Informasia #1, June 15, 2020 ~ Charles De Wolf

“Classical Japanese in Linguistic and Cross-cultural Perspective”

Vimeo video: none

Abstract

There was a gap between the written and spoken language and what that meant, as it meant very few people could read and write things, so there was a literate caste for awhile.

In the preface to his famous A Dictionary of theEnglish Language (1755), Samuel Johnson notes:
“When we see men grow old and die at a certain time one after another, from century
to century, we laugh at the elixir that promises to prolong life to a thousand
years; and with equal justice may the lexicographer be derided, who being able
to produce no example of a nation that has preserved their words and phrases
from mutability, shall imagine that his dictionary can embalm his language, and
secure it from corruption and decay, that it is in his power to change
sublunary nature, or clear the world at once from folly, vanity, and affectation.”

I cite this not only to show that,though no modern linguist, Johnson was quite aware that “mutability” applies to
human language as well as all else that is “sublunary,” but also to note that, as learned as he was, Johnson knew far less about the history of the English language than anyone with curiosity and access to Wikipedia can learn, in a
matter of minutes or at least hours. . .

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2860057805 (no password). This is the Zoom link. The informal session opens at 6:30.

The lecture and recording is from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. JST.

Informasia #2, July 20, 2020 ~ Janine Beichman

“Poems by Yosano, probably from her 8th collection, Princess Saho (1909)”

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/598430701?share=copy

Abstract

Janine Beichman will be our speaker –via Zoom – on Monday 20 July at 7pm. This will be an opportunity to pose
questions to the eminent translator and poet. Her current book project is a collection of the poetry of Yosano Akiko (the working title is The Portable Yosano Akiko), and she will read some poems by Yosano,probably from her 8^th collection, Princess Saho (1909).

Dr Beichman, Professor Emerita of Daito Bunka University, studied Japanese literature at Columbia University, where Donald Keene was her dissertation adviser, and poetry writing at the Fine Arts Work Center, the Unterberg Poetry Center, and The New School. In Tokyo, she was a member of the Uchufu Tanka Society and practiced writing tanka in
Japanese.

She is the author of the literary biographies Masaoka Shiki: His Life and Works and Embracing the Firebird, Yosano Akiko and the Birth of the Female Voice in Modern Japanese Poetry, and also of the original Noh play Drifting Fires, which has been performed in Japan and the United States.

Her Beneath the Sleepless Tossing of the Planets: Selected Poems of Makoto Ooka was awarded the 2019-2020 Japan-United States Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature. Her translation of Ōoka Makoto’s Poems for All Seasons: An Anthology of Japanese Poetry from Earliest Times to the Present contains numerous translations of medieval and pre-modern classical waka and haiku. She has also translated fiction by Setouchi Jakucho and Nagai Kafū.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2860057805 (no password). This is the Zoom link. The informal session opens at 6:30.

The lecture and recording is from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. JST.

Informasia #3, August 17, 2020 ~ Mike Galbraith

“Adventures Researching Japan’s Early History of Western Sports: Basic Facts and Issues Regarding Their Interpretation Inside Japan and Overseas"

Vimeo video: none, my apologies

Abstract

Japan’s first athletes overcame size issues by hard training and challenged the world’s best in many sports! Their skills won admiration and they were often victorious.

1. How I became involved and some early discoveries

2. Examples of Japan’s amazing early international sporting forays

3. How Japanese sports bodies and historians present their history

4. Reflections on academic approaches to sports history

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2860057805 (no password). This is the Zoom link. The informal session opens at 6:30.

The lecture and recording is from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. JST.

Informasia #4, September 21, 2020 ~ Michael Plastow

“Journey to the West”

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/705583761?share=copy

Abstract

100 photos of hikes through the greater Tokyo area with many birds.

Michael Plastow moved toJapan in 1980 after graduating from Cambridge University in History and Natural Sciences. He taught university in Gumnaand others until 1996. Since 1983, he has worked for NHK in International Radio and other projects. His two walking guidebooks, unfortunately long out ofprint, include Exploring Kiryu Ashio, and Nikko: Mountain walks in the land of Shodo Shonin 1992, and also Exploring Kanto, Weekend Pilgrimages from Tokyo 1996 by Weatherhill.

To view his trove of photos, visit his Facebook page (Michael Plastow). If new to Facebook, send a “Friends” request to him on that page.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2860057805 (no password). This is the Zoom link. The informal session opens at 6:30.

The lecture and recording is from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. JST.

Informasia #5, October 19, 2020 ~ Ian Ruxton

“Making Sir Ernest Satow’s Legacy Accessible to the World”

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/705601350?share=copy

Abstract

1. How I became interested in Sir Ernest Satow

2. Who was Sir Ernest Satow?

3. My publications and work-in-progress

4. How to make Ernest Satow's name better known in the world?

5. Concluding remarks

6. Q and A

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2860057805 (no password). This is the Zoom link. The informal session opens at 6:30.

The lecture and recording is from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. JST.

Informasia #6, November 16, 2020 ~ Brian Burke-Gaffney

“A Brief History of the Nagasaki Foreign Settlement”

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/705610123?share=copy

Abstract

The talk will include an overview of events from the opening of Japan's doors in 1859 until the treaty revisions of 1899, an introduction to some of the key players in Nagasaki, and a few comments on sources and related issues.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2860057805 (no password). This is the Zoom link. The informal session opens at 6:30.

The lecture and recording is from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. JST.

Informasia #7, December 21, 2020 ~ Robert Morton

‘Singleness of purpose’: Sir Harry Parkes, Interpreter and Consul in China, 1843-1865; British Minister to Japan, Korea and China, 1865-1885”

Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/710985656?share=copy

Abstract

How did an orphan, who went on his own to China at 13, rise all the way up to Minister (equivalent to today’s Ambassador)?
His story was unlike that of any of his peers, but then everything about Parkes was exceptional. He was indomitable, fearless, incorruptible, often insufferable, always larger than life. This talk will attempt to bring him back to life for ninety minutes.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2860057805 (no password). This is the Zoom link. The informal session opens at 6:30.

The lecture and recording is from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. JST.