Media Release Backgrounder | July 13, 2009
UBC sites visited by Their Majesties
The Asian Centre
The Asian Centre houses the Asian Library, the Department of Asian Studies, and the Office of UBC International, and provides space for the Asian interests of the School of Music. A permanent photo exhibition, Asian Canadians: The Immigrant Experience, was funded by a grant from the Leon and Thea Koerner Foundation and is on display throughout the building. UBC’s Department of Asian Studies is generally recognized as Canada’s best and one of the finest such departments in the world.
Pacific Bell
One of the most prescient icons of UBC’s relationship to Japan rests behind the C. K. Choi Building. The Pacific Bell was cast by Masahiko Katori, and was rung at an official opening ceremony in 1986 by former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone.
The Pacific Bell was a gift to UBC in 1983 by Master Craftsman Masahiko Katori. Housed in a bell tower constructed of yellow cedar, this bell is inscribed with five characters which may be translated as “a clear mind leads to tranquil thoughts.” The bell reflects the strong spirit of peace and friendship between Canada and Japan. A plaque will be installed commemorating Their Majesties’ 2009 visit.
The Nitobe Memorial Garden and Dr. Inazo Nitobe
The study of Japan at UBC was first proposed in 1918, and a Japanese Student Association was founded in 1931. In 1933, Japanese Peace Advocate Dr. Inazo Nitobe gave an internationally reported lecture on campus in which he called for increased communication and understanding between East and West.
The following year, UBC Commerce Prof. Henry Angus introduced the course Problems of the Pacific in response to Nitobe’s call. In 1935, a 15-foot engraved stone lantern crafted in Japan was donated to UBC by Vancouver’s Japanese associations and the Japan Society as a memorial to Dr. Nitobe, who had died two years earlier. In 1960, the Nitobe Memorial Garden was opened.
The Garden was created out of two-and-a-half acres (one hectare) of pristine forest by landscape architects and gardeners recommended by the government of Japan. Considered to be the most authentic traditional Japanese Tea and Stroll Garden in North America and among the top five Japanese gardens outside Japan, the Garden includes a rare authentic Tea Garden with a ceremonial Tea House.
Bill Reid’s The Raven and the First Men sculpture
This sculpture depicts the story of human creation. According to Haida legend, the Raven found himself alone one day on Rose Spit beach in Haida Gwaii (also known as the Queen Charlotte Islands). He saw an extraordinary clamshell and protruding from it were a number of small human beings. The Raven coaxed them to leave the shell to join him in his wonderful world. Some of the humans were hesitant at first, but they were overcome by curiosity and eventually emerged from the partly open giant clamshell to become the first Haida.
A brief history of UBC’s connection to Japan:
The UBC-Ritsumeikan Academic Exchange Program
Established in 1991 with Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan, the UBC-Ritsumeikan Academic Exchange Program brings 100 Japanese students to UBC every year to live and study. It also provides UBC students with an opportunity to gain international and intercultural experience and insight by living at Rits House or taking specially designed, integrated courses.
Exchange with Tokyo University of Agriculture
The UBC Faculty of Land and Food Systems is involved in a summer exchange program with the Tokyo University of Agriculture (TUA). Students are taught how to deal with issues of sustainable agriculture, aquaculture and landscape architecture.
The Canada-Japan Co-op Program
The Canada-Japan Co-op Program is hosted at UBC and has member institutions across Canada. There are co-op arrangements in engineering, science, arts, forestry and business at UBC.
Asia Pacific Dispute Resolution
The Asia Pacific Dispute Resolution project is an international collaborative research initiative involving a network of colleagues from UBC and partner institutions in North America and Asia. This project supports research, analysis, and policy proposals on cross-cultural dispute resolution in the area of trade and human rights, with emphasis on China, Canada, and Japan.
UBC’s academic and research programs related to Japan include:
Japanese Studies in UBC’s Department of Asian Studies
UBC’s Department of Asian Studies is one of the largest and best of its kind in North America. It has particular strengths in Japanese modern and pre-modern language and literature and is unsurpassed in its coverage of pre-modern Japanese history and literary culture. The department offers approximately 80 courses on Japan every year. Its Japanese language courses enroll 1,500 students a year with a sizable waitlist.
With its robust graduate program, the department also serves as a mini-hub for international research collaborations, cultural performances, workshops and academic exchanges.
Institute of Asian Research
The Institute of Asian Research, which houses the Centre for Japanese Research, was founded in 1977 to put Asian research at UBC on the international map. Generous support from the Japanese community in Vancouver has made the Centre for Japanese Research a jewel in the crown of the Institute. The Centre has been a major force in promoting the study of Japan, and the Konwakai Chair of Japanese Research and the Keidanren Chair in Japanese Research have attracted world-class scholars and graduate students. In 1981, UBC’s Asian Centre opened its doors.
Centre for Japanese Research
The Centre for Japanese Research aims to facilitate international academic excellence by serving as a catalyst for intensifying the study of Japan and its relationship within the world community.
UBC Asian Library
At more than 150,000 volumes, the UBC Asian Library boasts one of the largest Japanese-language collections in North America. The library is one of only three North American institutions designated as a deposit library for Japanese government publications, and has been the recipient of many generous donations, including a 2004 Japan Foundation donation presented by Princess Takamado.
The collection is particularly strong in the humanities and social sciences, and holds research-level material for both modern and pre-modern fields. UBC Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections division also houses the Beans Japanese Maps of the Tokugawa Era collection, one of the world’s largest collections of Edo-period maps and atlases. Many of the material has recently been digitized and may be assessed by visiting http://angel.library.ubc.ca/tokugawa.
Asian Legal Studies
The Centre for Asian Legal Studies is the largest group of academics teaching and researching Asian legal issues in Canada. The Centre has four core programs, in Chinese Legal Studies, Japanese Legal Studies, Korean Legal Studies, and Southeast Asian Legal Studies.
Japanese Legal Studies
The Japanese Legal Studies program was inaugurated in 1980. Formal co-operation and exchange relationships have been established with the Law Faculties of Japanese national universities in Osaka, Hokkaido and Niigata and with Chukyo in Nagoya and each year students are selected to study under a University Education Abroad Agreement at Sophia University in Tokyo.
UBC Architecture Tokyo
This four-month study program centres around the city of Tokyo, its public culture, urbanity and contemporary architecture. Office visits, lectures by practitioners and historians and field trips to works of architecture are regularly scheduled.
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Media Release
Video: Crown Prince Akihito visited UBC in 1953
Japanese Emperor Akihito, then Crown Prince Akihito, visits UBC, 1953. - photo courtesy Japanese Canadian Photograph Collection, UBC Rare Books and Special Collections
Prince Norihito of Mikasa (known as Prince Takamado as of 1984) at the opening of Asian Centre, 1981 - photo courtesy UBC Archives
Prince & Princess Chichibu touring Nitobe Garden, 1937 - photo courtesy Japanese Canadian Photograph Collection, UBC Rare Books and Special Collections
Princess Takamado tours UBC Asian Centre's Asian Library, 2004 - photo courtesy Martin Dee, Asian Library Collection
Prince Norihito of Mikasa (known as Prince Takamado as of 1984) and William Bennett perform ribbon cutting at Asian Centre, 1981. - photo courtesy UBC Archives
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