Paul S. Atkins, Professor and Department Chair of Asian Languages and Literature, will be giving a talk at Japan Fair 2019 titled “REIWA: Origins and Significance of the New Japanese Reign Name“. Professor Atkins will give his talk on Saturday, June 29, 2019 at 4:10 p.m. at the Meydenbauer Center, Room #407 in Bellevue, WA. Everyone is welcome

The following students are pleased to announce their graduation with a Master of Arts in Japan Studies as of June 13th, 2019. Chris Choi Area of study: I studied Japanese businesses, specifically Japanese medical device firms competing in the US. I also studied Japanese national security, namely modernization of the Japan Self Defense Force, the

UW Japan Studies Program is sponsoring The Legend of the Stardust Brothers at the Seattle International Film Festival and invites you to check out the full film guide for times and locations of all films! Tickets are available on the SIFF website. The Legend of the Stardust Brothers Japan | 1985 | 100 minutes | Macoto Tezuka Rocky Horror meets A Hard Day’s Night in this lost

Join us for a film screening of the documentary, “Little Voices from Fukushima”. “Little Voices from Fukushima” May 16, 2019 4:30 – 7:00 PM Thomson Hall 101 The newest release from Hitomi Kamanaka, director of “Rokkasho Rhapsody” and “Ashes to Honey”, travels between Fukushima and post-Chernobyl disaster (1986) Belarus. Across national borders, mothers have chosen to

A new space race is underway, characterized by a growing number of government and private players and three intersecting trends: democratization, commercialization and militarization. But what does that mean for international geopolitics and safe — perhaps even collaborative — exploration beyond Earth? Saadia Pekkanen, University of Washington professor of international relations, is lead guest editor

Join us for the  2019 Griffith and Patricia Way Lecture at a momentous turning point as the Japanese monarchy turns the page to Reiwa and bids farewell to the Heisei period. Japan’s Monarchy and the New Emperor in Historical Perspective May 13, 2019 7:00 – 8:30 PM Kane Hall 225, Walker-Ames Room The constitutional position of Japan’s

On Tuesday, April 16, 2019, PhD student Ross Henderson presented “A Fistful of Incense: Basara 婆娑羅 and the Medieval Origins of Japanese Maximalism” as part of the Washin Kai Lecture Series. In the talk, Ross examined the roots of maximalist Japanese visual culture through the concept of basara 婆娑羅, a medieval expression stemming back to a distinctive aesthetic and

Japan Studies MA student Dylan Plung traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts in February for the 22nd Annual Harvard East Asia Society Conference. The HEAS Graduate Student Conference is  an interdisciplinary forum for graduate students to exchange ideas and discuss current research on topics related to East Asia. The conference allows young scholars to present their research to both

Azusa Tanaka, Japanese Studies Librarian at the East Asia Library, was recently awarded the title of “Innovator” in the 2019 Edition of the Library Journal’s Movers & Shakers Awards. From the LJ Movers & Shakers website: The 54 individuals honored here—in 50 profiles—are powerful. That word might not jump to mind when many people think

Please introduce yourself. I’m a doctoral student in Asian Languages and Literature, focusing on pre-modern Japanese literature. I’m a Seattle native and am deeply devoted to my two cats, Bocchan and Robespierre. Why did you choose to study Japan/Japanese? I was lucky enough to grow up in the Seattle Public Schools, where Japanese is taught