A Report from Iaponica Brunensia conference 2025

The opening speech was delivered by his excellency Japanese ambassador Kansuke Nagaoka.

On 12th and 13th September, the international Japanese studies conference Iaponica Brunensia took place at the Masaryk University Faculty of Arts for the sixth time. This year's conference, which takes place every other year, was titled "Japan Visible - Japan Invisible" and attracted participants not only from Czech Republic but also from Japan and many other countries.
Due to the tragic departure of a respected member of the Czech Japanese studies community, professor David Labus, there was an exhibition was dedicated to his memory and life's work as a part of the conference.

Japanese ambassador, his excelency Kansuke Nagaoka, honored the conference with his visit and opening speech. Thanks to the support of Japan Foundation we were able to welcome two keynote speakers - Yoshiyuki Asahi from the National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (NINJAL) and Oleg Benesch from University of York. 23 papers were presented in two parallel lines of the programme and their topics covered a wide array of disciplines and research approaches, from archeology, linguistics and history to literature and social sciences. We believe that Iaponica Brunensia served not only as a source of inspiration and motivation for further research but also that due to its lively atmosphere it is, as always, a place of connection and creation of new relationships.

This atmosphere was enhanced by attending students, who could take part in the conference as a part of their study programme. This opportunity for the students to learn more not only about how academia functions but also about many diverse topics from Japanese studies brought out highly positive feedback. The students also helped to organise the conference as volunteers, which allowed for the conference to be successful not only academically but also logistically.

You can see the photos from the conference in the gallery below: