2019 Conference of International
Association of Japanese Studies
YONAOSHI: Remaking the World
November 23, 24, Toyo University, Tokyo
Imagination, spontaneous fancy, humor,
creativity, art and hope are powerful antidotes to the despair of extreme
inequality, profound alienation, the stress of endless competition,
marginalization and, dare we say, the growing awareness of the planetary devastation
threatened by runaway neoliberal capitalism. It is worth recalling in times such as
these that, across time and space, the people of Japan time and time again have
remade their worlds, reimagining reality, dreaming of things unlike anything before
and bringing them to fruition. In this year’s conference, we welcome papers
that take up issues connected with transformation in Japan, personal and
societal, past or present. We welcome scholars from an array of fields who are interested
in exploring the power of creative thought- from quiet contemplation to extravagant
fantasy, from doodles to film, from ancient poetry to tweets.
For this year’s keynote speaker, we are
excited to welcome Dr.
Harumi Osaki, speaking on
Beyond Universalism and Particularism:
Rethinking the Philosophy of the Kyoto School
Harumi Osaki is an
independent scholar of Western and Japanese philosophy. Her recently published
book Nothingness in the Heart of Empire: The Moral and Political
Philosophy of the Kyoto School in Imperial Japan (2019, SUNY Press)
deals with heated debates over the essence of the Japanese nation and its
relationship to the West that arose in the early 20th century. Her work has
been praised as an exceedingly valuable contribution to English-language
scholarship dealing with NISHIDA Kitarō, a towering figure in modern Japanese
philosophy. In demonstrating the connections between Japanese wartime
philosophers’ attempts to articulate “non-Western forms of rationality” and
their engagement with wartime aggression, Osaki has placed herself at the
center of discussions on the nature of identity and Japanese nationalism that
are as relevant today as they were during the war.
Harumi Osaki received
her PhD in contemporary French thought from Hitotsubashi University in 2003 and
went on to complete a second doctorate in Japanese philosophy from McGill
University in 2016.