Cultural Translations

AcknowledgementThe Workshop “Cultural Translations and Transculturality” was held in August 2010 in Varberg,outside Gothenburg, Sweden. In the following year, the International Symposium “CulturalTranslations: Research on Japanese Literature in Northern Europe” was organized at the InternationalResearch Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken) in February. Along with the Varbergparticipants, several additional researchers participated in Kyoto around the theme of transnationaland transcultural meetings.This CD offers documentation of the two academic gatherings in Varberg and Kyoto. One of theimportant goals of the Varberg Workshop and Kyoto Symposium was to ponder the possibility ofopening up a new, dynamic research field around the central notion of “Cultural Translations” inJapanese studies. Articles on this CD consequently deal with a breadth of questions, pointing todifferent directions. I hope these writings will provide fertile inspiration for future research inJapanese studies.I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Japan Foundation for awarding a generousgrant for the Varberg Workshop, without which the Workshop could not have been held. Also, Ioffer many thanks to the Sweden-Japan Foundation and the Department of Languages and Literaturesat the University of Gothenburg for providing financial support for the Varberg Workshop.I also feel deeply indebted to the International Research Center for Japanese Studies(Nichibunken) for having organized and invited participants to the International Symposiumin Kyoto, thus offering a much-appreciated forum to further scrutinize the theme of “CulturalTranslations” from various perspectives. Finally, many thanks are especially owed to AssociateProfessor Nanyan Guo at Nichibunken, who backed the “Cultural Translations” project from thestart, and also to Professor Shōji Yamada and his staff at Nichibunken, without whose dedicatedengagement the Kyoto Symposium could not have been carried out. I would also like to acknowledgeProfessor Shigemi Nakagawa, who participated in Varberg as a valuable commentator andevaluator of the Workshop.Last but not least, I heartily thank all my colleagues who participated in Varberg and Kyoto,without whose contributions the two academic gatherings would never have been realized.25 July 2011, GothenburgNoriko Takei-Thunman