Description

An introductory greeting will be provided by Dr. Aiko Doden, Executive Vice President of the Japan Foundation, followed by introductory remarks from Dr. Andreas Niehaus, President of the European Association of Japanese Studies and discussant for the roundtable.

Introducing the Japanese Studies Association of ASEAN (JSA-ASEAN), the panel brings together multi-generational scholars from across Southeast Asia to reflect on the historical development and contemporary conditions of Japanese Studies in the region. Through these reflections, Southeast Asian perspectives are shown to challenge, complement, and extend existing knowledge about Japan in important ways.

Moving beyond the framing of Southeast Asia as merely a marginal site for theory-building or pedagogical practice, the roundtable instead positions the region as a new horizon for the discipline of Japanese Studies. It asks the provocative question: what does Japanese Studies become when grounded in the multicultural, multiethnic, and multinational contexts of Southeast Asia, with its multiplicity of (sometimes competing) centers? Finally, by reflecting on the Japanese government’s increasing prioritization of ASEAN—particularly in the context of its recent Indo-Pacific strategy—the roundtable invites discussion on how cross-regional collaboration with Southeast Asian colleagues may open up new avenues for joint research, funding, and institutional networking.