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THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF A5 I AN 5TUDI E5

JAPAN CENTRE

ANNUAL REPORT 1985

l. General Comments

1985 was a year which saw a quiet consolidation of the work which has characterised the Centre for many years now. Student numbers were

again high and the final exam'ination results are a testiment to the dedication and hard work of the majority of students. They testify also, of course, to the high quality and commitment of our small teaching staff.

On 9 May the Embassy of Japan in Canberra issued the following press release:

"His Majesty The Emperor of Japan conferred on the 29th April the

Third Class of the Order of the Rising Sun on Professor Anthony Alfonso of The Australian National University in recognition of his valuable

contribution to the development of the teaching of the Japanese language and the introduction of Japanese culture in Australia, and for his services to the mutual understanding, friendship and goodwill between Japan and Austra I ia."

The presentation of this award by the Ambassador, Mr. Toshijiro

Nakajima, took place at the Embassy on 15 May and the Professor's family

and colleagues were present to extend their congratulations.

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2. Courses

The traditional courses in language and literature were offered in 1985

and no new -courses were introduced.

The Summer Intensive Course was offered in January as usual but, in

the absence of Professor Alfonso on Study Leave, was directed by Mr. lain

MacDougall from the College of Advanced Education. Students from our M.A.

Course in Applied Japanese Linguistics assisted with the tutoring, gaining

valuable .experience in the teaching of Japanese as a second language.

3. Enrolments and Examination Results

As mentioned above, both enrolments and examination results were

maintained at a very high standard. Japanese continues to be very popular

with students coming to university, quite a number of whom have studied

the language in high school or have gained some knowledge of it during an

exchange scholarship to Japan.

4. Student Participation ·

Students in the various classes chose their representatives early in the

year and from these one was chosen to attend meetings of the Faculty of

Asian Studies. Students are consulted with regard to such matters as

continuous assessment, tutorial times, etc., and may ask their

representatives to call a full meeting should they have anything

controversial to discuss. The fact that no such meeting has been called

this year is evidence of the good relations between staff and students

within the Centre.

The Japanese Club, a student organisation, takes responsibility for

several functions throughout the year. Their first task is to organise the

Sukiyaki Party, which has become a regular event and is always extremely

well patronised. The Club also hosts a JASEF visit from Japan each year,

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finding billets for the Japanese students and devising ways to entertain

them during their short stay.

The Japanese film festival this year was well attended by students and

also by the general public. Sponsored by the Japan Foundation and the ANU,

as well as several other Australian universities, it featured the f i lms of

Yoji Yamada. The series was called Beyond t/Je Pale and was comprised

of six films giving comic views of Japanese Society.

In the Sixteenth Annual Japanese Language Speech Contest, ACT

Section, two of our students took first and second place in the Open

Division and also third place in the Senior Division. At the National Finals

in Sydney, one of our students was awarded second place in the Open

Division.

Following a break in the tradition in 1984, there was a return this year

to the Japanese Evening, which is really two evenings of Japanese

entertainment presented by students of the Japan Centre, the Canberra

College of Advanced Education, and other institutions in Canberra where

Japanese is taught. The highlight of the evenings is the Kabuki play

performed by our students, and this year was no exception. Our gratitude

goes to Dr. Gerstle, without whose enthusiasm and hard work, these

evenings would not be possible.

5. Staff

There have been no changes in staff in 1985.

6. Staff Movement

In February Professor Alfonso returned from his Outside Study leave,

which had been spent mostly in Japan. In June he accepted an invitation

from the Nanzan University in Nagoya to attend an International Conference

on ·The Teaching of Japanese at a Turning Point". He was one of f ive

overseas scholars to be invited, the others coming from Germany, England

and the United States.

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Dr. Harper took Outside Study leave during the first half of the year and

spent his time in Japan between the National Archive of Japanese

Literature in Tokyo and the University of Osaka, where he worked with

Professor Ii Haruki on the translation and study of aprocrypha of the Ta/6 of Genji (Genji monogatariJ. In December Dr. Harper has been invited

to the University of Delhi to attend a conference on Society as !1irrowec in Literature: China and Japan The title of his paper is to ·be "The

Origins of Poetry: a Japanese View."

In June Dr. Quackenbush left for America to attend as a visiting scholar

at the Georgetown University 1985 Linguistic Institute, sponsored by the Linguistic Society of America. After six weeks in America, Dr.

Quackenbush travelled to Japan to undertake Outside Study leave and carry

out sociolinguistic research on the phonology of Japanese loanwords. She

was successful in applying for a Japan Foundation Fellowship to assist her

in carrying out this research.

7. Visitors

This year the Centre has been host to two Visiting Fellows, Dr. T.

Akima and Professor E.A. Cranston.

Dr. Akima is from the Department of Asian Languages and Literatures

at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. He arrived in the Centre in

March and will leave in March 1986 but six months of this time has been

spent with the National Library from which he received a Fellowship.

During his time with the Library, Dr. Akima gave three public lectures:

Imperial accession and mythology· the ancient Japanese view of the

world and the growth of the Imperial Institution; TankaJ t/Je s/Jort lyric poem: the birth of literature out of ancient myth and ritual; and From ritual to romance: the poetry of the aristocracy in the Heian period, 794-1192.

Professor Cranston is Chairman of the Department of East Asian

Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University, and he arrived on 3 July for eight weeks. While here he delivered a lecture on Japanese Poetics,

gave a seminar on metaphor in Japanese poetry, and devoted generous

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amounts of time to consultation with our more advanced students. His

lecture on Japanese Poetics was one of a series of four lectures and a film

on Japanese culture, which was sponsored by the Faculty of Asian Studies,

the Japan Foundation, the Embassy of Japan and the Australia-Japan

Society.

Ms. Jackie Menzies, Curator of the Japanese Art Gallery of New South

Wales, spoke in the same series on Edo Period Painting. Dr. Allan Marett

from Sydney University spoke of Music, and Dr. Gerstle .of this Centre gave

his lecture on Bunraku Drama. The film was Lovers· Exile, a commercial

film of the Bunraku play by Chikarnatsu Monzaemon.

In May Dr. K. Ono from the University of Newcastle gave a seminar on

Some issues in Japanese Syntax to students doing our M.A. Course in

App 1 ied Japanese Linguistics, and others.

8. Publications '

Alfonso, A. Alfonso Japanese Book IV, Curriculum Development Centre,

Canberra.

Gerstle, C.A., Circles of Fantasy: Convention in the Plays of Chikamatsu.

Harvard UP (in press).

9. Staff List

Head of Centre Dr. T.J. Harper, BA Mich. State, AM Stan., PhD Mich.

Professor Professor A Alfonso, AM Mich., LicPhil Pontif

Comillas.

Senior Lecturer Dr. H.C. Quackenbush, BA PhD Mich.

Senior Lecturer Mr. E.R. Skrzypczak, BA Xav ier. MA Loyola. MA Sophia ..

Lecturer

Tutor

211986 9

Dr. C.A Gerstle, AB Columbia. MA Waseda (Tokyo), PhD

Harvard.

Ms. T. Tsuda, BA Keio, MA Tokyo.

2/198G THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

JJ\PAN CENTRE ANALYSIS OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE

Percentage of Number Enrolled Percentage of Number Sitting

1 2 3 4 5 · 6 7 8 9 JO Jl 12 '.;ub.Ject Effective Sitting Wastage Did not sit Sat High Distinction Credit Puss Pnss .F'niJ (J J' unit enrolments Failure Failure Distinction with

Merit No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No % No. % No. % No. %

. No. %,

.lnpanese I 51 100 37 74 ll1 27 2 4 5 10 5 14 6 16 1 19 12 32 7 i9

.J npnnese II 32 100 27 84 5 16 1 3 1 3 5 19 9 33 1 26 11 15 2 ·r

.Tnpnnese III * 26 100 24 92 2 8 1 l1 5 21 2 8 1, 17 11 l16 J. 11

/\c.l v . Mod. Jap. 6 100 7 70 3 30 1 14 2 29 4 57 Prose

~·~odern Jap. Lit. 17 100 16 94 1 6 1 6 9 56 l1 25 2 13 Lilerary Jap. 3 100 3 100 3 100

Enrolled Sitting Results I Fina] Jlonours 1 1 Ill A

Dnchelor of Letters 1 1 Degree awarded Mas :P.rs Degree 13 l1 completed - Degree awarded

9 not completed Pl1. :). 4 Not completed

* L Exam deferred.