We are pleased to make an announcement of the Japanese Historical Text Initiative (JHTI)’s “Digital Research and Japanese History” Symposium, sponsored by the Center for Japanese Studies and the Department of History of the University of California, Berkeley. The symposium will be held on Friday, April 29, 2011 at the University of California, Berkeley.

This symposium will serve as a forum for the exchange of ideas among scholars in Japanese history and literature regarding the possible use of digital resource and technology for teaching and research in Japanese studies.

In the morning, we are planning a presentation and demonstration of JHTI (http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/jhti/ ), an electronic research database, and translation sites for the future development of the project, followed by a discussion with the participants. The JHTI database currently holds the digitized versions of the Japanese original and the English translation of 15 (two in process) Japanese historical documents from ancient chronicles to modern texts from the late Edo, Meiji, and Showa eras. We are hoping that the demonstration and follow-up discussion will generate ideas for the further development and improvement of the site.

The afternoon will feature two speakers, Joan Piggott (History, University of Southern California) and Hitomi Tonomura (History, University of Michigan), who will be lecturing on “Another Heian, The City in Fujiwara Akihira’s Shinsarugakuki (The New Monkey Music) c. 1050” and “Seppuku: A Methodological Problem” respectively.

Symposium Schedule

• Session 1(by invitation) 10am-12pm, 3401 Dwinelle
• JHTI Coordinator, “Possibilities of JHTI as a Means of Digital Research”
• Discussion
• LUNCH
• Session 2 1:30-5pm, 3335 Dwinelle
• Joan Piggott, “Another Heian, The City in Fujiwara Akihira’s Shinsarugakuki(The New Monkey Music) c. 1050.”
• Break
• Hitomi Tonomura, “Seppuku: A Methodological Problem”
• Break
• Discussants – Mack Horton (East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of California,Berkeley)

• TBA
• Reception
• DINNER (by invitation)

We seek a wide range of participants in Japanese history and literature who are interested in the use of digital resources and technology in

Japanese history and Japanese studies.

For registration for the morning session (Session 1), please email jhti@berkeley.edu by April 15. The afternoon session is open to the public.

We hope to see you in April for an exciting and productive symposium.

Regards,

Andrew Barshay
Professor, Department of History
University of California, Berkeley