Commemorative Programs Celebrating the IHJ New Hall
The International House of Japan as Modernist Masterwork:
The Rebirth of an Architectural Icon
As an embodiment of the House ideal to "realize international community
in microcosm," the physical plant of the House was built in 1955
as a collaborative undertaking of three distinguished architects, namely,
Kunio Maekawa, Junzo Sakakura, and Junzo Yoshimura. In harmony with the
Japanese garden designed by Jihei Ogawa, it is regarded as one of the
masterworks in the history of Japanese modernist architecture. In 1955,
it received the Prize of the Architectural Institute of Japan for Design,
the most prestigious award given to architectural designs in Japan. In
commemorating our efforts to renew the House, this panel discussion will
re-examine the historical implication and significance of preserving and
renovating the House as a cultural asset.
Co-sponsored by the Architectural Institute of Japan, this program is
made possible by the financial support of the Shimizu Corporation. 
Date & Time: 1:00-4:30p.m., July 1(Sat.), 2006
Venue: New Hall, International House of Japan
Language: Japanese (Simultaneous interpretation is provided)
Reservation & Contact: Program Dept., International House of Japan,
Mon.-Fri. 9a.m.-5p.m., Tel: 03-3470-3211
Panelists:
"The Decision-Making Process to Preserve and Renovate the I-House"
by Masami Kobayashi, Professor, Meiji University; Architect
"The International House and the Struggle to Reconcile Tradition
with Modernism in Japanese Architecture" by Jonathan Reynolds,
Associate Professor, University of Southern California
"Renovation and Preservation of the I-House and Memory of the City
Landscape" by Seizo Sakata, Architect; Executive Advisor,
Sakakura Associates
"Preservation and Renovation of the I-House: A Milestone toward its
Centennial" by Norihide Imagawa, Surgical Architect; Professor,
Tokyo Denki University
"Two Inseparables: Garden and Architecture" by Takenosuke
Tatsui, President, The Garden Society of Japan
Moderator: Hiroyuki Suzuki, Professor, University of Tokyo
Profiles
Masami Kobayashi, Professor, Meiji University; Architect: Received an
MA in Design Studies from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Architecture
from the University of Tokyo. Prior to taking his current position, he
worked at Kenzo Tange Associates. He is also a Principal of ARCHI-MEDIA
Architects & Associates. His major publications include Invitation
to Boston Architecture (Maruzen, 1991) and Intervention (Koseisha, 1996).
His representative works include Jingumae Media Square (1998).
Jonathan Reynolds, Associate Professor, University of Southern California: Earned B.A. in East Asian Studies from Harvard College and a Ph.D. in Art History from Stanford University. Before occupying his current position, he taught at Washington University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Minnesota. His major publications include Maekawa Kunio and the Emergence of Japanese Modernist Architecture (University of California Press, 2001).
Seizo Sakata, Architect; Executive Advisor, Sakakura Associates: After graduating from the Department of Engineering, Waseda University, he joined the Sakakura Junzo Architectural Research Institute. He took the initiative in establishing Sakakura Associates and served as its President. His major works include the Tokyo Yumenoshima General Gymnasium (Prize of the Architectural Institute of Japan for Design, 1978) and the Selesian Boys' Home (Murano Togo Prize and Yoshida Isoya Prize, 1989).
Norihide Imagawa, Surgical Architect; Professor, Tokyo Denki University: Graduated from the Department of Architecture, College of Science and Technology, Nihon University. Prior to taking his current position, he worked at the Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo, the Structural Design Group (S.D.G.) and T.I.S. & Partners as President. His publications include Structural Design Binding Material and Space (1999). His major works include the Mint House (Jutaku Kenchiku Prize, 1992), the Tokyo Ginza Shiseido Building (Tokyo Kenchiku Prize, 2001) and Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse (BCS Prize, 2003).
Takenosuke Tatsui, President, The Garden Society of Japan: After graduating from the School of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, Waseda University, he joined The Nikkan Sports News. He was instrumental in establishing the Tatsui Garden Research Institute. He is also a Visiting Professor, University of Creation; Art, Music & Social Work. His major publications include On Japanese Gardens: Rethinking Japanese Culture through Gardens (Kenchiku Shiryo Kenkyusha, 1991).
Hiroyuki Suzuki, Professor, University of Tokyo: Received his Ph.D. from the Department of Architecture, Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo. Prior to occupying his current position, he served in numerous positions including Visiting Professor, Department of Fine Arts, Harvard University, and Vice-President of the Architectural Institute of Japan. He is also a Visiting Professor at Waseda University. Due to his contribution to the studies of Architectural History and Arts & Design, he has received many awards including the Suntory Prize for Art and Literature for Genius of Place in Tokyo: Genius Loci (Bungei Shunju,1990) and the Society of Architectural Historians of Japan Prize for Toward the Urban City (Chuo Koron Shinsha, 1996). Recent publications in English include The Birth of Modern Architecture in Japan (Docomomo Proceedings, Stockholm, 1998).
[Public Symposium]
Globalization and Cultural Exchange
Saturday, July 22, 2006 1:00-5:00p.m.
Venue: New Hall, International House of Japan
Reservation & Contact: Program Dept., International House of Japan,
Mon.-Fri. 9a.m.-5p.m., Tel: 03-3470-3211
As we stand at the threshold of the twenty-first century, what are the
central challenges for our time? Is the accelerating "globalization"
a major threat to humanity? Why does "globalization" raise profound
doubts and concerns while creating great opportunities and benefits? How
can we grapple with the various contradictions and paradoxes brought by
globalization? With the foundation of the nation-state framework being
increasingly shaken in this interconnected and borderless world, is there
a way to humanize these forces of globalization through transborder governance,
and what are the roles of cultural exchange and intellectual cooperation
in such a milieu? In this symposium, distinguished intellectuals from
the United States, Australia, and Asian countries including Japan will
address such an agenda in an age of global insecurity and, through examining
the impact of globalization on humanistic values, discuss the importance
of strengthening intellectual networks beyond cultural and disciplinary
boundaries.
(with Japanese/English simultaneous translation)
[Program]
Introduction: Lee Jong Won, Professor, Rikkyo University
Keynote Address: Saskia Sassen, Professor, University of Chicago
"The Good and the Bad: The Multiple Meanings of Globalization"
Part 1: Globalization and Human Insecurity: Challenge for Democracy
and Culture
Speakers:
Tessa Morris-Suzuki, Professor, Australian National University
"Multiculturalism without Borders: Rethinking Rainbow Nations
in a Global Age"
P. Sainath, Rural Affairs Editor, The Hindu
"NERO's GUESTS: The Age of Inequality"
Moderator: Yoshihide Soeya, Professor, Keio University
Part 2: The Role of Cultural/Academic Institutions in Tackling a Global
Agenda
Speakers:
Mary Byrne McDonnell, Executive Director, Social Science Research
Council (SSRC)
"Toward a Globally Connected, Public Social Science"
(Please note that Mr. Craig Calhoun, President
of SSRC, will not be able to attend the symposium. SSRC Executive Director
Mary B. McDonnell will attend instead.)
Kenichiro Hirano, Professor, Waseda University
"Cultural Exchange in the Age of Global Migration"
Part 3: General Discussion: A Global Challenge and Cultural Exchange
/Intellectual Cooperation in the Twenty-first Century
Moderator: Kiichi Fujiwara, Professor, University of Tokyo
This public symposium is the concluding program of a two-day workshop (July 20-21) entitled "Questioning from the Borderline: Cross-Cultural Dialogue in Tackling a Global Agenda" in commemorating the reopening of the International House of Japan. This program is supported by the Mainichi Newspapers.
[Profiles of the Participants]
*Kiichi Fujiwara is Professor of International Politics, Graduate
School of Law and Politics, University of Tokyo. His areas of specialty
include international politics, war memories, and Southeast Asian studies.
His recent publications include Remembering the War (in Japanese, Tokyo:
Kodansha, 2001), A Democratic Empire (in Japanese, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten,
2002), After the Terror (in Japanese, co-author; Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten,
2002), and A Realist Proposal for Peace (in Japanese, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten,
2004), which won the Ishibashi Tanzan Memorial Prize.
*Kenichiro Hirano is Professor of International Relation, School of Political Science and Economics at Weseda University. His areas of specialty include the history of international relations in modern East Asia, international cultural relations, global migration, and cultural transformation. His publications include Japan and International Intellectual Exchanges in the 21st Century (in English, co-editor; Tokyo: The Japan Times, 2005; also in Japanese), International Cultural Exchange of the Postwar Japan (in Japanese; Tokyo: Keiso Shobo, 2005) and International Cultural Relations (in Japanese; Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 2000).
*Lee Jong Won is Professor of International Politics of the Faculty of Law and Politics at Rikkyo University, Tokyo. His areas of specialty include international politics especially in East Asia, U.S. diplomatic policy in East Asia, Asian regionalism, and the contemporary diplomatic policy of Korea. One of his major publications, US.-Korean Relations and Japan in East Asia's Cold War (in Japanese; Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1996), won the Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize.
*Mary Byrne McDonnell is Executive Director of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), a leading non-profit institution in the U.S. that advances interdisciplinary studies in the social sciences, builds international networks, and links social science research to policy and public action. Dr. McDonnell's areas of expertise include Islam, East Asian Security and Japan's role in Asia. She has written widely on East and South East Asia and as a journalist, covered Asian and Middle Eastern affairs prior to joining the SSRC in 1984. Dr. McDonnell has also been active in re-organizing international studies at universities and colleges in the U.S.
*Tessa Morris-Suzuki is Professor of Japanese History at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. She is Convenor of the Asian Civic Rights Network. Her research interests include border controls and migration in Asia, national identity and ethnic minorities in Japan, human rights and cross-border social movements in Asia, and globalization. Her publications include The Past Within Us: Media, Memory, History (London; New York: Verso, 2005) and Re-inventing Japan: Time, Space, Nation (Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharp, 1998). She has also published extensively in Japanese; her major publications in Japanese include In Search of Critical Imagination: Japan in an Age of Globalization (Tokyo: Heibonsha, 2002) and A View from the Frontier (Tokyo: Misuzu Shobo, 2000).
*Palagummi Sainath is Rural Affairs Editor, The Hindu. His interests include poverty, human rights, democracy, and media. His publications include Jab yaaden hathyar ban jaye (in Hindi; When Memory is the Weapon: An Agenda for the Media; Vividha, 2001); and Everybody Loves a Good Drought: Stories from India's Poorest Districts (New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1997), which won several awards, including the European Commission's Journalism Award, and the PUCL Human Rights Journalism Award. He is also a photo-journalist, especially focusing on portraying the harsh realities of rural life in India.
*Saskia Sassen is the Ralph Lewis Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago, and Centennial Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics. Her research interests include globalization, urban studies, and immigration. Her new books are Territory, Authority, Rights: From Medieval to Global Assemblages (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2006) and a third edition of Cities in a World Economy (Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Pine Forge Press, 2006). She has just completed a five-year project for UNESCO on sustainable human settlement for which she set up a network of researchers and activists in over thirty countries, now available online under the title Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS). Oxford, UK: EOLSS Publishers [http://www.eolss.net] Her books are translated into sixteen languages. Her comments have appeared in The Guardian, The New York Times, Le Monde Diplomatique, the International Herald Tribune, Vanguardia, Clarin, and the Financial Times, among others.
*Yoshihide Soeya is Professor of Political Science and International
Relations, Faculty of Law, Keio University. His areas of interest include
East Asian international relations and Japanese diplomacy. His major publications
include Japan's Middle Power Diplomacy (in Japanese; Tokyo: Chikuma-Shobo,
2005) and Japan's Economic Diplomacy with China, 1945-1978 (Oxford: Clarendon
Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1998).
Commemorative Programs Celebrating the IHJ Re-opening
Photo Exhibition
The International House of Japan and Cross-Cultural Exchange
1952-2006 A Retrospective
This photo exhibition is designed to look back on the history of the International House of Japan (I-House), which has played a pioneering role as a catalyst for cultural exchange, and, further, to rethink the contemporary significance of fostering mutual understanding through the promotion of cross-cultural dialogue between the people of Japan and the world. For the past half a century, the I-House has served as a base for facilitating creative thinking and intellectual dialogue beyond cultural differences. In commemoration of preserving the postwar architectural style of the I-House main building and continuing our mission into the future, the rich visual images, drawn from the I-House archives documenting various exchanges between individuals that took place on our grounds, will highlight the mission and raison d'etre of I-House at the threshold of the 21st century.
Venue: Lobby of The International House of Japan
Period: April 1, 2006 - August 31, 2006 (Extended)
Free of Charge
The Emperor and Empress made their first formal visit to the House on
July 7, 2006, in commemoration of the House's
fiftieth anniversary. Their Majesties viewed the exhibition, under
the guidance by our chairman Tasuku Takagaki (center).
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Photo left to Right) Arnold J.
Toynbee/ Eleanor Roosevelt/ George Kennan/ Yoichi Maeda and Soedjatmoko/
John Hall, Marius Jansen, Edwin O. Reischauer, Shigeharu Matsumoto
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I-House
Seminar Series
The Future of East Asia
Commemorative
Concert
An Evening of Gagaku Music
