We just completed a marvellous two-day workshop from 8-9 January 2026 at the new North Annex Building of Keio University in Tokyo. The event was graciously sponsored by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and the Keio University Institute of East Asian studies. Hosted by Professor Kawashima Shin from Tokyo University and Dr Tom Barrett from Keio University, and Professor Barak Kushner from Cambridge University, this workshop was the 2nd annual gathering that expanded and built on the first Cambridge-Tokyo University workshop that was held in October 2024 at Cambridge. Graduate students and postdocs from Cambridge presented in Japanese; the Japanese grad students presented in English. The Q&A sessions were held in both languages depending on the speaker and robust discussions ensued. It was truly a great moment for international research exchange and networking.
Over the two days, graduate students and postdocs from Cambridge University, Keio University, and Tokyo University presented their research to full audiences of students and professors from these three universities. Each morning, everyone was treated to keynote speeches. Dr Vicky Young from Cambridge opened the proceedings with her talk on “Literature as History: Japanese Literature, the East Asian Cultural sphere, and the Question of Fiction.” On the second day Professor Inoue Masayo from Keio spoke on “Launching Japan’s Postwar “Trading State”: Bureaucratic Conflict between Diplomacy and Economic Agencies,” followed by Professor Kawashima Shin’s lecture on “The ‘Two Chinas’ Issue Prior to 1949: The Kuomintang Government's ‘One China’ Policy.”