Japanese Studies Radio Hour

From 2016 to 2018 the Center for Japanese Studies produced a series of podcasts called the Japanese Studies Radio Hour.

Below is the archive of those podcasts.

The US-Japan Automotive Study – w/ Bob Cole, Mike Flynn, and John Campbell

Episode 12 | January 18, 2018

A conversation with Robert Cole, Mike Flynn, and John Campbell on the CJS-led U.S.-Japan Automotive Study and the 1981-1989 US-Japan Auto Conferences.

The Law in Translation – Bonnie Dixon

Episode 11 | October 30, 2017

When Bonnie Dixon joined Atsumi & Sakai in 2005, she became the first non-Japanese attorney to make partner at a Japanese law firm since the Occupation. Ms. Dixon holds both a B.A. in Japanese and Political Science and a law degree from the University of Michigan. She has now worked in Tokyo for over ten years and has extensive experience in international transactions, cross border labor and employment, structured finance, banking transactions, and investment funds. She also works as a translator and commentator for the National Theater of Japan and the Kabuki-za Theater, among others. In this episode, Ms. Dixon talks with Brad about her education at UM, her career in Japan, and working in a multicultural environment.

1983 U.S. Japan Auto Conference – Paul McCracken, Keichi Oshima, Robert Perkins

Episode 10 | March 12, 2017

In 1981, the U-M Center for Japanese Studies launched the U.S.-Japan Automotive Conference (USJAC). Held annually until 1989, the USJAC facilitated reasoned dialogue between U.S. and Japanese business, political, and labor leaders against a backdrop of increasingly heated competition between the two countries’ auto industries.

In this episode, we bring you the opening panel of the 1983 U.S.-Japan Auto Conference, featuring Paul W. McCracken (University of Michigan), Keichi Oshima (University of Tokyo), and Robert Perkins (Chrysler).

Complement this episode with the printed proceedings of the 1983 conference: Automobiles and the Future: Competition, Cooperation, and Change.

Early Japanese Studies at Michigan – Gary Saxonhouse on Masakazu Toyama and Eijiro Ono

Episode 9 | March 12, 2017

Continuing our commemoration of CJS’s 70th anniversary, we’re sharing a special minisode about Japanese Studies at Michigan before the founding of CJS in 1947. This lecture was delivered at CJS’s 50th anniversary symposium in 1997 by Gary Saxonhouse, a Professor of Economics at U-M.

To learn more about CJS’s history, see the history page on our website.

“The Only Woman in the Room” – Beate Sirota Gordon and the Making of Japan’s Postwar Constitution

Episode 8 | March 12, 2017

2017 marks the 70th anniversary of the U-M Center for Japanese Studies. Throughout the year, the Japanese Studies Radio Hour will share special recordings from the CJS archives, starting with this special address by Beate Sirota Gordon, given on the occasion of CJS’s 50th anniversary in 1997.

Complement this recording with Sirota Gordon’s The Only Woman in the Room: A Memoir of Japan, Human Rights, and the Arts.

Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Hazuki Kikuchi Talk “Happy Hour”

Episode 7 | March 12, 2017

CJS chats with Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Hazuki Kikuchi about their award-winning film Happy Hour. A special thank you to Rich Phillipson and Nicole Howeson for their dubbing work on this episode!

See below for the film’s trailer. Also, be sure to check out reviews of Happy Hour in the New Yorker, the New York Times, and Slant Magazine.

“Staged Seduction: Selling Dreams in a Tokyo Host Club” – Akiko Takeyama & Allison Alexy

Episode 6 | November 30, 2016

Brad and Prof. Allison Alexy (University of Michigan) sit down with Prof. Akiko Takeyama (University of Kansas) to talk about her new book Staged Seduction: Selling Dreams in a Tokyo Host Club. Stay tuned after the ending theme for a podcast extra!

Yamakiya Taiko – Interview with Genki Endo, Keisuke Suzuki, Erik Santos, Toko Shiiki

Episode 4 | April 5, 2016

Fukushima’s Yamakiya Taiko Ensemble is one of Japan’s leading taiko performance groups, having played such prestigious venues as the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington D.C. The leaders of Yamakiya Taiko (Genki Endo and Keisuke Suzuki) sat down with JSRH ahead of two Ann Arbor performances organized by local filmmaker Toko Shiiki and Prof. Erik Santos (U-M SMTD). We discuss the history of their troupe, their connection to Michigan, and what taiko drumming signifies for them as they negotiate the difficulties of life in Fukushima after the nuclear disaster.

Reflecting on the 3/11 Disasters – Mieko Yoshihama & Satsuki Takahashi

Episode 3 | April 2, 2016

This episode features a discussion with Prof. Mieko Yoshihama (University of Michigan School of Social Work) and Prof. Satsuki Takahashi (U-M CJS Toyota Visiting Professor / George Mason University Dept of Sociology and Anthropology)about their on-going research projects in northeastern Japan, which was devastated by a massive earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster five years ago this month.

This photo and others mentioned in the podcast are from the book "PhotoVoice Japan." Check out the this book from the U-M library.

Japan Twang! 300 Years of Tsugaru-jamisen

Episode 2 | March 29, 2016

Enjoy an entertaining and educational concert with shamisen virtuoso Sato Michiyoshi on his first US tour! Sato is an award-winning performer of Tsugaru-jamisen, a dynamic style of music played with a three-stringed Japanese banjo called a shamisen. The style has been adapted for contemporary audiences, and Sato himself glides between traditional, jazz, rock, and neo-folk modes, performing solo, with his father, and with his genre-crossing Kotobuki BAND. In this one-hour performance, Sato will focus on demonstrating the range and flexibility of the instrument. The event begins with introductory remarks by Joshua Solomon, a PhD candidate in the University of Chicago’s East Asian Languages and Civilizations program.

Sponsored by the University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, and Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments. Co-sponsored by the University of Chicago Center for East Asian Studies with support from a Title VI National Resource Center Grant from the United States Department of Education.

Part 1: Interview with Sato Michiyoshi and Joshua Solomon:

Abe’s New Security Laws – David Leheny and Kenneth McElwain

Episode 1 | January 5, 2016

This is the first episode of the Japanese Studies Radio Hour (JSRH), featuring a discussion between Prof. David Leheny (Princeton University) and Prof. Kenneth McElwain (University of Tokyo) about the controversial security laws passed under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which authorize Japan’s military to take part in overseas combat missions for the first time since 1945.