This symposium explores new approaches to Japanese culture, society, and literature by examining Tohoku (northeastern) Japan in a global context. Often seen as a remote and conservative countryside, Tohoku has, in fact, been a site of transnational exchange for centuries, with its people actively shaping and sharing knowledge beyond Japan’s borders. We highlight Tohoku not as a forgotten region but as one that challenges conventional views of Japanese culture and society, past and present. This includes the tales of Tohoku women and travellers – what can their firsthand experiences tell us? With a focus on the grassroots voices, this symposium examines how their stories prompt us to rethink our sources, methods, and concepts in the study of Japan and beyond. We invite all participants to engage in open discussion. The event concludes with a film screening featuring voices from Tohoku.
Register by Sunday, 4 May 2025, to attend either in-person or online here.
Symposium schedule
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10.00 - 10.30
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Welcome and Registration (with refreshments)
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10.30 – 10.40
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Opening Remarks
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Professor Linda Flores
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10.40 – 11.00
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Key Concept and Contour
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Professor Sho Konishi (Oxford)
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11.15 – 13.00
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Panel 1: Tohoku in the Wider World
Chair: Dr Alice Baldock
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Dr Hitoshi Ogawa (Kyoto Seika)
Tōhoku in Rome: A Historiographical and Archival Reappraisal of the Keichō Mission
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Dr Chinami Oka (Oxford)
Tohoku After Defeat: Transnational Countercultures Against the Nation-State
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Dr Joel Littler (Harvard)
Tōhoku and Kyūshū: United in Loss
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Toma-Jin Morikawa-Fouquet (Oxford)
Horii Ryōho’s Transnational Vision of Farmer Democracy in Taishō Japan (1912–1926)
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13.00 – 14.00
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– Lunch Break –
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14.00 – 15.00
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Panel 2: Reframing Tohoku Art and Culture
Chair: Dr Chinami Oka
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Dr Alice Baldock (Oxford)
Intimacy and Furusato: Unravelling the Relationships between Butoh and Tohoku
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Tyuki Imamura (Oxford)
Soil of Listening —The Role of the Arts and Spontaneity—
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15.00 – 15.30
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– Coffee and Tea Break –
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15.30 – 16.20
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Panel 3: Literary Solidarities (In-Person Only)
Chair: Dr Juliana Buriticá Alzate
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Professor Takako Arai (Saitama)
The Depth of the Language of the Tōhoku Onba (grandma)
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16.30 – 17.50
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Special Film Screening (In-Person Only)
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“Songs Still Sung: Voices from the Tsunami Shores”
東北おんばのうた – つなみの浜辺で (2020)
Director, Photography, Editing: Suzuki Yoi, Producer: Arai Takako
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17.50 – 18.00
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Closing Remarks
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Professor Linda Flores
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18:30 – 19:00
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You are invited to a drinks reception and a special 3CR Talk by Dr Juliana Buriticá Alzate titled “More Connection, Less Division: Reading Takako Arai's Translation Poetics” at the SCR Parlour
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This symposium is kindly supported by the Tanaka UK Japan Educational Foundation.
