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SIAS Green Impact Team goes GOLD!

16 June 2016

On Wednesday 15th June, the University’s Environmental Sustainability Team invited us all to the Blavatnik School of Government for their annual Sustainability Showcase.

We are proud to announce that the School’s Green Impact Team were presented with a Gold award – the highest accolade possible within the Green Impact scheme.

The Showcase is an opportunity to distribute awards to the numerous Green Impact teams and others involved in sustainability practices for their achievements over the past year and this year’s event was described by Professor William James, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Planning and Resources) as “the biggest celebration of social and environmental actions…at Oxford University ever” joining together the Sustainability Awards and the Social Impact Awards for the very first time.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Louise Richardson said “There really is an extraordinary amount of work taking place in the University, both within the Departments and most particularly across them, which is really very exciting.”

The evening itself not only gave us the chance to celebrate our achievements, but also to take part in a tour of the recently opened Blavatnik School of Government at the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter. The building was designed and built with energy efficiency and sustainability targets at the fore and is expected to consume 49% less energy in comparison to existing UK buildings of the same size and usage. It has received a “BREEAM Excellent”* rating and incorporates a multitude of environmental systems in its design.

After the awards, we were all able to celebrate with a glass of sparkling wine and canapes from a local sustainable menu.

We would like to express our great thanks to the Environmental Sustainability Team for all of their support in helping us and other Green Impact teams achieve our goals over the past year and for organising such a wonderful event; we can’t wait to start again next term!

If you are a member of the School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies, staff or student, and would be interested in finding out more about the initiative or being part of the team, please contact us for details:

alexia.lewis@area.ox.ac.uk

victoria.hudson@area.ox.ac.uk

sarah.dewick@area.ox.ac.uk

sheryn.simpson@area.ox.ac.uk

 

*http://www.breeam.com

Slow Cities?: The Revitalisation of Shrinking Communities in Japan Podcasts are now available

15 April 2016

We are pleased to announce that the following recordings are now available on the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies university podcast service.

Professor Gert-Jan Hospers, Radboud University, University of Twente - From Growth to Shrinkage: Managing Population Decline in Western-Europe

Mr Pier Giorgio Oliveti, General Secretariat, Cittaslow International - Cittaslow Experiences against the Social Desertification and to Promote Local Micro-economies on Resilient Way

Ms Heuishilja Chang, PhD student, University of Oxford - The Slow City Approach and the Resilience of Japanese Shrinking Communities

Professor Hirokazu Sakuno, Shimane University -The Degradation and Regeneration of Rural Areas in Japan

Dr Peter Matanle, University of Sheffield - Achieving an Asia-Pacific Depopulation Dividend: Evidence and Experience from Shrinking Regions in Japan and New Zealand

Dr Taro Hirai, Hirosaki University - Towards Synthesis of the Youth’s Counter-urbanisation Movement and the Governmental-led Measures for Shrinking Communities in Japan

 

New podcasts available

22 March 2016

We are pleased to announce that seven new recordings have been added to the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies podcast series and can be found on the university podcast service.

Slow Cities? : The Revitalisation of Shrinking Communities in Japan on Thursday, 10th March 2016

Professor Gert-Jan Hospers, Radboud University, University of Twente - From Growth to Shrinkage: Managing Population Decline in Western-Europe

Mr Pier Giorgio Oliveti, General Secretariat, Cittaslow International - Cittaslow Experiences against the Social Desertification and to Promote Local Micro-economies on Resilient Way

Ms Heuishilja Chang, PhD student, University of Oxford - The Slow City Approach and the Resilience of Japanese Shrinking Communities

Professor Hirokazu Sakuno, Shimane University -The Degradation and Regeneration of Rural Areas in Japan

Dr Peter Matanle, University of Sheffield - Achieving an Asia-Pacific Depopulation Dividend: Evidence and Experience from Shrinking Regions in Japan and New Zealand

Dr Taro Hirai, Hirosaki University - Towards Synthesis of the Youth’s Counter-urbanisation Movement and the Governmental-led Measures for Shrinking Communities in Japan

28th January 2016: Dr Aya Homei, University of Manchester, A History of the IUD in Japan: Birth control policy and Cold War diplomacy

4th February 2016: Professor Jun Saito, Keio University, Abenomics: Past, Present, and Future

11th February 2016: Dr Arjan Keizer, Manchester Business School, Redefining the community firm? The unionization of part-time workers in the retail industry

18th February 2016: Dr Junko Yamashita, University of Bristol, The Double Responsibility of Care: Balancing childcare, elderly care and work

25th February 2016: Professor Masaaki Hirano, Waseda University Business School (WBS), Can IT augment organisational capabilities? – Evidence from Japanese data

3rd March 2016: Dr Jason Danely, Senior Lecturer in Anthropology of Japan, Oxford Brookes University, The Social Life of the Solitary Death: Aging, housing, and the limits of dwelling

11th March 2016: Professor Amy Borovoy, Princeton University, Ruth Benedict’s Cultural Relativism: Imagining Democracy in Japan During World War II

Other podcasts available are:

The Memorial Event to Commemorate the Work and Influence of Dr Mark Rebick, Nissan Lecturer in the Japanese Economy and Fellow of St. Antony’s College, 1994-2012 held on Tuesday, 16thJune 2015:

Professor Richard Freeman (Harvard University): Lessons from Studying the Japanese Economy

Professor Yuji Genda (University of Tokyo): An International Comparison in Hope and Happiness between Japan, United Kingdom, and the US

Professor Jenny Corbett (Australian National University): Introduction to the Memorial Event to Commemorate the Work and Influence of Dr Mark Rebick

Nissan Institute Seminar Series Podcasts

6th March 2015: Professor Aaron S. Moore, Arizona State University talked about Engineering the Empire: “Comprehensive Development” in Japan’s Colonial Borderlands

26th February 2015: Professor Wilhelm Vosse, International Christian University gave a presentation on Japan’s New Security Cooperation in Counter-Piracy Missions

19th February 2015: Dr Jonathan Service, Wadham College spoke about The Greece of the East: Writing the History of Music in Meiji Japan

A full list of podcasts can be seen in the list below.

 

Interview with Professor Takehiko Kariya

7 January 2016

An interview with Professor Takehiko Kariya is going to be shown as part of an NHK Educational (Eテレ) programme "戦後史証言プロジェクト 日本人は何をめざしてきたのか 未来への選択(5)教育" This 90 minute programme will be broadcast this Saturday 9 January from 23:00.

The interview was filmed in the University's Japan office and they were very excited to have the NHK crew with them. The whole interview was really fascinating - only a part of it will feature in the programme but we have heard other excerpts will be available in the NHK archives.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/postwar/program/schedule/

Professor Roger Goodman elected as the next Chair of the Council of the Academy of Social Sciences

12 May 2015

Professor Roger Goodman, Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies and Governing Body Fellow at St Antony's, an expert on Japanese society and head of the Social Sciences Division at Oxford University, was elected as the next Chair of the Council of the Academy of Social Sciences.

Professor Goodman takes over in July as chair of the council of the UK’s national organisation for leading social scientists in universities, learned societies, business and government. He succeeds Professor Sir Cary Cooper CBE FAcSS, the internationally known organisational psychologist, who has led the Academy for the past 6 years. 

OUSU Teaching Awards

7 May 2015

Congratulations to Professor Sho Konishi and Dr George Kunnath for their nominations in the Outstanding Supervisor category.

Did you nominate in this year's OUSU Teaching Awards? Here's the full shortlist for the 2015 Awards, which take place at the Weston Library on 28th May http://bit.ly/1F5TyyH.

 

MPhil student, Warren Stanilaus publication

26 March 2015

Warren Stanislaus, a researcher at the Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation and a former MPhil in Modern Japanese Studies student, has recently had an article on the role of think tanks in Japan, published in the Spring 2015 issue of Global Asia. “Seeking an Independent Voice: Japanese Think Tanks”

How to Work, Travel, and Study in Japan

27 February 2015

MSc in Modern Japanese Studies student Miss Natalia Doan has recently published a book called How to Work, Travel, and Study in Japan.

As mentioned by BBC Travel, How to Work, Travel, and Study in Japan provides practical advice and straightforward solutions for concerns such as how to find a job or study abroad program in Japan, how to write a resume in Japanese, where to meet people, and more.

Dr Marcus Rebick, 1956 - 2015

30 January 2015

It is with great sadness that we announce that Dr Marcus E Rebick, University Lecturer in the Japanese Economy, and Governing Body Fellow at St Antony’s from 1994 to 2012 died peacefully at home on Thursday 29 January 2015, aged 59. 

Research Excellence Framework: Area Studies

18 December 2014

SIAS and Oriental Studies are delighted to note that our REF2014 submission was the largest made to the Area Studies panel by a considerable margin. 

Moreover it was rated as the most impressive in terms of volume of material that was judged to be world leading (4*) - again by a considerable margin.  These results confirm the position of scholars in Oriental Studies and SIAS as being pre-eminent among those working in area studies in the UK.  They demonstrate the significance of our contribution to the understanding of the world beyond Europe and North America and to the global status of Oxford University.

Bjarke Frellesvig, Chair of the Oriental Studies Faculty Board
Ian Neary, Head of SIAS

 

The Emergence of an International Humanitarian Organization in Japan

14 October 2014

Sho Konishi's latest article "The Emergence of an International Humanitarian Organization in Japan" is featured in the latest issue of The American Historical Review (October 2014).  The article calls for a new conceptual framework for the global history of humanitarianism by examining the case of the Japanese Red Cross.

Modern Japanese Dissertation published

12 August 2014

Congratulations go to Brett Clancy, MSc in Modern Japanese Studies 2010-2011 who, after a few years, much editing and revising, has had his dissertation published as an academic article in the Social Science Japan Journal, Volume 17, Number 2, Summer 2014 under the title 'Lending to Lemons'.

Having not been published before, he found the process of getting from dissertation to article both challenging and fascinating and, finally, very rewarding. He would recommend this to students who would like to do something constructive with their dissertations after graduating. 

New Japanese Economist appointed at the Nissan Institute

8 May 2014

The Nissan Institute and SIAS are very pleased to be able to announce that we have appointed Hugh Whittaker to fill the post of Professor in the Economics of Japan.

Professor Whittaker has previously held tenured posts in the universities of Cambridge, Doshisha and is presently a member of the Department of Management and International Business in the University of Auckland.

He describes his research interests as including economic behaviour, management of innovation, corporate governance and entrepreneurship in comparative socio-economic contexts typically featuring Japan but also including other countries of East Asia.

We look forward to him joining us in October.

Nissan Seminar on Conserving Photographs after Japan’s Tsunami: The Example of the RD3 Project

1 May 2014

The Pitt Rivers Museum’s Surviving Tsunami exhibition closed earlier this week, having been extended by nearly a month due to popular demand.  You can read an account of the project, from inception to outcomes, including mention of the visit to Oxford by Keishi Mitsui and Takeshi Uchida, director and chairman of the Rikuzentakata Disaster Document Digitalization Project (RD3 Project), online here:

http://pittrivers-photo.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/conserving-photographs-after-great-east.html

Oxford 1+1 MBA and the Pershing Square Graduate Scholarship

21 March 2014

The 1+1 programme is a unique, two-year postgraduate experience which offers you the opportunity to combine the depth of our specialised, one-year MSc in Modern Japanese Studies with the breadth of Saïd Business School’s top-ranking, one-year MBA.  As a result, you will embark from Oxford with the skills to translate specific domain knowledge into practical and innovative solutions to the many challenges facing our 21st Century world.

In addition, the Oxford Pershing Square Graduate Scholarship is available for up to five extraordinary 1+1 students who are committed to addressing world-scale social challenges.  The Scholarship provides full funding for tuition, college fees and living expenses for the MBA year of the programme.

The final application deadline for the 1+1 MBA and Oxford Pershing Square Graduate Scholarship is fast approaching on Friday 25 April 2014. 

Sasakawa Japanese Studies Postgraduate Studentships

13 February 2014

We are pleased to announce Sasakawa studentships (each worth £10,000) will be available for postgraduate students in Japanese studies from October 2014. The studentships are open to students of any nationality, but applications from UK nationals are particularly encouraged.

Japanese Studies Lounge Session, Oxford University Japan Office

4 December 2013

The University of Oxford has a long-standing commitment to the study of Japan at graduate level. Our one-year MSc and two-year taught MPhil courses in Modern Japanese Studies are based at the world-famous Nissan Institute, and have long been popular with students from Japan as well as from around the world. These courses equip all students with a sound grasp of social science and humanities research methods and a good knowledge of contemporary Japanese society and culture. Both courses provide an excellent foundation for further research in a variety of subjects, or for professional careers related to Japan. This lounge event is an opportunity for all those interested in applying for Japanese Studies at Oxford to come along and talk to past students about their experiences. The alumni will talk about their courses and dissertations, application procedures, and academic and social life at the Nissan Institute and the University of Oxford. Japanese alumni, include Brett Clancy, Sachiko Horiguchi and Asako Kariya who will also talk about why they chose to read Japanese Studies in the UK.

This will be an informal session and you are invited to come along with all your questions.

Monday 16 December 2013, 18:30 – 19:30

Seminar Room, Sanbancho UF Building 1F 6-3 Sanbancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

If you are interested in attending this lounge event, please sign up for the session using this link.

We are looking forward to seeing you there. - See more at: http://oxfordujapan.org/japanese-studies-lounge-session/?lang=en#sthash.aW9u82T4.dpuf

 

Launch of new website for the University of Oxford Japan Office

28 October 2013

We are pleased to announce a new website for the University of Oxford Japan Office. This is the first time the office in Japan has had a website www.oxfordujapan.org

They have also started a University of Oxford Japan Office Facebook page www.facebook.com/OxfordUniversityJapanOffice and they are particularly keen to target:

  • People with a Japan/Oxford or more generally Japan/UK link, including alumni
  • Current Japanese Studies students in the University, and other students who are interested in Japan
  • Japanese students in Oxford regardless of subject

 

The Nissan Institute Brochure

24 September 2013

This brochure provides a brief history of Japanese studies at Oxford University, an explanation of the origins of the Nissan Institute and an introduction to the current fellows working here and their research interests.

Issue one was produced in 2010 and the second edition of the Nissan Institute newsletter was produced is 2011 both versions are still available to download.  Issue three is also now available for down loading.

New appointments at the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies

13 September 2013

Mr Ian Rapley will be joining us as Postdoctoral Teaching Associate for the academic year 2013-2014.  He is completing his DPhil in modern Japanese history and prior to that he was a student on the MPhil in Modern Japanese Studies programme. His research interests include language and history, transnational movements especially across Asia, local histories, and alternative narratives of twentieth century Japan. He will be teaching the Modern Japanese History course in Hilary Term 2014.

Dr Tuukka Toivonen will be joining us from 1st October 2013 as Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Study of Contemporary Japan.  Dr Toivonen got his DPhil at Oxford working on a thesis entitled Explaining Social Inclusion and Activation Policy for Youth in 21st Century Japan.  His first degree was from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University.  He continues to work on ‘youth problems’ publishing widely, and is currently focusing on social entrepreneurship among young people in Japan.

Dr Hiroaki Matsuura took up the post of Departmental Lecturer in the Economy of Japan in January 2013.  Dr Matsuura joined us from Harvard University where he had recently completed a doctorate on "Rights, Health Laws, and Health Outcomes".  He also holds degrees from Keio, Chicago and Northwestern universities.  His principle teaching duties will be on our masters programme where he will teach a course on Japanese Economic Policy.

SIAS twitter feed launch

3 September 2013

SIAS is on twitter (@SIASOxford). Please follow us to get notified about news and events from across the school.

MSc and MPhil application deadlines for entry in October 2014

3 July 2013

The University has three main application deadlines for 2014-2015: 22 November 2013; 24 January 2014 and 14 March 2014.

We suggest you apply by the January deadline if at all possible. All students who are accepted on either the MSc or MPhil are then allocated a college place and this can be a lengthy procedure for later applicants. Please note that you will need to submit all the required supporting materials by the deadline and you will also need to make sure that your referees will submit their references by the deadline.

New staff appointments at the Nissan Institute

8 January 2013

Dr Hiroaki Matsuura has taken up the post of Departmental Lecturer in the Economy of Japan starting January 2013. Dr Matsuura joins us from Harvard University where he has recently completed a doctorate on "Rights, Health Laws, and Health Outcomes". He also holds degrees from Keio, Chicago and Northwestern universities. His principle teaching duties will be on our masters programme when he will teach the course on Japanese Economic Policy.

Dr Tuukka Toivonen has accepted a post-doctoral fellowship in Japanese studies in the Nissan Institute which he will take up from October 2013. Dr Toivonen got his DPhil at Oxford working on a thesis entitled Explaining Social Inclusion and Activation Policy for Youth in 21st Century Japan. His first degree was from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University. He continues to work on ‘youth problems’ publishing widely, and is currently focusing on social entrepreneurship among young people in Japan.

About our new website

1 December 2012

Welcome to our new-look website. Our goal is to improve user experience with a responsive design, built to work on mobile devices as well as desktop computers. We'd really like your feedback. Please use our contact page to tell us what you think.

Retirement of Dr Mark Rebick

30 October 2012

The Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies is sad to announce that during the summer vacation Mark Rebick decided to take early retirement from his post as University Lecturer in the Economy of Japan. He joins Ann Waswo and Arthur Stockwin as an emeritus fellow of the institute. We hope that he will continue to take an active role in the development of the Institute.

Nissan Institute Podcasts

30 October 2012

Recordings from the Nissan Institute Seminar Series in Japanese Studies and other events held at the Institute are made available on the university podcast service.

Visiting Academic Professor Keizo Yamawaki

21 September 2012

Professor Keizo Yamawaki, Academic Visitor at the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies, University of Oxford and Professor of School of Global Japanese Studies, Meiji University, is one of only fifty men and women chosen by the Japanese Government as one of those who have contributed to enhancing the presence of Japan in the world.  He is an expert on immigration policy, advocating a formation of an intercultural society in an age of globalization and population decline.

http://www.npu.go.jp/policy/policy09/pdf/20120918/20120918.pdf