Anthropology Centennial Events

Centennial Conference
Japan: Crossing the Boundaries Within
March 15-16, 2002

This two-day colloquium will focus on the recent dramatic changes in the nature of the Japanese/non-Japanese boundaries within Japan. One such change is what some have called "internal internationalization" (kokunai kokusaika), which deals with the growing paradox of increasing political conservatism and retrenchment vs. private open-mindedness and liberal attitudes. The emphasis of the conference will be on the existence, nature, components and permeability of these sociocultural boundaries and their ongoing modification.

Almost all of the presenters in this colloquium were trained or associated with Berkeley and have carried out contemporary research on topics related to sociocultural boundaries at the grass-roots level as seen and felt by different kinds of Japanese people and their neighbors.

The participants are multinational, with four from Japan, four faculty members, and five present and four former graduate students from Berkeley.

The resulting collection will be submitted for publication in both English and Japanese.

The colloquium will be held in the Gifford Room, 221 Kroeber Hall, Berkeley (At the corner of Bancroft and College Avenues). All sessions are open to the public.

Friday March 15, 4.00-6.15pm
Prof. Andrew Barshay (Chair, CJS, UCB) Introduction.
Prof. Nelson Graburn (UCB) Opening Remarks.
Prof. Junko Habu (UCB) Recent Boundaries in the Past: The Definition of the Japanese, and the Boundaries between Jomon and Chulmun Cultures.
Prof. John Nelson* (USF) Traversing Religious and Legal Boundaries in Postwar Nagasaki: an Interfaith Ritual for the Spirits of the Dead.
Prof. Tomoko Hamada* (William and Mary) Internationalization in Japanese Business Ventures.

Saturday March 16, 9.30-11.45am
R. Kenji Tierney** (UCB) Outside the Sumo Ring? Foreigners and a Re-thinking of the National Sport.
Yuko Okubo** (UCB) 'Newcomers' in Public Education: Chinese and Vietnamese Children in a Buraku Community.
Dr. Jeffrey Hester* (Kansai Gaidai, Osaka) The Crossing Korean/Japanese Boundaries in a Mixed Community in Osaka.
Prof. Yasuko Takezawa (Kyoto U.) Tabunka Kyosei and Community-Rebuilding After the Kobe Earthquake.

Lunch Break

Saturday March 16, 1.15-3.30pm
John Ertl** (UCB) Internationalization and Localization: Rethinking Identity in Japan's Age of Decentralization.
Prof. Nelson Graburn (UCB) Domestic-International Tourism: Two Cases from Kyushu.
Mitzi Uehara Carter**, Aina Hunter** (UCB) Race and Gender in Japan.
Prof. Shinji Yamashita (U. Tokyo) The Exodus of Japanese Women and Brides from Asian Countries: Changing Boundaries of Contemporary Japan.

Saturday March 16, 4.00-6.15pm
Dr. Gaku Tsuda* (UCSD) Crossing Ethnic Boundaries: Nikkeijin Return Migrants and the Ethnic Challenge of Japan's Newest Immigrant Minority.
Dr. Keiko Yamanaka (UCB) Transnational Community Activities of Undocumented Nepalese in Japan: Agency, Resistance and Governance.
Dr. Chen Tien-Shi (U. Tokyo) Statelessness and Boundaries in Japan.

Prof. George DeVos (UCB, Emeritus) Conference Discussant.

* Awarded Ph.D. in Anthropology at UCB.
** Current student in Anthropology at UCB.

Contact Prof. Nelson Graburn or Kenji Tierney for more information.

This conference is one of a series of events celebrating the Department of Anthropology Centennial. It is generously supported by the Center of Japanese Studies, the Department of Anthropology and the Institute of East Asian Studies.