Presentations

Here is a list of presentations I have done. Those in bold indicate invited talks.

  • ‘Bonded by Stereotypes, Clichés, and Tropes: ‘Western’ Movies Set in Japan across the Decades’, ‘Symbols of Japan, Japan as Symbols’ Workshop, 13-14 July 2023.
  • ‘Death Notes: Haunting messages from those who died in the world’s largest single plane crash‘, Haunted Landscapes Conference, Falmouth University, 4-6 July 2023.
  • ‘Learning and Teaching about Japan: The Role of Personal Experiences’, University of Kitakyūshū, 19 May 2023.
  • ‘Japan Says Western Pop? No, Thanks, Don’t Do It’, British Association for Teachers of Japanese annual conference, September 2022.
  • ‘Splitting Atomic Symbolism: Words, Images, and Sounds of a Nuclear World’, “Hiroshima – Nagasaki – Fukushima – Articulations of the Nuclear. The Case of Japan” Conference, University of Cologne, May 2022.
  • ‘How To Do Collaborative Work’, Japan Foundation/BAJS Postgraduate Workshop, University of East Anglia, 25 February 2022.
  • ‘Western Pop Acts in Japan: Putting the Cult into Culture‘, European Association for Japanese Studies Conference, 25 August 2021.
  • ‘Two Tribes, United by Music: Western Pop in Japan‘, JET Alumni Association and The British Association of MEXT Scholars Academic Special Interest Group, 23 July 2021.
  • ‘Japanese Disaster Narratives: Conservatism and Revisionism’, Japan Society, 24 April 2021.
  • ‘Social Media and Blogging as an Academic’, BAJS/Japan Foundation Postgraduate Workshop, 26 February 2021.
  • ‘Blogging: How to Get Your Research Out There‘, Cardiff University, 30 November 2020, repeated on other dates since then and versions offered also to MA courses at Cardiff University and the University of East Anglia.
  • ‘In the Shadow of the Mushroom Cloud: 75 years since the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki‘, World Talk series, Cardiff University, 6 February 2020. Also see this post for a version of the paper.
  • ‘Designing Japanese Disaster Narratives‘, Joint East Asian Studies Conference, Edinburgh University, 5 September 2019.
  • Eight lecture short course at Musashino University, July 2019. Lectures on ‘Cross-Cultural Misunderstandings and Clichés’, ‘Symbols and Marketing Trains and Planes’, ‘Education and Cross-Cultural Management’, ‘Managing a Transport Company’, ‘Nationalism and Internationalism in Management’, ‘Managing the Challenges of Depopulation’, ‘Disaster Management’, and ‘Managing the Conflicting Demands and Consequences of Brexit’.
  • ‘Goals and Compromise’, Japan Foundation-British Association for Japanese Studies PhD Workshop, Cardiff University, 8 March 2019.
  • ‘Disaster Narratives by Design‘, Conflict, Development and Disaster Research Theme Series, School of Modern Languages, Cardiff University, 7 February, 2019.
  • ‘High Speed Icons of Japan: Planes, Trains and Understanding Japanese Society’, Oxford Brookes University, 28 November, 2018.
  • ‘Crisis, Continuity and Change: Lessons from Kuraimāzu Hai and its Adaptations’, British Association for Japanese Studies Conference, University of Sheffield, 7 September, 2018.
  • ‘Contents Tourism in Plane Sight’, Contents Tourism Symposium, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 8 June, 2018.
  • ‘Challenges of Fieldwork Trips in Japan’, Mutual Images Workshop, Cardiff University, 2 May 2018. See also my post Brief Encounters in Research.
  • ‘Challenges of Short Fieldwork Trips’, Japan Foundation-British Association for Japanese Studies PhD Workshop, SOAS University of London, 16 February 2018. See also my post Brief Encounters in Research.
  • ‘Learning from Japanese Railways’, World Talk series, Cardiff University, 15 February 2018.
  • ‘JET, Jets and Japanese Studies’, JET Alumni Association Academic Special Interest Group Workshop, University of East Anglia, 8 December 2017. See my post JET, Jets and Japanese Studies.
  • ‘Conflicting and Complementary Demands after a Disaster: The Different Faces of Remembering the JL123 Crash’, Meiji Jingu Autumn Lecture, SOAS, 4 October 2017.
  • ‘Reporting Highs and Lows: Media Reporting of Disasters and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder’, European Association for Japanese Studies, Lisbon, 31 August 2017.
  • ‘JET, Journeys and Researching Japan’, JET Alumni Association Special Interest Group Workshop, University of Sheffield, 9 December 2016.
  • ‘The Osutaka Pilgrimage Sites: Memorialisation Sites or Dark Tourism Sites?’, Joint East Asian Studies Conference, SOAS, 9 September 2016.
  • ‘Misunderstanding the Japanese Case: The Issues of Reporting and Studying Japan’, joint paper with Christopher Hayes, Research Methods in Modern Languages and Global Area Studies Conference, Cardiff University, 14 January 2016.
  • ‘Problems of Researching the Narratives of Others’ Disasters: The Case of JL123′, Narratives of Conflict and Disaster Workshop, Cardiff University, 13 January 2016.
  • ‘The Shinkansen: Cultural Icon of Japan’, Experience Japan Exhibition, The Royal Society London, 14 November 2015.
  • ‘Is Japan the Empire of Signs?’, ‘National Symbols across Time and Space’ Symposium, University of Oslo, 18 September 2015.
  • ‘Unity and Disunity amongst Japanese Photographers’, British Association for Japanese Studies Conference, 10 September 2015.
  • ‘Fictive Nation or Empire of Signs? Reflections on Barthes’ Japan’, Roland Barthes at 100 Conference, Cardiff University, 30-31 March 2015.
  • ‘The Shinkansen: Cultural Icon of Japan’, Japan Foundation London, 31 October 2014.
  • ‘Uniting a Nation: Transportation and Responses to the 3/11 Disaster’, Gambarou Nippon – Imagi(ni)ng Japan Post 3/11 symposium, SOAS, University of London, 4 September 2014.
  • ‘The Changing Face of Intercity Transport in Japan’, European Association for Japanese Studies Conference, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 28 August 2014.
  • ‘It’s Not All Peachy: The Changing Face of Inter-City Transport in Japan’, Aichi Prefectural University, 16 January, 2014.
  • ‘Shinkansen: More Than Just a Train’, Japan Society Southern Counties, Petersfield, 24 October, 2013.
  • ‘How Japan Represents the Dead of the World’s Single Largest Plane Crash’, Representing the Dead in Society Panel, Before I Die: A Festival for the Living about Dying, Cardiff University, 16 May 2013.
  • ‘The Battle for the Inter City Transport Market in Japan’, Daiwa Capital Markets Seminar, 10 January 2013.
  • ‘Unnatural in Nature: Suicide and Untimely Deaths in Japan’, British Association for Japanese Studies (BAJS) Conference, University of East Anglia, 6 September 2012.
  • ‘Disasters in Japan: Creation and Re-Creation’, Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Bristol, 21 May 2012.
  • ‘Social Media and Disasters: YouTube and the JL123 Crash’, Japanese Media Studies Workshop, Sainsbury Institute, 20 April 2012. A number of posts have been developed from this presentation – Kurosagi Shitai Takuhaibin – Learning to Like Manga, The JL123 Crash and Manga – Unsolved Crime, The JL123 Crash and Manga – Recreating Iconic Images, Aokigahara in Manga – And Does Aokigahara Still Have a Place in Academic Writing?, Disasters and Manga – Gekitō Magnitude 7.7, and Kurosagi Shitai Takuhaibin and History – Another Role for Manga?
  • ‘Kizuna: Examining the Bonds of Risk, Tragedy, Disaster and Recovery in Japan’, School of Healthcare Studies, Cardiff University, 9 March 2012.
  • ‘Die Another Day: Death and Bonds in Japan’, Oxford Brookes University, 6 March 2012.
  • ‘Designing a Disaster in Japan’, White Rose East Asia Centre, University of Sheffield, 17 February 2012.
  • ‘Making a Tragedy into a Disaster in Japan’, University of Winchester, 9 February 2012.
  • ‘A Tale of Two Forests: Memorialization, Symbolism and Death in Japan’, Japan Research Centre Seminar, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, University of London), 14 December 2011.
  • ‘Death and Disaster in Japanese Manga: Constructing Memory and Behaviour’, ‘Keeping Japan on the Map’ conference, London, 18 November 2011.
  • ‘Dealing With Disaster in Japan: Responses to the Flight JL123 Crash’, Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, 28 October 2011.
  • ‘Ignorance is not Bliss: Lessons from History in Disaster Management in Japan – The Case of JL123’, British Association for Japanese Studies (BAJS) Workshop, 8 September 2011.
  • ‘Whose dead? Remembering the JL123 Plane Crash’, European of Association of Japanese Studies, 13th Conference in Tallinn, 25 August 2011.
  • ‘Social Memory of Japan’s Titanic: Emotion, History, Conspiracy and the JL123 Crash’, Association of Asian Studies Annual Conference, Honolulu, 2 April 2011.
  • ‘Death of a Jumbo: The JL123 crash on screen’, Japanese Media Studies Workshop, Sainsbury Institute, 17 September 2010.
  • ‘Climber’s High and the Changing Discourse about Flight JL123′, British Association for Japanese Studies (BAJS) Annual Conference, SOAS (University of London), 10 September 2010.
  • ‘The Osutaka Pilgrimage: Remembering the Victims of the Flight JL123 Crash’, Japan Anthropology Workshop (JAWS) 20th Annual Conference, University of Texas at Austin, 14 March 2010.
  • ‘Fast Women: The Shinkansen and the Changing Japanese Gender Roles’, Modern Girls on the Go: Gender, Mobility and Labor in Japan Conference, University of Oregon, 8 January 2010.
  • ‘Sen no Kaze-ni Natte (‘I am a Thousand Winds)’, European Day of Languages, Cardiff University, 25 September 2009.
  • ‘Dealing with Disaster in Japan: Lessons from the Flight JL123 Crash’, Death Dying and Disposal 9th Annual Conference (DDD9), Durham University, 11 September 2009.
  • ‘Visualization of Death in Japan: The Case of the Flight JL123 Crash’, Envisaging Death: Visual Culture and Dying Symposium, University of Birmingham, 26 June 2009.
  • ‘Disaster (Mis)Management in Japan: The Case of Flight JL123’, Association of Asian Studies Annual Conference, Chicago, 29 March 2009.
  • ‘Narratives on the World’s Worst Plane Crash: Flight JL123 in Print and On Screen’, Crime Narratives in Context Research Seminar, Cardiff University, 12th February 2009.
  • ‘Remembering Flight JL123’, European of Association of Japanese Studies, 12th Conference in Lecce, 21 September 2008.
  • ‘The Shinkansen’s Regional Impact’, European of Association of Japanese Studies, 12th Conference in Lecce, 20 September 2008.
  • ‘The Shinkansen’s Regional Impact’, Japan’s Shrinking Regions Workshop, University of Sheffield, 3 July 2008.
  • ‘The Osutaka Pilgrimage: Remembering the Victims of the Flight JL123 Crash’, British Association for Japanese Studies (BAJS), Annual Conference, 11 April 2008.
  • ‘Dealing with Disaster: Japanese Responses to the Flight JL123 Crash’, Portsmouth University, 23 November 2007.
  • ‘Dealing with Disaster: State Responses to the Flight JL123 Crash’, Japan Politics Colloquium, Oxford University, 12 September 2007.
  • ‘Flight JL123: SOS’, Poster Presentation at Humanities Collaborative Research Day, Cardiff University, 14 May 2007.
  • ‘Shinkansen: Iconic Railway of Japan’, Richard Trevithick Railway Lecture, Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, County Hall, Cardiff, 15 February 2007.
  • ‘Education as the Foundation of Everything’, Conference on Japan’s Political, Economic, and Social Systems and Its Contribution to the International Community, Institute of International Policy Studies, 5/6 December 2006, Tokyo, Japan.
  • ‘Train Wars: Exporting the Shinkansen to China’, Edinburgh University, 3 November 2006.
  • ‘The Shinkansen’s Impact on Cities’, British Association for Japanese Studies (BAJS), Annual Conference, 13 September 2006.
  • ‘Shinkansen: From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan’, Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, 6 April 2006.
  • ‘Symbolism and Machines – The Case of Japan and the Shinkansen’, Centre of East Asian Studies, Bristol University, 27 February, 2006.
  • ‘Shinkansen: From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan’, National Railway Museum (York), 5 February 2006.
  • ‘Bullets and Trains: The Shinkansen and Sino-Japanese Relations’, British Association for Japanese Studies (BAJS), Annual Conference, 8 September 2005.
  • ‘JR Cultures: Differences and Similarities on the Japanese Railways’, European of Association of Japanese Studies, 11th Conference in Vienna, 1 September 2005.
  • ‘What Britain Needs is the Shinkansen’, University of Kitakyūshū, 25 May 2005.
  • ‘Shinkansen, Sore-wa Igirisu-ga Hitsuyō tosurumono (What Britain Needs is the Shinkansen)’, Kōbe National University, 24 May 2005.
  • ‘Education in Japan and the UK: Challenges for the Future’, Aichi University of Education, 23 May 2005.
  • ‘The Shinkansen and the Environment: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’, Chūō University, 19 May 2005.
  • ‘Shinkansen – Not Just a Bullet Train’, Yokohama National University, 18 May 2005.
  • ‘Shinkansen, Sore-wa Igirisu-ga Hitsuyō tosurumono (What Britain Needs is the Shinkansen)’, Surugadai University, 16 May 2005.
  • ‘Shinkansen – More than Just a Train’, Cambridge University, 22 November 2004.
  • ‘Exporting the Dream Train: the Shinkansen in Asia and Beyond’, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 17 May 2004.
  • ‘The Shinkansen and The Mechanisms of Change’, Japan Politics Colloquium, Sheffield University, 12 September 2003.
  • ‘The Shinkansen and the Environment: Friend or Foe?’, European of Association of Japanese Studies, 10th Conference in Warsaw, 30 August 2003 .
  • ‘Welcome To The Shinkansen: From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan’, Donnington Grove Japanese Society, 12 March 2003.
  • ‘Cultural Interface of Japan’s International Relations: Sport, The Media and Mutual Perceptions’, Japan Society/Daiwa Seminar, Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, 30 October 2002.
  • ‘Shinkansen: Past, Present and Future’, Japan Society Lecture, 17 September 2002.
  • ‘The Symbolism of the Shinkansen’, Japan Politics Colloquium, Oxford University, 12 September 2002.
  • ‘The Super-Express of Dreams’, Japanese Railway Conference, Cardiff University, 25 March 2002.
  • ‘The Third Great Reform of the Japanese Education System: Success in the 1980s Onwards’, Nissan Institute Occasional Seminar, Nissan Institute/St. Anthony’s College, University of Oxford, 8 February, 2002.
  • ‘Whose Line is it Anyway? The Politics of the Shinkansen’, Japan Politics Group Colloquium, Cardiff University, 13 September, 2001.
  • ‘Getting on Track – High Speed Railways in Japan and the UK’, Anglo-Japanese Academy Workshop, 4 September 2001.
  • ‘Biting The Bullet: What We Can Learn From The Shinkansen’, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 19 January 2001.
  • ‘Hinomaru and Kimigayo: One Year On’ Japan Politics Group Colloquium, Warwick University, 6 September, 2000.
  • ‘Ishihara – One Year On’, British Association for Japanese Studies (BAJS), Annual Conference, 10 April 2000.
  • ‘Creating a New Japan: The Results of the Education Reform Programme’, University of Cambridge, 14 February, 2000.
  • ‘Japan’s New Education System: Nakasone’s Legacy’, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, University of London), 27 October, 1999.
  • ‘A New Nationalist Japan? The Implications of the Election of Governor Ishihara’, Japan Politics Group Colloquium, University of Birmingham, 7 September, 1999.
  • ‘The Election of Ishihara: A Symbol of Rising Nationalism in Japan?’, Postgraduate Network in East Asian Studies, University of Sheffield, 31 July, 1999.
  • ‘The Election of Ishihara: A Symbol of Rising Nationalism in Japan?’, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 22 July, 1999.
  • ‘Nakasone: Nationalist or Internationalist?’, East Asia Research Committee Seminar, University of Sheffield, 17 March, 1999.
  • ‘Japan’s Next Generation: Nakasone’s Legacy & The Effects of the Education Reform Process’, Nissan Institute Occasional Seminar, Nissan Institute/St. Anthony’s College, University of Oxford, 13 November, 1998.
  • ‘Regionalism in Japan: The Roles of Sport and Infrastructure’, Japan Politics Group Colloquium, University of Kent/Chaucer College, 3 September, 1998.
  • ‘Nakasone’s Education System’, British Association for Japanese Studies (BAJS) Annual Conference, Cardiff, April, 1998.
  • ‘Kōtōkyōiku: Igirisu to Nihon no Hikaku’ (Higher Education: A Comparison of the UK and Japan), Special Seminar, Chūō University (Tokyo), 27 November, 1997.
  • ‘Yutori and Ikiru-chikara: The New Education System’, Japan Politics Group Colloquium, University of Leeds, 3 September, 1997.
  • ‘Nakasone and Education Reform: A Revisionist View’, East Asia Research Committee Seminar, University of Sheffield, 21 May, 1997.
  • ‘Nakasone: Understanding the Conflicts and His Involvement in Education Reform’, Japan Politics Group Colloquium, University of Stirling, 5 September, 1996.

Many of these presentations have subsequently been turned into academic papers, chapters, parts of books or other publications.