Department of Japanese Studies, National University of Singapore

On 9 May, Prof Alexis Dudden spoke on live TV about how Japan's citizens view the changes proposed by their government. Watch the stream here:

Why the alarm over Japan's growing military ambitions Big protests swept across Japan on May 3 to oppose Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's push to revise the country's pacifist constitution. An estimated 50,000 pe...

Last Friday on 24 April 2026, Prof Alexis Dudden did a live interview with CGTN. Watch it here:

Japan's 'peaceful' mask is slipping: Scholar warns of Tokyo's rightward turn Japan's recent moves, from sending a warship through the Taiwan Strait and expanding lethal arms exports to renewed offerings at the Yasukuni Shrine, are raising alarm across the region. Alexis Dudden, professor of History at the University of Connecticut

Dr John Kwok, formerly of the National Heritage Board and now a consultant to them, visited JS2232 on 7 April 2026. He gave a great lecture about Singapore's history under Japanese occupation and its legacies up to the present. Students gained a lot from thinking comparatively about Singaporean and Korean experiences. Thank you Dr Kwok!

We had an amazing time at Otaket 2026: Jumpstart, a cosplay event organized by RooT Productions and founded by JS alumnus Ray Ang!

At our JS booth, we reconnected with fellow alumni, built new connections, and engaged with prospective students. It was truly heartening to see such strong support and enthusiasm from the community.

A big thank you to everyone who contributed and stopped by to say hello! 🙏🏼

Students in JS2230 Itadakimasu – Food in Japan had the chance to experience the beauty of Japanese tea ceremony firsthand, from tatami seating to tea and sweets. This event was made possible by support from Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry Singapore Foundation (シンガポール日本商工会議所 Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry Singapore-JCCI).

This year, 83 students participated in the tea ceremony tutorials, and 11 students and alumni supported the sessions. The tutorials were held from 23 to 26 March (Week 10). For the assignment, students will write a reflection essay based on their experience and observation during the session.

NUS Sado Club is currently recruiting new members. Join them to deepen your appreciation of Japanese tea ceremony, partake in a beautiful tradition, and make friends with like-minded people over a delicious cup of matcha!

Great to welcome back JS alumnus Ray Ang for a fireside career chat with our students! 🎮

Ray shared candidly about his career journey—from his experiences working in a Japanese company and eventually founding his own events company that brings Japanese ACG culture to Singapore. He also offered practical advice on job searching, career planning, and staying open to unexpected pathways.

Thank you, Ray, for coming back to inspire the next generation of JS students and for sharing your experiences so generously!

On March 29, Assistant Professor Zhao Xinyi presented a paper titled “Sanitizing Manchukuo: The Media Ecology of Colonial Hygiene Films in Japanese-Occupied Manchuria, 1930s–1940s” and chaired the panel “Citizens, the State, and Political Visions in Media Archives” at the 2026 annual conference of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies, held in Chicago, United States, March 26-29. The paper is part of her ongoing book project on the film and media history of Manchuria in the first half of the twentieth century, which explores how cinema mediated contested borders and multiple forms of belonging in this unstable colonial space.

On March 15, Assistant Prof Jesse LeFebvre presented a paper, "Encounter in Context: The Dual Register of Karmic Depiction in Medieval Japanese Illustrated Narrative Scrolls," as part of the panel "Constructing the Cosmos: Religious World-Building in East Asian Art and Architecture," a panel co-organized by Assistant Prof LeFebvre and supported by the Dunhuang Foundation and Japan Foundation to explore how Buddhist communities across premodern and early modern East Asia were actively reimaging how space could function as a medium for doctrinal articulation and transformative experience. Assistant Prof LeFebvre also served as a facilitator for the Japan Foundation's Information Exchange Session with a dozen other scholars from throughout Southeast Asia (pictured here) to discuss the evolving role of Southeast Asia's academic impact and growing potential in the fields of Japanese Studies.

On March 12, Visiting Prof Alexis Dudden presented a paper, "Denialist Fantasies: Comfort Women History and National Narrative in Japan," on a panel called, "Remembrance, Redress, and Reconciliation: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Comfort Women Reparations Movement in the 21st Century," for which she also served as discussant and was THRILLED by the vibrant and attentive audience that materialised on that cold and snowy Thursday evening. Prof Dudden is pictured here in the middle with two colleagues/ friends, Prof Sam Perry (Brown U) on the left and Beth Katzoff (East Asia Librarian, NYU) on the right. We met in 1989 in Kyoto on our junior year study abroad! Wow!