Pembroke Holds 5th Tanaka Symposium in Japanese Studies

The Tanaka Symposium in Japanese Studies at Pembroke College, Oxford has played a crucial role in the promotion and exchange of new knowledge among scholars and students of Japanese studies and related fields in the UK. Following the success of our 4th symposium in Michaelmas Term 2022 (‘Humans and Nature in Crisis: Japanese Literature and the Environmental Humanities’), we held our 5th symposium in Trinity Term on the 6th of June.

The 5th symposium, ‘Reconfiguring the Concept of Religion in Modern Japan’, discussed how creative religious knowledge and practices both changed and challenged the concept of religion in Japan between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Speakers discussed how different Christian scholars critically reassessed Christianity in modern Japan and the wider world, and also scrutinised innovative responses by Buddhists, Confucianists, and practitioners of Ainu religious beliefs. The 5th symposium on religion drew audiences with scholarly interests in Theology and American Studies in addition to Japanese studies. The symposium consisted of four panels, a key ‘concept and contour’ talk, and a roundtable discussion. Presentations were given by internationally renowned scholars in the fields of history and religious studies in Japan and beyond, followed by active discussion between the audience and the panels.  

Following the Opening Remarks by Pembroke’s Fellow in Japanese, Linda Flores (Oxford), and the Tanaka Junior Research Fellow, Chinami Oka (Oxford), Sho Konishi (Oxford) delivered the key concept and contour talk, emphasising the importance of religion in understanding modern Japanese society. This was followed by Panel 1 ‘Deconstructing National and Civilisational Discourses in Religion’, chaired by Yu Sakai (Waseda University) and presented by Migiwa Imaishi (Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties) and Alexandria Dugal (Tokyo Woman’s Christian University). In Panel 2 ‘New Perspectives on Race and Christianity in the United States and Japan’, chaired by Natalia Doan (Oxford), Stephen Tuck (Oxford) and Emily Anderson (Japanese American National Museum) presented their latest work. Panel 3 ‘Reassessing Gender, Sexuality, and Love in Religion’ welcomed Alice Baldock (Oxford) as chair and Paride Stortini (University of Tokyo) and Chinami Oka as presenters. Finally, Panel 4 ‘Social Change and Action-Oriented Religion’ hosted Federica Costantino (Oxford) as chair and Yu Sakai and Joel Littler (Oxford) as presenters.

The Roundtable Discussion with Emily Anderson, Yu Sakai, and Chinami Oka summarised key takeaways from the panels and posed questions for future research. The keynote speech, ‘Writing a New Christian History: Japanese Immigrant Churches in Pre-WW II Los Angeles’, was delivered by Emily Anderson, curator at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. Anderson’s talk highlighted the intersectionality of Christian history and the experience of migrant communities in California, bringing a unique perspective to the field. 

In her Closing Remarks, Flores commented on the inter-disciplinary nature of the panels, discussions, and participants, noting how well the symposium fulfilled its mission of bringing together diverse perspectives across disciplines into a single forum and creating potential synergies in scholarship. The day concluded with further discussion over an informal reception with the audience and a High Table Dinner for symposium speakers.  

The Tanaka Symposium in Japanese Studies is made possible by a generous grant from the Tanaka UK Japan Educational Foundation. Our inaugural symposium was held in June 2017, and since then, the annual event has brought together scholars in Japanese studies and related fields from Oxford, Europe, the US, and Japan. The symposium creates a forum for the discussion and dissemination of scholarship, methodologies, and ideas in Japanese Studies primarily, but also extending to fields such as literature, religion, modern history, and the humanities more generally.

Dr Linda Flores
Associate Professor, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Oxford)
Fellow in Japanese Studies (Pembroke College, Oxford)

Dr Chinami Oka
Tanaka Junior Research Fellow in Japanese Studies (Pembroke College, Oxford)