Previous Events

Thursday, 15 December 2022, 4:00-5:30 pm

What can be gained from holding high-level summits with a “rogue state” like North Korea? Do those potential gains outweigh the risk of lending prestige and legitimacy to a dictatorial regime? Two speakers will lead a critical discussion of these questions.
Ambassador Alastair Morgan discusses the high-level meetings with the DPRK in 2018-19, and Dr. Meredith Shaw explains how summits are depicted in North Korean domestic propaganda.

Saturday, 10 December 2022, 10:00-11:00 am (Doors open: 9:30 am)

The special lecture will be presented by the Chairman of the Tata Group, one of India’s foremost business leaders. It will highlight learnings from its heritage that made it successful for over 150 years. It will also outline a vision for thriving in the future, adapting to the challenges of AI, jobs and data security, including India and Japan collaboration.

Tuesday, 6 December 2022, 1:15 pm - 2:45 pm

The lecture discusses several initiatives to clarify physical processes leading to large earthquakes by geophysical observations, experiments, and modeling; and to improve society’s preparation for large earthquakes through upgrades of instrumental monitoring and early warning alerts, developing better building codes, and community education activities.

Sunday, 4 December 2022, 3:30 - 5:30 pm

Two professional Go players, two AI researchers, and one humanities researcher take a deep dive into the relationship between Go and AI, compare AI (i.e., artificial intelligence) and the human brain, and engage in a thorough public discussion on the potentials and limitations of AI.

Wednesday, 30 November 2022, 10:00-11:15 am JST

This event will explore areas of overlapping innovation: in Climate Change and Sustainability, and Blockchain and Data/IT. Leading Silicon Valley technologist Bram COHEN, CEO of Chia Network, and Gemma Torras VIVES of the World Bank will discuss the pioneering use of decentralized blockchain technology to empower a new global carbon market infrastructure.

Thursday, 24 November 2022, 4:00-5:30 pm

Outsiders have been fascinated by Japan’s economy since Marco Polo described Cipangu as a land of gold. Centuries later Columbus sailed to discover it. External observers’ descriptions may not always have been accurate but they have often been influential. This lecture will look at some of the most important discussions in the English language literature on Japan’s economy and will reflect on how the major themes have changed over the last half century.

Friday, 18 November 2022 9:00 am - 10:30 am JST | Thursday, 17 November 2022 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm EDT

The lecture explores the role that tropes of racialization played in the production of kokugo, or the Japanese national language.

【Cancel】Wednesday, 9 November 2022, 6:30-8:00 pm (Doors open: 6:00 pm)

Ms. Mona Chollet is a journalist and essayist who has had an immense influence on feminist debates in Europe. At the invitation of the Embassy of France in Tokyo, she is in Japan to celebrate the translated edition of her bestseller Sorcières: La puissance invaincue des femmes (English title: In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial). In this work, she uncovers the history of the witch-hunts that swept through Europe in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period and discusses it in connection with the modern social calamity known as “misogyny.” Professor UENO Chizuko, pioneer of women’s studies in Japan and longtime feminist leader, will engage in an in-depth discussion with Ms. Chollet on women today and where to go from here.

Wednesday, 9 November 2022, 9:30-11:00 am

This event explores the cultural and medical context behind cleanliness and hygiene. The second analyzes “how do we face the contemporary and future challenge of hygiene?” contributing to a better public health system.

Friday, 4 November 2022, 5:00-6:30 pm

In 1970 the physicist Hannes Alfvén was awarded the Nobel Prize. This recognition by the international scientific community strengthened his national status and critique of the Swedish nuclear policy. His resignation in 1980 from the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences illustrates conflicting views on nuclear politics which still haunts us today.

Wednesday, 2 November 2022, 4:00-5:30 pm

This event explores the cultural and medical context behind cleanliness and hygiene. The first symposium investigates “where do our idea of cleanliness come from?” across time and space.

Available Monday, 24 October 2022

By 2050, two-thirds of the global population will live in urban areas, which is posing a tremendous challenge for cities to accommodate a wide spectrum of human needs while meeting the challenges of sustainability. This dialogue between the University of Tokyo and academic and research institutions in Sweden, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (representing Stockholm Trio) and Vinnova, aims to discuss different concepts of urbanisation in Europe and Asia and to envision future smart cities that can sustainably increase human wellbeing. This discourse will foster future collaboration between Japan and Sweden in research.

Tuesday, 11th October 2022, 3:00-6:00 pm

Thursday, 6 October 2022 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm JST

Ancient Jewish and Indian ritual texts may serve as models for environmental dilemmas, bridging ancient and modern worlds. Sacrificial rituals create waste and sanctuaries become filled with residues of materia sacra. Three distinct attitudes towards such leftovers are indicative of three ritual-environmental conceptions: reuse, exclusion, and neutralization.

Saturday 1 & Sunday 2, October 2022

“Who are we on social media” – Tokyo College partnered with The German culture center Goethe Institut Tokyo to explore this question in a hybrid festival that will take place on October 1&2 at the art space BUoY in Tokyo’s Kitasenju district. It will bring together academic and artistic positions.

Friday, 30 September 2022, 10:00 am-12:00 pm

The talk will look at key themes to understand our daily relationship with technology and more broadly the role of technology in society, emphasizing both changes and historical continuity. The following topics will be addressed, challenging widespread stereotypes in contemporary public discourse about technology: "How technology changes us," "Why technology is not neutral," "The reason not only digital technology matters," and "Why society and politics are often displaced by technology."

Tuesday, 13 September 2022, 5:00-6:30pm

How relevant are theoretical frameworks developed in the U.S. and Europe for understanding patterns of family change and socioeconomic inequality in Japan? I begin to address this question by synthesizing the results of several recent papers on socioeconomic differences in family demographic behavior and children’s well-being in Japan.

Wednesday, 24 August 2022 3:00pm-4:30pm JST

In this webinar, Prof. Kiyotaki discusses how production and income distribution interact with accumulation of intangible capital over time and across individuals. He constructs an economic model in which the younger generation acquires and accumulates intangible capital through the on-the-job training. He shows that, although the development of mid-career labor markets improves the match between firms and workers, such development may increase inequality and lead to long-term stagnation. In response, he will examine the effects of policies that promote basic education and the acquisition of skills outside of firms.

Friday, 29 July 2022, 3:00-5:00 pm (Doors open: 2:30 pm)

The Russo-Ukrainian War is changing the structure of international order and security in Western Europe. Did it mend the EU's diplomatic and security divisions in Western Europe, or did it reaffirm them?
How is Japan's response to the war in Russia and Ukraine perceived in the West, and how will it affect Japan's future relations with Western nations?

Tuesday, 19 July 2022 5:00−6:40pm JST / 9:00am-10:40am BST

We invite you to discuss an international bestseller Who Cooked Adam Smith's Dinner? with its author Katrine Marçal and a group of Tokyo College researchers.

Tuesday, 12 July 2022, 1:00-2:45 pm (Doors open: 12:30 pm)

The war in Ukraine has shaken our confidence in peace and prosperity within Europe and beyond. What is needed to overcome such a crisis in international relations? H.E. Herman Van Rompuy, President Emeritus of the European Council, leads the discussion by sharing his insights on the future of Europe and Japan which will be followed by Q&A sessions with students and others.

Available Friday, 24 June 2022 after 5PM

In this event, disability advocates Judy Heumann and Mark Bookman discuss the past, present, and future of accessibility and inclusion in the United States and Japan. Touching on barriers in built environments, education, employment, and entertainment systems, as well as activist movements and anti-discrimination policies, the two help to highlight a path towards creating a more diverse society in which nobody is excluded.

Thursday, 23 June 2022, 4:00-5:30 pm (Doors open: 3:30 pm)

In 2022, we are commemorating the centennial of Marcel Proust's death with an extraordinary salvo of publications, exhibitions, and acclamations. “Proust is the man of the year,” advertised the Italian magazine La Repubblica on New Year’s Day. It gives us an occasion to evaluate the magnitude of his novel, Remembrance of Things Past or In Search of Lost Time, and also to compare this anniversary with the previous one, 1971, a century after Proust’s birth. His star hasn’t stopped rising.

Available Early June 2022 (on Tokyo College YouTube Channel)

It has been said that by executing algorithms in the same way, there is no difference between the human brain and AI (artificial intelligence). Is this really the case? What does it mean to be “human”? To be an “AI”? What can current AI do and not do?
In anticipation of a future in which humans and AI coexist, we discuss what we should keep in mind and what we can do to prepare.