Korean Raccoon-kai in Seoul (September, 2015)



On September 6, 2015, at five o'clock in the evening, the Korean Society of Raccoon (KSR) was held at "Sandlehea"(restaurant) in Banpo (area) in Seoul, using the occasion as an opportunity for a visit by Ms. Junko Imanishi, Managing Director and Mr. Tsunoda, Director/Secretary General of Atsumi International Foundation who would attend a meeting of the Institute for Japanese Studies in Seoul National University. This meeting was a follow-up to the proposal by Professor Park Cheol-hee, Director of Institute for Japanese Studies, Seoul National University. He proposed the "Conference by Researchers of Japanese Studies in East Asia" adopted at 49th SGRA Forum "Looking for New Paradigm of Japanese Studies" at Waseda University on July 18, 2015.

At this KSR, 10 participants, composed of Ms. Imanishi, Mr. Tsunoda, Dr. Nam Kijeong (1996 Raccoon), Dr. Ko Hee Tak (2000 Raccoon), Dr. Park Young-June (2002 Raccoon), Dr. Han Kyoung Ja (KSR Organizer, 2005 Raccoon), Dr. Lee Eungyong (2007 Raccoon), Dr. Kim Kyongtae (2010 Raccoon), Dr. Chong Soonil (2011 Raccoon) and Dr. Kim Soonbae (2013 Raccoon), came together. Dr. Kim Woong-Hee, President of KSR, could not attend this meeting due to his sabbatical holidays. I assume he is refreshing himself and thinking of KSR's activities hereafter.

There was another proposal at the SGRA Forum in July titled "Conversation among the History of a Nation" besides "Conference by Researchers of Japanese Studies in East Asia". So, we had a mini-meeting before dinner to exchange opinions and discussed possibilities of having a forum for discussing the histories of Japan, Korea and China.

We had a KSR last year, and I feel participants are being immobilized. Some are being invited to research teams of SGRA by senior staffs, but it seems that such an attempt failed because young researchers did not join. We have to devise a plan for the KSR next year which young researchers can join,

We had KSR this time just after an incident in September involving the withdrawal of an emblem of Tokyo Olympic 2020 by the designer himself. The incident became a popular topic of our conversation.
It was noteworthy that many people said "recent Japan is not Japan-like" then? What is "Japan-like" then ? It is a thought-provoking topic for me.

(by Dr. Han Kyoung Ja, KSR Organizer/2005 Raccoon)

Translated by Kazuo Kawamura
English checked by Mac Maquito

Japanese Version