• 2025-10-28

The National Central Library, the University of Tokyo Library, and the University of Tokyo Asian Studies Library jointly organized an academic conference called “Chinese and Taiwan Studies in Taiwan and Japan: Looking Back and toward the Future,” held from September 30 to October 1, 2025, at the University of Tokyo Hongo Campus Main Library. Also invited to the event was Director Yi-shen Chen of the National History Museum to deliver the Taiwan Lecture on Chinese Studies.

The conference brought together more than 40 prominent scholars from Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea to serve as session chairs, presenters, and discussion panelists. Over the course of two days, the conference covered topics including Republican-era history, postwar Taiwanese history, premodern Chinese gender history, popular culture and folk beliefs, and East Asian history, demonstrating the depth and breadth of transnational academic dialogue. The event attracted over 170 participants both in person and online.

The opening ceremony of the conference featured remarks by Professor Shuichi Sakai, Director of the University of Tokyo Library; Professor Eiji Sagawa, Director of the Asian Studies Library; and Deputy Director-General Chi-tsung Weng of the National Central Library. Deputy Director-General Weng, representing Director-General Han-ching Wang, noted that Taiwan and Japan have long maintained close collaboration in Chinese studies and Taiwan studies. In December 2014, the two institutions signed an agreement to establish a Taiwan Resource Center for Chinese Studies (TRCCS), which has shared Taiwanese academic research achievements with the University of Tokyo for nearly 11 years. During this period, with the assistance of Professor Eiji Sagawa, as well as Professor Makoto Nagashima at the TRCCS, multiple exchange visits and Taiwan Lectures on Chinese Studies have been held in both Taiwan and Japan. This conference not only bears witness to past collaboration but also marks a new milestone in promoting future transnational academic exchange.

At the conference opening, Director Yi-shen Chen of the National History Museum delivered a Taiwan Lecture on Chiense Studies titled “Light and Shadow: Tracing the Imprints of Taiwan’s Rebirth around 1945.” The presentation reviewed the historical dynamics of postwar Taiwanese society and set the stage for the rest of the conference.

On the first day of the conference, the sessions “Dialogues on Taiwanese and Japanese Republican-era History” and “Modern Taiwanese History Research” brought together scholars from Academia Sinica, National Taiwan University, National Chengchi University, and Japan to present their latest research, exploring various aspects from narratives of modernization to transnational dissemination. The second day focused on premodern Chinese gender history, Chinese popular culture and folk beliefs, and East Asian history, covering topics ranging from family and kinship practices during the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern dynasties, to gender studies of Ming and Qing families, as well as analyses of Journey to the West and Guanyin worship, alongside comparative perspectives in East Asian history. Participants noted that these studies reflect the diversity of contemporary Sinology and highlight shared concerns across the international scholarly community.

Deputy Director-General Weng emphasized that the value of academic research lies not only in the accumulation of knowledge but also in fostering dialogue and transmission across borders and generations. He expressed the hope that this symposium would inspire more next-generation researchers to engage in Chinese studies and Taiwan studies, bringing fresh vitality to the field, and he also expressed gratitude for the longstanding support and assistance of Taiwan’s Representative Office in Japan.