Local knowledge as the basis of Disaster Management in Asia
The international policy community working on disaster management and humanitarian assistance (DMHA) emphasizes the importance of “localization” and “local knowledge”. Panelists will discuss whether this saves more lives, by drawing on locally-led disaster management in Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Roundtable: Parasites in pop culture - Science and Culture at Play
Oni demons, parasites, flesh-eating giants, vampires, zombies – global pop culture is rife with monsters. Scientists and cultural studies scholars come together to discuss these representations and their impact.

Roundtable: Speaking to contemporary artist Kiki Ando - Highest Mountain and Deepest Bay Exhibition
At this Roundtable, Melbourne-based artist Kiki Ando will speak to her work Highest Mountain and Deepest Bay together with textile researcher and catalogue contributor Dr Ricarda Bigolin and Rafaela Pandolfini the curator of her exhibition.

Belt and Road Initiative and its Implications for Japan
How Japan engages with the BRI is a significant question considering the ongoing re-formulation of the world order, Asia’s development, and future Sino-Japanese relations.

Translocal Island: The Okinawa Struggle beyond Minority Politics
Next year will mark the fiftieth anniversary of Okinawa’s controversial administration hand-over to Japan in May 1972. The perspective presented in this seminar enables us to re-contextualise Okinawa’s activism as one of the anti-colonial struggles against military colonization in Asia and the Pacific.

Why we should question the “History” of the Cowra breakout
During WWII, the limited knowledge around Japanese detainees in Australia was largely informed by one incident known as the Cowra breakout.

Waste nationalism: A gender analysis of the consumption and recycling of plastics in Japan
Abstract: Japan has recently come under increased pressure to develop domestic policies for plastic waste management.

Roundtable: “Understanding Japan through reimagining the Australia-Japan relationship”
Abstract: The ANU's Australia–Japan Research Centre is preparing a report on Reimagining the Japan Relationship, supported by the Australia–Japan Foundation.
