The 4th Tokyo Seminar on Border Studies occurred at the Surugadai Memorial Hall of Chuo University on July 2, 2016. The event was organized by Fuminori Kawakubo, Assistant Professor at Chuo Gakuin University and Officer of the Association of Borderlands Studies Japan Chapter (ABSJ). Approximately 40 people participated in the seminar.
The seminar kicked off with the opening remarks of Naomi Chi (Graduate School of Public Policy, Hokkaido University and Chair of ABSJ), who gave a brief introduction to the founding of ABSJ and the cooperation occurring among the various border studies communities around the world. It was followed by a keynote speech from Akihiro Iwashita (SRC, Hokkaido University) who talked about the motivation and objectives behind his book Introduction to Border Studies (currently available only in Japanese, entitled Nyumon Kokkyogaku and published by the Chuko Shinsho Publishing Company, 2015). A second presentation was given by Yuko Maeda (Soka University) about the birth of international society, the effects of industrial 'hollowing out' and the possibility for reconstructing political geography in Japan.
During the discussion, questions were asked by students from Chuo University and Chuo Gakuin University who participated in the seminar regarding the challenge of territorial issues in Japan, how to think about migration in terms of border studies and issues of home grown terror. Many thanks to Fujimori Kawakubo, Akihiro Iwashita and Yukio Maeda for their efforts. (Written by: Naomi Chi)
Eurasia Unit for Border Research (Japan)
