Greetings Conference Delegates and Welcome! This is the first time that JSAC has held its Annual Conference outside of Canada. I am delighted that we were able to pursue a `dream’ by a few of us at the 2013 Conference at Saskatoon to meet in 2015 with scholars from JACS and JCIRN, and hold a truly international conference on Japanese-Canadian Studies in Tokyo on the theme of “Culture, Identity and Citizenship in Japan and Canada”. Under this theme the three organizations have worked together to arrange Panels on issues such as `Citizenship and Diversity in Contemporary Japan and Canada’, `Business and Culture’, and `Identity and Japan’s Foreign and Security Policy’. These and other Panel sessions at the Embassy of Canada to Japan and Chuo University Ichigaya campus will allow an exchange of scholarly ideas between leading experts in Japan and Canada.
JSAC has its traditional Keynote and Reception on the first day (Wednesday 20th May) at the Canadian Embassy. Mr. Jon Heese (former Councilor of Tsukuba city) will give a provocative talk on English language policies in Japan entitled: “English is Spoken Here: The Challenge of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics”. The JSAC Annual General Meeting will take place at the Embassy of Canada to Japan on lunchtime Thursday 21st May. The joint organizations’ Banquet sponsored by Manulife will take place on Thursday 21st May.
On Friday 22nd May the JACS Keynote address will be given by Dr. Masako Iino (Tsuda College) on the theme of `Japanese Canadians and Their Identity’. The Conference finishes with a Field Trip to the Mt. Tsukuba area led by Dr. Tom Waldichuk.
David W. Edgington
President, JSAC