2/1986 the australian national university japan centre
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2/1986
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.