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Center for Japanese Studies (CJS)
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Recent News
Mapping Memory: Commemorating Formerly Incarcerated Nikkei Workers at U-M
The Center for Japanese Studies (CJS) is honored to announce the Yuzuru J. Takeshita Nikkei Workers Memorial Project, a database and map of 401 formerly-incarcerated Japanese Americans who worked for the University of Michigan in the 1940s.
II Honors Outstanding Staff Members at the 2025 Annual Holiday Celebration
Five standout staff members and one exceptionally collaborative team from the International Institute have been spotlighted for their achievements in 2025.
The Center for Japanese Studies (CJS) promotes and disseminates research on Japan, fosters communication among diverse disciplines, and encourages new approaches in the understanding of Japan and its place in the world.
Founded in 1947, CJS is the oldest interdisciplinary center in the United States with a mission to promote research and teaching in Japanese studies.
CJS is home to faculty and students from a variety of disciplines and professional schools, artists and scholars visiting from near and far, and community organizations engaged in Japan-related activities in Michigan.
Events
Mar
19
CJS Winter 2026 Film Series |
The Legend of the Stardust Brothers (星くず兄弟の伝説)
Directed by Makoto Tezuka, 1985, 1 hr 40m
7:00 PM
Off Campus Location
Mar
24
Film Screening: The Vow From Hiroshima
Mitchie Takeuchi
6:00 PM
Off Campus Location
Mar
25
Capturing Prestige: Human Trafficking in Japan's Maritime Borderlands, c. 1350-1600
Peter Shapinsky, University of Illinois, Springfield
4:30 PM
1014
Tisch Hall
Mar
25
Lessons from Hiroshima: Cultivating Mindful Peace Leadership
Ray Matsumiya, Kathleen Sullivan, Mitchie Takeuchi, Ram Mahalingam
5:00 PM
Helmut Stern Auditorium
Museum of Art
Mar
26
CJS Noon Lecture Series | Transgressive Navigation: Tanegashima, Kyoto, and the Wokou in Sixteenth-Century Maritime East Asia
Peter Shapinsky, Professor of History, University of Illinois, Springfield
12:00 PM
Room 555
Weiser Hall
Apr
02
CJS Noon Lecture Series | James Marshall Plumer’s Collecting Journey in War-torn Japan: Mingei Pottery, Folk Deities, and Ainu Art
Natsu Oyobe, Curator of Asian Art, University of Michigan Museum of Art
12:00 PM
10th Floor
Weiser Hall
