Japan Studies Association of Canada Conference held at Carleton University

The Japan Studies Association of Canada (JSAC) is Canada’s leading organization dedicated to all aspects of the study of Japan and Canadian-Japanese relations.

Professor Jacob Kovalio (Department of History), past president of JSAC, recently headed the organizing committee of the 25th Commemorative Annual Conference of JSAC held at Carleton University from October 11-14, 2012. This is the second time Carleton has held the JSAC gathering, having previously acted as host in 1992.

The highlight of the very successful  2012 conference  -  launched by  Professor  John Osborne,  Dean of  the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences -  was a series of three symposia on  the socioeconomic , environmental and political impact  of  the East Japan  Earthquake and Tsunami  of  March 11, 2011. Presenters included faculty and graduate students from Canada, Japan and the United States.  The keynote speakers of the conference were Professor Masashi Nishihara, the President of the Research Institute for Peace and Security in Tokyo  – on Security Issues Affecting Japan in the 21st Century – and Professor Motoshige It? of Tokyo University, whose presentation was on Japan-Canada Economic Relations and the Idea of a Trans-Pacific Partnership.  The guest speaker at the annual JSAC banquet was Dr. Jackie Steele – a Carleton/Ottawa Universities alumna who shared with the audience her experiences as a single mother caught, together with her six-month baby, in the affected area on March 11, 2011.

Carleton presenters and session chairs included Professor Ian Lee from the Sprott School of Business, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs MA student Daniel Baker and Jacob Kovalio.

Kovalio thanked the FASS, the Department of History and the OVPA and in particular the Japan Foundation, for their financial support for the conference.  He also thanked History students Alex McCaffrey, Savith Robinson, Lakru Vidyathilaka and Edy Yakubovitz whom he described as “indispensable volunteers for the event.”