Japan Studies Association of Canada (JSAC)

Minutes: Annual General Meeting (AGM) October 18, 2020

Location: Virtual via ZOOM, due to COVID-19. Hosted by Norio Ota (York) and Aya Fujiwara (Alberta)

The AGM, held during the JSAC Conference (Oct 17-18), was chaired by Carin Holroyd.

The Conference was originally scheduled to be held at Thompson Rivers University (Kamloops, BC). Dr. Tom Waldichuk and his TRU colleagues planned the Conference,
applied for and received Japan Foundation support. However due to the pandemic it was necessary to postpone the TRU conference.

Attendees

Executive

President: Karen Holroyd (Saskatchewan) Secretary Treasurer: Norio Ota (York)

Regular: Aya Fujiwara (Alberta) Owen Griffiths (Mount Allison)
Tom Waldichuk (Thompson Rivers) David Edginton (UBC)
James Tiessen (Ryerson)

Other participants

Fumiko Ikawa-Smith (McGill) X. Jie Yang (Calgary)
Jacob Kovalio (Carleton) Yuko Shimizu (Japan Foundation)
Maxime Marcotte Bouthillier (York) Brian Pendleton (Langara College)
Susan Lee (Toronto) Kimie Hara (Waterloo)
David Telfer (Brock) Jay Goulding (York)
Tim Reiffenstein (Mount Allison) Atsuko Hashimoto (Brock)
Bahman Jeldi Bill Sewell (St. Mary’s)
Cary Takagaki (York) David Telfer (Brock)
Fumiko Ikawa-Smith (McGill) Henry Tsang (Athabasca)
Noriko Yabuki-Soh (York) Saeko Suzuki (UBC)
Scott Harrison (Asia Pacific Foundation) Yuko Shibata (UBC)
Christian Satoor (York) Cindy Briffa-Chen
Tyler Correiria (York) Jay Goulding (York)
Yuiko Goya (Japan Foundation)                                                 Akiko Sharp
Millie Creighton (UBC) Stephen Nagy (ICU Japan)

        Conference support: Lily Feng (York), Filipe Medeiros (York)

1. Agenda

Motion to accept the agenda as posted. Moved by Fumiko Ikawa-Smith. Seconded Norio Ota. Passed.

2. Minutes

Motion to accept minutes as posted. Moved by Ken Coates. Seconded by Aya Fujiwara. Passed.

3. President’s Address and business

a. Appreciation

Carin Holroyd welcomed AGM participants and thanked organizers Norio Ota and Aya Fujiwara for organizing and York students Felipe Medeiros and
Lily Feng for their expert support.

b. Newsletter

Carin urged JSAC members to submit material for the newletter, published yearly. Millie Creighton said she enjoys the newsletter, especially the artistic
elements that have been introduced.

c. Graduate student on JSAC Board

Discussed the idea of inviting a graduate student on the Board. There was agreement on this idea. Ideally this would be a student who has attended
the JSAC conference at least once. The Executive will take steps to implement this idea.

d. Book exchange

JSAC members can try to coordinate a book exchange to share Japan-related books they may not need or want. Lists of available books can be shared
prior to the Conference and people can bring them to the meeting.

4. Treasurer’s report

Norio Ota reported that, due to COVID-19, he is not able to receive and deposit membership cheques at the University. So, for now we are not asking people
to mail cheques.

In order to improve security of the JSAC website the host address will change from http:/ to https:/.

Norio showed summary financials. JSAC has about $27,053 in cash. JSAC has not yet paid the costs associated with holding the 2020 virtual Conference.

5. JSAC 2019 Conference Report

The Conference was held at Mount Alison University, New Brunswick, organized by Tim Reiffenstein and Owen Griffiths.

There were 30 participants presenting their work. The keynotes were most appreciated. There was not a formal participant survey. However informal feedback
was consistently positive.

6. JSAC 2021

Tom Waldichuk and TRU colleagues are willing to reapply to the Japan Foundation for funding to host JSAC 2021 in October 2021. The timing to allow for the
possibility of post pandemic opening, while avoiding winter.

The conference may be a hybrid format, online and in-person. A suggested forecast ratio may be 70% in person and 30% online. The latter may be attractive
for international participants.

7. Other business

James (Jim) Tiessen suggested that JSAC could try to compile information on Japan-related courses delivered virtually in Canada. These could perhaps be opened
as electives to students in other universities and support Japan studies programs.

8. Adjournment

Ken Coates moved to adjourn. Fumiko Ikawa-Smith seconded. Passed.