The 13th Asian Studies Conference Japan (ASCJ)
20 – 21 June, 2009
Sophia University, Tokyo
Website
EU-Japan Centre
The EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation is a unique venture between the
European Commission (Directorate-General for Enterprise & Industry) and the Japanese
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The Centre has been established as a
core non-profit organization for fostering the cooperation envisaged by the two
authorities. Its main objective is to promote industrial cooperation between European
and Japanese companies.
Since its establishment in 1987, the Centre has been serving its objective and the needs
of business people in both the EU and Japan through management training programmes
(Japan Industry Insight, Topical Missions), student in-company traineeships (Vulcanus),
business information dissemination services, and support for the annual EU-Japan
Business Dialogue Round Table. It also manages the Alternative Energy Programme
and is the coordinator in Europe for the Global Venture Forum.
Calendar of the EU-Japan Centre's forthcoming activities
- Discovering Japanese regions through grassroots exchanges
- ETP-25 Graduation Ceremony (Tokyo) and ETP-26 Opening Session (Paris)
- Enthusiasm for new networking tool among European researchers in Japan
- 6th European Business Summit - Greening the Economy: New Energy for Business
- A Japan-EU workshop on "Reducing CO2 emissions in the automobile sector"
- German-Japanese Environmental Dialogue Forum
- The State of the Economies: An Overview and Outlook for the UK and Japan
- UK-Japan 2008
- News in brief
- Calendar of EU/Japan-related events
Newsletter March 2009
Website
Calls for Papers and Articles
Graduate Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies (GJAPS)
The Graduate Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies is a peer-reviewed electronic journal that
showcases the original work of graduate students. Taking advantage of online
publishing, GJAPS aims to be at once dynamic, interdisciplinary and innovative.
GJAPS will publish thought-provoking interdisciplinary articles, reviews, commentary
and visual works that engage critical issues, themes and debates related to the
Asia-Pacific region and its peoples.
GJAPS is published twice a year, with each volume organised around a theme that
reflects the journal's interdisciplinary approach and that provides a critical focus for the
featured articles and reviews. Proposed themes for upcoming volumes may be consulted
in the webpage, although contributions on other topics will also be considered. GJAPS
welcomes the submission of articles and reviews from a wide range of disciplines.
These include, but are not restricted to: anthropology, art history, cultural studies,
diasporic studies, film and media, gender studies, geography, history, linguistics,
literature, political studies, popular culture, psychology, queer theory and sociology. For
the purposes of the journal, the region is broadly defined to include East, South-East,
and Northeast Asia, Australasia, the Pacific Islands and the American West Coast.
Along with scholarly articles, the journal will also feature visual texts and a review
section which, in addition to coverage of new scholarship in books and journals, will
also engage with popular culture forms such as film, websites and manga. The
electronic format predisposes interactivity, and GJAPS welcomes contributions that use
the medium's potential in innovative ways. Similarly, the commentary section is
designed as an interactive forum where readers are invited to comment on featured
articles and reviews.
Contact:
Editor: Francis Leo Collins
Graduate Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies
Tel: 64 9 3737599 ext. 86954
e-mail
Website
European Journal of East Asian Studies
is a new multi-disciplinary journal dedicated to East Asia, one of the most varied,
complex, and rapidly changing parts of the world. Published in Europe by European
specialists, the journal is open to new ideas and findings from wherever they may come.
Contributions are welcome from throughout the social science spectrum as well as from
modern history (approximately the last 200 years). The journal covers the whole of the
broader East Asian region, including Southeast as well as Northeast Asia. The first issue
appeared in 2001.
The European Journal of East Asian Studies (Ejeas for short) welcomes the submission
of manuscripts from scholars on all aspects of East Asian societies as defined in the
announcement. Authors should feel free to contact the editors for further information.
e-mail
Website
The Journal of Asian Women's Studies
... is an international English journal published annually by Kitakyushu Forum of Asian
Women (KFAW). KFAW was founded by the City of Kitakyushu to improve the status
of women in Asia by exchanging ideas, sharing information and establishing working
relationships through a variety of activities such as joint research projects, conferences
and publications. The Journal of Asian Women's Studies is an interdisciplinary forum
that critically analyzes knowledge and strategies for promoting women's status in the
region, with particular emphasis on the roles of gender, class and race in development.
Past issues have addressed the roles of government and NGOs in developing a
gender-fair society, the relationships between development and local traditions, foreign
aid and gender, representations of women in Asian popular culture, questions relating to
the environment and reproductive health/rights. It also encourages the submission of
papers that reflect on the position of Japanese women. As a peer-reviewed journal, its
intended audience includes not only academics and professionals working in the field
but also readers who want to be informed about progress in achieving gender equality in
the region.
Website
For information by e-mail.
Asia Pacific Viewpoint
… publishes academic research in geography and allied disciplines on the economic and
social development of the Asia Pacific. Particular attention is paid to the interplay
between development and the environment and to the growing interconnections between
countries in the region. Coverage includes:
 The concept of the Asia Pacific region as an economic and socio-political
entity
 Economic development and the social and cultural impacts of growth and
change

The environmental consequences of agriculture, industry and service growth
 The impacts of globalisation on the Asia Pacific and the implications of this
for geographical theory and practice
 First-hand field work into rural, industrial, and urban developments that is
able relevant to Asia Pacific
Call for Papers
Aiming to continue the high standards of scholarship set by Pacific Viewpoint since
1960, Asia Pacific Viewpoint continues to address the economic, social and political
geography of change in Asia Pacific region. Maps and photographs are encouraged. The
editors would like to encourage papers on:
 Economic and social development of countries in the region, including
international investment and migration.
 Economic relationships between those countries, including the consequences
of industry, service and resource developments.

The relationship between the environment and development.

The interaction of countries in the region.
 The concept of the Asia Pacific region as an economic and socio-political
entity.
 The environmental preconditions and consequences of development
initiatives in the region.
 The impacts of globalization on the social, economic, cultural and
environmental systems of the Asia Pacific region and the implications of this for
geographical theory and practice.
Website
Asian Anthropology
…seeks to bring interesting and exciting new anthropological research on Asia to a
global audience. Until now, anthropologists writing on a range of Asian topics in
English but seeking a global audience have had to depend largely on Western-based
journals to publish their works. Given the increasing number of indigenous
anthropologists and anthropologists based in Asia, it seems a very appropriate time to
establish a new anthropology journal that is refereed on a global basis but that is
editorially Asian-based. ASIAN ANTHROPOLOGY is editorially based in Hong Kong,
but welcomes contributions from anthropologists and anthropology-related scholars
throughout the world with an interest in Asia, especially East and Southeast Asia. While
the language of the journal is English, we also seek original works translated into
English, which will facilitate greater participation and scholarly exchange. The journal
will provide a forum for anthropologists working on Asia, in the broadest sense of the
term 'Asia.' We seek submissions, following the guidelines described on the page that
follows. More broadly, we seek your general support, through submissions,
subscriptions, and comments. Please be in touch!
Mailing address:
c/o Dept. of Anthropology
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Shatin, N. T., Hong Kong
Editors
Tan Chee-Beng - e-mail
Gordon Mathews - e-mail
Website
Research Funding
Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
Each year, up to eight talented British graduates are awarded with Daiwa Scholarships.
The scholarships are tenable in Japan for twenty months, providing UK graduates from
any academic or professional background with a lasting knowledge of Japanese life,
culture, and spoken and written Japanese. No previous experience of Japan or Japanese
language is necessary.
Website
Postdoctoral Fellowships Programmes at UNU Institute of Advanced
Studies
UNU/IAS is a multi-thematic, interdisciplinary, research and training centre located in
Tokyo. Its programmes are directed at pressing global issues of concern to the United
Nations, making use of advanced research methodologies and strategic approaches to
the field of sustainable development.
UNU/IAS Postdoctoral and PhD Fellowships are offered for a period of ten months.
JSPS/UNU Postdoctoral Fellowships are offered for twelve to twenty-four months (for
more details visit the website). Postdoctoral candidates must have completed a PhD
degree and PhD candidates must be at the advanced stage of their doctoral dissertation.
Candidates' current research must be closely related to one of the following current
thematic areas of the institute.
For additional research areas and separate fellowship conditions for JSPS/UNU
Postdoctoral Fellowships, please see the website.
Japan Foundation Endowment Committee (JFEC)
Small grants in the field of Japanese Studies.
Website
Queries can be addressed to the Executive Secretary at E-mail
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Post-doctoral and other awards at different levels in a wide variety of disciplines.
Website
ESRC / Economic and Social Research Council
Research funding and PhD Studentships in the social sciences.
Website
Abe Fellowship
The Abe Fellowship is designed to encourage multidisciplinary research on
contemporary and policy-relevant topics of pressing global concern to industrialized and
industrializing societies around the world. The Program administers an annual
fellowship competition that provides scholars and non-academic research professionals
in the social sciences and the humanities with support for research projects addressing
one or more of three themes: global issues, problems common to industrial and
industrializing societies, and issues relating to U.S.-Japan relations. Funds are provided
by the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership.
Website
Fulbright scholar program for non-US students
For general information and application materials