Overview: The East Asian Consortium of Japanese Studies (EACJS) was officially launched in September, 2015 after several years of effort by scholars from major Japanese research institutes in East Asia on purpose of invigorating academic exchange among East Asian scholars beyond their borders and fostering next generations of Japanese studies. A year later, representatives from major institutes assembled again and confirmed the significance of launching a new international conference, and the 1st international conference of EACJS was held at Incheon Songdo Convensia from November 30th to December 2nd, 2016. This conference was hosted by the EACJS and managed by the Institute for Japanese Studies (IJS) at Seoul National University along with active participations from diverse institutions of Japanese studies in East Asian region.
Event Overview
East Asian Consortium of Japanese Studies aims to provide a platform for researchers from East Asian countries to present and discuss their accumulated research on Japan across various disciplines, contributing to the advancement of international exchange in Japanese studies and among Japanese researchers. Despite the active presence of numerous Japanese researchers in the East Asian region, exchanges at the individual or group level have not been as active compared to the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) centered in North America or the European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS) in Europe.
Therefore, centered around five founding members, the East Asian Consortium of Japanese Studies was established with a focus on Japanese research institutions in East Asia, and discussions have been ongoing. The objectives of this consortium are as follows: First, to aim for the qualitative improvement of Japanese studies. Second, to pursue Japanese studies from a broader range of perspectives and positions, moving beyond research confined to regional boundaries. Third, to contribute to the stabilization and peace of East Asia. The consortium was founded with the significance of bringing Japanese researchers from the East Asian region together for serious discussion and exchange.
In line with these objectives, East Asian Japanese research institutions have been sequentially hosting academic conferences. The first conference was held by the Institute for Japanese Studies at Seoul National University (Incheon, 2016), the second by Nankai University (Tianjin, 2017), the third by the International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Kyoto, 2018), and the fourth by National Taiwan University (Taipei, 2019). The event was postponed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, the fifth conference was held by Korea University (Seoul, 2021), the sixth by the Center for Japanese Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University (Beijing, 2022), and the seventh by Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (Tokyo, 2023). Until now, over 300 Japanese researchers from various East Asian countries have participated.
Past International Academic Conferences
1st: 2016 - Incheon, Korea, Institute for Japanese Studies at Seoul National University
2nd: 2017 - Tianjin, China, Nankai University (南開大學)
3rd: 2018 - Kyoto, Japan, International Research Center for Japanese Studies (国際日本文化研究センター)
5th: 2021 - Seoul, Korea, Korea University
7th: 2023 - Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (東京外国語大学)
