Kobun Workshop for Japan Scholars

As a precaution to slow the spread of COVID-19, this event has been cancelled. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

On March 26 & 27, The Japan Foundation, Sydney will host a free two-day workshop to help local Japan scholars build literacy in kobun (古文), or classical Japanese.

The workshop is organised in partnership with the Japanese Studies Association of Australia (JSAA), and will be led by Dr Matthew Shores of The University of Sydney. Funding is available to assist with travel and accommodation for participants from regional or interstate universities. Catering will be provided.

Eligibility
The workshop is available to scholars who meet the following criteria:

1) University-affiliated researcher (MA(Res)/PhD candidate or above)
2) Japanese language proficiency is intermediate level or higher
3) Research specialisation is in an area that requires, or would benefit from, the applicant’s ability to read classical Japanese
4) Based at a university in Australia, or a member of the Japanese Studies Association of Australia (JSAA)

Funding for Interstate/Regional Attendees
The Japan Foundation, Sydney can provide full or partial funding of domestic return flights to Sydney (economy) and one night of accommodation for participants from regional and interstate universities. Travel funding is available to eligible participants on a first-come, first-served basis until allocations are exhausted. All reservations covered by the travel funding will be made and paid for by The Japan Foundation, Sydney on participants’ behalf. In cases of competing applications, postgraduate students and early career researchers may be prioritised.

About the Workshop

Over the course of two days, the workshop will cover a range of pre-modern materials, with a special focus on Edo-period texts. The workshop will provide participants with basic skills for reading and interpreting classical Japanese, and will also introduce a variety of online resources to assist with this. No prior experience with classical Japanese is necessary, although at least intermediate-level proficiency in Japanese is required. Participants will be asked to bring an electronic dictionary and/or a classical Japanese dictionary (古語辞典) if possible. A variety of specialist dictionaries will also be available for use onsite.

For further details, see the Kobun Workshop program.

About the Facilitator

Dr Matthew Shores is a scholar of early modern and modern Japanese literary arts and entertainment. Much of his work to date has focused on modern comic storytelling (rakugo) and its early modern precursors, literary and otherwise. Shores began his career in the UK, where he was a Governing Body Fellow and Director of East Asian Studies at Peterhouse, the oldest of the Cambridge colleges. He joined The University of Sydney as a Lecturer in Japanese in 2019.

He has supervised students of all levels, undergraduate to PhD, and taught units on modern/contemporary Japanese literature, East Asian cinema, Japanese theatre and cultural history, Edo-period literature and culture, classical Japanese, modern Japanese language, translation, and academic writing. He has a PhD in Japanese literature from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. His Master’s degrees are from Tezukayama University and Portland State University.

Each summer he directs an intensive three-week summer programme in Kyoto called Traditional Theatre Training (T.T.T.), which, with the help of professional practitioners, trains participants from around the globe in the arts of nō, kyōgen, and Nihon buyō. He also serves as associate editor for the Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia and Japan area editor for Asian Theatre Journal.

For more, see mwshores.com.

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