The SIETAR Japan Annual Conference was held on the 19th and 20th of September, 2015. The conference theme was “Critical Reflections on War and Peace: Dialogue for the Future.” We had 46 presentations in total, of which 26 were in Japanese and 20 in English.

J. F. Oberlin University

Conference reception desk

Also, we had 17 poster sessions this year by both SIETAR members and non-members.

We had two keynote addresses this year.

Before the keynote address, President Mitani of J. F. Oberlin University gave his opening address.

The first keynote was given by Dr. Koko Kondo. The title of her talk was “Striving towards World Peace: From the Perspectives of an Atomic Bomb Survivor.”

Our second keynote speaker on Day 2 was Ms. Ponnareth Kugo who spoke about “Experience of Deprivation of Liberty and Human Rights under Khmer Rouge, and Life in Japan as a Cambodian Refugee.”

To commemorate SIETAR Japan’s 30th anniversary, a panel discussion was held by five SIETAR members who have contributed to SIETAR Japan’s 30-year history. The panelists reviewed past SIETAR activities, and discussed the future vision for SIETAR Japan.

SIETAR originated in the U.S., and in the future, SIETAR Japan hopes to continue establishing stronger ties with Asian countries.

During the pre-conference events, a special lecture was given by Janet Bennett, as well as a field work at Tokyo Camil & Turkish Culture Center

The conference director was Akiko Asai sensei who is also SIETAR Japan president.

We had a lot of different events, with many people participating. We are proud to say that our 30 year anniversary conference was a great success!