Talk on Moriyama highlights symposium

November 2, 2000

The sixth annual Edwin O. Reischauer/Kodansha Ltd. Commemorative Symposium was held on Friday, Oct. 13, at the Kodansha/Reischauer House in Belmont, Mass. In attendance were representatives from Kodansha; the Consul General of Japan in Boston, Tadamichi Yamamoto; and members of the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, including faculty, visiting scholars, postdoctoral fellows, and staff.

John Rosenfield, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Professor of Oriental Art Emeritus, gave a talk on the photography of Daido Moriyama, titled “Japanese Art and ‘The Scorching Drought of Modern Vulgarity.’” Moriyama’s works are on exhibit at the Carpenter Center for the Arts and the Fogg Museum through Nov. 5.

In addition, the Noma-Reischauer Prize in Japanese studies, given by Kodansha for the best essays written by Harvard students on Japanese-related topics, were awarded at the symposium. The prizes were $2,000 for the best undergraduate essay and $3,000 for the best graduate essay.

This year the undergraduate prize was awarded to Alistair Isaac (B.A., ’00) for his essay “Information City: Evolution and Perspective in Three Japanese Novels.” The graduate prize was awarded to Aya Murata (M.A., Regional Studies, ’00) for her essay “Yuri Murata: Private Rebel, A Woman’s Life in Twentieth Century Japan.” Both prizewinners were present to receive their awards from Kodansha as well as a copy of “The Encyclopedia of Japan” on CD-ROM from the Japan Forum.

The deadline for submitting essays to the Noma-Reischauer Prize is June 30 of each year. For more information, call the Reischauer Institute at (617) 495-3220.