Category: Japanese Program

Cover image of the journal "Television and New Media, white text on black background with vertical lines of faded blue.

Meagan Finlay publishes research article on Japanese Public Broadcasting

Posted on | by Thomas Mazanec

EALCS PhD candidate Meagan Finlay has recently published a research article titled “Japanese Public Broadcasting: Construction of Publics and Identity in Virtual Space” in the journal Television and New Media. The open access article may be found at https://doi.org/10.1177/15274764261456595.

Here is the article’s abstract:

In 2008, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation, or Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai) launched their online distribution platform NHK On Demand (NOD). This service is land-locked within the geographical borders of Japan. Through an investigation of corporate and government documents and content analysis, I find that NHK’s move into virtual space presents an inward, domestic-focused version of Japanese nationhood and national identity that parallels the Japanese government’s global strategy for national branding, namely the Cool Japan initiative (soft power policy). In doing so, I argue that NHK—and by extension the state—cleaves their public in two: a domestic public based in Japan and a global public including overseas Japanese nationals, diaspora Japanese, and non-citizens. Virtual space becomes the stage for conflicting conceptualizations of Japanese identity through the creation of different publics and different goals for each.

Congratulations, Meagan!

Congratulations to Yamauchi-sensei

Posted on | by Thomas Mazanec

We are proud to celebrate Yamauchi-sensei a Japanese language lecturer in our program, on receiving the 2026 Outstanding Teacher Award (Post-Secondary Level) in the California Teacher of the Year Awards for Japanese Language Professionals.

This prestigious award—presented by the California Association of Japanese Language Teachers (CAJLT), the Northern California Japanese Teachers’ Association (NCJTA), and the Teachers of Japanese in Southern California (TJSC)—recognizes educators who demonstrate excellence in teaching, professional development, leadership, and advocacy for Japanese language education.

The selection committee highlighted Yamauchi-sensei’s exceptional dedication to her students, her program, and the broader community. Her work reflects not only innovative and high-quality teaching, but also her leadership in advancing collaboration and strengthening connections across institutions and communities throughout California.

Her commitment to creating engaging, inclusive, and forward-looking learning environments exemplifies the very best of language education, and we are proud to have her as part of our community.

Hanne Deleu awarded Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Dissertation Fellowship

Posted on | by Thomas Mazanec

EALCS is proud to announce that, in addition to a one-year Japan Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, Hanne Deleu has also been awarded a prestigious one-year Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Dissertation Fellowship to pursue her dissertation project titled “Milk Matters: Breastfeeding and the Material Body in Modern Japan” under the guidance of Professor Akihito Suzuki, Japan’s most prominent historian of medicine, at the University of Tokyo.

Event: Animism Today on 10/21-22

Posted on | by Thomas Mazanec
Next Monday and Tuesday (October 21 and 22) four prominent scholars from Japan will come to UCSB to address the topic of “Animism Today” in popular culture, traditional culture, and contemporary arts, also in conversation with members of the UCSB community. The term “animism” is used in Japan with positive connotations as a way to describe widespread forms of Japanese religiosity and, to an extent, Japanese cultural identity.
For full information, please see the event page on the Religious Studies website.
At Rob Gym Room 1005 (in the low building to the left before the entrance to Rob Gym).
Monday afternoon features four papers addressing various aspects of animism by Hirafuji Kikuko, MInato Chihiro, Koizumi Bon, and Matsumura Kazuo. See the program below for more information.
On Tuesday, there will be eight brief presentations by UCSB colleagues:
9:30–12:00 Roundtable Rethinking “Animism” and Related Phenomena (“paganism,” polytheism, idolatry, materiality of religion, secularization, etc.)
We will have presentations from Claudia Moser (History of Art and Architecture), Amit Shilo (Classics), Ranjani Atur (Ph.D., Religious Studies UCSB; Classics, University of Minnesota); and Rudy Busto, Thomas Carlson, Will Ellison, Fabio Rambelli, and Christine Thomas (all from Religious Studies)
Organized by Kikuko Hirafuji (Kokugakuin University), Fabio Rambelli, and Christine Thomas (UCSB).
Sponsors:
Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology Open Laboratory for Emergence Strategies (ROLES), The University of Tokyo
Kokugakuin University (Tokyo)
UCSB Virgil Cordano OFM Chair in Catholic Studies
UCSB International Shinto Foundation Chair in Shinto Studies
UCSB Department of Religious Studies

Yoko Yamauchi Elected President of the Board of the Teachers of Japanese in Southern California

Posted on | by Thomas Mazanec

Congratulations to Yoko Yamauchi, UC Santa Barbara’s Japanese Language Program Coordinator, who has been elected President of the Board of the Teachers of Japanese in Southern California (TJSC)! On June 1, Yamauchi (front row, 4th from left) and Sabine Frühstück attended the TJSC Workshop and Reception hosted by Kenko Sone, Consul General of Japan, his wife Mami, and Yasuko Uchida, Director of Japan Foundation, Los Angeles (front row, 5th, 6th and 7th) to discuss current challenges to a robust future of teaching Japanese in California and nationwide.