Japan Series: Professor Jennifer Coates – Studying Japan from the UK: New Challenges and Historical Precedents

This illustrated talk reflects on the past, present and future of Japanese Studies in the UK; the antecedents of the field, its strengths and challenges, and its place in our fast-changing globalised world. As many countries around the world turn inwards to prioritise national concerns and domestic politics, Japan remains an object of fascination for students, researchers, and the general public. From the mystical ‘Japan’ located just west of Laputa in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726) to the ‘Japan’ of geisha in rickshaws captured by the Lumière brothers’ cameramen (1897), and from the opponent of World War II to the exciting exoticism of ‘Japan’ as holiday destination, our engagement with ideas about ‘Japan’ has shaped not only the UK understanding of Japan, but also the UK itself. Connecting the history of the study of Japan to contemporary research on its impact on the UK, this talk demonstrates the value of learning about Japan.

About the Speaker

Jennifer Coates is Professor of Japanese Studies at the School of East Asian Studies, University of Sheffield and Honorary Secretary of the British Association of Japanese Studies. Her books include Making Icons: Repetition and the Female Image in Japanese Cinema, 1945-1964 (2016), Film Viewing in Postwar Japan, 1945-1968: An Ethnographic Study (2022), and co-edited volumes War Memory and East Asian Conflicts, 1930–1945, Japanese Visual Media: Politicizing the Screen and The Routledge Companion to Gender and Japanese Culture.