Seminars 2008
Ukiyo-e: Kamigata images of kabuki
Wednesday 19 March 2008, 2:00--4:00 pm
Presenter: Gary Hickey (Department of Fine Arts, University of Melbourne)
A selection of kamigata ukiyo-e prints is currently on display in the auditorium of the Japanese Studies Centre. Australia's sole authority on the Japanese Edo period 'Art of the Floating World' (ukiyo-e), Dr.Hickey will be talking about the background to this genre.
http://www.culture-communication.unimelb.edu.au/people/gary-hickey.html
The seminar includes a demonstration of Japanese Tea Ceremony by the Melbourne Chapter of the Urasenke Tea Tradition of Tea.
Enquiries: Alison Tokita <Alison.Tokita@arts.monash.edu.au>
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The Roles of Working Holiday Makers in Japanese Communities in Australia
28 March (Fri) 2008, 15:00-16:00
Presenter: Mr. Nobuaki FUJIOKA (Visiting Researcher, Japanese Studies Centre)
Abstract
This study reflects on the roles of Japanese working holiday makers (WHMs) in Japanese communities in Australia and provides some implications to help increase the understanding of them. An outstanding study has argued that some Japanese-oriented organizations mainly for corporate families have played a central role in making and maintaining of Japanese communities in Australia. Since the 1990s, however, other categories of Japanese residents have increased and thus the proportion of corporate families has gradually declined. Taking this trend into account, the researcher has conducted fieldwork in Australia, mostly in Melbourne, and investigated the characteristics of Japanese WHMs and Japanese communities in order to find out the processes and outcomes of such changes.
The fieldwork includes participant observation of some Japanese-oriented organizations and in-depth interviews with WHMs and the key figures in these organizations. The qualitative data collected through the fieldwork show that WHMs are playing three important roles in the making and maintaining of Japanese communities in Australia. First, they provide cheap labor for Japan-related businesses. There are a considerable number of suspicious cases of illegal employment at Japan-related businesses, which means that Japanese residents could continue Japanese ways of life by consuming cheap Japanese groceries thanks to low-paid or underpaid work of Japanese WHMs. Secondly, they are playing significant parts in various types of Japanese-oriented organizations. In response to the diversification of the needs and interest of Japanese residents in Australia, a range of clubs, circles and classes have been made. In these groups, some WHMs become organizers or core members, and others take a stimulative role for these organizations. Thirdly, they are one of the measurable sources of settlers in Australia. There are some WHMs who migrate to Australia based on their occupational skills, as a result of international marriage, and by using some techniques for extending their stay. It is likely that working holiday visas provide a pathway through which Japanese residents become settlers in Australia.
These analyses leads to the conclusion that Japanese communities have been becoming more decentralized in terms of the style of networking, which implies that further research will be needed with a focus on the segregation within diverse Japanese residents and the significance of personal networking using the Internet and various types of media.
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The Social Construction of Japanese Reality: Framing Issues of Multiculturalism, Immigration, and ‘Foreign Crime’ in Contemporary Japan
18 April (Fri) 2008, 15:00-16:00
Dr.Chris BURGESS (Visiting Researcher, Japanese Studies Centre)
Abstract:
In their (1966) book, The Social Construction of Reality, Berger and Luckman ask: how is it possible that subjective meanings become objective fact? Exploring how subjective perceptions – ideology or discourse – influence, drive, and ultimately create social reality can deepen our understanding of contemporary society. Using the examples of multiculturalism, immigration, and ‘foreign crime’, this seminar shows how a discursive approach can help explain the popular debates and government policies in Japan today.
Chris Burgess is a lecturer at Tsuda College, Tokyo, where he teaches Japanese and Australian studies. He completed his Ph.D., entitled ‘(Re)Constructing Identities: International Marriage Migrants as Potential Agents of Social Change in a Globalising Japan’ at Monash in March 2004. His work mainly focuses on migrants in contemporary Japanese society, and includes recent papers on newcomer children in public schools, multiculturalism, and immigration reform.
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An examination of Japanese students’ motivation to learn the Chinese and Korean languages and students’ images of these countries and their people
May (Fri) 2008, 15:00-16:00
Ms Eiko OSAKA-NAGAI (Visiting Researcher, Japanese Studies Centre)
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to discuss and provide statistics comparing the motivation of Japanese university students learning Chinese and Korean. Questionnaires were administered to provide data relating to the relationship between learning motivation and the images of these countries and their people held by students learning the relevant languages. The sample included 166 students of Chinese language and 122 students of Korean. A factor analysis was conducted regarding ‘integrative motivation’, ‘instrumental motivation’ and ‘assimilative motivation’. The results of this analysis demonstrated that students learning Chinese language have a higher ‘instrumental motivation’ while those learning Korean have higher integrative motivation. Generally, Korean language learners are more motived to learn a foreign language than Chinese language learners. However, in comparison to Korean language learners, Chinese language learners showed a stronger correlation between learning motivation and images of the country and its people.
Eiko Osaka- Nagai is an Associate Professor at Surugadai University, Saitama. She is a Social psychologist. Her recent works are Japanese language education in Korea, the construction of national images and stereotype and collectivism/individualism.
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Three research seminars, Part 1, on 21/8 (Thu), 2008
1. Translating Australian indigenous theatre into the Japanese language and into a Japanese performance context (1)
Time: 14:00-15:00
Presenter: Professor Keiji SAWADA (Visiting Fellow, National Centre for Australian Studies)
Abstract
As a translator, I have been engaged in the Japanese presentations of Australian indigenous plays for eight years. The plays I translated include Jane Harrison’s Stolen Wesley Enoch & Deborah Mailman’s The 7 Stages of Grieving, Roger Bennett’s Up the Ladder, Jack Davis’s Dreamers & No Sugar, Wesley Enoch’s The Story of the Miracles at Cookie’s Table, and a play tacking indigenous themes, Louis Nowra’s Radiance. These productions have been created through collaborations between indigenous and Japanese theatre practitioners. In this seminar, I will argue how these indigenous plays gave impacts on Japanese contemporary and how they challenged stereotypes about Australian indigenous people in Japan.
Keiji Sawada has participated in Australia-Japan theatrical exchanges since 1995, when John Romeril’s The Floating World was staged with his Japanese translation at both Tokyo and Melbourne international art festivals. In 2003 he was awarded the Yuasa Yoshiko Awards for his stage translations. He teaches Australian Studies and Theatre Studies at Waseda University, Tokyo.
Enquiries: pxk12216@nifty.ne.jp
2. Interactive Ethnic Interface in Northern Queensland: Japanese Migrants and Indigenous Australians (1)
Time: 15:00-16:00
Presenter: Dr. Yuriko YAMANOUCHI (Visiting Fellow, Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies)
Abstract: Discussion on Indigenous identity has been largely based on the binarism of ‘Black and White’, whereas the fluid and contextual nature of social identity has been argued in the theories of identity (e.g. Hall 1990). By introducing the case of Indigenous-Japanese mixed heritage people in northern Queensland, this paper contradicts this binarism and explores a way to consider Indigenous identity, which can acknowledge their complex ancestry.
Yuriko Yamanouchi is a lecturer of School of Global Studies at Tama University.
Enquiries: YurikoYam@aol.com
3. Sister-city relationships with Japan in Victoria
Time: 16:00-17:00
Presenter: Dr Jun TSUTSUMI (Visiting Fellow, Japanese Studies Centre)
It is now widely acknowledged that international exchange and cooperation play a significant role in local internationalization. The fact that Japan has over 1,500 sister-city and friendship agreements is one aspect of this global trend. There are 108 ties between Japanese and Australian local governments as of the end of May 2008. Among them, 16 relationships are associated with Victoria. In this presentation, a GIS (Geographic Information System) package will be used to assist in data processing and mapping. Detailed information such as the size of population, historical backgrounds, the date of agreements and the geographical character of each city will be focused on.
Jun Tsutsumi is an Associate Professor of Geography at Ehime University, Japan. His current research interest is how large numbers of overseas students in Melbourne have actually underpinned a boom in high-rise buildings within the city's CBD. He also interested in the relationship between land-use change and land-use decision-making.
Enquiries: jtsu@LL.ehime-u.ac.jp
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Three research seminars, Part 2, on 04/9 (Thu), 2008
1. Translating Australian indigenous theatre into the Japanese language and into a Japanese performance context (2)
Time: 14:00-15:00
Presenter: Professor Keiji SAWADA (Visiting Fellow, National Centre for Australian Studies)
Abstract
In 2006, an Australian drama festival called Dramatic Australia took place in Japan. One of the most noteworthy productions in this festival was the world premiere of Cookie’s Table, the story of an indigenous family. This play was written by an indigenous writer/director, Wesley Enoch, translated into Japanese, and performed by Japanese actors under the direction of Enoch himself. In this seminar I will argue about how the presentation of Cookie’s Table and other Australian indigenous plays are important for the future development of Japan’s own indigenous theatre.
Keiji Sawada has participated in Australia-Japan theatrical exchanges since 1995, when John Romeril’s The Floating World was staged with his Japanese translation at both Tokyo and Melbourne international art festivals. In 2003 he was awarded the Yuasa Yoshiko Awards for his stage translations. He teaches Australian Studies and Theatre Studies at Waseda University, Tokyo.
Enquiries: pxk12216@nifty.ne.jp
2. Interactive Ethnic Interface in Northern Queensland: Japanese Migrants and Indigenous Australians (2)
Time: 15:00-16:00
Presenter: Dr. Yuriko YAMANOUCHI (Visiting Fellow, Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies)
Abstract
Northern Australia had an influx of Japanese migratory workers from the 1870s to the 1960s for the pearl-shell and sugar industries. Some stayed and intermarried with the local Indigenous people. In this seminar, I would like to explore the implication of this relationship from Japanese migrants and Indigenous side.
Yuriko Yamanouchi is a lecturer of School of Global Studies at Tama University.
Enquiries: YurikoYam@aol.com
3. Geographical characteristics of sister-city ties between Japan and Victoria
Time: 16:00-17:00
Presenter: Dr Jun TSUTSUMI (Visiting Fellow, Japanese Studies Centre)
Abstract
There are 108 ties between Japanese and Australian local governments as of the end of May 2008. Among them, 16 relationships are associated with Victoria. According to some papers reviewed, it’s true that the inclusion of commercial exchanges into sister city type relationships has become much more important than ever. I conducted some interview surveys to related municipalities including Melbourne and Whitehorse etc. Melbourne and Matsudo have achieved good results so far because of longer history and presence of good facilitators. In this seminar, I will provide some descriptive facts and then draw certain inferences from the resulting patterns.
Jun Tsutsumi is an Associate Professor of Geography at Ehime University, Japan. His current research interest is how large numbers of overseas students in Melbourne have actually underpinned a boom in high-rise buildings within the CBD. He also interested in the relationship between land-use change and land-use decision-making.
Enquiries: jtsu@LL.ehime-u.ac.jp