Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan

Dr Hansun Hsiung will introduce the culture and politics of the Meiji period – from the decline of the Samurai to the rise of militarism and colonialism, alongside the remarkable perseverance and transformation of Japanese literature, science and art.

In March 1890, the storyteller and travel writer Lafcadio Hearn – once a student at Ushaw College – boarded a steamship bound for Yokohama in Japan, leaving behind forever his adopted home of the United States. In the years that followed, he became one of the world’s most famous chroniclers of Japanese culture. Hearn arrived in Japan at a moment of momentous change, in which Japanese society was being profoundly reshaped by rapid modernisation, urbanisation and Westernisation.

The discussion will include contributions from Dr Hansun Hsiung (Japanese Studies), Dr Amanda Hsieh (Musicology), and Dr Fraser Riddell (English Studies) on topics including science and the supernatural, music and globalisation, and the relationship between Japan and the North East of England.

There will be a 45 minute talk, followed by a 15 minute Q&A session.