 |
Report on the 2005 Japanese Studies Association of Australia ConferencePurnendra Jain and Maureen Todhunter* The 14th biennial conference of the Japanese Studies Association of Australia (JSAA) was held for the first time in Adelaide on 3-6 July, at the University of Adelaide with the Japan Foundation Sydney office as co-organizer. More than 200 participants came to the University of Adelaide from across Australia, Asia, countries of Europe, and the US to participate in three days of diverse, stimulating discussion. This was an environment rich in opportunities for learning and collaboration. The broad banner of the conference theme, ‘Japan – Negotiating the 21st Century’, embraced expansively the diverse interests, perspectives and experiences of participants from across the world and across academic disciplines. Three days of conference saw a panorama of presentations to accommodate the pluralistic nature of the JSAA’s scholarly interests – generating wide-ranging discussions that informed and provoked on issues concerning Japan’s past, present and future. Feedback to Purnendra Jain as JSAA president and convenor of the Conference organising committee indicates that overall, participants were very pleased with its professional organisation and impressive program. Participants appreciated much more than useful opportunities to personally meet and liase with colleagues, and sample the many treats that Adelaide offers its visitors. The 14th JSAA Conference at the University of Adelaide offered what was by any standard a diverse and stimulating lineup of scholarly activities, with much for participants to confer about, to enrich their scholarship of Japan, and to strengthen Japanese studies in Australia and the Asia Pacific region in particular. The Conference format was in many ways similar to previous JSAA conferences, with keynote and plenary addresses and a broad array of paper presentations spread across ten breakout sessions. Some innovative additions made use of the opportunity for collaborative discussion and ‘regional’ dialogues, including two roundtables (one on Japan’s Vision of an East Asian Community and the other on the State of Japanese Studies in Asia). Two workshops that participants found very useful were oriented towards practical outcomes: one, designed for postgraduates, on ‘getting published’ and applying for postdoctoral fellowships and jobs, and the other on applying for Australian Research Council (ARC) and other grants. Also innovative and popular were the screenings of two films, ‘A2’ and ‘Pachinko’, followed by lively discussions with the film director Mori Tatsuya and an informed scholar Dr Ariel Heryanto, respectively. Special events ranged from a Welcome Reception by the Lord Mayor of Adelaide at the Adelaide Town Hall and the Conference Dinner with Consul General of Japan from Melbourne Mr Shisei Kaku as guest of honour, to the formal launch by Professor Peter Drysdale (ANU) of a new book from Routledge, Japan’s Sub-national Governments in International Affairs, by Purnendra Jain, and post-conference drinks to wrap up the Conference experience. In this report we offer a summary of some of these Conference highlights that are not detailed elsewhere. Roughly 165 papers presented in 55 panels through the breakout sessions are detailed in the Book of Abstracts and individual papers are on the Net at The Opening Programme began with a welcome to Kaurna country on which the University of Adelaide is located by Kaurna Elder, Mr Lewis O’Brien, followed by opening remarks by Ambassador of Japan His Excellency Hideaki Ueda, and official opening of the Conference by South Australian Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education, Ms Stephanie Key. As Director of the Japan Foundation Sydney office that co-organised the Conference, Mr Yoshiyuki Ueno presented a brief introduction in Japanese with English translation by Ms Carol Lawson. Dr Mamoru Mohri, a Flinders University PhD graduate and now a distinguished scientist in Tokyo, then presented the Keynote Address of the Conference: ‘Japan in the 21st Century and the Challenges of Technology, Education and Communication’.
Keynote Address
Dr Mohri’s informative and inspiring keynote address literally ‘unearthed’ the audience with anecdote and graphic images from outer space. Here he drew on lessons learned from his experience as a JAXA astronaut observing earth from space, and from his present position as Executive Director of the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo (Miraikan, attached to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology). Dr Mohri explained that through science and technology he has identified what is needed for any form of life to continue: diversity, challenge, prosperity and sustainability. For Dr Mohri, humans are at their best when conditions are most challenging, and he is now trying to cultivate an understanding within Japanese government and society that through effective education and communication, science and technology can maximise Japan’s capacity to respond to present and future challenges. His work at the Miraikan involves a mission to strengthen the national education system in science and technology with collaborative input from universities, industry and government. Dr Mohri discussed various measures now under way including the Super Science high school project to give students a human face to science and deeper appreciation of the benefits of science, and a program training scientists to be better communicators. He also argued passionately for developing new leaders across society who understand the need for diversity, challenge, prosperity and sustainability and will lead Japanese society by example in the 21st century.
Plenary Addresses
There were three Plenary Addresses, the first given by Helen Hardacre, Professor of Japanese religions and society at Harvard University. Professor Hardacre’s highly topical paper on ‘Constitutional Revision and its Significance for Religion’ went to the heart of a deeply divisive polemic in Japan today: revision of the US-imposed constitution. Her talk revealed the growing influence of organised religion on the nation’s political life despite the will of the ruling party and of many Japanese people, and despite the legally codified separation of church and state. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) needs the support of its coalition partner the Komeito for constitutional revision, but Komeito is beholden to the Soka Gakkai (a sect of the Nichiren School of Japanese Buddhism) that on some national issues rejects the LDP’s stance on religious grounds. Discussion focused on two of the four main areas of the constitution that the LDP is seeking to revise. One is Article 9 that forbids Japan from maintaining land, sea and air forces. The LDP is pushing for this revision in particular, arguing the need to make Japan a ‘normal state’ that can contribute to international peace and security with ‘boots on the ground’. But resistance is widespread across Japanese society and from Komeito, with Soka Gakkai insisting that Article 9 is ‘sacred ground’ in the constitution, and not to be touched. The second contested revision is to Article 24 that in affirming the family also codifies equality of the sexes. Here the LDP claims that imposed equality impinges on freedom of conscience and undermines traditional culture, and the Association of Shinto Shrines supports this position. Nevertheless the Komeito and the Democratic Party of Japan reject the LDP's position on Article 24, and as a result it appears that the LDP may not get its way on this issue, in spite of widespread activism supported by the Association of Shinto Shrines. Both cases demonstrate the capacity of religious organizations to influence the process of constitutional revision.
In the second plenary address, Professor Leslie Hannah of the Graduate School of Public Policy in the University of Tokyo discussed 'Atojie - and other Biases - in the Tales We Tell: Comparing Japanese Twentieth Century Development with Europe and the USA'. Professor Hannah set out to debunk some of the myths of Japan's economic history through comparison with historical example from Europe and the US. His talk offered various examples of how histories of Japan's economic circumstances have been distorted. He noted particularly the tendency to make assumptions based on later outcomes about the economic processes that were in place at earlier periods. He drew a parallel with the” Whig interpretation” of British economic history that took the lesson from some British successes during it’s Colonial period and concluded that the British economic model was an effective one. Several examples exist for Japan. One, described in the lecture, is Japan Tobacco. The company initially had high productivity and was Japan's largest company in the early 20th century but subsequently lost productivity and was overtaken by American companies in both productivity and market dominance. One explanation is that the monopoly it held made managers lazy - a story not usually told about this company. Professor Hannah explained that historians' thirst to see an outcome as the result of human intention has produced distorted interpretations of economic history. It leads to a tendency to generalize from an observed outcome and extrapolate backwards to create an assumed set of actions and processes. Japanese economic historians, like economic historians elsewhere, have been blinded or misled by false historical interpretations and have not challenged the idea that Japanese business processes have always been productive and successful.
The third plenary address was a lively presentation by Kumiko Torikai, Professor of Interpreting and Translation Studies at Rikkyo University’s Graduate School of Intercultural Communication in Tokyo, on ‘The Challenge of Language and Communication in 21st Century Japan’. Professor Torikai’s talk highlighted the inextricable link between the Japanese language and Japanese nation, since language is bound up with culture and is a primary expression of identity. She discussed how throughout history, language differences have created problems for Japan that interpreters and translators have worked hard to overcome. Even today language is a contested policy matter – in both kokugo (national language) and foreign languages – with tensions between Japanese language as an expression of Japanese identity and the capacity of English to influence or corrode Japan’s national identity even while achieving practical gains for Japan. Professor Torikai illustrated her talk with colourful examples of these tensions, drawing on her experience as a member of the National Language Institute’s Loan Words Committee that began work in 2002. Prime Minister Koizumi has complained about the excessive use of gairaigo loan words in government documents, yet finding, creating and embedding replacement Japanese words is a complex and difficult task. Even so, while there is unabated enthusiasm to learn and use English language, Japanese language is still deeply rooted and some trends suggest revived interest through bestselling books and television programs on kokugo and regional dialects. In considering future prospects, Professor Torikai discussed new perspectives on the links between thought and language, language and culture, culture and communication and intercultural communication – and the underlying sentiment in Japan that ‘silence is golden’.
Roundtables
Two roundtables used the valuable opportunity that the Conference presented to draw together scholars from across Asia to discuss shared concerns and identify responses. The first roundtable, convened by Prof Purnendra Jain and chaired by Assoc Prof Javed Maswood, considered ‘Japan’s Vision of an East Asian Community: Responses from Asia’. Panelists from across the region were Dr Terada Takashi (Singapore), Dr You Ji (UNSW, Sydney) Dr Kim Sangjoon (South Korea), Dr Tang Siew Mun (Malaysia), Professor Lydia Yu Jose (the Philippines), Dr Lam Peng Er (Singapore), Dr Kitti Prasirtsuk (Thailand), Dr Rajaram Panda (India), and Mr Geoff Miller (President of the Australian Institute of International Affairs, NSW).
The idea of an Asia-only regional organization has been on the table for some time, and former Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr Mahathir Mohamad especially pushed this proposal. This was partly achieved through the ASEAN (ten member states from Southeast Asia) plus Three (China, Japan and South Korea) process. However, an extended form and more inclusive process are now in place through the East Asian Summit. The inaugural East Asian Summit will take place in Kuala Lumpur in December 2005 to which the thirteen members of the ASEAN+3 and India, Australia and New Zealand will participate. However, to what extent will an East Asian Community raised by Japan in December 2003 be realized is a big question, especially given the current status of Japan-China relations defined by mutual distrust and lack of respect for each other. India is a relatively new player in the regional process and its Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has articulated his own version of an Asian Economic Community. Panelists agreed on the difficulty of assessing how the three Asian giants may mutually cooperate and coordinate their competing politico-security and economic interests through this process. There was also general consensus was that regional integration stands a much stronger chance in the economic area than in the politico-security arena as different nations in Asia are pursuing different goals with their own distinctive strategies and some of them look up to extra-regional players (the United States, for example) rather than to their Asian neighbours. Since the topic is of great interest to all nations in Asia–Pacific and beyond, Purnendra Jain is planning to publish most of these papers in a special issue of a refereed journal, possibly early next year.
The second roundtable included most panelists from the first roundtable in a discussion of ‘The State of Japanese Studies in Asia’, chaired by Professor Peter Drysdale. This was a valuable opportunity to hear views of Japan scholars from across Asia and discuss shared concerns, differences, and ways to strengthen Japan studies within Asia and its regions. Speakers from South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, India and Malaysia spoke of their national experiences, followed by discussion involving question, comment and critical opinion from those in attendance. Panelists’ presentations made clear how distinctive national circumstances – historical, geographical, socio-cultural, political, economic and other – and the nature of the bilateral relationship with Japan have shaped the evolution and present state of Japanese studies in all of these Asian nations. Yet many common themes, parallels and shared experiences also surfaced from the roundtable.
A general assessment emerged that globlisation, regionalisation and Japan’s economic decline alongside China’s economic boom have had a recognisable impact on Japan studies in Asia. The boom in Japan studies through the 1980s to the mid-1990s coincided with Japan’s economic strength as people in Asian countries sought to learn from and about Japan, with particular interest in the Japanese economy and management style, which attracted interest in other aspects of Japan. But Japan is now seen as an economic partner and in some fields (such as IT) a competitor rather than a model from which to learn. The generation of Japan scholars from the 1980s–90s is thinning and replacement is difficult largely because 1) reasons for studying Japan and Japanese language have diminished (employment is the top educational goal for most students and Japan no longer presents such attractive job opportunities); 2) the ‘China boom’ has lured students, scholars and general interest, to some extent at the expense of interest in Japan and fuelled by significant Chinese populations within East Asian nations. This also parallels a shift in Japan studies away from economy, politics, history and society to popular culture; Japanese popular culture in the form of manga, literature, cinema and music is generally popular among Asian youth. Some panelists noted that Asian nations have a cultural affinity with Japan that makes it easier for young Asians to consume than western culture.
A significant, recurrent concern from panelists and other participants was the need for a Southeast Asian Japanese Studies Association. This would facilitate the regional context of observing, researching, engaging with and reporting on Japan, and the positioning of Japan studies in the broader context of East Asian studies. The importance of Monbusho and other Japanese institutional alumni was noted for trying to unify a Japan studies network domestically and regionally. The Japan Foundation’s valuable role in stimulating and supporting Japan studies across the region was noted by all panelists. The issue of production of knowledge about Japan generated thoughtful discussion, in response to an observation that knowledge of Japan that informed Asia and its regions was produced largely by or through sources in the US, i.e. outside the region. All at the roundtable agreed that there is now capacity within the region to create and transmit knowledge of Japan rather than to be passive receivers of this knowledge.
Workshops
There were two workshops, both practically oriented. The workshop for postgraduates, convened by Assoc Prof Nanette Gottlieb, dealt with two important concerns: 1) ‘getting published’; and 2) applying for jobs and postdoctoral fellowships. In ‘Getting Pubished’, Assoc Prof Gottlieb discussed the reasons for postgraduates to publish. Dr Elise Tipton offered advice on how to get published, including the importance of choosing the topic of an article and an appropriate journal; paying meticulous attention to the journal’s publication requirements; how to deal with responses to submissions, especially invitations to revise and the disappointment of rejections; using reviews as potentially constructive feedback; responding to editorial assessment; and possibilities in electronic publishing, such as e-journals. Dr Hiroko Cockerill spoke of her experience having her doctoral thesis published as a book, with advice on identifying publishers and potential markets, considering carefully the time required to revise a thesis for publication, and sustaining confidence in the face of rejections.
In the second session, applying for jobs and postdoctoral fellowships, Assoc Prof Gottlieb and Dr Barbara Hartley facilitated an interactive discussion that participants responded to with great interest. Advice for applying for postdoctoral fellowships included familiarising oneself with rules, eligibility and other details available through the Internet; personal networking; establishing clearly the relevance of the university department to which one is applying; making the outcomes of the proposed project very clear, including how the project will build the department/institution’s profile; being very clear about budget items; and speaking with others who have been successful with their applications. On job applications, advice included the importance of informing oneself as widely as possible about the job, the department, its staff and courses, and the university/institution through the Internet; how to demonstrate this knowledge in an interview; in telephone interviews capitalizing on advantages such as having information at hand and being careful to respond to different voices over the line; and in all job interviews being prepared to answer practical and philosophical questions about teaching methodology and possible responses to difficult situations. Postgraduate participants in both sessions of this workshop engaged actively and appeared to find the interactive style of these sessions particularly constructive.
The Association provided funding to some 15 postgraduate students to attend the workshop/present papers to the conference.
The second workshop, on ‘Applying for ARC Grants and Other Opportunities’, was convened by Professor Vera Mackie and chaired by Assoc Prof Gottlieb. Both spoke openly from their experience with successful ARC grant applications and noted the applicability of their advice for any grant application. Discussion concerned the importance of the research plan: presented so that it is understood by non-specialists; making each component consistent and mutually reinforcing, developing a logical flow, being explicit about methodology, carefully identifying each participant’s contributions in team projects, being explicit on outcomes particularly questions the project will answer and conceptual advances, and measurable outcomes such as publications and further funding applications. Discussion also concerned important aspects of budget and track record relevant to opportunity, the need for clarity in all parts of the application, and making ‘why’ particularly clear where appropriate throughout the application. During the discussion, suggestions were put forward for action by the JSAA: 1) establishing a grant mentoring scheme; 2) consider having at the next JSAA conference a workshop on collaborative projects and projects involving industry partners.
Conclusion
Relationships between Australia and Japan are currently expanding in some areas and contracting in others, and interest in Japanese studies in Australia appears to have declined from the boom days of the 1980s and 1990s. Under these national circumstances, the Japanese Studies Association of Australia (JSAA) Biennial Conference presented valuable opportunities for presenting and debating ideas, developing personal connections, and recognising possibilities for collaborative work in Japanese studies nationally and internationally. Purnendra Jain as convenor of the Conference organising committee extends sincere thanks to all who contributed to the great success of the 14the Biennial JSAA Conference at the University of Adelaide.
* Purnendra Jain is Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Adelaide and served as President of the Japanese Studies Association of Australia until July 2005 and was also Convenor of the 14 th JSAA Biennial conference.
Maureen Todhunter is a Brisbane-based independent scholar.
|