IASIL Japan

IASIL Japan, the Japan branch of The International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures, was established in 1984. Our aim from the beginning has been to encourage and act as a forum for Irish studies in Japan through teaching and research. We held our founding Conference at Waseda University, and we have held a conference every year since. In 1984, IASIL Japan also began publication of a bulletin, The Harp, whose title changed to The Journal of Irish Studies in 2000.

Membership of IASIL Japan is open to anyone who supports its aims and pays the subscription. Our membership currently stands at 250. We are administered by an Executive Committee elected by postal ballot. Our activities, including our journal, are funded entirely from Membership subscriptions, but our invitations to writers and scholars to be our guests at the annual Conference have received generous assistance from both the British Council, Japan, and the Cultural Relations Committee of the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ireland.

Our annual Conference is usually during the second or third weekend of October. Whenever possible, we alternate conferences between Tokyo and the provinces. Past Conferences have been held at Waseda University, Chuo University, Kobe Shinwa Women's University, Shikoku University, Otani University, Kyoto University, Seishin Women's University, Koka Women's University, Baiko Jogakuin University, Bunkyo Women's Junior College, and Shirayuri College. Our 2002 Conference was held at Hiroshima City University.

During the Conference, members can attend lectures and symposiums by Japanese and foreign scholars in the field of Irish studies, and enjoy readings of poetry and fiction given by special guests of IASIL Japan. In the recent past, our guests have included Norman Jeffares, Brendan Kennelly, Ann Saddlemeyer, Marie Kean, Hideo Kanze, Robert Welch, Declan Kiberd, John Kelly, Thomas Kilroy, Seamus Heaney, Michael Longley, Edna Longley, Julia O'Faolain, Peter Fallon, Paul Muldoon, James Simmons, Jennifer Johnston, Nicholas Grene, Maurice Harmon, and Anthony Roche

Some of the papers presented at the annual conference may be included in the Journal of Irish Studies, the bulletin of IASIL Japan, which we publish once a year, around the time of the Conference. Membership of IASIL Japan entitles scholars and researchers to one copy of the Journal of Irish Studies and consideration for publication therein (all papers are subject to peer review). IASIL Japan members are automatically members of IASIL Accordingly, any IASIL Japan member can offer a paper at an IASIL conference and contribute an article to The Irish University Review, the journal of IASIL.

The Secretariat of IASIL Japan also publishes a Newsletter in April, at the start of the academic year, in July and in December.

One of the aims of IASIL Japan is to keep abreast of developments in Irish Studies in the rest of the world. To this end, some Executive Committee members attend the International Conference of IASIL and represent IASIL Japan member's scholarship and views to scholars outside Japan.