JSPS’s San Francisco Office held its first science colloquium, this time on the theme “Transformation of Experience: Interpreting the ‘Opening’ of Japan.” The venue was the Alumni House on the UC Berkeley Campus and the date, 19 March.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Peace and Amity between the US and Japan. Celebrating this occasion, researchers from both Japan and the US considered the various impacts that the opening of Japan had on the life of the Japanese people. Appropriately, the event was held in cooperation with the Center for Japanese Studies, UCB.
JSPS president Prof. Motoyuki Ono opened the colloquium with welcoming remarks: “The JSPS San Francisco Office will, with this first colloquium as a stepping stone, endeavor to work even harder for the further development of scientific exchange between our two countries in every field of academic research.”
The Japanese lecturers expounded on “transformations of experience,” including modern thought, time management, physical culture, and education. The three US researchers addressed the opening’s effect on science, gender and theology in Japan. These presentations were followed by a panel discussion, including an exchange of views from the floor, on the theme “KAIKOKU in Comparative and Contemporary Perspective.”
More than 100 UCB researchers and students and other academics from the Bay Area attended the event. Through its process of considering “transformations of experience,” the colloquium was very meaningful in that it provided a platform for researchers to present unique work being conducted in the two countries on such subjects as the history of science and philosophy.
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| Hall packed with participants |