IAPONICA BRUNENSIA 2021 

September 17 – 18, 2021

About the conference

Iaponica Brunensia

Iaponica Brunensia is a biannual Japanese studies conference held by the Department of Japanese studies at the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University, that has been hosting talks on a variety of topics from researchers from all over the world since 2015. This is the 4th edition of the conference, but it is the first one held online. Despite the current limitations, we are trying our best to provide space for meaningful intellectual exchange as well as for friendly networking.

Keynote speaker

This year, our keynote speaker is Professor Kazumi SUGAI of Hyōgo University of Teacher Education. Prof. Sugai is a scholar working in the field of Cognitive linguistics, Vice President of The Japanese Cognitive Linguistics Association and author of several books and studies, such as 2015’s 人はことばをどう学ぶか (How do people learn to speak). His aim is to present insights into the relationship between language, mind and culture in a manner that is accessible and easy to understand to a broad public.

Gather.town meetings

We see networking as an essential part of conferences and since we won't be meeting in person this time, we set up a virtual meeting space where we can at least simulate informal meetings during breaks, that lets you casually meet other conference participants and join them in conversation. Don't worry, it's simple to use and suprpisingly easy get used to. You can find links for the meetings in the programme below or in the orientation e-mail.

Conference Programme

Click any of the days to see the schedule with links to Gather.town meetings. You can also see the whole programme with abstracts in pdf here.

Day 1: Friday, September 17, 2021

9:00 – 9:30 Opening 

Keynote speech 

9:30 – 10:50 Languages as Reflections of Cultures, Open System, Perception, and Affordance: With Special Reference to Japanese Language  (K. Sugai) 

Link to prof. Sugai's handout

10:50 – 11:00 Short break  

Section 1: History of Czech-Japan Cultural Relations 

11:00 – 11:30 On Contacts between Czech Traveler B. M. Eliášová and Japanese Writer Amino Kiku (L. Bruna) 

11:30 – 12:00 A Study on the Encounter of Ichikawa Danjūrō IX and Ottman Smolík (P. Holý) 

12:00 – 13:00 Lunch break

Section 2: Views of Contemporary Japanese Society 

13:00 – 13:30 Local Opposition to Over-tourism in Gion South District Before and During the Pandemic (M. Debnár) 

13:30 – 14:00 To Depend on Things: A Case Study of the Relationship Between Humans and Materiality in Japan (V. Straková) 

14:00 – 14:20 Coffee break 1 at Gather.town

Section 3: Japanese Language and Its Teaching Methods 

14:20 – 14:50 Comparing Constructions: V-te kuru a come V-ing/infinitive (P. Kanasugi) 

14:50 – 15:20 Integration of Kobanashi in Conversational Practice Within the Context of Japanese Language Learning, and Its Potential to Enhance the Study Process for Learners and Tutors (M. Kawashima) 

15:20 – 15:30 Short break 

Section 4: Playfulness in Japanese Culture 

15:30 – 16:00 Dajare – Types and Cognitive Mechanisms for Its Understanding (J. Matela) 

16:00 – 16:30 Before Japan Was Cool: The Image of Japan in Czech Game Magazines in the 1990s (M. Mikeš) 

16:30 – 17:30 Networking session at Gather.town

Day 2: Saturday, September 18, 2021

Section 5: Modern Japanese Literature 

9:00 – 9:30 Characters of Students in Early Prose of Ōe Kenzaburō (A. Cima) 

9:30 – 10:00 Rethinking Modern Japanese Literature: Images of Modern Literature in 1980’s Japan (I. Cima) 

10:00 – 10:10 Short break 

Section 6: Images of Imperial Japan (I)   

10:10 – 10:40 Tea and Empire – Revisiting the Writings of Okakura Tenshin (A. Riessland) 

10:40 – 11:10 Rethinking Japan’s Total War and Total Empire (N. Toyosawa) 

11:10 – 11:30 Coffee break 2 at Gather.town

Section 7: Images of Imperial Japan (II) / Cultural History of Japan (I) 

Chair: Marek Mikeš 

11:30 – 12:00 “The Winner Takes It All” – Trophy Taking of Japanese Remains Conducted by American Servicemen During the Pacific War (J. Martinec) 

12:00 – 12:30 Introduction of research project: Brocade of Lion Hunting found in Hōryūji – research of its origin and future analysis methods (A. Bujačková) 

12:30 – 13:30 Lunch break 

Section 8: Cultural History of Japan (II) 

13:30 – 14:00 Rakugaki in Medieval Japan (R. Pazderka) 

14:00 – 14:30 Of “Gods” and “Ghosts” in Ancient Japan (From a Historical Linguistics Perspective) (I. Rumánek) 

14:30 – 14:40 Short break 

Section 9:  Aesthetics of Contemporary Japanese Society 

14:40 – 15:10 Lone Souls in Crowded Cities: Mapping Isolation of The Elderly Through Poetry (S. Martinásková) 

15:10 – 15:40 All Things Cute: A Brief History of Kawaii Culture (I. Pruša) 

15:40 – 15:50 Closing at Gather.town

A look into the past

Iaponica Brunensia 2019

Our conference is still relatively a young one and we still vividly remeber its start in 2015. We have been happy to see many participants to come back to us over the years. On the right side, you can read a very brief report from the conference held two years ago, and look at pictures from a time, when we all were younger and meeting in person was still the normal way to hold a conference.

Thank you all for sticking with us and we hope to meet with you all at our conference again in the future.

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