Japanese Festival at SWPS University – from manga and cosplay to business and diplomacy

SWPS University Japanese Festival Program

1. Opening of the Japanese Festival

   10:00

   Dean of the Faculty of Humanities in Warsaw, Marcin Jacoby, Ph.D. / Associate Professor and Olga Barbasiewicz,Ph.D.

2. Today’s world and Japan–Poland relations – lecture in English

   10:15

   Ambassador of Japan, Miyajima Akio

3. Japan and Society 5.0 – lecture in English, streamed online from Japan

   11:00

   When Japan hosted the G20 summit in 2019, the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promoted a new course for the country – toward Society 5.0. It was boldly defined as a new model of governance and economy that fully incorporates technological innovations of the fourth industrial revolution. In this vision, digital innovations are supposed to propel Japanese society into the new Golden Age, "in which all people can receive high-quality services and live a comfortable, vigorous life." On the way to a brighter future, technology will also help to tackle various societal problems, from aging population to global warming. This vision alone has spurred an influx of unprecedented increase in direct foreign investments in Japan and market growth. But will AI be able to fulfill the expectations, or is Japan facing another speculative bubble? And what would such transformation mean for Japan and the outside world?

   

   Anna Bogdanova

   Ph.D.

   Is an Assistant Professor at the College of Information Science at the University of Tsukuba in Japan. Ukrainian born, she has been living in Japan since 2012. Over the years, her career path has led her from Japanese Language and Cultural Studies to Information Science and research in Artificial Intelligence. Her participatory observation of Japanese society, as it was rethinking itself into super-smart Society 5.0 and its hype around AI technology, has provided the material for this lecture.

4. Polish–Japanese Relations: Yesterday and Today

   11:45

   In her lecture, Olga Barbasiewicz, Ph.D., will present the most important and most interesting facts from the 100-year history of Polish–Japanese relations. She will describe the first intercontinental flight to Japan and discuss the escape of the Polish ambassador to the United States in the 1980s. She will also tell the story of a Japanese man who tried to commit seppuku on the stairs of the Polish Embassy in Tokyo in 1939, after he had been denied service in the Polish army.

   

   Olga Barbasiewicz

   Ph.D.

   Is a political scientist and Japanologist. She is also an Assistant Professor at the Department of Asian Studies and the Institute of Social Sciences, at SWPS University. She works as a business consultant for Asian markets, predominantly Japan. She is a curator of exhibitions in Asia and Europe, as well as an author and editor of several books and scientific articles.

5. The Role of Diplomacy in Building Economic Relations Between Poland and Japan

   12:30

   Eliza Klonowska-Siwak will talk about a decade of her diplomatic service in the dynamically changing Japan, and her experience of Polish-Japanese business cooperation, including cultural differences and funny lapses – not only linguistic ones. She will explain how to conduct negotiations with Japanese partners, reveal a few secrets of imperial etiquette, and explain how new ambassadors beginning their mission in the Empire are celebrated in Japanese culture.

   

   Eliza Klonowska-Siwak

    

   Since 2002, her career has been intertwined with Japan. First and foremost, she is a diplomat – a long-term counsel, Head of the Trade and Investment Promotion Section at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Tokyo, and Head of the Foreign Trade Office in Tokyo (2008-2020). She organizes bilateral economic and business events at the governmental level, such as: seminars, conferences, economic forums, and the most important promotional event in Tokyo – the Polish Festival in Roppongi Hills.

6. Images and Speech Bubbles: on Translating Manga

   13:15

   How to translate manga and why it is sometimes useful to throw forks on the floor, or become an expert on nanophysics. The lecture is based on real-life experiences and laced with anecdotes.

   

   Paweł Dybała

   Ph.D.

   Is a translator and coordinator of the translation and editing department at J.P.Fantastica, the oldest Polish publishing house specializing in Japanese comics. He is also a lecturer at the Jagiellonian University. Paweł is an author of several manga translations, including Fullmetal Alchemist, Death Note, Bleach, One Piece, Maid Sama!, One Punch Man, Berserk, Blame!, Soul Eater, and Attack on Titan. He also authored numerous publications on automatic processing of humor by artificial intelligence. He runs a Facebook fanpage.

7. Cosplay show in the courtyard of SWPS University

   14:30

    

8. Koto concert with lecture by Katarzyna Karpowicz

   15:45

   Koto is a traditional Japanese musical instrument, often compared to a zither. Like many Japanese instruments, it originated in China. The predecessor of the koto was the Chinese guzheng, introduced to Japan in the 7th or 8th century.
   Katarzyna Karpowicz is a Japanologist who learned to play koto during her many stays in Japan. She performs music in the style of two schools (Ikuta-ryū and Yamada-ryū) where she studied under the guidance of Michiyo Yagi and Shumihō Ōzaki.

   

   Katarzyna Karpowicz

    

   Graduated from Japanese Studies at the University of Warsaw. She was awarded academic and research scholarships at the University of Tokyo, where she studied traditional Japanese music, including the koto instrument. She is also interested in contemporary and avant-garde music, including the works of composer Toru Takemitsu and Japanese free jazz.

9. Performance by Sakuramai Poland

   16:30

   "Dokkoisho, dokkoisho! Soran, soran!" These calls accompanied by Japanese music can only mean one thing – Sakuramai Poland have started their performance. This Polish-Japanese dance group popularizes yosakoi – a dance full of joy and energy, which originated in the city of Kochi. It combines traditional and contemporary elements of Japanese dance. The synchronized movements of the dancers make their show captivating. More information about Sakuramai Poland is available on the group’s social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

   

10. Closing of the Japanese Festival

    17:00