On August 21, 2020, Mr. Hisao INAGAKI arrived in Seattle to assume the post of Consul General of Japan in Seattle. Consul General Inagaki joined the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1985.  After serving as Director of Internet Public Relations Division, Minister’s Secretariat, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), he was appointed as Consul General of

Professor Emeritus Kenneth B. Pyle recently wrote an essay for the National Bureau of Asian Research as part of its “The New Normal in Asia” series. The series explores ways in which the Covid-19 pandemic might shape or reorder the world across multiple dimensions. Professor Pyle writes that: We are in the thrall of driving forces.

With the pandemic has come a break in most everyone’s routine. We reached out to some of our students and alumni to see what that break looks like in their part of the world. As expected, people are responding to the evolving situation with flexibility and adaptation.  Not only the UW is teaching coursework on-line,

On April 28, 2020, Artist Kota Takeuchi screened and spoke about his short film “Blind Bombing, Filmed by a Bat” (32 min., 2019), which explores how balloon bombs were created, propagandized, and used in Japan during World War II. The film addresses the uses of remote technology for military purposes and proposes contrasts and continuities between

The Japan Studies Program continues to pursue its mission to foster greater understanding of Japan and its relationship with the global community.  Spring quarter classes are being taught remotely, operations have moved online, and staff are working remotely as of March 9, 2020. For the most up-to-date information about the UW’s COVID-19 response, please consult

Professor Saadia Pekkanen was recently interviewed for the Whole U’s “Faculty Friday” column. “After twenty or thirty years, something you are interested in, you find that others may become interested in it as well. I always tell my own graduate students to never, ever go for something that others think is important. Don’t try to

The UW has announced a $6 million gift from the Atsuhiko and Ina Goodwin Tateuchi Foundation to the East Asia Library. In recognition of this gift, the library will be renamed the Atsuhiko and Ina Goodwin Tateuchi East Asia Library. In announcing the gift, Dan Asher of the Tateuchi Foundation said that more than the

We recently caught up with Erisa Steckler, a second-year graduate student, to chat about her time in the JSIS Japan Studies program. Erisa graduates at the end of winter quarter 2020. Please introduce yourself. My name is Erisa and I am an M.A. student in the JSIS Japan Studies program with an interest in Japan’s

“Japan Studies at the University of Washington continues to thrive as a university-wide, interdisciplinary research and teaching collaboration to promote a deeper understanding of Japan and Japanese within a global context. Its strategic position on the Pacific Rim supports important partnerships, locally, regionally, and internationally. It is our great privilege to bring together a tremendous

On November 3, 2019, the Government of Japan announced that Dr. Donald C. Hellmann, Professor Emeritus of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington, has been awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, in recognition of his contributions in promoting academic exchanges and mutual