Japan Through the Kaleidoscope: Images of Japan in Europe

This event has ended.

1st May, 09.30-17.00, 0.05 Cardiff School of Optometry

2nd May, 09.30-17.00, 0.31 John Percival Building

Keynote Speakers: Dr Marco Pellitteri, Kobe University and Dr Rayna Denison, UEA

Japan is a distant land but, increasingly, it is also present in our computer screens, magazines, newspapers, the movies we watch and the comics we read.  Inevitably, all these sources lend to polyvalent images of Japan as traditional and modern, familiar and alien. The variety, and sometimes conflicting nature of these images can raise questions of their accuracy and representativeness of Japan. While air travel has become accessible for the masses, Japan remains distant for many Europeans, and thus their only sources of knowledge are what are available to them in their home country or on the Internet.

This two-day workshop, organised by the journal Mutual Images and Cardiff University’s School of Modern Languages, features a diverse range of papers, examining images of Japan across a number of themes, as well as discussions and sessions on research skills, and dealing with such images.

The workshop is free open to all, and advanced registration is not required. The committee particularly encourages Japanese Studies undergraduates, as well as postgraduate researchers in all disciplines, to attend. However, for lunches, there will be an option of a paid buffet, which will require advance payment and the details for which will appear on the website shortly: