Twenty-Ninth Japan Studies Association Conference—In Person!
January 4-6, 2023
(Wed.-Fri.)
The Hyatt Place Waikiki Beach Hotel
Honolulu, Hawai'i
Established in San Diego in the spring of 1994, the JSA has assisted its members – primarily teachers from American two- and four-year colleges and universities – to acquire first-hand knowledge about Japan and infuse it into the curriculum of their home institutions. Through workshops and study-tours, and the professional networking they enable, JSA’s members have been inspired to engage in curriculum development, design study-abroad programs, and initiate Japan-related or comparative research, an outlet for which they have found both in the organization’s Japan Studies Association Journal and its annual national conference.
In January 2023 we will meet again in person, after too long a COVID hiatus, in sunny Honolulu to share our continuous and new pedagogical and research interests in Japan’s literary and cultural traditions, historical and economic developments, sociopolitical and religious past and present. We invite proposals for individual presentations, discipline-specific or interdisciplinary panels, roundtables on pedagogy and teaching innovation and staged readings.
In January 2023 we will meet again in person, after too long a COVID hiatus, in sunny Honolulu to share our continuous and new pedagogical and research interests in Japan’s literary and cultural traditions, historical and economic developments, sociopolitical and religious past and present. We invite proposals for individual presentations, discipline-specific or interdisciplinary panels, roundtables on pedagogy and teaching innovation and staged readings.
Japan Finding its Place in the World
The major theme of this year’s conference is Japan Finding its Place in the World. Like all of us, Japanese have had to wrestle with what constitutes the “new normal” in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic; but this project has actually been going on for far longer. Certainly since 1989 Japanese have been challenged to puzzle out the constantly changing global context in which they must operate. Arguably the questions of how Japan and the Japan should be situated in the world has been the one of the most fundamental questions throughout its long history. We welcome paper and panel proposals that examine the attempts of Japanese to come to grips to how they fit into the broader social, economic, diplomatic, literary, and artistic world.
January 5, Keynote Presentation: Japan, Hawai’i, and the World
A Conversation with Christine Yano and Paul Yonamine,
Moderated by Bill Tsutsui
Hawai’i offers a unique vantagepoint for considering Japan’s past experience and future
prospects of “finding its place in the world.” As the site of substantial Japanese migration,
investment and trade, cultural influence and interchange, and (once, at least), imperial ambitions,
Hawai’i provides a revealing case study of how Japan and the Japanese diaspora have navigated
(and shaped) global trends over the past 150 years.
This interactive moderated conversation brings together a distinguished scholar of Japanese
culture and the Japanese-American community in Hawai’i with a prominent leader in the
business and financial communities in Tokyo and Honolulu. The wide-ranging discussion will
touch upon the economic, social, and cultural aspects of Japan’s global interactions; the flows of
people, ideas, and practices between Japan and Hawai’i; and topics from baseball and beauty
pageants to tourism and ethnic identities.
prospects of “finding its place in the world.” As the site of substantial Japanese migration,
investment and trade, cultural influence and interchange, and (once, at least), imperial ambitions,
Hawai’i provides a revealing case study of how Japan and the Japanese diaspora have navigated
(and shaped) global trends over the past 150 years.
This interactive moderated conversation brings together a distinguished scholar of Japanese
culture and the Japanese-American community in Hawai’i with a prominent leader in the
business and financial communities in Tokyo and Honolulu. The wide-ranging discussion will
touch upon the economic, social, and cultural aspects of Japan’s global interactions; the flows of
people, ideas, and practices between Japan and Hawai’i; and topics from baseball and beauty
pageants to tourism and ethnic identities.
January 6 Keynote Presentation: Okinawa as Monument
Alexis Dudden
University of Connecticut.
As part of the American Historical Review’s “Monuments” series, Prof. Dudden brings three interwoven sections spotlighting Okinawa, the main Island of Japan's Ryukyu island chain. She argues the islands
themselves are a monument to the past and have their place in contemporary Japanese history. Annexed to the nascent Japanese empire in 1879, fast forward to 1945, when Japan’s wartime leaders sacrificed Okinawa in a desperate and violent effort to stave off America’s invasion of Japan’s main islands. What Okinawans know as the “Typhoon of Steel,” the Americans codenamed “Operation Iceberg.” It was the final Allied assault in the Pacific theater of World War II and considered by many its bloodiest: one in four Okinawans died. Under U.S. occupation until 1972 the islands also serve as a monument to the stresses and strains U.S. and Japanese defense policies have placed on Okinawans. Seventy-five percent of U.S. bases in Japan are found on Okinawa. Today it is a monument to the increasing competition between the U.S., the People's Republic of China and Japan.
themselves are a monument to the past and have their place in contemporary Japanese history. Annexed to the nascent Japanese empire in 1879, fast forward to 1945, when Japan’s wartime leaders sacrificed Okinawa in a desperate and violent effort to stave off America’s invasion of Japan’s main islands. What Okinawans know as the “Typhoon of Steel,” the Americans codenamed “Operation Iceberg.” It was the final Allied assault in the Pacific theater of World War II and considered by many its bloodiest: one in four Okinawans died. Under U.S. occupation until 1972 the islands also serve as a monument to the stresses and strains U.S. and Japanese defense policies have placed on Okinawans. Seventy-five percent of U.S. bases in Japan are found on Okinawa. Today it is a monument to the increasing competition between the U.S., the People's Republic of China and Japan.
Submitting an abstract or a panel proposal
Abstracts for an individual presentation (approx. 250 words) or proposals for a themed panel, roundtable or staged reading (approx. 500 words) should be submitted via JSA’s website: http://www.japanstudies.org by Friday, December 2, 2022. Please make sure that you include the name(s), institutional affiliation and contact information for each presenter along with individual presentation titles.
We would also welcome your suggestions for a Japanese literary, historical or theoretical text to provide the focus of the now traditional general discussion session.
For more information, please contact the Conference Program Co-Chairs:
Prof. Andrea Stover, Belmont University: andrea.stover@belmont.edu
Prof. Paul Dunscomb, University of Alaska Anchorage: pedunscomb@alaska.edu
You may also contact JSA Treasurer:
Prof. Stacia Bensyl, Missouri Western State University: bensyl@missouriwestern.edu
We would also welcome your suggestions for a Japanese literary, historical or theoretical text to provide the focus of the now traditional general discussion session.
For more information, please contact the Conference Program Co-Chairs:
Prof. Andrea Stover, Belmont University: andrea.stover@belmont.edu
Prof. Paul Dunscomb, University of Alaska Anchorage: pedunscomb@alaska.edu
You may also contact JSA Treasurer:
Prof. Stacia Bensyl, Missouri Western State University: bensyl@missouriwestern.edu
Accommodation and Registration Information
We will be meeting once again at Hyatt Place Waikiki Beach.
The room cost is $220, single or double. There is a destination fee of $13 (all hotels are charging up to $35 a day for a resort/destination fee). Additional tax brings the room cost up to $275 a day including breakfast.
All guests must make their reservations NO LATER than December 2, 2022.
Here are the three options to make your reservation:
Option 1: Reservation Link: https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/group-booking/HNLZW/G-KJSA
Option 2: Call our hotel reservations directly at the hotel: 808-931-4333. Refer to GROUP CODE: G-KJSA
Option 3: Email: reserve@hyattplacewaikikibeach.com (in the email: please provide the GROUP CODE: G-KJSA for Japanese Studies Association Program)
The room cost is $220, single or double. There is a destination fee of $13 (all hotels are charging up to $35 a day for a resort/destination fee). Additional tax brings the room cost up to $275 a day including breakfast.
All guests must make their reservations NO LATER than December 2, 2022.
Here are the three options to make your reservation:
Option 1: Reservation Link: https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/group-booking/HNLZW/G-KJSA
Option 2: Call our hotel reservations directly at the hotel: 808-931-4333. Refer to GROUP CODE: G-KJSA
Option 3: Email: reserve@hyattplacewaikikibeach.com (in the email: please provide the GROUP CODE: G-KJSA for Japanese Studies Association Program)
Register for the 2023 Conference and Become a Japan Studies Association Member or Renew Your Existing Membership!
When you register and pay for the January 2023 JSA Annual Conference, your JSA Membership Fee of $45 for 2023 is included!
Registration for the 2023 JSA Conference is $200 for part-time, retired, student, unemployed or independent scholars; or $300 for full-time employees. This offer is open until December 16th, 2022; after that date there will be an additional $25 late fee added.
Registration for the 2023 JSA Conference is $200 for part-time, retired, student, unemployed or independent scholars; or $300 for full-time employees. This offer is open until December 16th, 2022; after that date there will be an additional $25 late fee added.