"LGBT" Issues in Japan: Another Case of Squeezing Japanese Realities Into an Alien Western Framework?
YCAPS In-person Seminar -- 1730 (JST) 12 December 2022
Conventional wisdom sees Japan as a laggard in the struggle for LGBT rights. While there may have been some “progress,” same sex marriage is still legally prohibited and self-identified LGBT people face both institutional and cultural hurdles that their counterparts do not in places such as the United States, Britain, and Taiwan. But no politician in Japan of right or left has ever made political hay out of such issues as gay marriage or trans rights that have become standard culture war fodder in the US.
Our guest speaker, Professor R. Taggart Murphy, contends that the way LGBT issues are discussed and understood represents an effort – only partly successful – to impose an American conceptual framework on a cultural and historical tradition in Japan that differed radically from that in the United States. In his talk, Professor Murphy will question this conventional wisdom.
Schedule:
17:30-18:30: Welcome Reception - Join anytime during this period to enjoy a snack and socialize.
18:30-20:00: Seminar - The speaker will provide some prepared comments followed by a question & answer/discussion period
Location:
Werk Yokosuka, 3rd Floor, RM 3
Japan, 〒238-0006 Kanagawa, Yokosuka
https://www.werk-yokosuka.jp/*IMPORTANT* This event will be an In-Person Seminar. Please note that during the seminar, all attendees, presenters and staff are required to wear a face mask due to health and safety policies. During the socializing time before the lecture begins, we request that when you are not eating and drinking, please keep your face mask on. Additionally please refrain from attending if you have Flu-like symptoms. All attendees will be asked to sign in for the purposes of contact tracing. Thank you for keeping this event safe for everyone.
Speaker:
R. Taggart Murphy is a former investment banker, Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution and professor emeritus of the MBA Program in International Business of Tsukuba University. He is the author of award-winning books on modern Japan, most recently "Japan and the Shackles of the Past (Oxford University Press)" published in English, Japanese, traditional Chinese characters in Taiwan and Korean, plus articles in publications such as The New Republic, The National Interest, and the New Left Review of U.K. for which he contributed an article "Legacies of Abe Shinzo." He lived and worked in Japan for 35 years.
Format: This event will be off-the-record.Registration: None required
Moderator: Toshio Fukuhara, YCAPS Director of Project Development
Seminar Cost: Free of chargeCo-Sponsor: Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies
