Call for Abstracts
The Society for the Study of Japonisme is pleased to announce the 2026 edition of its International Symposium, co-organized with the Ebara Hatakeyama Memorial Foundation.
Under the general theme “Postwar Japonisme: Continuities and Reconfigurations in the Reception of Japanese Culture,” the symposium aims to examine the phenomena of Japonisme from a wide range of viewpoints.
This year’s symposium will have a hybrid format that allows for remote participation. For those speakers participating remotely, a pre-recorded video presentation will be required. Presentations and discussions will take place both in person and online with simultaneous translation into English and Japanese.
Please note that we might have to make changes to our schedule or even reschedule the entire symposium.
Theme: Postwar Japonisme: Continuities and Reconfigurations in the Reception of Japanese Culture
Japonisme has most often been discussed in relation to the reception of Japanese art and craft in Europe and North America from the latter half of the nineteenth century onward. Yet after the Second World War, Japanese culture continued to be transmitted beyond Japan through a wide range of media, institutions, personal exchanges, and commodity networks, where it was received, translated, and transformed across diverse fields of cultural expression.
This symposium asks how the reception and representation of Japanese culture outside Japan after the Second World War could be reconsidered within the framework of Japonisme studies. Rather than treating the War as a simple rupture, we seek to examine how the history of the reception of Japanese culture since the nineteenth century has continued, reconfigured, and reinterpreted within the postwar international order, media landscape, cultural practices and consumer culture.
The scope of the symposium is not confined to the fine and applied arts only, but extends to a broad range of postwar and contemporary cultural practices including film, architecture, design, literature, performing arts, intellectual culture, manga, anime, music, fashion, and everyday culture. By also taking into account issues such as cultural diplomacy, translation, Orientalism, commodification, and the circulation of popular culture, the symposium aims to provide a space to critically reconsider the scope, the possibilities, and future directions of Japonisme studies.
Date: Saturday, November 28th, 2026.
Venue: Musashino Art University, Ichigaya Campus Access | Musashino Art University (musabi.ac.jp) / in Hybrid format.
Organizers: The Society for the Study of Japonisme / Ebara Hatakeyama Memorial Foundation
Language: Japanese and English (with simultaneous interpretation)
Requirements: The Society for the Study of Japonisme membership
Non-members may sign up when submitting their proposals (see the “Join Us” page on our website https://japonisme-studies.jp/join-us/ ).
Your proposal will be considered once the Board of Directors approves your membership application.
Please email an abstract for a 20-minute presentation as attachment (single-page A4 document of about 400 words) to the address below by Wednesday, July 22, 2026, Japan Standard Time.
Submissions will be reviewed by the Board of Directors, and accepted applicants will be notified around Late-August 2026.
Please note that we do not accept papers which have been published elsewhere.
Accepted applicants are expected to submit a full presentation script by Saturday, November 7, 2026, for the purpose of simultaneous interpretation. Those participating remotely are also requested to submit a pre-recorded presentation by the same date.
Send enquiries and proposals to:
japonisme.kokusai.symposium@gmail.com
(The Society for the Studies of Japonisme, Directors in Charge: Hiroshi EMOTO, Yu KISHI)