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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260807T152312
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20261105T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20261105T133000
SUMMARY:Lecture / Discussion:CJS Noon Lecture Series | Nourishing Life: Cultures of Food and Health in Early Modern Japan
DESCRIPTION:Please note: This lecture will be held in person in room 1010\, Weiser Hall\, and virtually on Zoom.  If you would like to attend via Zoom\, registration is required. Once you've registered\, joining information will be sent to your email. Register for the Zoom webinar at: https://myumi.ch/ykpz2\n\nCan food determine your fate? Could indulging in delicacies bring calamity to your community? This talk reevaluates the history of Japanese food culture by examining how ideas of healthy eating became both a popular phenomenon and a matter of grave concern among trained medical experts and amateur culinary enthusiasts alike. It explores why ordinary people ate what they did\, how these ideas on proper eating came to be\, and what social\, economic\, and moral concerns propelled their rise. Guidance on dietetics conveyed priorities about how well-nourished bodies were meant to act in the world\, whether as agricultural workers\, samurai bureaucrats\, or merchant consumers. Failure to keep a proper diet carried life-or-death consequences\, according to these guides\, that could bring not just disease to oneself but financial and moral ruin to one’s household\, domain\, or even society at large. This study of historical nourishment modes in Japan thus reveals an early modern dietetic revolution in the making\, which disrupted older forms of expertise and provided a venue to critique official policies on eating and living right before the introduction of modern scientific nutrition.\n\nJoshua Schlachet is a historian of Japan\, specializing in the cultural history of nourishment in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. His new book\, *Nourishing Life: Cultures of Food and Health in Early Modern Japan* (University of Hawaiʻi Press\, 2026)\, examines how the emergence of a dietary common knowledge expanded concepts of a well-nourished body to encompass economic productivity\, status hierarchy\, and moral cultivation. Schlachet is co-editor of *Interdisciplinary Edo: Towards an Integrated Approach to Early Modern Japan* (Routledge\, 2024)\, a collected volume of innovative humanistic research on society and culture in the Tokugawa era. He received his Ph.D. in East Asian languages and cultures from Columbia University in 2018 and is a proud graduate of the University of Michigan's Center for Japanese Studies.\n\nIf there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you\, please contact us. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.
UID:150002-21907801@events.umich.edu
URL:https://events.umich.edu/event/150002
CLASS:PUBLIC
STATUS:CONFIRMED
CATEGORIES:Asian Languages And Cultures,center for japanese studies,Food,History,japan,Japanese Studies,Asia
LOCATION:Weiser Hall - 10th Floor
CONTACT:
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260811T160816
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20261112T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20261112T133000
SUMMARY:Lecture / Discussion:CJS Noon Lecture Series | When Self-Empowerment Goes South (or East\, More Precisely): Gender\, Neoliberalism\, and Romance Fraud in Japan
DESCRIPTION:Please note: This lecture will be held in person in East Hall 4448 and virtually on Zoom. If you are attending in person\, we recommend entering East Hall using the Church Street entrance and taking the elevator to the 4th floor. The webinar is free and open to the public\, but registration is required. Once you've registered\, joining information will be sent to your email. Register for the Zoom webinar at: https://myumi.ch/rwr6E.\n\nBuilding on scholarship on changing gender and intimacy norms under neoliberalism in Japan\, this lecture explores how these transformations are reflected in the realm of romance fraud. Drawing on two contrasting sets of empirical material—interviews with romance fraud victims and publications and interviews with followers and supporters of the fraudster ‘Ririchan the Grantee Gal’—the lecture argues that these seemingly disparate groups are connected by a common underlying dynamic: women's struggle for autonomy and/or recognition within a gendered social hierarchy. It examines how aspirations for self-empowerment and liberation\, often intensified by neoliberal ideals of personal responsibility and self-realization\, can paradoxically lead individuals towards both victimization and offending.\n\nDr. Yutaka Yoshida is a lecturer in criminology at Cardiff University. His research explores romance fraud victimization\, digital vigilantism\, and far-right movements in Japan\, with a particular interest in narratives\, identity\, and technology-mediated social harms. His current work examines how romance fraud victims make sense of their experiences and reconstruct their lives in the aftermath of victimization\, drawing on psychosocial approaches.\n\nIf there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you\, please contact us. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.
UID:150003-21907802@events.umich.edu
URL:https://events.umich.edu/event/150003
CLASS:PUBLIC
STATUS:CONFIRMED
CATEGORIES:Gender,Japanese Studies,japan,gender studies,center for japanese studies,Asian Languages And Cultures
LOCATION:East Hall - Room 4448
CONTACT:
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20261013T123436
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20270128T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20270128T133000
SUMMARY:Lecture / Discussion:CJS Noon Lecture Series | Multiple Ryukyu Histories\, ca. 1450–1880
DESCRIPTION:Please note: This lecture will be held in person (location TBA) and virtually on Zoom. This event is free and open to the public\, but you must register to attend via Zoom. Register for the Zoom webinar at https://myumi.ch/jV76b.\n\nThe Ryukyu Islands consist of four major island groups located across Okinawa and Kagoshima Prefectures in Japan. Throughout the modern era\, it has been standard practice to subsume the histories of this diverse region under the narrative created by the imperial center at Shuri (in Okinawa). This talk highlights some of the histories of Ryukyu Islands other than Okinawa\, providing alternatives to the hitherto dominant narrative.\n\nGregory Smits conducts research on the history of Japan and the East China Sea region. He is the author of four books on the history of the Ryukyu Islands and two books on the history of earthquakes in Japan.\n\n*If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you\, please contact us at sarachit@umich.edu. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.*
UID:153616-21916104@events.umich.edu
URL:https://events.umich.edu/event/153616
CLASS:PUBLIC
STATUS:CONFIRMED
CATEGORIES:japaneses studies,Japanese Studies,japan,History,center for japanese studies,Asian Languages And Cultures
LOCATION:Off Campus Location
CONTACT:
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20261013T122736
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20270204T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20270204T133000
SUMMARY:Lecture / Discussion:CJS Noon Lecture Series | Revisiting the Art of Kusama Yayoi (1929–2026)
DESCRIPTION:Please note: This lecture will be held in person in Room 1010\, Weiser Hall. It will not be livestreamed or recorded.\n\nAt the time of her death on August 14\, 2026\, Kusama Yayoi was widely recognized as one of the world’s most successful artists. Yet\, Kusama’s reputation was based on the supposedly innate connection between her art and her personal struggles. Kusama exploited this connection to enable viewers to adjust to postmodern life through her own life and work. This talk examines Kusama’s legacy now that the artist herself is unfortunately no longer here to guide viewers.  \n\nAmanda Kennell\, Ph.D.\, researches modern Japanese media as an assistant professor of East Asian languages and cultures at the University of Notre Dame. She has published a book about Japanese adaptations of *Alice in Wonderland\, Alice in Japanese Wonderlands: Translation\, Adaptation\, Mediation* (University of Hawaiʻi Press\, 2023)\, as well as articles on ownership in contemporary media\, fine artist Kusama Yayoi\, and anime director Kon Satoshi. She is currently examining how contemporary media affect spatiality\, temporality\, and humanity’s treatment of the environment.  \n\n*If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you\, please contact us at sarachit@umich.edu. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.*
UID:153615-21916103@events.umich.edu
URL:https://events.umich.edu/event/153615
CLASS:PUBLIC
STATUS:CONFIRMED
CATEGORIES:Japanese Studies,japan,Asian Languages And Cultures,arts,Art History
LOCATION:Weiser Hall - 10th Floor
CONTACT:
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20261027T101725
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20270225T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20270225T133000
SUMMARY:Lecture / Discussion:CJS Noon Lecture Series | Translating Knowledge\, Negotiating Tradition: The Making of the English-language Noh Chiune
DESCRIPTION:Please note: This lecture will be held in person (location TBA) and virtually on Zoom. This event is free and open to the public\, but you must register to attend online. Register for the Zoom webinar at https://myumi.ch/e7MkV\n\nHow are different forms of knowledge translated and negotiated through the creation of a new Noh? Drawing on the development of *Chiune: Visas for Life\,* a new English-language Noh about Japanese Diplomat Sugihara Chiune\, grounded in Noh’s musical and performative traditions\, this talk examines how research\, embodied learning\, and collaboration form the basis of the creative process. It traces the development of text\, music\, and movement through this process. Anno argues that knowledge of Noh tradition shapes *Chiune* at multiple levels\, from its overarching structure to the development of specific sections\, including the *michiyuki* (travel song) and *Visa no dan* (visa-stamping section).\n\nMariko Anno is an associate professor at the Institute of Science Tokyo and currently the Toyota Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies. Her research on Noh performance practice\, particularly the nohkan (Noh flute)\, examines musical structures\, oral transmission\, and the negotiation of tradition and innovation. Anno’s book\, Piercing the  Structure of Tradition: Flute Performance\, Continuity\, and Freedom in the Music of Noh  Drama (Cornell University Press\, 2020)\, is the first English-language monograph on the nohkan. Her work also examines Noh in transnational settings\, particularly how Noh’s musical and performance conventions shape English-language Noh. Chiune: Visas for Life\, her current project\, is an English-language Noh she wrote and co-composed about Japanese diplomat Sugihara Chiune. The work was performed by Theatre Nohgaku in October 2026\, with grant support from the University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies\, the National  Endowment for the Arts\, and Oakton College.\n\n*Photo: Mask by Kitazawa Hideta. Photo by Kitazawa Sohta.*\n\nThis lecture is supported in part by the William P. Malm Fund.\n\nIf there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you\, please contact us at sarachit@umich.edu. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.
UID:154136-21917264@events.umich.edu
URL:https://events.umich.edu/event/154136
CLASS:PUBLIC
STATUS:CONFIRMED
CATEGORIES:Asian Languages And Cultures,History,japan,Japanese Studies,japaneses studies,Music
LOCATION:Off Campus Location
CONTACT:
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20261026T160705
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20270304T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20270304T133000
SUMMARY:Lecture / Discussion:CJS Noon Lecture Series | Abundance in the Midst of Polycrisis: Indigenous Science and Multispecies Relations from Japan to India
DESCRIPTION:Across Asia\, Indigenous relations with multispecies kin have curated geospatial boundaries and nurtured abundance. Faced with polycrisis (settler colonialism\, climate crisis\, and carbon extractivism)\, how have Indigenous Asian communities refused settler and racial extractivism and pushed for re-centering Indigenous Science? By centering Indigenous struggles for land\, livelihood\, and multispecies abundance in Japan and India\, this talk grapples with how Indigenous Science-rooted methods aim to carve out futures grounded in habitability.\n\nAnn-Elise Lewallen is associate professor of Pacific & Asian studies at the University of Victoria\, Canada\, and her academic work focuses on Indigenous Asia/s\, settler colonialisms\, political ecology\, and energy justice in Japan and India. Her 2016 monograph\, *The Fabric of Indigeneity: Ainu Identity\, Gender and Settler Colonialism in Japan* (SAR and UNM Press)\, considers Indigenous Ainu women’s use of heritage textiles to resist contemporary Japanese settler colonialism. In her current project\, “Healing Forests: Indigenous Knowledges & Traditional Medicines in Northeast India\,” she and her team partner with Indigenous Khasi medicinal healers in Meghalaya\, India (funded by SSHRC\, https://khasi.uvic.ca/). Her book-in-progress\, *The Banyan Ghost: Altered Ecologies and Indigenous Futures in Asia*\, focuses on energy transitions and multispecies abundance through collaborating with Indigenous and frontline communities in India and Japan.\n\nIf there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you\, please contact us at sarachit@umich.edu. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.
UID:154107-21917180@events.umich.edu
URL:https://events.umich.edu/event/154107
CLASS:PUBLIC
STATUS:CONFIRMED
CATEGORIES:japaneses studies,Japanese Studies,japan,India,Asian Languages And Cultures
LOCATION:Weiser Hall - 10th Floor
CONTACT:
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20261026T162509
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20270401T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20270401T133000
SUMMARY:Lecture / Discussion:CJS Noon Lecture Series | The Pathway Islands: Ryukyu\, Japan\, and Sugar in the Early Modern World
DESCRIPTION:In 1691\, Satsuma officials brought sugarcane from Ryukyu to the Amami Islands\, which the domain called *Michi-no-shima\,* the “Pathway Islands.” This began a plantation economy of cleared forests\, stripped reefs\, and debt servitude whose black sugar would become a pillar of the domain's finances. A century later\, cane and techniques that had slipped out of Satsuma's control seeded a very different industry in the villages of Shikoku\, where domains promoted refined white sugar. Setting these two sugar histories within the global history of sugar\, alongside those of southern China\, Southeast Asia\, and the Caribbean\, this talk asks why one crop produced such different systems in two corners of the archipelago and what that reveals about the place of Ryukyu and Japan in the early modern world.\n\nThomas Monaghan is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies and a historian of early modern and modern Japan whose research connects Japan's southern border islands to the global history of sugar\, empire\, and the environment. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 2025 and is completing a book on the Satsuma domain's sugar colonies in the Amami Islands.\n\nIf there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you\, please contact us at sarachit@umich.edu. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.
UID:154110-21917191@events.umich.edu
URL:https://events.umich.edu/event/154110
CLASS:PUBLIC
STATUS:CONFIRMED
CATEGORIES:History,japaneses studies,Japanese Studies,japan,center for japanese studies,Asian Languages And Cultures,Agriculture
LOCATION:Weiser Hall - 10th Floor
CONTACT:
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20261027T102906
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20270408T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20270408T133000
SUMMARY:Lecture / Discussion:CJS Noon Lecture Series | Oishisa\, Mitsuketa! How the Japanese Taste for Sweetness Transformed the Philippine Highlands
DESCRIPTION:Please note: This lecture will be held in person (room TBA) and virtually on Zoom. This event is free and open to the public\, but you must register to attend online. Register for the Zoom webinar at https://myumi.ch/QMqnV.\n\nJapan is the only place in the world where bananas are marketed and priced by cultivation altitude. In the late 1980’s\, plantation managers sourcing the fruit from the southern Philippine region of Mindanao discovered a paradigm-shifting formula: the higher up one grew\, the closer they were to replicating the heightened sweetness of colonial Taiwanese bananas\, a taste lost in the switch to Philippine supply. This talk offers the first transnational history of the banana’s transition from a fungible commodity to a product differentiated into “lowland\,” “midland\,” “highland\,” and “super highland” categories. By focusing on the tensions between fungibility and differentiation\, it offers an account both of an idiosyncratic marketing strategy particular to Japan and the Philippines\, and of a dynamic that pervades the creation of all commodities under capitalism.\n\nAlyssa Paredes is assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan\, Ann Arbor. Her research lies at the intersection of industrial agriculture\, transnational supply chains\, and solidarity activism between the Southern Philippines and Japan. Her book\, *Bananapocalypse: Plantation Capitalism and the Unmaking of Asia’s Banana Republic\,* is forthcoming with the University of California Press in December 2026. Her work appears in journals and volumes in anthropology\, history\, geography\, food studies\, and Asian studies.\n\nIf there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you\, please contact us at sarachit@umich.edu. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.
UID:154137-21917266@events.umich.edu
URL:https://events.umich.edu/event/154137
CLASS:PUBLIC
STATUS:CONFIRMED
CATEGORIES:Asian Languages And Cultures,center for japanese studies,History,japan,Japanese Studies
LOCATION:Off Campus Location
CONTACT:
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