Monday September 28, 2009, 1:00 to 5:00pm
Sakura Hall, Japanese Language Center, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (Fuchu Campus)
Audiences attended: fifty
Lecture titles:
Consuelo Varela "Japan in Spain" (in Spanish)
Juan Gil "Spain in Japan" (in Spanish)
Chair: Hirotaka Tateishi (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)
Translator/Interpretor: Atsuko Hirayama (Tezukayama University)

The International Center for Japanese Studies, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, was founded in April this year, and its inaugural lecture was held jointly with the Institute for Foreign Affaires on the Monday September 28. The theme was "The Relationship between Japan and Spain in the Age of Discovery", and two top researchers in this area, Professor Juan Gil from the University of Seville and Dr. Consuelo Varela from the Institute of Hispano America, gave lectures. The event was a success with many people attending from both inside and outside of TUFS.

2009 is the 400th anniversary of the incident in which the Spanish ship "San Francisco" was shipwrecked and sank off the Japanese coast on the way to Mexico. The ship's crew was saved by the people of Iwata Village of Kazusa-no-kuni (currently Onjuku-machi). Dr. Varela and Professor Gil, who are a couple, visited Japan from Spain to attend an anniversary event for this incident, which marked the inauguration of interaction between the three countries of Japan, Spain and Mexico. It was during this visit to Japan that we invited them to the Center.

Dr. Varela gave her lecture on the situation of Japanese immigrants and the reception of Japanese culture in the Spanish Empire. Professor Gil talked about the struggle of monks and their relationship with Japan's ruling Shogunate. The audience was able to learn a great deal of interesting historical details from the lectures. Various questions were raised during the question and answer sessions, and a meaningful discussion was held concerning the methodology of historical studies and the future research topics in this area.

We would like to express our gratitude to the two lecturers who gave up their time to visit the Center despite their busy schedules. We would also like to thank Professor Atsuko Hirayama who kindly provided the translation and interpretation.

（from left to right）
Consuelo Varela, Juan Gil,
Hirotaka Tateishi, Atsuko Hirayama

Photo gallery ( Slide Show )

Poster ( PDF )