Japanese Studies in UK Take Great Leap Forward
David Tharp
The Nippon Foundation
The Nippon Foundation
Indepth Articles
[Apr. 16, 2009]
London -- The state of Japanese studies in the UK has never been better thanks to the recent start of a dynamic and ambitious program of research and study of Japan in UK universities over the next five years.
This ambitious program was launched this spring by the Nippon Foundation (NF) and the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation (GBSF) with a grant of ￡2.5 million to provide lectureships at 13 universities throughout the country.
The lectureships cover a broad spectrum of Japanese studies such as creative industries, Japanese society, science and technology, Japanese history, cultural studies, business and economics, social scientific survey of contemporary Japan, visual cultures, sociology of Japan, modern and post-war history, economic anthropology of Japan, and Japanese political history.
The program is designed to provide Japanese studies in the UK with the most up to date knowledge of Japan by lecturers, many of whom have just received their own PhDs in their specific fields.
It is hoped this will give British students the advantage of new academic cutting edge information by putting down a firm foundation for the next generation of young scholars of Japanese studies.
At the official launch of this program this spring -- 100 academic specialist textbooks about every conceivable subject dealing with Japan were also donated to Birkbeck College in London by the Nippon Foundation. Eventually, every British institution with a Japanese studies program will receive a set of these books.
In the near future it is planned that the basic 100 book set will be expanded to 300 books in order to include an even broader knowledge of Japan.
The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation is also supporting a CD-Rom project at Sheffield University which contains a comprehensive overview of Japanese history. It is planned to distribute these CD-Roms to schools throughout the UK.
The immediate future of Japanese studies at many levels looks bright thanks to the efforts of NF and GBSF.
"Moon Shadow Sun Shade," by Trudi Entwistle
Environmental artist Trudi Entwistle from Leeds was awarded ￡1,000 by the GBSF to complete a one-month residency in Kamakura. She produced an installation entitled 'Translating Place' in the grounds of Kezoin, a disused Buddhist temple.
"As a result of my residency, I was invited to lecture at Leeds Metropolitan University and was also invited back to Japan for the Mogami Art Festival." she said.