ICJS Event: The Meaning of Yasukuni - Symposium

Yasukuni Shrine has become a symbol of the varied understandings that are ascribed to Japan's wartime actions and subsequent post-war memory of its policies and political aspirations. As the repository of the souls of Japan's military, Yasukuni influences Japan's domestic politics and regional relations, presenting a challenge to and opportunity for historical reconciliation in Japan today. Issues of patriotism and nationalism, and how the past is remembered and taught are increasingly attracting national and international attention, and the Yasukuni Shrine controversies go to the heart of many of these debates.

The Institute of Contemporary Japanese Studies, Temple University, Japan Campus, will convene a non-partisan, academic symposium to address "The Meaning of Yasukuni" and the symbolic importance it has in Japan's changing political environment.

Schedule

12:00	Documentary Screening: "Spirits of the State" (28min film produced by John Nelson)
12:45	Opening Remarks and Introductions
13:00	Contextualizing Yasukuni: Its Religious and Political Significance Moderated by David Satterwhite (Executive Director, Fulbright Program Japan) "The Yasukuni Shrine in the Context of East Asian Nationalisms" Phil Deans, Professor of International Affairs, Director of International Affairs Program, Temple University, Japan Campus "Packaging Yasukuni Shrine for International, Political, and Religious Consumers" John Nelson, Associate Professor of East Asian Religions, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of San Francisco "Mobilizating from the Margins: Domestic Citizen Politics and Yasukuni Shrine" Brian Masshardt, Lecturer, Musashi University; University of Hawaii-Manoa
15:00	Break
15:30	"Beyond the Yasukuni Crisis" Moderated by Jeff Kingston, Professor of History, Director of Asian Studies, Temple University, Japan Campus "Moratorium to Yasukuni Visit: Japan's Internal Logic to Overcome History" Kazuhiko Togo, Senior Lecturer, Tamkang University; former Ambassador of Japan to the Netherlands "The Impact of Yasukuni on Japanese Foreign Policy" Gerald L. Curtis, Burgess Professor of Political Science, Columbia University
17:00	Reception: Light food and drinks will be served.