Newsletter No. 639
Information-Announcement
June 7, 2007

 

The following newsletter has been contributed by Selcuk Esenbel (Shingetsu Member No. 36) of Bogazici University in Istanbul. Dr. Esenbel is also the Editor-in-Chief of our online journal SEJJIR.

A REPORT ON TWO RECENT CONFERENCES IN ISTANBUL

I’d just to let all the Shingetsu members be informed of interesting Japan and Islam, Japan and Turkey activities in Istanbul that have occurred recently.

Workshop on Japan and Pan-Asianism
Istanbul, May 17, 2007

The Japanese Studies Association of Istanbul held a workshop on “Japan and Pan-Asianism: Past, Present, and Future” in Bogazici University on May 17, 2007. Participants were Prof. Kenichi Matsumoto of Reitaku University, Prof. Takafumi Matsui of the University of Tokyo, Dr. Akira Matsunaga of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Prof. Brij Tankha of the University of Delhi, Prof. Chiharu Inaba of Meijo University, Prof. Selcuk Esenbel of Bogazici University, Assoc. Prof. Ibrahim Ozturk of Marmara University, Asst. Prof. Cemil Aydin of the University of North Carolina, Erdal Kucukyalcin of the Japanese Studies Association, and Dr. Merthan Dundar of Ankara University.

Among topics of discussion were pre-war Japanese Pan-Asianism’s encounter with political Islam and the incorporation of the Islamic Citadel into Japanese anti-communist strategy, and a critical appraisal of the strong and weak components of Japan’s experience with Pan-Asianism.

Japan and Turkey in the Global Community: Tradition and Reform
Istanbul, June 4, 2007

(Conference sponsored by the Japanese Consulate in Istanbul, the Japan Foundation, The Japan Center for International Exchange, and the Japanese Studies Association.)

This conference was organized around three papers by Japanese participants, Prof. Masayuki Yamauchi of Tokyo University on “Japan's New Eurasian Diplomacy and Middle East Diplomacy,” President Atsuko Toyama of the New National Theater, former Minister of Education and Technology, on “Japan and Turkey's Transformation,” and Prof. Shinichi Kitaoka of Tokyo University, former permanent representative of the Japanese Mission in the UN, on “The Japanese and Turkish Ideas of Modernization.”

The papers presented Japan’s new policy visions for the Eurasian and Middle Eastern regions that focused on the “Arc of Freedom and Prosperity,” which included the countries from the Baltic States, Romania, Moldavia, Turkey, the Caucasus countries (Georgia, Azerbaijan), the Central Asian Republics, Japan, and Southeast Asian countries. It was an interesting proposal to the Turkish audience who had attended the meeting with great interest. About 100 were present.

I was acting as the moderator, and from my perspective the conference and the question and answer period was very successful. I also think that the questions from the audience surprised the Japanese speakers who were introducing these new ideas of Eurasian strategy to the Turkish public for the first time. The general sense of the meeting was that the Turkish audience felt that Russia has to be included in any scenario of cooperation across Eurasia.

Some among the audience also questioned the recommendation of some of the Japanese speakers that Turkey, as the only secular state within the Muslim world, should act as the spokesmen for “moderate Islam” to the world and the Japanese public. Most Turks feel that they do not necessarily have the responsibility to speak on behalf of the whole Islamic world and that such a prospect would probably not be popular in the countries of the Middle East.

But, all in all, the meeting was very lively with discussions that went on for one hour beyond the closing time. My sense was that the Japanese visitors had a very global and unitary view of the Islamic world that did not represent the regional / cultural / national differentiations that are going on right now within Turkey.