News | 2010 - 2014

BAMS Event: Japan vs Columbia World Cup

When?    24 June, 2014; kick off is at 9pm but come earlier to enjoy the food, drinks, and atmosphere!

Where?    Coronet Theatre, 28 New Kent Road, London, SE1 6TJ (nearest tube: Elephant & Castle)

What?     Japan's crucial World Cup game against Columbia which they need to win if they are to progress to the knockout phase. The area is popular with South Americans, so expect a cracking atmosphere!

From the Coronet website:
The Coronet is extremely excited to be working with a number of event partners to be screening a selection of World Cup 2014 games.

- FEATURING TWO OF LONDON’S BIGGEST SCREENS
- MULTIPLE PLASMAS AROUND THE VENUE
- PRE-MATCH AND POST MATCH ENTERTAINMENT*
- AMAZING FOODS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
- MULTI BUY DRINKS DEALS

**This game features a very special after party performance from SYSTEMA SOLAR**

How much?     Tickets are £3 (match only) or £9 (match & after party).
Buy your tickets HERE. 

See also our LinkedIn page (link at top) for more details. 

Volunteers required - Fukushima Youth Sinfonietta in London

Keys of Change, a musical charity which has been heading this project will need volunteers to help with the children and I wondered if you would be interested or know of others who may be able to help. Please see Chris’s email below and please do feel free to email her if you would like to help in any capacity.

On Wednesday 2 April at 7:30pm, the Fukushima Youth Sinfonietta, comprised of young musicians from schools in Fukushima, Japan will perform a concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre.

These students, coming from one of the areas worst hit by the 2011 tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster are in London for this unique performance to present, through music, their remarkable journey of strength and collaboration. 

The programme includes the world premiere of Ronald Corp’s Commotio, commissioned for this performance

More info: http://www.dajf.org.uk/news/3736

We are looking for help in several areas:

- a Japanese-speaking volunteer who could attend rehearsal sessions in central London during the day on Monday March 31st and Tuesday April 2nd, to help out with interpretation between the English orchestra and conductor and the Japanese students. Preferably someone with some musical knowledge.

- two or three volunteers who, between them, could be with the group during the day and in the evening between the arrival on March 29th and the last day of the trip on April 3rd. These would need to be Japanese speakers who could help with interpretation on general topics, eat and chat with the group, and who have a knowledge of London and could therefore help the group if there are problems (they would not be responsible in the case of problems

- we have someone else for that - just to help)

- volunteers to help with flyer distribution at Japanese locations (restaurants etc) in London in March

- everyone could help by emailing the flyers to friends and families and encouraging them to come to the concert.

Anyone interested should contact me at chris@keysofchange.org.

2013

HAFU - London premiere followed by Q&A with producer Lara Perez Takagi

HAFU ハーフ
documentary film London premiere at Birkbeck with generous support from The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation

Birkbeck Cinema
6pm to 8.30pm
24 January, 2014

Screening then Q&A with director Lara Perez Takagi and Lyle De Souza

Free – registration required:
hafu - london.eventbrite.co.uk

2012

Position - Lecturer in Japanese Studies (Birkbeck, University of London)

Lecturer in Japanese Studies
Department of Media and Cultural Studies
Birkbeck College, University of London

Reference Number 10792

Location London, Bloomsbury
School/Department Media and Cultural Studies
Position Type Fixed term
Hours 35
Salary from/to £33,966 - £38,884

Job Description

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an ambitious, independent, and highly motivated individual in the Department of Media and Cultural Studies with a vacancy for a Lecturer in Japanese Studies – Culture and Language. Our preference is for a scholar with teaching and research interests in an area of contemporary Japanese society or culture, but applications from scholars in other fields including media studies, cultural studies, postcolonial studies, gender and sexuality, film, and/or literature with a strong focus on Japan are also welcome.

You will contribute to the delivery and development of a programme of teaching in Japanese Studies across all academic levels. You should be able to use a range of delivery techniques to inspire and engage students in teaching practical skills, methods and critical perspectives. With your excellent organisational skills, you will be expected to co-ordinate the highly successful Japanese language programme, including oversight of teaching provision, curricular development and sessional tutors. Demonstrated knowledge of Japanese-language pedagogy and/or Programme co-ordination is desirable.

Candidate Requirements

You will be educated to degree level or equivalent, with a PhD or close to completion, and a strong research profile evidenced by a record of publication in Japanese studies or other relevant fields. The ability to attract external funding, and a research agenda which is well-positioned in relation to one of a number of fields which are likely to attract increased academic and broader interest in the medium term, are highly desirable. The ability and willingness to contribute to the department’s courses in Media and Cultural Studies is a plus. Excellent command of English and Japanese is essential.

About the Department

For more information, please visit the department's web-site:http://www.bbk.ac.uk/culture

Further Information

Salary: Starting salary of £33,966 (including London Allowance of £2,946 per annum)

The closing date for completed applications is 23:59 on Sunday 18 November 2012.

Interviews are due to be held on Wednesday 5 December 2012.

This job is a full-time position, fixed term for three years, and may be subject to a probationary period of three years.The initial salary award will be dependent on the skills and experience of the successful applicant. Annual leave is 25 days per year, plus an additional six days when the College is closed during the spring and winter breaks. This is in addition to the eight bank holidays.

The post is superannuable under the USS scheme (Universities Superannuation Scheme). This is a final salary scheme, and is often substantially more beneficial to the employee than a "money-purchase" scheme.

Informal enquiries can be made to Dr Tim Markham, Assistant Dean, Department of Media and Cultural Studies, Birkbeck, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX. (tel: 020 3073 8380), e-mail: t.markham@bbk.ac.uk.

Click here for more details. 

*******************************************************************
Dr. Shinji Oyama
Department of Media and Cultural Studies
Birkbeck, University of London
43 Gordon Square, Bloomsbury
London  WC1H 0PD
Tel: +44 (0)20 7631 6132
Email: ubll102@mail.bbk.ac.uk

Exhibitions by Mext Scholars 

MEXT scholars and their friends are invited to Otgonbayar Tsogt’s Private View: 6-9pm, Saturday 22nd September 2012

Otgonbayar Tsogt is a Mongolian artist currently resident in London. He gained a Masters in Japanese Painting from Tokyo University of the Arts and has held several exhibitions in Japan and the UK.

The works in this exhibition explore the life cycle, in particular Otgonbayar's connection to his Mongolian ancestors and superstition in Japanese and Mongolian culture.

Venue: Pure and Applied Studio, 3 Larch Court, Royal Oak Yard, London SE1 3GB

The exhibition runs from September 22nd - December 21st. Opening hours: Monday-Friday 12-5pm.

Location: A 10 minute walk from London Bridge, near the White Cube Bermondsey Gallery

For further information see http://www.oto-art.co.uk

Events: September 2012

Shishi-Odori at this weekend’s Thames Festival, 8-9 September 2012

Don’t miss the Shishi-Odori dance by Oshu Kanatsu-Ryu Dance Troupe at this weekend’s Thames Festival, 8-9 September 2012: http://thamesfestival.org/events/info/shishi-odori-dancers

Zipangu Fest, Friday 14 - Sunday 16 September 2012 

The Cinema Museum
2 Dugard Way (off Renfrew Road) London SE11 4T
Tickets: £7.50

Following its move to a new venue, the Cinema Museum in London's Kennington district, the third Zipangu Fest celebrates Japan's rich cinematic heritage with retrospective screenings of some unseen gems alongside a host of newer titles, with a large proportion of the programme screened from film.

The Reel Zipangu section includes Kaizō Hayashi's critically-regarded 1986 homage to Japan's silent era, To Sleep So As To Dream, and a long overdue revival of Teinosuke Kinugasa's avant-garde masterpiece from 1928 and one of the first Japanese films ever screened in the West, Crossways. A samurai drama filmed in the style of German Expressionism, the film will be presented with an illustrated lecture by Festival Director Jasper Sharp before its screening with a specially-commissioned score by Minima, one of the leading bands accompanying silent film in Europe.

Spirit Made Flesh is an experimental programme that explores the very materiality of the medium and includes the work of three filmmakers, Momoko Seto, Shinkan Tamaki and the latest film from Takashi Makino, invited guest at Zipangu Fest 2011, where he presented the Enter the Cosmos programme. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion 'Is There Still a Need for Film in a Digitising World?'

Fukushima 8, a compilation of 8mm home movie treasures from the 1930s onwards filmed by the families of the disaster-struck region will be screened on the Opening Night, alongside Atsushi Wada's animation The Great Rabbit, recipient of the Silver Bear Award at Berlinale 2012. The centrepiece of this opening evening is the first ever screening in the West of the Japanese-DPKR co-production, Somi - The Taekwon-do Woman (1997). Tickets are available in advance from Crowdfunder.

Animation will also be represented with the return of our popular Beyond Anime section. In Midori-ko, a university researcher protects a human/vegetable hybrid in a dystopic fantasy drawn completely by hand that took its director Keita Kurosaka ten years to complete, while the live-action doll drama Encounters similarly showcases the one-man bedroom auteur aesthetic. Its director, Takashi Iitsuka, will be present to introduce the film.

Anime fans will also be riveted by Masanori Tominaga's enlightening and surprisingly moving documentary The Echo of Astro Boy's Footsteps about the mysterious double life of the pioneering animation sound designer Matsuo Ohno.

The Melting Pot Japan section features two works that look at Brazilian immigrant populations in Japan, Kimihiro Tsumura and Mayu Nakamura's documentaryLonely Swallows: Living as Children of Migrant Workers, and the Closing Film, Katsuya Tomita's vivacious portrait of small-town dreams and prejudices in provincial Kofu, Saudade. One of the most exciting figures in indie filmmaking in Japan, Tomita will be present at the festival as a guest with his scriptwriter Toranosuke Aizawa.

Zipangu Fest: Japanarchy in the UK
http://zipangufest.com

Symposium: Creative Industries in East and Southeast Asia

Japan Foundation & Birkbeck College’s Centre for Media, Culture and Creative Practices present

CREATIVE INDUSTRIES IN EAST AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

This symposium will bring together some of the world’s foremost experts to examines creative industries in East and Southeast Asia and how it is shaped by and shaping global relation of power, which is rapidly tilting toward the East. Spurred but no longer led by Japan, countries in East Asia have endeavored to catch-up with Western economies and increasingly compete against each other. The focus is no longer exclusively on manufacturing and productivity but is shifted to nurturing creativity and culture and becoming a branded cool nation. In this historical conjuncture, this symposium provides a fresh looks at East Asia’s move up the global value chain, growing regional cooperation and competition and unexpected trajectory and localization of the idea of creative industries, which originated in the UK.

This event is free but booking is essential.
To reserve a place, please visit our event page <http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3666087366>. 

Date: (Fri) 29 June 2012 from 10:30 to 18:00
Venue: The Japan Foundation, London,10-12 Russell Square, London WC1B 5EH

Speakers include
Professor Anthony Fung (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Professor Yoshitaka Mouri (Tokyo University of the Arts)
Professor Eunmee Kim (Seoul National University, South Korea)
Dr Yeran Kim (Kwangwoon University, South Korea)
Dr Lorraine Lim (Birkbeck)

For more information contact the organiser
<s.oyama@bbk.ac.uk>

'Global Japan' symposium by LAPCSF (Birkbeck, 16 June 2012, 1-5pm)

The aim of this symposium organised by LAPCSF (London Asia Pacific Cultural Studies Forum) is to present some of the very latest research being produced by Birkbeck PhD students on the general theme of ‘Global Japan’ to encourage dialogue on and an understanding of a Japan de-centred from its geographical location. 

The presenters range from those just beginning their PhD to those who have been doing their PhD for several years and are near completion. The topics use different, innovative cultural studies methodological approaches and encompass a number of mediums including music, literature, manga and film. Global Japan is a complex and dynamic subject, so it is hoped that after these presentations and a panel discussion a clearer idea of it evolves and the audience will have had a glimpse of the exciting directions that the scholars of the future are taking in the study of Japan and its international reach.

Registrations: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3500579327

2011

Solo Exhibition by Mext Scholar

Otgonbayar Tsogt, a MEXT scholar from Mongolia who studied for his Masters at Tokyo Geidai, is a guest artist with the Art Dog gallery for the Deptford X International Art Fair. The exhibition will take place from 23th September - 2nd October at the Duke, 125 Creekside, London , from 11am- 11pm and the Private View is on Saturday, 24th September from 6.30 - 8.30 pm. 

For further information see http://oto2.webs.com/

Archaeology of urban time: drawing Dalston

An exhibition at the Geffrye Museum, London

Dalston, east London has been dissected layer by layer. Former Mext scholar Alexandra Blum has spent 3 years drawing the upheaval: from the street, within the vast Dalston Square construction site as artist in residence, and now from within one of the completed flats, a home on the 17th floor.  The selection of drawings in this show explores the changing nature of space as the tower block evolves through time, the emergence of domesticity perched upon layers of raw construction and the shifting boundaries between a single, defined living space and the network of spatial units from which the city itself materialises.  

For an invitation to the Private View please email: post@alexblum.co.uk

Details:
Venue:  The Geffrye, Museum of the Home,
136 Kingsland Road, Shoreditch, London E2 8EA.

Exhibition open: 

27th September -  30th November  2011,
Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 5pm

Transport:
Overground: Hoxton Station (directly behind the museum);
Buses: 67,149, 242, 243, 394; Underground: Liverpool Street (Bishopsgate West exit) then bus 149 or 242. Old Street (exit 2) then bus 243

Results of our recent BAMS survey

Please go to the Downloads page for a spreadsheet of the results (including charts). 

• 53 responses received

• What impact has the scholarship had on your career so far? 

• 31 Significantly positive impact 

• 19 Some positive impact 

• 2 Little positive impact 

• 1 No impact 

• What was most memorable from your time in Japan? 

• I was there on the Scholarship for five very formative years of my life 

• The learning experience is inherent in that is something that has shaped me into the person I am and which will stay with me for the rest of my life

• Opportunities to do things I would never have had the chance to do in the UK

• It was a very intense two years and there were lots of very memorable times

• What advice would you give to prospective scholars? 

• Have as clear and comprehensive a research plan as you possibly can before you arrive in Japan 

• Talk to as many people with experience of the scholarship as possible not just in your subject area 

• Go for it...if you don’t have the right qualifications- take a year and go get them you’ll be so happy you did...go mad and do everything that is open to you 

• The scholarship is an excellent way to experience life as a fully-fledged student at a Japanese university 

• Monbusho is great but relatively unstructured once you are at university 

• Not to expect anything from university in way of support or teaching

Tohoku Earthquake

We are deeply saddened by the devastating impact of the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami. The destruction is unspeakable. Our thoughts are with those who have suffered personal loss at this time.

The British Red Cross has now started collecting donations for the Japanese Red Cross. Please use this link to donate to its Japan Tsunami Appeal.

The Japan Society also has created a disaster relief fund to aid victims of the Tohoku earthquake. All funds received will be distributed to organizations working to help people in the affected areas recover from the devastating effects of the earthquake and tsunami. Please go to their website to make an online donation.

You can also contribute to the Japan Tohoku Earthquake Relief Fund via credit/debit card by telephoning the office on 020 7828 6330 or by sending a cheque to:

Tohoku Earthquake Relief Fund
The Japan Society
Swire House, 59 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6AJ

Please make your cheques payable to the Japan Society with ‘Tohoku Earthquake Relief Fund’ on the reverse.

If you are a UK tax payer, we can reclaim tax on your donation making it worth more. Please don’t forget to indicate whether you wish us to do this. A suggested form of words to authorize this is ‘I am a UK tax payer. Please reclaim Gift Aid on my donation.’

For additional information, please email office@japansociety.org.uk

March 15, 2011
Author: Matthew Clifton.