#06 Oct 31, 2025

The Fourth EAJS (European Association for Japanese Studies) Japan Conference, recently convened at TU, concluded with marked success. I was deeply impressed that the staff of the GPJS was principally responsible for the organization of this international conference of such scale. This year witnessed the hottest summer ever recorded. In addition to the rapid climatic shifts now described as “global boiling,” environmental degradation has grown increasingly severe as we enter what is termed the “Anthropocene.” Continuous advancement toward a bright and prosperous future long served as a shared premise of modern philosophy and historiography. Yet what we now observe as a result of modernitiy’s development is the very antithesis of the futures once forecast.

#06 Oct 31, 2025

The Fourth EAJS (European Association for Japanese Studies) Japan Conference, recently convened at TU, concluded with marked success. I was deeply impressed that the staff of the GPJS was principally responsible for the organization of this international conference of such scale. This year witnessed the hottest summer ever recorded. In addition to the rapid climatic shifts now described as “global boiling,” environmental degradation has grown increasingly severe as we enter what is termed the “Anthropocene.” Continuous advancement toward a bright and prosperous future long served as a shared premise of modern philosophy and historiography. Yet what we now observe as a result of modernitiy’s development is the very antithesis of the futures once forecast.

#05 Sep 30, 2024

TU has been accredited as a University for International Research Excellence by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). TU is the first to receive this designation since the program’s inception. Many of the readers may be aware of this, as the MEXT’s decision defied widespread expectations that the University of Tokyo or Kyoto University would be chosen. With this designation, TU will receive significant government support to enhance its international research and educational environment. As a member who has been involved in the application process from the beginning, I am relieved but have mixed feelings about the accreditation. In the ancient Chinese text The Book of

#05 Sep 30, 2024

TU has been accredited as a University for International Research Excellence by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). TU is the first to receive this designation since the program’s inception. Many of the readers may be aware of this, as the MEXT’s decision defied widespread expectations that the University of Tokyo or Kyoto University would be chosen. With this designation, TU will receive significant government support to enhance its international research and educational environment. As a member who has been involved in the application process from the beginning, I am relieved but have mixed feelings about the accreditation.

#04 Mar 30, 2024

　The Analects of Confucius (Master Kong) includes the passage, jun zi bu qi (君子不器) meaning “An exemplary person is not a vessel” in the chapter on the government principles. Shibusawa Eiichi, a Japanese industrialist who knew the Analects well, interpreted the passage as “Just as chopsticks are best used for eating and brushes for writing, mediocre persons have their own unique skill and not general abilities applicable everywhere.

#04 Mar 30, 2024

The Analects of Confucius (Master Kong) includes the passage, jun zi bu qi (君子不器) meaning “An exemplary person is not a vessel” in the chapter on the government principles. Shibusawa Eiichi, a Japanese industrialist who knew the Analects well, interpreted the passage as “Just as chopsticks are best used for eating and brushes for writing, mediocre persons have their own unique skill and not general abilities applicable everywhere.

#03 Aug 30, 2023

このTHE HASEKURA BULLETIN を前回お届けしたのは、2020 年7 月でした。その後、未曾有のパンデミックによって、支倉リーグの対面での活動は大きく制限されました。ただ、我々はその間も歩みをとめず、昨年9 月には、東北大学創立115 周年、総合大学100 周年記念行事の一環として支倉サミットと支倉シンポジウムを実施しました。

#03 Aug 30, 2023

After the last issue of THE HASEKURA BULLETIN in July 2020, our in-person activities in the Hasekura League were greatly restricted due to the unprecedented pandemic. However, we have not stopped moving forward. In September of last year, we successfully held the Hasekura Summit and Hasekura Symposium as part of the 115th anniversary of TU's founding and its 100th anniversary as a comprehensive university.

#02 Jul 9, 2020

This follow-up to our initial issue of the Bulletin comes at what must be one of the strangest and most challenging times most of us have experienced. The worldwide spread of the novel coronavirus – which, at the time of this writing, shows no sign of slowing – has in the space of weeks shattered assumptions related to travel and social intercourse, upturned economies both national and international, and transformed, in ways that are probably permanent, the nature of work and employment.

#01 Apr 1, 2020

Welcome to the inaugural issue of the Hasekura Bulletin, the official newsletter of the Hasekura League. As the name suggests, this newsletter will serve to provide regular updates and news concerning Hasekura League events, activities, and publications, but that is only the beginning.