page last updated February 10, 2026
The Center for Japanese Studies sponsors a series of public lectures by faculty members and visiting scholars on various topics from recent research to personal impressions of current events in Japan. The Center also provides workshops on topics of interest to graduate students focusing on Japan, including careers in Japanese studies, scholarships, and overseas study programs.
For accessibility access, please contact the Center at 956-2665 or at cjs@hawaii.edu. For information on visitor parking at UHM, please visit the campus commuter services page here.
Event Archive: AY 2024-25 | AY 2023-24 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018
Events (AY 2025-26)
Spring 2026
CJS Seminars
Jan. 13 (Tues.) / 1:30-2:45pm / Moore Hall 319 (Tokioka Room) / “Game of Go in Japan: History and in ‘Active Aging’” by Cullen T. Hayashida, Michiyo Tomioka, and Sid Kobashigawa
Feb. 12 (Thurs.) / 1:30-2:45pm / Moore Hall 319 (Tokioka Room) / “Re-thinking Higher Education Internationalization: How a Deeper Analysis of Japanese Higher Education Can Illuminate Alternative Narratives” by Sachi Edwards, PhD
Mar. 27 (Fri.) / 12:00-1:00pm / Moore Hall 319 (Tokioka Room) / “Japan’s Security Embrace of Taiwan: Legal and Diplomatic Revolutions in Action” by Giulio Pugliese, PhD
Apr. 14 (Tues.) / 3:30-4:45pm / Moore Hall 319 (Tokioka Room) / “Professional development talk with Lori and Ann Teranishi”
Bento Box Series
Mar. 5 (Thurs.) /12:00-1:30pm / Moore Hall 319 (Tokioka Room) / “Spring 2025 Bento Box Event 1” by Iroha Mochida (MA student in Asian Studies) and Dalen Wuest (PhD Candidate in Music)
Mar. 31 (Tues.) / 12:00-1:30pm / Moore Hall 319 (Tokioka Room) / “Spring 2025 Bento Box Event 2” by Hiroko Saito (Ph.D. Candidate in American Studies) and Kotone Ishida (Ph.D. Student in Sociology)
Co-sponsorships and Other Events
Jan. 23 (Fri.) / 12:00pm-1:00pm / Moore Hall 319 (Tokioka Room) / “Japan’s Minilateral Engagement and Taiwan Contingency: QUAD and SQUAD” by Dr. Yoichiro Sato (Ritsumeikan APU, College of Asia Pacific Studies) / Seminar co-sponsored with the Center for Indo-Pacific Affairs, Dept. of Asian Studies, and Dept. of Political Science.
Jan. 29 (Thurs.) / 11:00-12:00pm / Moore Hall 258 /”Masculinity and Mediality in 18th Century Edo” by Thomas Gaubatz, PhD, Northwestern University / UHM East Asian Languages and Literatures (EALL) Talk Series co-sponsored by CJS
Feb. 5 (Thurs.) / 11:00-12:00pm / Center for Korean Studies (CKS) Auditorium / “Stealing the Deity’s Wife: Poetry, Scandal, and the Rite of Utagaki” by Bonnie McClure, PhD Candidate, University of California, Berkeley / UHM East Asian Languages and Literatures (EALL) Talk Series co-sponsored by CJS
Feb. 9 (Mon.) / 11:00am-1:30pm / Clinical Building Room 106/107 / “Back to the Bar: Understanding the Career Circumstances in the Japan, Korea, and the U.S. for Bar Candidates after Unsuccessful Single or Multiple Attempts” by Professors Mary Apodaca (WSRSL), Jae-Hyup Lee (Seoul Nat’| Univ.), and Kyoko Ishida (Waseda Univ.) moderated by Professor Mark Levin (WSRSL) / Co-sponsored by the William S. Richardson School of Law Pacific Asian Legal Studies Program (PALS), the Association of Korean Law Schools (AKSL), and the UHM Center for Japanese Studies and Center for Korean Studies
Feb. 12 (Thurs.) / 11:00am-12:00pm / Moore 155A / “Beautiful Deathbed Encounters: Affective Projection and the Visual Grammar of Death in The Tale of Genji,” by Ekaterina (Kate) Komova, PhD, Columbia University / UHM East Asian Languages and Literatures (EALL) Talk Series co-sponsored with CJS
Apr. 8 (Wed.) / 12:00-1:00pm / Crawford Hall 322 / “‘Reading’ Japanese Video Games” by Dr. Quillon Arkenstone / UHM East Asian Languages and Literatures (EALL) Talk Series co-sponsored with CJS, College of Social Sciences, and School of Communication and Information
Apr. 15 (Wed.) / 4:30-6:30pm / Moore Hall 319 (Tokioka Room) / “Book Launch Roundable” with Professors. Lonny Carlile, Ehito Kimura, L. Ayu Saraswati, Patricio Abinales, Karl Ian Cheng Chua, and Leng Leng Thang / Co-sponsored by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Department of Asian Studies, Center for Japanese Studies, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, and the University of Hawai‘i Press.
Fall 2025
CJS Seminars
Sept. 4 (Thurs.) / 1:30-3:00pm / Moore Hall 319 (Tokioka Room) / “Yūjomono—The Voices of Indentured Women in Jiuta Sōkyoku Lyrics” by Christopher Blasdel
Sept. 18 (Thurs.) / 1:30-3:00pm / Moore Hall 319 (Tokioka Room) / “Incorporating Project-Based Language Learning into an English-to-Japanese Translation Course” by Yumiko Tateyama, PhD
Bento Box Series
Oct. 17 (Fri.) / 12:00pm-1:30pm / Moore Hall 319 (Tokioka Room) / “Fall 2025 Bento Box Event” by Maggie Ivanova (PhD Student in Theatre, Hawaiian and Indigenous Performance) and SeungHyeon Pyo (PhD Student in History)
Co-sponsorships and Other Events
Oct. 8 (Wed.) / 3:00pm-4:00 pm / How Should Japan Act in Enhancing Regional Security and Deterrence in the Advent of New Global Reality?, by Admiral (ret.) Tomohisa Takei / Webinar hosted by UHM Center for Indo-Pacific Affairs and the Consulate-General of Japan in Honolulu / RSVP here
Oct. 17 (Fri.) / 3:00pm-4:30pm / Art Building room 308 / Manga Drawing & Storytelling Workshop with Kofi Bazzell-Smith / UHM East Asian Languages and Literatures (EALL) Talk Series co-sponsored by CJS / RSVP here by Oct. 13
Nov. 12 (Wed.) / 3:00pm – 4:00pm / Moore Hall 258 and Zoom / The Counterespionage Novel and the Fostering of Wartime Subjectivity in Imperial Japan and Korea / UHM East Asian Languages and Literatures (EALL) Talk Series co-sponsored by CJS
Nov. 15 (Sat.) / 10:00am – 1:00pm / Discover UH Mānoa Open House / Click here for more information and to register
Nov. 18 (Tues.) / 11:45am-12:45pm / JSPS Fellowships Virtual Info Session / UHM Graduate Division event co-sponsored with CJS / RSVP online