Events

Natsume Sōseki, perhaps the most renowned writer of early-twentieth century Japan, stated that his aim in writing the novel Kusamakura (1906) had been purely aesthetic: “I would be satisfied if a kind of feeling—a feeling of beauty—remains in the mind of the reader.” The novel, full of references to iconic works of visual art and composed largely of poetic vignettes with little in the way of dramatic development, has since been hailed as a radical experiment in modernist writing.

When democracy went wrong in so many countries, Malaysia's peaceful regime change in May 2019 that ended the world's longest one-party rule with elections after Mexico's PRI was widely acclaimed. At home and abroad, many hailed the birth of a New Malaysia, but the euphoria had evaporated within months. On one hand, New Malaysia looks hollow as many reforms promised by the new Alliance of Hope (PH) government are delayed, compromised or outright abandoned.

What was Perry’s crew doing while he was negotiating, and what was everybody, including Commodore Perry himself, doing when the ships visited Shimoda and Hakodate, Japan? They were shopping! They bought lacquerware, porcelain, fans and a host of other things, but they also bought books. And one of those books was reproduced using a new technology and published in Philadelphia in 1855. In this talk I will explore the background to the arrival of the first Japanese books in America, but of course the problem was that nobody could read them.

This presentation explores the history and politics of US-funded food demonstration buses (“kitchen cars”) in postwar Japan, 1954-1960. The kitchen cars’ express mission was to transform the Japanese national diet by teaching Japanese women how to cook cheap, nutritious, fare using American agricultural products, especially wheat to improve the health of their families and the nation. America propped up its Cold War ally and developed an important export market for politically important farmers.

Weixia Gu

Weixia Gu is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong (HKU).  Originated from Shanghai, she obtained her MCL and SJD degrees from HKU. Prior to joining the Faculty of Law, Gu was the youngest recipient in Hong Kong of the prestigious Fulbright Award from the United States Department of State and had been an Honorary Young Fellow at the New York University School of Law working with Professor Jerome A. Cohen.

The study of historical thought and history-writing in Song China has flourished in recent years, but some areas remain inadequately understood. One of these has to do with the treatment of the early medieval Northern Dynasties in Southern Song historiography. Past studies have assumed that geopolitical circumstances (that is, the Jurchen Jin occupation of north China) led Southern Song historians and philosophers to reject, on ethnic grounds, any possibility of the “barbarian” Northern Dynasties being legitimate.

The topic will be focused on "American Sutra: Buddhism and the Incarceration of Japanese Americans in World War II"

This is part of the 2019 Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival series