Posted on May 1, 2017

At the Japan-Canada Summit Meeting in May 2016, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe noted that Japan wished to support Japanese studies at Canadian universities in order to promote mutual understanding between the two countries. Today, based upon this commitment, the Government of Japan is conferring US$5 million on the University of Toronto to establish an endowed chair in Japanese politics and global affairs, and to launch a Centre for the Study of Global Japan. The University of Toronto is the first Canadian university to receive such support from the Government of Japan.

The Consul General of Japan in Toronto, Mr. Yasunori Nakayama, says, “At a time when we are experiencing significant changes and instability on the global stage, Japan and Canada, as members of G7 countries that share common values, have a responsibility to make contributions to the world community that ensure peace and prosperity. We also share common challenges such as terrorism, global warming and our aging populations. It is therefore imperative that our academic institutions are able to conduct extensive research that enables us to properly understand each other. The University of Toronto is one of the oldest, biggest and most influential universities in Canada. I am delighted that an institution as prestigious as the University of Toronto now has the means to significantly broaden its study of contemporary Japan with a global perspective.”

“The University of Toronto has a keen, long-standing interest in Japan, because of its importance on the world stage and the strong political, economic and cultural ties between our two countries,” says U of T President Meric Gertler. “We are deeply honoured, therefore, to have been selected by the Government of Japan for this landmark endowment, which will extend and amplify our impact in the study of Japan as a major global power.”

The University of Toronto is home to Canada’s first Department of East Asian Studies and has substantial expertise in the field. The gift will enable the University to recruit a top expert in the politics, diplomacy, security and global affairs of Japan. The chairholder will be cross-appointed to the Department of Political Science and the Munk School of Global Affairs at the Faculty of Arts & Science. In the interim, Professor David Welch will be appointed the inaugural visiting chair. Welch, a professor of political science at the University of Waterloo, holds the Centre for International Governance Innovation Chair of Global Security at the Balsillie School of International Affairs.

Professor Louis Pauly, chair of the Department of Political Science, says, “The endowed chair will secure the permanent presence here of a scholar who studies the political dimensions of Japan’s vital contributions to regional and global order.” The chair will also lead the Centre for the Study of Global Japan.

The Centre, which will be housed at the Munk School of Global Affairs, will expand teaching, research and public outreach by bringing together scholars of Japan from across the university and beyond, as well as practitioners and others interested in the country and the region. It will organize a permanent lecture and seminar series, anchored by an annual lecture by an eminent analyst of Japanese politics and diplomacy.

“The Centre will open up more bilateral opportunities to build strong relationships and lifelong interests in Japanese politics and global affairs,” says Professor Stephen Toope, director of the Munk School of Global Affairs. “This partnership will ensure that the University is able to promote and disseminate knowledge of contemporary Japan to the next generation of leaders, especially important during this time of dramatic change.”

Originally Posted by Diana Kuprel on March 30, 2017. To read more click here.