The 38th JASAS Annual Conference will be held on 27 and 28 September 2025 at the Fuchu Campus of the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. It is currently envisaged that the conference will be held face-to-face only.

　Since the 1990s, there has been an increase in the number of people from South Asian regions, not only in the suburbs of Tokyo, but throughout Japan. In proportion to this, the number of restaurants and food shops where people can enjoy South Asian flavours has also increased rapidly. From my own experience of worrying about how to procure spices and Halal foodstuffs for foreign teachers from South Asian countries, it is a world apart.

　The South Asian Studies Center, the TUFS' base for South Asian studies, has adopted “intercultural understanding” and “multicultural conviviality” as keywords for its activities, and has begun activities that could only be carried out at TUFS. In addition to interpreting and translating using advanced language skills, the center plans to continue its activities towards true ‘intercultural understanding’ by understanding the problems faced by people from South Asia living in Japan, understanding the different situations of people from different regions and living areas in Japan, and collaborating with various external organisations. We plan to continue our activities for genuine ‘intercultural understanding’ in cooperation with various external organisations. We hope to be able to demonstrate some of the results of these activities at this year's JASAS annual conference.

　The organising committee looks forward to welcoming you to the conference and welcoming you to the reception.

 

February 28, 2025
Coordinator of the 38th JASAS Annual Conference
MAMIYA Kensaku
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies