Globalizing Japan
October 13-16, 2016
Recent scholarship has considered Japan from a global perspective across time. These efforts range from defining Japan within “global medievalisms” to considering the reverberations of new forms of media across cultural contexts. From early contributions to literary culture and the production of the world’s first novel, through to current forms of “soft-power” such as manga, anime, and video games, Japan’s influence has transformed through time and been enabled through a broad range of means.
The conference will take up the past, present, and future representations of a “global” Japan and consider what this has traditionally meant and what implications this holds for the future. What can we learn by situating premodern, modern, and contemporary case studies of Japan in a global context? What can Japan’s current contributions to fashion, food, economy, business, technology tell us about future directions? What can Japanese Studies contribute to global debates about understanding our discipline?