This two-day workshop brings together an international group of researchers and archivists to discuss the study of the history of foreign communities in Japan. Building on the National Library’s unique Harold Williams Collection, the participants will examine the state of the field with a view to reappraising the potential of archival resources and special collections in Japan for supporting new research agendas. Special attention will be given to identifying newly discovered sources, and to establishing new research questions, which will help break down barriers that have tended to compartmentalize researchers and their work by period, site, ethnicity and discipline. In addition to specialized panel presentations, there will be two public lectures aimed at a wider audience.
These lectures are by two prominent scholars, Professor Tessa Morris-Suzuki (The Australian National University) on the 1st of December, and Professor Brian Burke-Gaffney (Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science) on the 2nd of December.
Other speakers will be Marie-Louise Ayres (National Library of Australia), Laixing Chen (University of Hyogo), Izumi Ito (Yokohama Archives of History), Sachiko Morimoto (National Institute for Japanese Language), Hitoshi Soeda (Kobe University), Toru Sugihara (Osaka University), Keiko Tamura (The Australian National University), Timothy Tsu (Chinese University of Hong Kong), David Blake Willis (Soai University), and Sankichi Yasui (Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall).
Presentations will be in either English or Japanese, and the public lectures are in English. English résumés will be available for Japanese presentations. program details will be published on this site.
Enquiries to Dr. Yasuko Hassall Kobayashi, yasuko.kobayashi@anu.edu.au
