We are pleased to in vite you to the next Japanese Studies seminar.
Mr. Daisuke Nakayama (First Secretary at the Embassy of Ja pan in the Netherlands) will open the research seminar with a brief a ddress.
Dr. Nanako Ota (Nichibunken, Kyoto) an d Dr. Marek Jancovic (VU Amsterdam) will present the ir research, followed by informal Q&A/discussion and a borrel/dri nks reception (see details below).
Dr. Nanako Ota will p resent on:
"Voyaging Voices: Tracing Japanese Historica l Sound Recordings through Multi-Archival Research"
Ja panese Studies has developed alongside the global expansion of Japane se popular culture and now appears to be at a point where new directi ons are needed. This presentation explores what forms of Japanese Stu dies are both necessary and feasible in today’s challenging context , using radio as a case study—a medium that has shaped Japanese pop ular culture over the past century since its birth in 1925. The prese nter’s research focuses on identifying and analyzing largely overlo oked materials on or related to Japanese broadcasting held overseas, particularly in the United States, the United Kingdom, and The Nether lands. By gathering these dispersed voices and situating the Japanese case within broader global trends, the study seeks to illuminate a n ew trajectory of Japan’s radio history, as well as its place and si gnificance within the wider history of global popular culture.
Dr. Marek Jancovic will present on:
"Digital Methods, A nalog Media: The Local Challenges of LLM-Assisted Historical Research on the Example of the Japanese Photochemical Film Industry"
The massive recent advances in large language models represent a generational leap for historical research, particularly in areas s uch as text recognition, document retrieval and structured data extra ction. The latest LLMs vastly outperform prior computational techniqu es in accuracy - yet there are also interesting regional blind spots in which the technology fails. Historical Japanese sources present a particularly difficult context for document digitization.
Utili zing the corporate histories of the Japanese photochemical industry - companies such as Fujifilm, Konica, and Daicel - this presentation w ill historicize Japan's position in the global history of cinema and photography from a material and environmental perspective and, in par allel, examine some of the characteristics that make Japanese histori cal records uniquely challenging to study with emerging LLM-assisted digital methods.
This event is part of a series organized by Dr . Carolyn Birdsall and Bruno Luberti (University of Amsterdam), co-ho sted by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in collaboration with the Intern ational Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken).
Everyone is most welcome! The event is open to all staff, researchers, students, PhD candidates, and everyone interested. Sign up here.
DESCRIPTION: We are pleased to invite you to the next Japanese Studies seminar. Mr. Daisuke Nakayama (First Secretary at the Embassy of Japan in the Netherlands) will open the research s eminar with a brief address.Dr. Nanako Ota (Nichibun ken, Kyoto) and Dr. Marek Jancovic (VU Amsterdam) wi ll present their research, followed by informal Q&A/discussion an d a borrel/drinks reception (see details below). Dr. Nanako Ota will present on:"Voyaging Voices: Tracing Japanese Historica l Sound Recordings through Multi-Archival Research"Japanese Studies has developed alongside the global expansion of Japanese popu lar culture and now appears to be at a point where new directions are needed. This presentation explores what forms of Japanese Studies ar e both necessary and feasible in today’s challenging context, using radio as a case study—a medium that has shaped Japanese popular cu lture over the past century since its birth in 1925. The presenter’ s research focuses on identifying and analyzing largely overlooked ma terials on or related to Japanese broadcasting held overseas, particu larly in the United States, the United Kingdom, and The Netherlands. By gathering these dispersed voices and situating the Japanese case w ithin broader global trends, the study seeks to illuminate a new traj ectory of Japan’s radio history, as well as its place and significa nce within the wider history of global popular culture.Dr. Marek Janc ovic will present on:"Digital Methods, Analog Media: The Loca l Challenges of LLM-Assisted Historical Research on the Example of th e Japanese Photochemical Film Industry"The massive recent ad vances in large language models represent a generational leap for his torical research, particularly in areas such as text recognition, doc ument retrieval and structured data extraction. The latest LLMs vastl y outperform prior computational techniques in accuracy - yet there a re also interesting regional blind spots in which the technology fail s. Historical Japanese sources present a particularly difficult conte xt for document digitization.Utilizing the corporate histories of the Japanese photochemical industry - companies such as Fujifilm, Konica , and Daicel - this presentation will historicize Japan's position in the global history of cinema and photography from a material and env ironmental perspective and, in parallel, examine some of the characte ristics that make Japanese historical records uniquely challenging to study with emerging LLM-assisted digital methods.This event is part of a series organized by Dr. Carolyn Birdsall and Bruno Luberti (Univ ersity of Amsterdam), co-hosted by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in co llaboration with the International Center for Japanese Studies (Nichi bunken).Everyone is most welcome! The event is open to all staff, res earchers, students, PhD candidates, and everyone interested. Sign up here. END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR