Events & Programmes Archive

This event will bring together primary teachers of Japanese to share their ideas about what went well with their Japanese teaching over the last year

The Japan Foundation is delighted to invite influential and pioneering videogame designer Hirokazu Yasuhara, best known for his work on the Sonic the Hedgehog game series

This two-day international conference, organised by the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge, brings together scholars in the field of Japanese early-modern literature with a specific remit: to examine the interaction of text(s) and image(s) in a systematic manner across the main genres of early-modern popular prose and poetry in print. This is done in dialogue with scholars who work on comics, graphic prose and manga. Building on the methodology developed in influential works on Western illustrated texts each presentation discusses selected case studies from Japanese early-modern sources, in order to offer preliminary answers to specific research questions. Presentations are closed each day by a wrap-up session with a view to sum up the answers emerged during the day, to highlight new research questions, and to offer points of discussion for the roundtable. A roundtable closes the conference, featuring scholars of comics, graphic prose and manga. The goal is to position early-modern Japan in a continuum with contemporary Japan and to view its visual culture as an integral part of visual cultures around the World and across time.

We are delighted to announce that the Nihongo Cup Japanese Speech Contest for Secondary Schools in the UK is open for applications! Nihongo Cup, the Japanese Speech Contest for Secondary School students, is accepting applications across three categories: Key Stage 3, Pre-GCSE Key Stage 4/5, and Post GCSE Key Stage 4 and 5.

The next Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) will take place on Sunday December 3rd 2017. It will be held at SOAS University of London, the University of Edinburgh and Cardiff University The application deadline has passed. Applications are now closed. The next JLPT will take place summer 2017. Deadline to apply: Thursday, 5th October for all 3 test sites. Sites will close earlier when the number of applicants reach the maximum. We highly recommend you to submit the application as early as possible to secure your place at your preferred site. Please make sure you apply directly at the university where you wish to take the test. 1. SOAS University of London   Registration start: Late August If you require special arrangements, please contact the university before applying by mid September> CLICK HERE for more information and to apply at SOAS. As the maximum number of applicants has been reached, applications to take the test at SOAS are now closed.  2. University of Edinburgh    Registration start: 21 August 2017, 10am If you require special arrangements, please contact the university before applying by 8th September, 4pm> CLICK HERE for more information and to apply at the University of Edinburgh 3. Cardiff University    Registration start: Mid August (TBC) If you require special arrangements, please contact the university before applying.> CLICK HERE for more information and to apply at Cardiff University

A special season dedicated to celebrating the diverse and exceptional work by the new generation of female directors who have emerged from the Japanese archipelago in the last fifteen years.

HYPER JAPAN Christmas will bring a festival of light to London this November, presenting an exhibition of lighting installations which blend traditional and modern aspects of Japanese culture. Featuring illuminations often seen at Japanese “matsuri” festivals, the installations will include the stunning work of contemporary Japanese artists Tadaharu Kawamura and Teppei Hayakawa.

The Japan Foundation is delighted to sponsor the second year of the London Asia Pacific Centre’s Contemporary Japan Speaker Series.  From November 2017 to March 2018, the series will bring five top Japanese professors to London to discuss contemporary Japanese economics, politics and society Confirmed speakers for 2017/2018 include: 23 November 2017: Professor Kumiko Miyazaki, Tokyo Institute of Technology 25 January 2018: Professor Tanaka Sigeto, Tohoku University (Event information) 15 February 2018: Professor Seio Nakajima, Waseda University (Event information) 22 March 2018: Professor Yasumasa Igarashi, Tsukuba University (Event information)

The Experience Japan Exhibition will be back in London this November for the seventh time, bringing information on the growing range of exciting study and research opportunities available in Japan to a UK audience.  The event which is hosted by Keio University and co-hosted by the British Council will allow participants to meet representatives of Japanese universities and receive information on the various programmes of study offered for international students. There will also be a chance to find out about the variety of scholarships and research funding available to enable students to take advantage of these learning opportunities. The seminar line-up offers participants the chance to learn about the basics of life in Japan and hear directly from people with experience of studying and researching there. Guest speakers will also be delivering presentations that provide insights into Japanese language and a new field of sports known as "superhuman sports". There will also be a special seminar on the ever-popular Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme. This year’s seminar line-up also includes a talk by the Japan Foundation’s own Chief Japanese Language Advisor Makoto Netsu who will be discussing ‘Insights into Japanese culture through language’ Throughout the day the Japan Foundation will also be introducing our support programmes and resources for Japanese Studies and Japanese language learning at an information stand at the exhibition, so do come and visit us for advice on your Japanese studies!

Japanese companies are important employers of university graduates with knowledge on Japan and Japanese language skills. Yet, much of this employment has happened in overseas subsidiaries and often graduates have seen limited career opportunities. Recently, Japanese companies have begun to hire graduates for employment in Japan itself and have also reemphasized the need to localize their overseas subsidiaries. These trends coincide with universities having become more interested in the employability of their graduates. This conference, organised by the University of Sheffield in collaboration with SOAS, University of London, aims to assess these developments in foreign graduate employment in Japanese companies and to explore how Japanese studies and language teaching as well as research should respond. The conference brings together international representatives of Japanese studies and language departments, Japanese company executives, employment agents, as well as Japanese studies students and graduates to explore these issues. 

How far is Japanese policy changing? Progression or break with the past? This workshop, organised by King’s Japan Programme together with Free University of Berlin, and sponsored by the Japan Foundation, tackles the relationship between recent changes in Japanese domestic policy institutions and Japan’s diplomatic and security practice. The workshop will showcase expert discussion on Japan’s changing decision-making and policy output in several key fields pertaining national security: foreign economic policy, arms exports, diplomatic negotiations, free trade agreement negotiations, military planning, and economic development statecraft. Following one day of closed door discussion, experts will engage with interested audience on the morning of Friday October 27 to present their most recent findings.

How does research on Japan inform ecological practice that is pertinent beyond the framework of area studies, and vice versa? If we were to place nature at the core of our studies of human activities, what new kinds of interdisciplinarity and knowledge would be possible, and how would we reorganize…