For the first time ever in 2025, the Japanese Studies Association of Australia Biennial conference will be held in Anaiwan Country (also a meeting place for Dangaddi, Gunbainggari and Baanbai tribes), on the New England Tablelands in Armidale at the University of New England campus. All scholars involved in Japanese Studies in some way, or at its margins, are welcomed to the conference.    
The conference theme is 'Marginal Places, Flows, Identities', inspired by the Anaiwan region, and UNE's position in a marginal place, at around 1000 metres above sea level. Like Armidale's relationship to the major urban cities of Sydney and Brisbane, there are many marginal places on the edges of Japan, and beyond, where identity has been affected by historical prejudice and losses, and where the often-assumed 'homogeneity' of Japan is questioned.  
Key-note speakers at JSAA2025 will include:
Emerita Professor of ANU, Tessa Morris-Suzuki and
Dr Reiko Yoshida of the University of South Australia.
Scholars interested in proposing a paper or panel are invited to think broadly on the themes of marginal places, flows and identities.
Potential approaches could include the following:

• Marginal places and peoples of Japan 
• New approaches to the study of Japan 
• New pedagogy in teaching in Japanese studies 
• Construction of self and identity from the margins 
• Language and identity and margins 
• Representations of identities in the arts, including literature, film, or performing arts 
• Linguistic change, and marginal languages 
• Flows of people and languages 
• Challenges to/from homogeneity and its discourses 
• Post-colonialism and the Japanese archipelago
• Japan and intersectionalities 

Papers that do not engage with the theme but are connected with Japanese Studies in its breadth are welcomed.
On the first day of the conference, a postgraduate/ECR workshop will be held, TBC.   
Session Types: 
1.      Individual Presentations (20 Minutes +10 minutes Questions)   
2.       Roundtable/Panel (90 minutes) 
3.       Alternative formats (suggested 60-90 minutes) eg. Book launch, creative presentations, workshops 



Call for Papers Details 
JSAA 2025 invites submissions for (1) individual papers, (2) panel proposals, and (3) alternative formats. Both onsite and online presentations are available, however panels should be either fully online or fully face-to-face. All presentations should be given in Japanese or English. We aim to make the conference most accessible for postgraduate and early career scholars, and we encourage their participation.  

• Papers: Individual papers comprise in-room/online presentations of original research by one or more authors, involving 20 minutes presentation and 10 minutes Q&A 
• Roundtable/Panels: Panels allow for extended discussion of a particular topic. These will normally comprise 3-4 presenter slots of maximum 20 minutes each, scheduled over 1.5 hours, inclusive of an optional discussion or discussant slot 
• Alternative formats & book launch options are also available 

Submission Process
Abstracts must be submitted to the following email address by 20th January 2025: [email protected]  
The abstract should: 

• Not exceed 250 words 
• Indicate the presenting author(s) if co-authored, plus the institutional affiliation 
• Include an overview of the intent and purpose of the presentation, as well as the significance of the research presented 
• Include a title of up to 20 words 
• Indicate preference for either of online, or in-person presentation

Please note that JSAA2025 is not a fully hybrid conference.
Online only presentations will be scheduled together with other online presentations and online registrations will not have access to all face-to-face sessions, with the exception of the keynote presentations, which will be streamed.
The limited access will be reflected in the price of registrations. 
Key dates are listed below.   
We very much look forward to meeting with you in Anaiwan Country in 2025!      
Co-Convenors: Gwyn McClelland and Laura Clark
​
https://www.jsaa.org.au/conferences-and-seminars

It's the season for the Emerging Scholar Award hosted by the Australian Society for Asian Humanities! If you're eligible, plz submit your fantastic unpublished work to us. Click the link for details. We look forward to seeing many entries!

​https://josah-publications.sydney.edu.au/emerging-scholars/

Power and Time
The Echoes of the Past, Reshaping the Present
A cross-regional discussion on writing, representing and teaching the pasts
 
14 November 2023
Alan MacDiarmid Lecture Threatre (AMLT) 105
11.00 AM-4.30 PM
Victoria University of Wellington--Te Herenga Waka
 
Registration
https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=Iz7mz1FpfkKGg7uE3PHSDBcjn75c80tOvwLZOhNJ3WlUOTJRUkk0NUlFRFpCNzEyVzYyMzBQNVZSWi4u

The past should no longer be seen as ‘another country’. Whether it be the memory and history of colonialism,destruction, defeat or the struggle to redress social injustice,in recent years, we have been increasingly challenged byissues that have arisen from the fragments of our difficultpasts. Black Lives Matter in the US, Voice to the Parliament inAustralia, the controversies over the colonial statues inAotearoa and overseas, and the memory of colonial forcedlabourers in Japan are only small fractions of the broaderdiscussion about the pasts that live within us. In other words, itis timely to consider the different ways in which we seek tocome to terms with the presence of the pasts that haunt thephysical and mental alleyways of our present lives. In such aclimate, in this seminar, we aim to discuss and reflect deeplyon the ways in which we engage in historical studies and thevalue of thinking through our difficult pasts with twodistinguished historians, students, academics and othermembers of the community.
 
Guest Lecturer 1 (11.10-12.00)
Dr. Andrew Levidis (Lecturer in Modern Japanese History, Australian National University)
The Temporal Lives of States: Archives and Empire in Japanese Historical Writing
 
Discussants:
Gilbert Levack (BA, Japanese/Linguistics)
Emma Jolly (BA, Asia/Japanese)
 
Guest Lecture 2 (12.30-13.20)
Dr. Ann-Sophie Levidis (Lecturer in French, Australian National University)
Past and Present Writings on the Francophone Pacific
 
Discussant:
Dr. Charles Rice-Davis (Lecturer in French)
 
Postgraduate Panel 1 (13.30-14.20)
Yuki Minami (PhD, Asia)
“Who can forget this sorrow?/that resentment becomes a river”: Forgotten History of the Zainichi Student Volunteers
 
Joshua Jeffrey (MA, Japanese)
Play-ing with Satire: Okinawa and Haitian theatrical political satire in the 1970s and 80s
 
Postgraduate Panel 2 (14.40-15.30)
Courtney Powell (MA, History)
Unstable Meanings: Interrogating Germanness in Sāmoa through Museum Objects 
 
Emma Johnson (MA, French)
Reading power, reading French: Travelling texts in nineteenth-century Aotearoa NZ
 
The Roundtable Discussion (15.40-16.30)
Writing, Representing, and Teaching the Pasts
Panellists:
Dr. Arini Loader (Lecturer in Maori History)
Dr. April Henderson (Senior Lecturer in Pacific Studies)
Dr. Giacomo Litchner (Associate Professor of History and Film)
Professor Yiyan Wang (Professor in Chinese)
 
The Zoom option is available. So, please send me a request via email.
 
For all enquiries, please contact me ([email protected])

As the largest gathering of experts working on Asia in the southern hemisphere, the 25th Biennial Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) conference offers a unique platform for developing and discussing research ideas, broadening the scope and foci of area studies and related disciplines, and fostering the growth of academic and institutional networks. A regular feature of Australian scholarship since 1976, the ASAA conference brings together aspiring, emerging, and experienced scholars and practitioners to shape and inform future trajectories of Asian Studies in the country and beyond.
 
In partnership with ASAA, Curtin Faculty of Humanities and the Korea Research Centre of Western Australia at Curtin University, the 2024 Conference explores the theme of Asia Futures: Studies of, in and with Asia, with a specific focus on the Asian region and Asian Studies as the site of future possibilities, challenges, and interconnections. Participants are encouraged to examine and reflect on the vast potentials and uncertainties that lie ahead in what is now referred to as the “Asian Century” and engage with the complexities of the ever-evolving Asian region and its profound impact on the world. We encourage participants to reflect on their topics in the context of the field of Asian Studies, considering in particular how area studies approaches can intersect with other academic disciplines in addressing the pressing issues of the day, such as the rising tide of authoritarianism, flows of popular culture, gender and sexuality, or climate change and inequality. Proposals for panels and individual papers on other Asian Studies research areas are of course also welcome. The deadline for proposals is 30th October 2023.
 
ASAA invites abstracts for papers, panels, and both physical and digital posters, as well as other contributions focusing on current and innovative themes in Asian Studies. We also welcome proposals for book launches and roundtable discussions.
 
Please note that while both face to face and online proposals are welcome, panel proposals should be either entirely online or face to face as the conference will operate a separate online platform for online presentations. Online presenters will have access to all other online presentations, online poster materials, and keynotes, which will be streamed.
 
KEY DATES 
Call for Papers Close                                                          October 30, 2023
Notification of Abstract Acceptance                               December 15, 2023
Registration Open                                                                December 15, 2023
 Early Bird Registration Close                                            February 1, 2024
Late Registrations Close for Presenters                        March 31, 2024
 
Please submit your proposal via the conference website: www.asaa2024.org
 


 
Any questions and queries can be sent to the conference convenor Assoc/Prof Jo Elfving-Hwang ([email protected]).
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 This day-long Symposium brings together leading experts from New Zealand, Japan, and the wider Indo-Pacific to discuss the region’s security challenges and how they can be managed. Speakers will address key themes including: security dynamics in a contested Indo-Pacific; Japan’s changing role in the region; New Zealand’s approach to Indo-Pacific security; and how developments are playing out in the South Pacific and Southeast Asia.


Confirmed Speakers:
Dr Ken Jimbo (Keio University, Japan);
Dr Akiko Fukushima (Tokyo Foundation, Japan)
Dr Ian Storey (ISEAS, Singapore)
Dr Huong Le Thu (Adjunct Fellow, CSIS, Washington)
Dr Van Jackson (Victoria University of Wellington, NZ)
AProf Manjeet S Pardesi (Victoria University of Wellington)
AProf Nicholas Khoo (University of Otago, NZ)
Dr Iati Iati (Victoria University of Wellington, NZ)
Prof David Capie (Victoria University of Wellington, NZ)
Dr Anna Powles (Massey University, NZ)
Thomas Parks (Asia Foundation, Bangkok, Thailand)
AProf Alexander Bukh (Victoria University of Wellington, NZ)
REGISTRATION INCLUDES: Tea & coffee on arrival; morning & afternoon tea; and lunch .

PROGRAMME OUTLINE
8:30- 9am Registration (tea & coffee on arrival)
9:00am Mihi Whakatau / Welcome / Keynote Address
9:30am PANEL ONE
10:45am Morning Tea
1:15 pm PANEL TWO
12:45pm Lunch
1:45pm PANEL THREE
3:00pm Afternoon Tea
3:15pm PANEL FOUR
4:45pm CLOSING REMARKS
Reception to follow (5pm to 6pm)​

​Drs. Caroline Bennett and Nayantara S. Appleton

In 2021 we published an edited volume, Methods, Moments, and Ethnographic Spaces in Asia. Taking Kuan-Hsing Chen’s Asia as Method: Toward Deimperialization (2010) as a prompt, and drawing on ethnographic research from across the Asian continent, we aimed to address a dearth in the literature that positioned Asia as a centre – not only in relation to geopolitical and economic shifts, but also to methodological approaches.
The book launched while the COVID-19 crisis was still hitting hard and shaping our personal realities alongside the larger medico-political global shifts. Since the publication of the book in 2021, we have both moved across the world (although Nayantara returns to Aotearoa later this year).
 
But in June this year, we met in Sri Lanka and re-visited the book together - wondering whether the points we had initially set out to address, starting in 2017 and culminating in 2020 when we send the book to publication, were still relevant. These conversations have prompted us to blog about the book for our larger NZASIA community and whanau, many of whom were involved in its writing.
 
On re-visiting/re-reading the book, now two years on from its publication, the themes of the book seem acutely pertinent. Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic illuminated and highlighted many of the geopolitical and social considerations highlighted by our authors – including the role of migration and movement (or its curtailing), the obscuring or highlighting of political landscapes, and the positioning of ourselves as researchers vis-à-vis the field. These conversations about research and research methods in changing Asian landscapes – in relation to other spaces in Asia itself – are as vital today as they were in 2021. 
 
The volume began as a conversation between two colleagues and friends about our respective work in Asia – Nayantara in India, and Caroline in Cambodia. As different authors came onboard it expanded to include thinking about subjects as wide ranging as mobility and verticality in the Western Pamirs (from Till Mostowlansky); infrastructure in Pakistan (Sarwat Viqar); psychiatric practice and positionality as a researcher-practitioner (are we translators, cartographers, or compradors?) (Jia-shin Chen); the complex relations of corporate retail of a Chinese researcher in a Japanese company in Hong Kong (Yi Zhu); how comparison provides linkages across Asia, Melanesia, and Oceania (Lorena Gibson); the evolution of Bali as place and product (Graeme Macrae and Lee Wilson); how multispecies ethnography of Japan from a Japanese family allows us to highlight that ‘we have always been cosmopolitan’ (Paul Hansen); and repositioning the self and the research vis-à-vis the relationality of women (including those from Bangladesh) in the borderlands of India and Nepal (Rimple Mehta and Sandali Thakur). Our own chapters consider the Asian experiences of feminist ethnography and participant movement (Nayantara) and the ongoing effects of the Cold War in Cambodia (Caroline). 
 
Thus, our authors, and the chapters in the volume as a whole, present a view on new renderings and imaginations of Asia from both within and outside the region – which in this new COVID-19 reality seem ever so pertinent. Each chapter offers personal reflection, and comes from long and ongoing wrestling with changing spaces and realities within our fieldsites as well as our disciplines. The linkages between these subjects were strong, despite them coming from across the huge geographical space and widely disparate social, economic, and political realities of Asia. And so, as part of the political project of this work, as well as a methodological interrogation, we also took a pan-Asian approach.
 
At first, we received pushback from the publishing houses about this approach. Books sell better, they contended, if they have a regional focus, and Asia has longstanding subdivisions within which we might like to focus. However, this was a political project for us, as well as an invitation for new ways of thinking and positioning ourselves and the field. These subdivisions themselves were built in colonialism and hide the multiple ways Asia is and has been constructed across the centuries, including through religions (such as Buddhism or Islam), via trade along the (multiple) Silk Roads, or in geopolitical strategic focus.
 
This pan-Asian approach is also fitting with Chen’s approach. Chen insists that ‘Asia as method’ is not a project of nation-states or subregions. There have always been multiple Asias, and Asia has had linkages and divisions across itself for centuries. But to see Asia in relation to Asia allows for the region to understand itself better in terms of its neighbours, as opposed to being in a peripheral relationship to Euro-American spaces and political projects. 
With all of this combined, the chapters in the book highlight the importance of Asia and the scholarship that emerges for/of/from this space, be it methodological, practical, or theoretical.
 
For our readers, students and scholars alike, the book offers opportunities for seeing similarities across Asian spaces, points of differences, and areas of collaboration. But above all the chapters are beautiful ethnographic and personal narratives that invite us all to see Asia anew.