Events

“The Serial Killer: Making Sense of War and Defeat in Occupied Japan (1945-1952)”

THIS IS AN IN-PERSON EVENT AND WILL NOT BE LIVE STREAMING.

Tuesday, April 30 · 5 - 6:30pm CDT

Joseph Regenstein Library, Room 122 1100 E. 57th St. Chicago, IL 60637

Part of the CEAS Lecture Series, this event is co-sponsored with the University of Chicago Library and features the University of Southern California’s Benjamin Uchiyama. While much has been written about the Allied Occupation of Japan (1945-1952), surprisingly little scholarly attention has been paid to one of the most notorious criminals who captivated Japanese public attention during that period. In August 1946, ex-soldier Kodaira Yoshio was arrested and charged for the murder of seven young women during the last months of the war and the first year of the occupation. Subsequent public debates attempted to explain his crimes in connection to Kodaira’s wartime experience in China, thus underscoring the importance for Japan to fully extirpate its wartime past. Another stream of thought, however, located the crimes in the context of the chaos and breakdown in social order still afflicting Japanese society in the wake of defeat. These debates, coming so soon after Japan’s surrender, helped lay the first building block of postwar Japanese memories of the war and understandings of defeat. Professor Uchiyama is Associate Profess of History and author of Japan’s Carnival War: Mass Culture on the Home Front, 1937-1945 (Cambridge University Press, 2019) which received the 2021 John Whitney Hall Prize from the Association for Asian Studies.

May 1, 4:00 to 5:30pm | Dr. Hiromi Mizuno**

Associate Professor of History, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Chapter title: “The Nitrogen Network for Farms and Arms” from book manuscript The Age of Nitrogen

Discussant: Dr. Yuting Dong, Assistant Professor of East Asian History and the College

Location: Social Sciences Tea Room, SSRB 201

The paper can be accessed here. The password is “chisso”. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with questions and suggestions. We look forward to seeing you there!

**This event is co-sponsored by the University of Chicago Center for East Asian Studies with support from a Title VI National Resource Center Grant from the United States Department of Education.

We cordially invite you to join us next Wednesday, May 1, at 4:45-6:45pm CT, CWAC 152 for our next VMPEA workshop. This workshop features:

Sizhao Yi, PhD Candidate, Art History, UChicago

Who will be presenting the paper titled:

“Melancholic Things in Chen Hongshou’s Sixteen Views of Living in Reclusion”

Discussant: Yun-chen Lu

Assistant Professor, History of Art and Architecture, DePaul University

This workshop will take place in-person. Please see the abstract and bios for this workshop below.

Abstract:

In this talk, I will explore the affective effect of things in the visual repertoire of Chen Hongshou (1599-1652) through two paintings from the painter’s late masterpiece, the Sixteen Views of Living in Reclusion album. In these works, objects – a group of inkstones and a covered zither – are portrayed with rich yet peculiar details, interacting intimately with the figures. By closely attending to the pictorial details and analyzing them within the historical context, I will suggest that these objects and their interactions with the figures delineate the nuances of the yimin sentiments towards the fallen Ming Dynasty among early Qing scholars. In fact, these objects are painted with such intentionality, subtlety and vividness that they visualize, materialize, and even animate the abstract mental state of melancholy. Through these objects, the viewer is not only reminded of but also let to reflect upon and even feel the past and its vestiges.

Bios:

Sizhao Yi is a PhD candidate specializing in the visual and material culture of Late Imperial China. Her dissertation engages with issues of material and materiality, image making, intermediality, and the agency of things through the lenses of Chen Hongshou’s artistic practices and his engagements with material artifacts.

“Copycats at the Forefront of Knowledge Production in the Era of Imperialism”

THIS IS AN IN-PERSON EVENT AND WILL NOT BE LIVE STREAMING.

Thursday May 2, 5:00 pm

Franke Institute for the Humanities, 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, IL 60637

As cotton mills emerged at the turn of the twentieth century, China witnessed the concurrent development of small-scale machine shops that specialized in the repair of imported industrial equipment. When repair was performed by someone other than the original maker, it inevitably involved sourcing replacements by copying the original parts. Copying thus formed the flip side of repair in an era when faraway machine suppliers failed to provide spare parts in a timely manner. Not only Chinese-owned but also foreign-owned mills in China willingly relied on locally made reproductions even as they condemned the rampant copying practice. Moreover, this “unethical” practice was by no means peculiar to China. American machine suppliers were likewise active in reproducing British machines and parts to broaden their market share in China and Japan, in which preference for British products remained persistent. The “copycats” on both sides of the Pacific approached their job as a serious technological undertaking. 

Yuan Yi is an assistant professor in the History Department at Concordia University, Montreal. Her current book project, “Industrial Craft: Machine and Knowledge in the Global Making of Chinese Cotton Mills, 1890-1937,” examines the mechanization of cotton spinning in China with emphasis on the transpacific circulation of spinning machines, cotton varieties, and technical experts. 

A Symposium in Conjunction with the Exhibition Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan

THIS IS AN IN-PERSON EVENT AND WILL NOT BE LIVE STREAMING.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Disorienting urban transformation, boundless enthusiasm for new technologies and cultures, increased international trade, and rising geopolitical tensions: these circumstances defined Japan’s Meiji era (1868-1912) as much as they describe our own. Taken together with the final decade of the Tokugawa shoguns’ regime, in which Yokohama and other ports opened to direct trade with the US and other nations, this period constitutes “fifty years of new Japan.”

The phrase “fifty years of new Japan” was used by Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu in a book meant to look back on the nation’s progress since kaikoku, literally, the “opening of the country” to global trade, representative government, and unprecedented freedom of expression. While the changes wrought upheaval and uncertainty, many people, including artists, saw the Meiji period as a time of new possibilities and aspirations, global exchange, and progress. Against this backdrop, art emerged as one of Japan’s most profitable industries and a singular means of representing the modern nation-state: in Japan and abroad, art filled international expositions, domestic halls of industry, and private residences. These objects embodied the civic ambitions of Japanese artists and politicians, showcased Japan’s manufacturing capabilities, and displayed the unparalleled skill and sensibility of individual artists who enjoyed recognition on the world stage for the first time.

This symposium brings together leading scholars of Meiji art and culture from the United States, Great Britain, and Japan in order to reevaluate an artistic period described in terms of both continuity and change, westernization and the invention of Japanese tradition.

SCHEDULE

Friday, May 3rd

Smart Museum of Art (5550 S. Greenwood Ave.)
Museum Hours: 10 am - 4:30 pm
Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan Exhibition

International House, Assembly Hall (1414 E. 59th St.)
3:00 pm-3:15 pm
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Chelsea Foxwell (Associate Professor of Art History, University of Chicago)
Bradley Bailey (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston)

3:15 pm - 3:45 pm
Introduction and Overview: Meiji Art in the Context of U.S.-Japan Relations
Chelsea Foxwell (Associate Professor of Art History, University of Chicago)

4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Keynote Lecture (in Japanese with English translation)
Satō Dōshin, Tokyo University of the Arts

TO VIEW THE FULL SCHEDULE, CLICK HERE.

SPONSORS

This program is co-sponsored by the University of Chicago Center for East Asian Studies (with generous support from a Title VI National Resource Center Grant from the U.S. Department of Education), the Smart Museum of Art, the Center for the Art of East Asia, and the International House Global Voices Program at the University of Chicago.

ACCESSIBILITY

Persons with disabilities who may need assistance should contact International House in advance of the program at (773) 753-2274 or email: i-house-programs@uchicago.edu

A Symposium in Conjunction with the Exhibition Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan

THIS IS AN IN-PERSON EVENT AND WILL NOT BE LIVE STREAMING.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Disorienting urban transformation, boundless enthusiasm for new technologies and cultures, increased international trade, and rising geopolitical tensions: these circumstances defined Japan’s Meiji era (1868-1912) as much as they describe our own. Taken together with the final decade of the Tokugawa shoguns’ regime, in which Yokohama and other ports opened to direct trade with the US and other nations, this period constitutes “fifty years of new Japan.”

The phrase “fifty years of new Japan” was used by Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu in a book meant to look back on the nation’s progress since kaikoku, literally, the “opening of the country” to global trade, representative government, and unprecedented freedom of expression. While the changes wrought upheaval and uncertainty, many people, including artists, saw the Meiji period as a time of new possibilities and aspirations, global exchange, and progress. Against this backdrop, art emerged as one of Japan’s most profitable industries and a singular means of representing the modern nation-state: in Japan and abroad, art filled international expositions, domestic halls of industry, and private residences. These objects embodied the civic ambitions of Japanese artists and politicians, showcased Japan’s manufacturing capabilities, and displayed the unparalleled skill and sensibility of individual artists who enjoyed recognition on the world stage for the first time.

This symposium brings together leading scholars of Meiji art and culture from the United States, Great Britain, and Japan in order to reevaluate an artistic period described in terms of both continuity and change, westernization and the invention of Japanese tradition.

SCHEDULE

Friday, May 3rd

Smart Museum of Art (5550 S. Greenwood Ave.)
Museum Hours: 10 am - 4:30 pm
Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan Exhibition

International House, Assembly Hall (1414 E. 59th St.)
3:00 pm-3:15 pm
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Chelsea Foxwell (Associate Professor of Art History, University of Chicago)
Bradley Bailey (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston)

3:15 pm - 3:45 pm
Introduction and Overview: Meiji Art in the Context of U.S.-Japan Relations
Chelsea Foxwell (Associate Professor of Art History, University of Chicago)

4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Keynote Lecture (in Japanese with English translation)
Satō Dōshin, Tokyo University of the Arts

TO VIEW THE FULL SCHEDULE, CLICK HERE.

SPONSORS

This program is co-sponsored by the University of Chicago Center for East Asian Studies (with generous support from a Title VI National Resource Center Grant from the U.S. Department of Education), the Smart Museum of Art, the Center for the Art of East Asia, and the International House Global Voices Program at the University of Chicago.

ACCESSIBILITY

Persons with disabilities who may need assistance should contact International House in advance of the program at (773) 753-2274 or email: i-house-programs@uchicago.edu

A Symposium in Conjunction with the Exhibition Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan

THIS IS AN IN-PERSON EVENT AND WILL NOT BE LIVE STREAMING.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Disorienting urban transformation, boundless enthusiasm for new technologies and cultures, increased international trade, and rising geopolitical tensions: these circumstances defined Japan’s Meiji era (1868-1912) as much as they describe our own. Taken together with the final decade of the Tokugawa shoguns’ regime, in which Yokohama and other ports opened to direct trade with the US and other nations, this period constitutes “fifty years of new Japan.”

The phrase “fifty years of new Japan” was used by Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu in a book meant to look back on the nation’s progress since kaikoku, literally, the “opening of the country” to global trade, representative government, and unprecedented freedom of expression. While the changes wrought upheaval and uncertainty, many people, including artists, saw the Meiji period as a time of new possibilities and aspirations, global exchange, and progress. Against this backdrop, art emerged as one of Japan’s most profitable industries and a singular means of representing the modern nation-state: in Japan and abroad, art filled international expositions, domestic halls of industry, and private residences. These objects embodied the civic ambitions of Japanese artists and politicians, showcased Japan’s manufacturing capabilities, and displayed the unparalleled skill and sensibility of individual artists who enjoyed recognition on the world stage for the first time.

This symposium brings together leading scholars of Meiji art and culture from the United States, Great Britain, and Japan in order to reevaluate an artistic period described in terms of both continuity and change, westernization and the invention of Japanese tradition.

SCHEDULE

Saturday, May 4

International House, Assembly Hall (1414 E. 59th St.)
9:00 am - 6:00 pm (order and schedule TBD)

Speaker Listing
Bradley Bailey, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Michael Bourdaghs, University of Chicago
Mami Hatayama, Roger L. Weston Foundation
Meghen Jones, Alfred University
Andreas Marks, Minneapolis Institute of Art
Alison Miller, University of the South
Rhiannon Paget, Ringling Museum of Art
Eriko Tomizawa-Kay, University of Michigan
Alice Tseng, Boston University
Takurō Tsunoda, Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Art

TO VIEW THE FULL SCHEDULE, CLICK HERE.

SPONSORS

This program is co-sponsored by the University of Chicago Center for East Asian Studies (with generous support from a Title VI National Resource Center Grant from the U.S. Department of Education), the Smart Museum of Art, the Center for the Art of East Asia, and the International House Global Voices Program at the University of Chicago.

ACCESSIBILITY

Persons with disabilities who may need assistance should contact International House in advance of the program at (773) 753-2274 or email: i-house-programs@uchicago.edu

A Symposium in Conjunction with the Exhibition Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan

THIS IS AN IN-PERSON EVENT AND WILL NOT BE LIVE STREAMING.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Disorienting urban transformation, boundless enthusiasm for new technologies and cultures, increased international trade, and rising geopolitical tensions: these circumstances defined Japan’s Meiji era (1868-1912) as much as they describe our own. Taken together with the final decade of the Tokugawa shoguns’ regime, in which Yokohama and other ports opened to direct trade with the US and other nations, this period constitutes “fifty years of new Japan.”

The phrase “fifty years of new Japan” was used by Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu in a book meant to look back on the nation’s progress since kaikoku, literally, the “opening of the country” to global trade, representative government, and unprecedented freedom of expression. While the changes wrought upheaval and uncertainty, many people, including artists, saw the Meiji period as a time of new possibilities and aspirations, global exchange, and progress. Against this backdrop, art emerged as one of Japan’s most profitable industries and a singular means of representing the modern nation-state: in Japan and abroad, art filled international expositions, domestic halls of industry, and private residences. These objects embodied the civic ambitions of Japanese artists and politicians, showcased Japan’s manufacturing capabilities, and displayed the unparalleled skill and sensibility of individual artists who enjoyed recognition on the world stage for the first time.

This symposium brings together leading scholars of Meiji art and culture from the United States, Great Britain, and Japan in order to reevaluate an artistic period described in terms of both continuity and change, westernization and the invention of Japanese tradition.

SCHEDULE

Saturday, May 4

International House, Assembly Hall (1414 E. 59th St.)
9:00 am - 6:00 pm (order and schedule TBD)

Speaker Listing
Bradley Bailey, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Michael Bourdaghs, University of Chicago
Mami Hatayama, Roger L. Weston Foundation
Meghen Jones, Alfred University
Andreas Marks, Minneapolis Institute of Art
Alison Miller, University of the South
Rhiannon Paget, Ringling Museum of Art
Eriko Tomizawa-Kay, University of Michigan
Alice Tseng, Boston University
Takurō Tsunoda, Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Art

TO VIEW THE FULL SCHEDULE, CLICK HERE.

SPONSORS

This program is co-sponsored by the University of Chicago Center for East Asian Studies (with generous support from a Title VI National Resource Center Grant from the U.S. Department of Education), the Smart Museum of Art, the Center for the Art of East Asia, and the International House Global Voices Program at the University of Chicago.

ACCESSIBILITY

Persons with disabilities who may need assistance should contact International House in advance of the program at (773) 753-2274 or email: i-house-programs@uchicago.edu

“Knowing Manchuria: Environments, the Senses, and Natural Knowledge on an Asian Borderland”

THIS IS AN IN-PERSON EVENT AND WILL NOT BE LIVE STREAMING.

Tuesday, May 7 - 5:00 pm

Seminary Co-op Bookstores, 5751 South Woodlawn Avenue Chicago, IL 60637

Part of the East Asia by the Book! CEAS Author Series, Ruth Rogaski uncovers how natural knowledge, and the nature of Manchuria itself – a site of war and environmental extremes - have changed over time, from a sacred “land where the dragon arose” to a global epicenter of contagious disease; from a tragic “wasteland” to an abundant granary that nurtured the hope of a nation. Hear Professor Rogaski talk about her book “Knowing Manchuria: Environments, the Senses, and Natural Knowledge on an Asian Borderland” (University of Chicago Press, 2022).

This event is co-sponsored with the Seminary Co-op Bookstores.

“Towers in the Void: Li Yu and Early Modern Chinese Media”

THIS IS AN IN-PERSON EVENT AND WILL NOT BE LIVE STREAMING.

Wednesday, May 8 · 5:00 pm

Franke Institute for the Humanities, 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, IL 60637

Part of the East Asia by the Book! CEAS Author Talks series, the University of Michigan’s S.E. Kile discusses his book that argues that the maverick cultural entrepreneur, Li Yu’s cultural experimentation exploits the seams between language and the tangible world. He draws attention to the materiality of particular media forms, expanding the scope of early modern media by interweaving books, buildings, and bodies. Within and across these media, Li Yu’s cultural entrepreneurship with the technology of the printed book embraced its reproducibility while retaining a personal touch. His literary practice informed his garden design and, conversely, he drew on garden design to transform the vernacular short story. Ideas for extreme body modification in Li Yu’s fiction remade the possibilities of real human bodies in his nonfiction writing. Towers in the Void calls for seeing books, bodies, and buildings as interlinked media forms, both in early modern China and in today’s media-saturated world, positioning the Ming and Qing as a crucial site of global early modern cultural change.

This event is presented in partnership with the Seminary Co-op Bookstores.