Wherever I am, the world comes after me.
It offers me its busyness. It does not believe that I do not want it.
Now I understand why the old poets of China went so far
and high into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist.
"The Old Poets of China" by Mary Oliver

From Shizuoka to Kyoto: The Asian Center, Japan Foundation Organize a Japan Study Tour

Details

Two students and an alumna of the UP Asian Center embarked on a Study Tour in Japan from 2 July 2015 to 7 July 2015; they visited several sites and presented papers at the 20th Young Scholars' Conference on Philippine Studies in Japan, which was held from 4 to 5 July 2015 at the University of Shizuoka.

Karen So, an alumna of the Asian Center who now teaches at the De La Salle College of St. Benilde, presented “Tigmadlos: Ang taghirap sa Oson,” which explores the temporary migration of residents of Oson Island to the nearby Philippine province of Pampanga. Her analysis features accounts of the residents themselves, foregrounds the role of the monsoon rains, and looks at how migration has affected the social and economic dynamics of the community.

Sascha Gallardo, also a University Research Associate at the Asian Center, presented “Comparing the Filipino Public Opinion and Media Coverage of Philippines’ Relations with Japan and United States,” in which she analyzed whether news reports affect Philippine government policy in connection with its relations with United States and Japan in the South China Sea disputes.

And in “Beyond Transnational Borders : Intimacy bond, Music and Identity Choice Among Newly Migrated Japanese Filipino Children,” Frieda Joy Angelica Olay Ruiz, a student at the Tricollege Ph.D. Philippine Studies program, examined “the representations and reconstruction of Japanese-Filipino identity in Original Pinoy Music and how newly-migrated Japanese-Filipino Children give meaning to and interpret such representations.”

They were accompanied by Dr. Michiyo Yoneno-Reyes, Associate Professor at the UP Asian Center. They visited a Yayoi archaeological site in Shizuoka; the Yayoi period in Japanese history is traditional dated from 300 BCE to 300 CE. In addition, the paper presenters, along with Dr. Yoneno-Reyes, visited Kyoto University and the Nijō Castle in Kyoto, Japan, where the Tokugawa shogun resided when he was in the city.

The study tour was organized by the UP Asian Center and the Japan Foundation. Photo: Paper presenters at Nijō Castle in Kyoto.

The Asian Center offers M.A. degrees in Asian Studies with four fields of specialization: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. The Center also has an M.A. program in Philippine Studies that allows students to major in Philippine society and culture, Philippine foreign relations, or Philippine development studies. The Center offers a Ph.D. program in Philippine Studies in conjunction with the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. For an overview of these graduate programs, click here. The Asian Center also publishes Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia, the latest issue of which can be downloaded at the journal's website. For other news and upcoming events at the Asian Center, click here.

Last updated: 31 July 2015