"第14回国際手話言語学会 - Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research 14: 2022, Osaka, Japan" - September 26- October 1, 2022 - National Museum of Ethnology (Minpaku)

TISLR14 will be held at the National Museum of Ethnology (Minpaku). TISLR will be held for the 14th time, but this is the first time it will be held in Asia. For this reason, we have also incorporated a project (panel discussion) that will serve as an opportunity to build a network for sign language linguistics research in Asia. This conference will be held online and onsite in parallel, with consideration given to preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus. We look forward to your active participation and submission of research presentations.　

Date: September 26 (Mon), 2022 - October 1 (Sat), 2022

Venue: Hall at the National Museum of Ethnology
Online and onsite sessions will be held in parallel
National Museum of Ethnology
10-1 Senri Expo Park, Suita, Osaka
565-8511, Japan

Main organizer: National Museum of Ethnology

Schedule:
September 25 (Sun) – 26 (Mon) : Pre-event (Japanese sign language class, Asian sign language workshop, welcome drink [tentative], meeting with interpreters [Presenters are required to attend])
September 27 (Tue) - September 30 (Friday): Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research (TISLR14)

Official languages: Japanese Sign Language, American Sign Language, International Sign Language, English

https://www.tislr2022.jp/

"Homō loquēns ‘talking human’ Wonders of Language and Languages" - Special Exhibition at the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka / 1 Sep 2022 – 23 Nov 2022

Dealing with “language”, which is too familiar for most people to think about, over 50 researchers inside and outside Japan, specializing not only in linguistics but also in anthropology, engineering, education, brain science and cognitive psychology, collaborate and show the wonders of language. As part of the exhibition, an installation that is inspired by language will be displayed. It was created by video artist YAMASHIRO Daisuke.

Thursday, September 1st 2022 – Wednesday, November 23, 2022
The Special Exhibition Hall, National Museum of Ethnology
Language: Japanese, Japanese Sign Language, English
Tickets: ¥880 (Adults), ¥450 (College and University Students), Free (High School Students and Younger)

https://loquens.site/

https://www.minpaku.ac.jp/en

Incredible Interpretations

This weekend I have been attending the Signed and Spoken Language Linguistics Festa at Minpaku (National Museum of Ethnology) in Suita, Osaka, Japan. The conference has included workshops on word order, number systems in sign languages, language description, documentation and sentence structure. On Saturday there was a screening of the Chinese film, "The White Tower," about deaf man and his struggles with marriage. After the film there was a Talk Show to discuss the film and the issues it raises.

One of the most fascinating parts of this conference was the amount of interpretation going on. The photo above illustrates the interpretation during the before-mentioned Talk Show. From left to right on the stage we can see an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter, the moderator, the two Chinese filmmakers with a Chinese to Japanese interpreter in between them, two panelists (one of them deaf), the Japanese Sign Language (JSL) interpreter (whose image is projected larger above her) and the International Sign (IS) interpreter. Seated in the front row are two more JSL interpreters for the deaf panelist. Furthermore, the event was being filmed and broadcast live on the internet. So there was a row of seats dedicated to video cameras, one camera for each interpreter and speaker. This was a very complex process but handled very smoothly I'd say. This shows the lengths humans want to and can communicate with others despite differing languages.

Minpaku website (in English): http://www.minpaku.ac.jp/english

Website for "Signed and Spoken Language Linguistics Festa" (in Japanese): http://www.minpaku.ac.jp/research/activity/news/corp/20130927-29

For more information about "The White Tower": http://www.chinaculturecenter.org/cultural_learning/eventdetail.php?eventid=356

Banpaku: The Tower of the Sun, Expo Commemoration Park and Anthropology Museum

Still looking for something to do during spring break? Head over to Banpaku on the monorail (The Osaka Monorail is the longest monorail in the world!) and get a nice taste of Osaka. Get off at Banpaku kinen koen station and this is what you will see.


Banpaku was the site of the 1970 World Expo. The symbol of the expo was the 太陽の塔 or Taiyou no Tou (the Tower of the Sun) created by Taro Okamoto. The Tower of the Sun has three faces which represent the future, present and past. There used to be a face representing the underworld as well but it has been removed and taken to an unspecified location.


More info:
http://www.expo70.or.jp/e/park/


More info:
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/regional/osaka/banpakukinenkoen.html


More info:
http://www1.u-netsurf.ne.jp/~kitada/doc/taiyo/us.htm


More info (in Japanese):
http://www1.u-netsurf.ne.jp/~kitada/doc/taiyo/index.htm


Lots of spaces and places for sports. Gamba Osaka plays its soccer games here. We had a chance to see some baseball - a perfect spring day.


The climax of the day for visual anthropologists was the National Museum of Ethnology. Indeed, Minpaku is an incredible resource for visual anthropologists.


The museum is home to the Videotheque (description from museum website):

The Videotheque was developed by the Museum in 1977 as the world’s first on-demand video library of its kind. It contains video programs that introduce rituals, performing arts, and the living cultures of peoples around the world, as well as information on the artifacts on exhibit at the Museum. After several renovations to incorporate the latest technology, the fourth-generation Videotheque started service in April 2006.

The new system features a touch-panel screen and uses more graphics to increase user-friendliness. In the spacious booths in the Multifunctional Terminal Room, visitors can watch longer video programs of valuable footage from fieldwork conducted by researchers, sitting on a special-effects sofa that provides special effects corresponding to the selected program.


The museum has several impressive permanent and temporary very impressive exhibitions. There are artifacts that you can see and touch (very rare for a museum, I think - you can also take photos inside the museum as well). There are great photographs and videos dispersed among the artifacts. There is also a digital guide that you can borrow (description from museum website):

The Minpaku Digital Guide is a portable audio-visual device that explains exhibits. Visitors can walk through the exhibitions and freely choose from the recordings in Japanese, English, and Chinese. Using this device, you can clearly hear and see information on the exhibited artifact: what it is used for, where it is used and what kinds of people use it.


One can literally travel the world in this museum. I was especially happy to see exhibitions on Korea, Ainu, and Bali. This museum cannot be fully appreciated in single visit.


Don't let Rangda scare you away. The good lion is there to protect you...

For more info on the museum:
http://www.minpaku.ac.jp/english/

More Useful Visual Anthro Sources: Minpaku and Digital Himalaya Websites

Some more good visual anthro resources coming our way via EASIANTH postings...

Minpaku is the National Museum of Ethnology located in Senri Expo Park, Suita, Osaka. It is a museum, research facility and graduate school. Its website has links to information about research projects, various databases and museum collections. The museum's permanent exhibitions include collections from all over the world, including a specific Japan exhibition. Many exhibition images can be accessed through this website. Also of interest for visual anthropologists is the Videotheque.

"The Videotheque was developed by the Museum in 1977 as the world’s first on-demand video library of its kind. It contains video programs that introduce rituals, performing arts, and the living cultures of peoples around the world, as well as information on the artifacts on exhibit at the Museum. After several renovations to incorporate the latest technology, the fourth-generation Videotheque started service in April 2006.
The new system features a touch-panel screen and uses more graphics to increase user-friendliness. In the spacious booths in the Multifunctional Terminal Room, visitors can watch longer video programs of valuable footage from fieldwork conducted by researchers, sitting on a special-effects sofa that provides special effects corresponding to the selected program."

Link to Minpaku
http://www.minpaku.ac.jp/english/

This next link isn't Japan related, but it is an interesting website and an example of salvage ethnography. The Digital Himalaya website is a "project to develop digital collection, storage, and distribution strategies for multimedia anthropological information from the Himalayan region." You can access photos, short video clips, maps, journals, etc.

Link to Digital Himalaya
http://www.digitalhimalaya.com/

You might also note that I have included a new link list dedicated to KGU resources. You can access the library and campus databases from this list (including First Search). Everything you need is here at VAOJ...