Relay Essay
How does the rest of the world look at Japan? Scholars who are studying Japan overseas provide their insights into this country.
2012.11.15
Sustained People-to-People Relationships: A Foundation for U.S.-Japan Relations
The Japan Foundation Awards (2012) Commemorative Lecture "Sustained People-to-People Relationships: A Foundation for U.S.-Japan Relations" by Irene Hirano Inouye took place at the International House of Japan (Tokyo) on October 11, 2012.
2012.7.30
Towards Cultural Recovery in Timor-Leste through Contemporary Art
On May 20, 2012, Timor-Leste celebrated the 10th anniversary of its independence. This year also marks a decade since the establishment of diplomatic relations with Japan. The two countries have therefore declared 2012 as "the year of friendship and peace between Japan and Timor-Leste" (to commemorate the peace year marking the 10th anniversary of that diplomatic relations) and organized a number of exchange events.
2012.6. 1
Social Media Changes Society--Solidarity among Young People across Borders and Cultures
The Japan Foundation believes that what is important for building nations and communities is not only top-down leadership by a few, but on-the-ground leaders who engage and encourage the people. Having that in mind, the "Invitation of Young Intellectuals from Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia" was organized on the theme of "Leadership in Nation and Community Building."
2012.5. 1
Japan-India Cooperation: Renewable Energy Need of the Hour
Energy is vital for both the countries. Collaboration on renewable energy is a need of the hour for the natural allies Japan and India.
2012.4. 1
French Hikikomori
«What is the major problem of youth in contemporary Japan ?» was the question I asked when I first came to Japan in August 2009. I had the intuition there should be issues related to new technologies: computers, internet, video games, mobile phones, etc...
2012.3. 1
Japanese Youth after 3.11: From Underdogs to Change-makers?
Just as the youth who wish to help rebuild Tohoku have faced serious social-structural 'bottlenecks' along the way, so do young adults in Japan more generally face great resistance as they strive to reinvent their struggling society. Increasingly marginalized from traditional politics, they have had to find novel ways to respond to pressing social needs and contradictions. One emerging method is...
2011.11.15
A Dream Born at the Pyramids / Building a Bridge between Japan and Egypt
"As I paused for a break on the side of the pyramid, exhausted, I noticed a Iwanami shinsho (pocketbook from Iwanami Shoten, Publishers) lying in front of me." "As the situation continues to change in the Arab countries and the entire world, the Department of Japanese and Japanese Literature has an expanding role to play. Two fellows from Cairo University who currently reside in Japan write essays on how they got into the Japanese language and the Department of Japanese and Japanese Literature.
2011.11.15
Building a Bridge between Japan and Egypt / A Dream Born at the Pyramids
The term "inter-cultural dialogue" has been a buzzword since the beginning of the 21st century. I believe that the Department of Japanese and Japanese Literature, the Faculty of Arts at Cairo University, is one of the institutions whose efforts, while modest, have quietly played a role in realizing that dialogue.
2011.10. 1
Fukushima in the Heart of Germany: Reflections on German News Coverage During the Crisis
"Crises, conflicts, and disasters do not occur simply in a natural sense. On the contrary, particularly under the conditions of comprehensive mediazation of society, we should understand such events as the result of an all-embracing constructional process." Professor at Free University of Berlin and expert on Japanese studies Alexander Görke writes about the media following the earthquake in Japan.
2011.9. 1
Volunteers from Abroad Reach out to Children in Tohoku
When a major earthquake and tsunami struck eastern Japan on March 11, 2011. Leah, an American woman teaching English in Tokyo, wanted to find some way to help children in stricken area.
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