Written by Dr Thomas McAuley, Lecturer in Japanese Studies, university of Sheffield At about 11:40 a.m. (Japan time) yesterday morning – 1st April 2019 – Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga revealed what has been, perhaps, the most closely guarded secret in Japan over the past several months: the new era name (gengō 元号) under which…
By Dorothy Finan and Chris Schimkowsky PhD students at the University of Sheffield The complexity of urban environments forces researchers to make use of more practical, experiential techniques. How, then, can we, as researchers apply such techniques to better explore urban spaces in contemporary East Asia? A recent workshop by the East Asian Text and…
Written by Jinsik Kim Translated by Corliss Luong (4th Year Korean Studies Student) In the pre-modern era when scientific development was limited, Shamanism governed Korean society. Modern science reveals that past methods were not necessarily unscientific, as they had their own benefits. However, it’s clear that the knowledge and awareness of pre-modern people were very…
Written by Dr Jamie Coates Japan is not usually seen as a place with a high number of migrants, yet new non-Japanese communities are emerging in urban centres, with some areas of Tokyo showing levels of diversity like those found in so-called immigration countries such as the UK and the USA. My recent research film…
By Dr Nicolas Tranter, Lecturer in Japanese Studies As the UK struggles through interminable Brexit woes, Donald Trump’s America threatens global concord on fighting climate change, and authoritarianism is on the rise around the world, spare a thought for Japan. It has not been the best of years there, marked by various natural disasters. So,…
The School of East Asian Studies welcomed over 200 Japanese culture, politics, economics, business and society experts to Sheffield earlier this month for the triannual British Association for Japanese Studies Conference (BAJS 2018). Titled ‘Crisis, what Crisis? Continuity and Change in Japan’, BAJS 2018 brought scholars from across the globe together for 3 days to…
By Dr Peter Matanle, Senior Lecturer in Japanese Studies Japan is experiencing unprecedented demographic change, due to rapid ageing and, since 2008, decreasing population. Conventionally this is considered to be a ‘problem’ to be solved by increasing either fertility or immigration, or both. Neither of these is realistic, however. More children would increase age-related dependency…
By Dr Hiro Watanabe, Lecturer in Japanese Studies Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his intention to amend Article 9 (the ‘peace clause’) of Japan’s constitution on 3 May 2017 — exactly 70 years after the constitution first came into effect in 1947. Abe’s proposal involves adding a third clause to Article 9 that would…
Nicolas Tranter, University of Sheffield Every December, Japan chooses a “Chinese character of the year” to summarise the dominant stories of the last 12 months. This year’s winner, chosen from the thousands of characters that make up the core of the Japanese writing system, is 北, or “north”. North Korea’s nuclear machinations, it seems, are…
Trying to make sense of what is happening in the world is a more complex (and possibly thankless) task today than it ever has been. From the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, through to the capricious behaviour of the 45th President of the United States and former reality TV star Donald Trump, previously longstanding and reliable features…
By Hyeonjun Kim, PhD student, School of East Asian Studies As tension from North Korea’s missile crisis and anxiety among its neighbouring countries emerge, questions on the regional situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula are gaining global attention. The lecture of Dr. Seung-young Kim, held on the 12th of October in the Arts Tower, gave us a chance…
By Anna Vainio, PhD student, School of East Asian Studies Each year our department runs a seminar series, inviting a number of interesting speakers to discuss their latest research and share it with staff, students and visitors alike. Last week saw this year’s keynote lecture, delivered by Prof. Anne Allison from Duke University, one of…
Written by Sini-Petriina Kuusisto, PhD student in the School of East Asian Studies There are some seats free on the front row. Dr. Pendleton has just introduced me and two of my colleagues to the guest speaker, John Whittier Treat, an Emeritus Professor at Yale University. We find ourselves making awkward small talk about small Japanese…
Markus Bell, University of Sheffield and Marco Milani, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences In the wake of Pyongyang’s latest missile test, it’s clear that neither South Korea nor the US is making much headway in tackling the North Korean nuclear question. The south’s president, Moon Jae-in, is yet…
Written by Dr Gosia Jakimów, Lecturer in Chinese Politics With the sentencing of some prominent labour NGO activists in September 2016 to suspended prison terms, the precarious position of these organisations in Xi’s China became worldwide news. The arrests were preceded by a nation-wide crackdown on labour NGOs which started in 2012. The crackdown came…
