issn 1472-6653 december 2007 number 15 students give .../file/december2007.pdfmy favourite is the...

The National Student Survey has beenconducted since 2005 and wasoriginally commissioned by the HigherEducation Funding Council for England.The survey is conducted by IpsosMORI, one of the largest surveyresearch companies in the UK, andprovides the opportunity for all final-year undergraduates to give feedbackon their experience at university. Theresults are then published on theinternet and may be used by anyprospective students, employers orfunders as a basis for judging thequality of individual institutions anddegree programmes.

Students were asked to rate SEAS inseven areas: teaching, assessment andfeedback, academic support,organization and management,learning resources, personaldevelopment and overall satisfaction.SEAS was ranked top in six of theseareas, ahead of its competitorselsewhere in the UK. Importantly, interms of overall satisfaction, SEASscored an unsurpassed approval ratingof 96 per cent.

Elsewhere in the University ofSheffield, departments such asDentistry, Electronic and ElectricalEngineering, Philosophy and courses in Modern Languages and ModernLanguages with Interpreting alsotopped their respective subject areas.When compared against otheruniversities in the Russell Group – the

UK’s twenty top research-intensiveuniversities – students rated Sheffieldthird overall.

Professor Tim Wright, Chair of theSchool of East Asian Studies,commented that “we are delightedthat the National Student Surveyresults have publicly recognized thehigh quality of the teaching in theSchool and the dedication and hardwork shown by all our staff. Well doneto everyone concerned.”

Madeleine Rodell, a studentrepresentative in her final year ofstudy for a BA in East Asian Studies,believes that “this is wonderful newsfor everyone concerned. It’s importantthat potential students have theopportunity to find out what ourcurrent students think of SEAS, and it’sgreat to see that the efforts of all staffin SEAS have been acknowledged inthis way.”

More information on the NationalStudent Survey is available at:www.unistats.com

Students give Sheffieldthe thumbs-up

SEAS students show their approval.

EastAsia@Sheffield 1

ISSN 1472-6653 December 2007 Number 15

According to the National Student Survey for 2007, students have placed the School of East Asian Studies (SEAS) top amongst competing UK higher education institutions foroverall satisfaction.

J21897_EastAsia 4/12/07 10:46

2 EastAsia@Sheffield

Note on namesFollowing East Asian convention, thefamily name precedes the givenname/s in Chinese, Japanese andKorean names, unless the particularperson uses the Western nameorder (given name followed by familyname) in his/her publications and/oreveryday life.

Editor’s note

The views expressed in the articlesare those of the individual authorsand do not necessarily reflect thoseof the School and the University.

Certain images used in thisnewsletter are scaled-down, low-resolution images used to illustratefilms or books, or to provide criticalanalysis of the content or artwork ofthe image. It is believed that theseimages qualify as fair use undercopyright law.

Staff and students at SEAS said goodbyeto one of their longest serving colleagueswhen Dr Robert Taylor retired at theend of September. Robert first came toSheffield in 1993 and since then hasbeen at the forefront of thedevelopment of Chinese Studies. Inparticular, he has contributed to theteaching of Chinese business andinternational politics and helped to buildlinks with Chinese institutions, includingplaying a key role in establishing theexchanges by which our students go toChina. Although retiring, Robert will stillbe seen around the School as he plansto continue contributing to the distancelearning programme.

Farewell to SEAS

Staff and students of the School of East Asian Studies on graduation day

(photograph courtesy of Mark Rodgers).

The School of East Asian Studies wasdelighted to see almost fifty studentsgraduate at a ceremony held on 21 July 2007. At the same ceremony,three PhD students – Youngmi Kim,Andrew Staples and Utpal Vyas –were also awarded their degrees.

In Chinese Studies, Richard Buckleywas awarded both a first-class degreeand the R. B. Sloss Prize forachievement, whilst in JapaneseStudies, Harriet Gray and Fiona Zhangwere jointly awarded the MargaretDaniels Prize for their first-classperformances. Professor Tim Wright,Chair of SEAS, commented that “this

has been an excellent crop of graduates:Fiona completed a first-class degreein Japanese and Politics, with topmarks in both areas. In addition to anoutstanding performance in thelanguage and a dissertation way abovean undergraduate level, Harriet is alsoan outstanding singer, havingperformed in a charity performanceof Bugsy Malone. Richard scoredfirst-class marks of 72 per cent ormore in every single unit he took atSheffield, producing first-year essaysof almost publishable quality. He has also been very active in social andcharitable activities both in China and in the UK.”

Since graduation, Fiona has returnedto Singapore and is hoping toundertake postgraduate studies in Japan in the future, whereasRichard is currently working at theUniversity of Northumbria andHarriet is now in the middle of anMA degree in London. SEAS wishesall its graduates every success intheir chosen careers.

2007 graduates and prize-winners

Dr Robert Taylor (left)at his farewell party.

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Having been interested inmotorbikes (in fact, anything withtwo wheels) since I was very young,I started riding in earnest at the ageof fifteen in car parks and at circuittraining schools. At sixteen I beganriding on the road and recentlypassed the full bike test. However,the track is where I feel most athome.

I began racing in 2005 aboard a 400cc Kawasaki (a machine capableof over 120 mph). Despite my lack ofexperience, I enjoyed the thrill ofdicing for position and managed tomake up places throughout my firstrace meetings. I even managed topull a few wheelies at the start too,which was slightly unnerving for myanxious stepfather-cum-mechanic!Although I’ve experienced my fair

share of crashes in my racing career,it doesn’t put me off. The sport mayappear dangerous, but in realitymodern tracks have many safetyfeatures which mean that most ofthe time riders can walk away evenafter very high-speed falls.

I’ve ridden many different bikes butmy favourite is the Aprilia RS250,which I competed on during the2007 season. There is no separateclass for 250cc racing, so I wasentered in with the more powerful400cc bikes. It sounds like a bigdisadvantage, but although theRS250 is lacking in power, it has thepotential to sustain a much higherspeed around corners. That’s whatmakes it such fantastic fun to ride –plenty of opportunity for sliding myknees!

My interest in Japan is linked tobikes, although it’s hard to saywhich came first. Being a long-timefollower of National and WorldChampionship level racing, it wasimpossible for me not to notice theimportance of the Japanesemanufacturers – Honda, Yamaha,Suzuki and Kawasaki. I also follow anumber of Japanese riders, inparticular Kiyonari Ryu

_ichi, who has

just been crowned BritishSuperbike Champion for the secondyear in a row.

However, this was only one aspectof Japanese culture that influencedmy decision to study at Sheffield.I’m also interested in Japan’s history,popular culture and the languageitself, as it is so different fromEnglish. When I discovered that aJapanese Studies course wasavailable at my local university, Idecided that I had to try it. It’s beentough so far but I definitely madethe right choice.

I hope to continue racing andmaybe one day race in Japan. Forthe time being, however, I amfocusing my attention on my studiesand getting on the track when I can.It’s a very demanding sport andwould be impossible to undertakewithout the support of mysponsors, which include severalSheffield businesses.

More information about Kath isavailable at her website:www.motokat.co.uk


Kath Sanderson is not only a second-year Japanese Studiesstudent but also one of the very few female motorbike racers inthe country competing at circuits nationwide with her ownteam, MotoKat Racing.

Life in the fast lane

Kath in action on the track.

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Dr Jeremy Taylor and Dr Zhang Mei,both lecturers in Chinese Studies atSEAS, spent a month of theirsummer in Beijing on a trainingcourse for overseas Chinese-language instructors. This is thesecond time that members of stafffrom SEAS have been invited toattend such a course, with Dr SarahDauncey taking part in the inauguralcourse in 2005.

The event was organized by theOffice of Chinese Language CouncilInternational, with classes held atthe International College for ChineseLanguage Studies at PekingUniversity. Chinese languageteachers from universities andschools in various parts of the UK, aswell as Canada, attended the four-week course. Classes coveredvarious aspects of Chinese languageteaching, ranging from Chineseeducational theory to the use ofmultimedia technologies andstrategies for overcoming problemsthat non-native speakers of Chineseoften face when learning Mandarin.

The classes also provided plenty ofopportunities for discussion andexchange on the differentapproaches that teachers of Chineseadopt in different parts of the world.

Participants were treated to aseries of visits to sites of culturaland historical significance in andaround Beijing, such as TiananmenSquare and the Great Wall of China,

as well as to a number ofeducational publishing houses. Theattendance of SEAS staff on thiscourse not only helps to strengthenthe quality of Chinese languageteaching at Sheffield but alsoenhances the School’s alreadystrong relationship with the Officeof Chinese Language CouncilInternational.

Chinese teachers updateskills in Beijing

October saw the launch of the Korea Research Hub (KRH) Website, acollaborative project between the Universities of Sheffield and Leeds. Thewebsite can be found at: www.leeds.ac.uk/krh

Established in June 2007, the KRH seeks to promote the study of Korea, oneof the world’s oldest and most fascinating nations. The website containsdetails of the work of KRH scholarsas well as various useful web-basedresources to help those interestedin Korean studies. The KRH websiteis also intended to promote andfacilitate networking andcollaborative research amongstKoreanists. The KRH team haveambitious plans to broaden thescope of the project’s work overthe coming years.

Korea Research Hublaunches website

From left to right: Dr Zhang Mei, Professor LiHongyin, Deputy Director of the International

College for Chinese Language Studies at PekingUniversity, and Dr Jeremy Taylor.

Congratulations to Tom Viart, whorepresented the UK in the finals ofthe “Chinese Bridge” competitionin Beijing in August. Tom, a singlehonours Chinese Studies student,was overwhelmed by his trip toBeijing, “the competition was trulyamazing and I didn't expect it tobe such a big event in China! I hadthe most wonderful time thereand met so many other peoplestudying Chinese from all aroundthe world.”

“Chinese Bridge”competition2007

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I first went to Japan in 1988 and lived there for a totalof about eleven years. During this time, in 1995, Istarted work as the only westerner in the overseasoffice of a firm called Fuji Kiko

_that specialized in the

manufacture of car steering columns and associatedparts. As a result of witnessing first hand the day-to-day operations of a typical Japanese company, Irealized that translation was my preferredemployment and so sent out my CV to a localtranslation firm. A few days later, I was successfullyinterviewed for a job as a part-time translator.

The vast majority of the company’s business wasconcerned with patent translations and by having anumber of them pass across my desk in the five years Iworked there, I gradually became faster and moreproficient in translating them. It was fortunate that thehead of the department, a translator of many years’

experience, gave me a lot of patient advice aboutpatent translation techniques, techniques that I havepassed on to students in my patent translation coursetaught to distance learning students on the MA inAdvanced Japanese Studies.

I do not think that my experience was particularlyunusual. More and more, especially in the era ofcompanies advertizing job vacancies on their websites,boldly approaching translation firms where you wantto work has become quite acceptable. If the Japanesecan get away with it, why can’t foreigners! Specializingin Japanese-to-English translation gives you a clearadvantage as this is an area in which Japaneseemployers know that native translators do not havesufficient ability.

One of the advantages of this work is that it isinteresting for the technically minded. You areconstantly dealing with inventions at the forefront oftechnology and the original thinking of the inventorscan be awe-inspiring at times.

Some translators, after having served a number ofyears with a translation firm, decide to go freelance,hoping that the contacts and the experience they havegained in the firm will enable them to stand alone. Theycan then work from home and live virtually anywherein the world as work is sent by email attachment, postor even courier. This appeals to some people as youcan work the hours that suit you. Another advantage isthat there is no retirement age; you can keep workingas long as you want.

If any readers are interested in pursuing a possiblecareer in patent translation, I would recommendapplying for a job as an in-house translator. You willneed this to gain experience which will lead toincreased accuracy and speed. To this end, puttogether a good CV (in Japanese and English) alongwith a covering letter in Japanese (ask a Japanesefriend to help you with this) and send it off totranslation firms. An internet search in Japanese willreveal many such firms. You can expect to have aninterview entirely conducted in Japanese and possiblya test of your translation ability. And finally, best of luck!

The Japan Patent Office in Tokyo (photograph courtesy of Tajima Shigeki).

Simon Forth completed an MA in Advanced Japanese Studies in 1999 and a PhD in Japanese linguistics in 2006, both in theSchool of East Asian Studies. Whilst studying, he established acareer for himself in the field of patent translation and is nowpassing on his experience to distance learning students in SEAS.

Patently clear in translation

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Between February 2005 and June2007, I lived and worked in Japanwhilst on a post-doctoral researchfellowship supported by the JapanSociety for the Promotion ofScience. My research project wasentitled “Transnational Cinema andMedia Discourses on Korea inJapan.” It was a unique opportunityfor a researcher of cinema andmedia studies to observe thedynamic changes in the regionbrought about by rapid globalizationand localization. Indeed, emergingtransnational Asian identities is asignificant theme in the study ofworld cinema and popular culture atthe current time.

I am particularly interested inchanges in Japanese popular cultureand cinema. For example, in the caseof Japanese gangster films, it isinteresting to trace the changes instyles and themes that reflectdebates in postwar Japan. Thesefilms deal with issues such as Koreanand Chinese minorities in Japan,anti-Americanism, masculinity andauthority, questioning traditionalJapanese values of loyalty andhonour. In particular, the films ofFukasaku Kinji, who worked withinthe genre of “true documentary film”(jitsuroku eiga), such as StreetMobster (1972), Battle withoutHonour (1973) and Yakuza Graveyard (1976), provide usefulcase studies for the study ofambivalent attitudes within Japantowards Asia and the West.

In January 2007, the JapanBroadcasting Corporationconducted a poll asking who wouldbe the more important partner forJapan in the future. The result wasthat China almost beat the USsuggesting that Japan is becomingmore in tune with its Asian identity.

Whilst in Japan, I observed a numberof radical changes in the way Japanperceives its Asian identity and itsAsian ethnic minorities.

Since the late 1980s, Japanesepopular culture – animation, popmusic and television dramas – hasbeen dominant in the region and thispopularity was partly a reaction tothe cultural globalization led byHollywood. At this time, Japan alsotook the leading role in the financingand distribution of Chinese languagefilms to an international audience.However, Japan itself seemed to beindifferent to Asian cultural tastes asseen in a number of Japaneseproducts, such as Nintendo’s MarioBrothers, that became less “Asian” inorder to appeal to Westernconsumers.

In contrast, the “Korean wave”, whichstarted in Hong Kong and Taiwan in2000, hit Japanese shores in 2003. Inparticular, it was the hit Korean TV

drama series Winter Sonata thatwon over hearts and minds in Japan,particularly amongst women. BaeYongjun, the hero of the series, ismore commonly known as Yon-samain Japan and his popularity has beendescribed as “Yonfluenza.” Themedia reported this boom as asocial phenomenon, the like of whichhad never been seen in Japan and asa result attitudes towards Koreabegan to change. Many Koreanresidents in Japan suddenly becamemore highly visible and some famouscelebrities “came out” about theirKorean ancestry. The demilitarizedzone between North and SouthKorea became a Japanese touristdestination and many ordinaryJapanese middle-aged women nowvisit Korea regularly.

In short, the “Korean wave” has notonly stimulated tourism but has alsoserved to alter national identitiesand promote transnational culturalcooperation.

Dr Hyangjin Lee has just returned to SEAS after completing a two-year research visit to Japan during which she witnessed a number ofcultural changes in Japan’s relations with its East Asian neighbours.

The “Korean wave” inmulticultural Japan

Fans welcome Yon-sama to Japan.

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Last year, I submitted a short story– a romance between a gangsterand his lover set in Japan – to ananthology of fiction based inCalifornia. Although it wasn’tselected for publication, I did win afree pass to the writing conventionthat was organizing the anthology.Who was I to resist? So, in October2007, I made the long and arduousjourney over to San Francisco toattend the convention and gainedsome writing tips that helped megear myself up for National NovelWriting Month in November, whichrequired me to write 50,000 wordsin one month!

Before the convention, there was anorganized trip to San Francisco’sJapantown, an area of the city thathosts all things Japanese. The JapanCentre is the hub of this area and ispart social centre for the city’s

large Asian population, part touristattraction, even boasting a scalemodel of Osaka castle. We spent agood few hours wandering aroundand rounded the visit off with aJapanese meal.

The convention itself was held at ahotel that was taken over withenthusiastic writers for theweekend. It had a great programmeof events to keep everyone happy,including panels on the legitimacyof various subjects, hints and tipsfor writers and guides on gettingpublished from representative ofthe publishing industry.

I came back to Sheffield feelinginspired and was ready to embarkupon my novel. It is now completeand is set in York and based onEnglish folklore and mythology.

California dreamingWhilst studying for a BA degree in East Asian Studies, Ciaran Robertsis also a budding novelist. Her talent was recently recognized by aninvitation to attend a writing convention in the US.

The formal launch of the National Institute of Chinese Studies (NICS) tookplace at the University of Leeds on 1 December 2007. As reported in previouseditions of EastAsia@Sheffield, NICS is part of the White Rose East AsiaCentre (WREAC), a joint consortium of the Universities of Sheffield and Leedsand centre of excellence for the study of both China and Japan. WREAC isfunded by the Economic and Social Research Council, the Arts and HumanitiesResearch Council and the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

Isabel Hilton, editor of Chinadialogue, gave a keynote lecture entitled“Creating an Environmental Dialogue Across the Firewall”, which exploredChina’s environmental and climate change crisis and examined the obstaclesand opportunities for addressing this problem.

The launch was accompanied by a seminar entitled “The Emerging Dragon andthe Rising Elephant: The Rise of China, India and Asia”, supported by UK Tradeand Investment, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the China-Britain Business Counciland the UK-India Business Council. The seminar examined the challengesposed by the rise of China and India to the competitiveness of the UK.

EastAsia@Sheffield will continue to report on future activities in NICS.

National Institute of ChineseStudies officially launched

A replica of Osaka castle in San Francisco’s Japantown.

Isabel Hilton delivers herkeynote lecture.

J21897_EastAsia 4/12/07 10:46


Research in the School of East AsianStudies is closely linked to the rapidpolitical, social, economic and culturalchanges in contemporary China,Korea and Japan, which have createdimportant new opportunities forresearch into the dynamics of theregion. To this end, research in SEASis structured around four coreresearch clusters that address thesedynamics: 1) business, politicaleconomy and development; 2) globalization and regionalization; 3) social change and mobility in EastAsia; and 4) East Asian identities andcultures. The School activelyencourages staff members to workacross clusters as can be seen in theintroductions to two of the fourclusters featured on these pages.

As regards the dissemination ofresearch findings, since 2001members of the School havepublished almost two hundred books,chapters and articles in leadingacademic journals. One outlet for this research has been the

Sheffield/Routledge Japanese Studiesseries of monographs under theeditorship of Professor Glenn Hook,as featured in Number 13 ofEastAsia@Sheffield. In addition, thejournal Asian Business & Management,which was launched in 2002, is editedthrough Sheffield by ProfessorHasegawa Harukiyo, formerly ofSheffield but now based at Do

_shisha

University in Japan.

Nearly all research involves extensiveinternational collaboration, formal orinformal, with scholars in Europe,North America and East Asia. Inaddition to hosting visiting scholarsfrom East Asian universities andgovernments, a number ofinternational conferences andworkshops have played an importantpart in fostering this cooperation onsubjects such as science policy, theconcept of risk, folklore and evenpostage stamps!

“Knowledge transfer” is becoming acommonly-heard phrase these days

ResearchingResearching East AsiaAs another cycle of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) comes to anindependently evaluated, EastAsia@Sheffield looks back, and ahead, to th

An aerial view of Futenma Air Station (photograph courtesyof Ginowan City).

Illustrative of research with other clusters has beencollaboration with the social change and mobility cluster onthe subject of risk, as mentioned on the opposite page. Aspart of a related project sponsored by the British Academy,Professor Glenn Hook, head of this research cluster, recentlyvisited Okinawa in Japan and interviewed Mayor Iha Yo

_ichi of

Ginowan City regarding the risks posed by the US MarineCorps Futenma Air Station, which occupies a quarter of thetotal area of the city (see photograph).

There is also a strong interest in the political, economic andsecurity dimensions of globalization and regionalization. Themain task of the cluster has been to analyze how these twinprocesses have influenced the behaviour of a range of actorsin East Asia as well as how these actors have influenced theprocesses. With this goal in mind, an international workshopwill be held early in 2008 to explore what lessons both theUK and Japan can learn from their participation in the Groupof Eight summit to be held in Japan next summer.

A selection of books published bySEAS staff over recent years.

Globalization and regionalization clusterThis cluster brings together a number of the School’s staff specializing in politics, business and international relations. However,much of the cluster’s work cuts across disciplines and is often carried out in cooperation with researchers in East Asia, as wellas members of other clusters.

J21897_EastAsia 4/12/07 10:46

and SEAS staff members have activelycontributed to the dissemination ofresearch to a variety of interestedorganizations such as the EuropeanCommission, the governments ofKorea and Vietnam, Sheffield CityCouncil and the UK Foreign andCommonwealth Office. In addition, theBBC and a number of other mediaoutlets regularly call upon theSchool’s research expertise in EastAsia on issues such as traditional andmodern Chinese culture, North Korea,mining disasters in China and race inJapan.

The School has also been active intraining young researchers who go onto find employment in a range of fieldsboth within and outside academia.Since 2001, twenty-five PhD studentshave graduated, many of whom arenow employed in UK, European andEast Asian universities. In contrast, Dr Hamanaka Shintaro

_is now one of

Japan’s representatives at the WorldTrade Organization in Geneva.

As a result of the activities of SEASstaff and students, the School hasbuilt a reputation as one of the mainEuropean centres for research on theeconomics, politics, cultures andsocieties of contemporary East Asia.This reputation was consolidated in2006 when SEAS was awarded, incollaboration with its counterpart atthe University of Leeds, £4 million toestablish a national centre ofexcellence – the White Rose East AsiaCentre (WREAC). This is the onlycentre of excellence in the UK dealingwith Japan and one of only twocovering China.

The future is looking bright with plansto establish a Centre for the Study ofAsian Film under the aegis of WREACto consolidate the consortium’ssubstantial existing expertise and aninternational workshop in March 2008on interdisciplinary and comparativeapproaches to the writing of lifehistories in China.


ng East Asia an end and UK universities prepare to have their research activities the research that is conducted within the School of East Asian Studies.

A Japanese shanty town in the shadow of a new high-speed rail link (photograph courtesy of Peter Matanle).

Social change and mobility clusterThis cluster embraces a broad range of members with expertise in history, sociology, politics, gender studies and developmentstudies. This offers a fertile ground on which interdisciplinary research projects can be nurtured.

The main aim of the cluster is to stimulate lively discussions andcollaboration amongst staff in order to develop individual andcollaborative projects on such issues as poverty, migration, workand employment, social policy, urban culture, environment, risk,demographic changes and gender.

In July 2007, the cluster organized an international symposiumentitled “Mediating Risk in Japan and East Asia” in cooperationwith Rikkyo

_and Do

_shisha Universities in Japan and the Japan

Society for the Promotion of Science. Participants came toSheffield from Japan, the US, Germany and France, and exploreddifferent notions of risk in Japan and China in areas such as theenvironment, education, crime and epidemics such as bird flu.

In a similar vein, Dr Peter Matanle is currently organizing aninternational symposium entitled “Japan’s Shrinking Regions”,which will explore depopulation and attempts at regeneration inJapan’s rural areas (see photograph). Also, the cluster is planningto hold an international workshop on changing social strata withcolleagues in Leeds under WREAC’s remit.

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One of the most dramaticchanges that occurred in thewake of the 1997 financialcrisis in South Korea was theshift in government policy andattitudes towards inwardforeign direct investment(IFDI). Inward investment,which had been regarded as asecond-best option forfunding development from the1960s through to the late1990s, took on a newsignificance and attraction forpolicymakers. They recognizedthe role that foreign investorscould play in helping Korea

recover from the crisis and create a solid foundationfor sustainable economic growth. However, despite thegovernment’s best efforts, IFDI levels were levelling offby the early years of the twenty-first century,prompting a vigorous debate on what action thegovernment could take to make Korea a moreattractive location for investment.

In 2006, I carried out a series of in-depth interviewswith European investors in Seoul to gain theirperspectives on barriers to investment in Korea. Themessage that came out of these interviews was clear –whilst great progress had been made in reforming the“hardware” relating to inward investment (includingthe creation of world-class legislation, regulations,systems and institutions), there had been far lesschange in terms of the “software”, as traditional values,mindsets and attitudes remained deeply embedded incertain sectors of Korean business, bureaucracy andsociety.

The interviews also revealed a strong consensus thatthe major problems experienced by Europeansinvesting in Korea were the result of “mismatchedglobalization.” This “mismatch” occurs when the pace ofeconomic globalization outstrips that of culturalglobalization. Examples of “mismatches” given by theinterviewees included the lack of transparency in theinterpretation and implementation of legislation andregulations. In addition, government policies aimed atpromoting IFDI, as well as liberalizing and deregulatingthe economy, are undermined by forces of resistance

within public institutions. Finally, foreign investors facenumerous difficulties in recruiting young people withthe skills needed in the global workplace from aneducation system that is ranked amongst the world’sbest in terms of the proportion of the populationgraduating from university.

The changes neededto address theseand other problemsfacing foreigninvestors relatemore to Koreansociety, education,culture andbureaucracy thanthey do tobusiness andeconomics. Even ifthe social andcultural changesthat are crucialfor transformingthe Korean“software” areaccepted as beingnecessary and in the nationalinterest, they cannot be legislated for by thegovernment and are likely to take more than onegeneration to accomplish. The phase of “mismatchedglobalization” is, therefore, likely to be a lengthy oneand the Korean government has a clear and significantcontribution to make during this period if it wishes todismantle the barriers to investment identified byEuropean investors.

Whilst the onus in terms of promoting change andreform clearly lies with the Korean government, foreigninvestors also have an important role to play in thisprocess. Provided that they have a sense of confidencethat dialogue and debate can lead to substantivechanges, foreign investors should continue to engagewith the Korean government in pursuit of a commongoal: the promotion of political, social and culturalchange that will benefit Korean corporations andforeign multinationals alike by creating a business andinvestment environment in which they can all thriveand contribute to Korea’s continuing economic growthand success.

Investing in Korea’s futureDr Judith Cherry, Lecturer in Korean Studies, has just published her latest bookentitled Foreign Direct Investment in Post-Crisis Korea: European Investors and“Mismatched Globalization.”

J21897_EastAsia 4/12/07 10:47


What do you dream of when yougraduate? I recall putting my pendown after the last exam andheading off to the pub for a nightto remember but with no real ideaof what I wanted to do next. I knewthat I didn’t want to do apostgraduate course and I’dalready satisfied my desire totravel. With the benefit ofhindsight, maybe I should haveconsulted the University’s CareersService, but that would have beenfar too organized for me.

I remember thinking of working intelevision, but it was more of a pipedream than something that wouldever come true. From the outside,television looked like animpenetrable world and alsopotentially a waste of my degree inJapanese Studies, which I’d workedrather hard to get.

Then, as luck would have it, I foundmyself playing tennis oneafternoon with someone whowrites for the BBC soap operaEastenders. He was working on ashort film with an actor who hadappeared in the comedy The Officeand asked if I could help. I jumpedat the chance.

Inertia is not your friend whenbouncing a fat person upside-downon a bungee. I know that now. Thatwas my first, but definitely not mylast, surreal experience whenworking in production. I’ve carriedan eel home on the LondonUnderground, led a goat throughCovent Garden and taken a trainfrom Aldwych to Holborn sometwenty years after the line closed.And if Benazir Bhutto is ever againPrime Minister of Pakistan and younotice that her glasses look a bitcrooked, it was me that sat on herhandbag.

This is why I work in production. It’scompletely full of unexpectedexperiences that you could neverget by just sitting in an office. Eventhough I’ve now reached the level ofproducer, I never know what theclient is going to come up with, orwhat I’m going to suggest to themfor their next project.

It’s Japanese that got me to Dubai. A company in London was lookingfor someone with Japanese languageskills, production experience, asense of adventure and willingnessto move to Dubai and set up itsbranch office. The job was made for me. After setting the companyup, I departed to set up my own,Clipps, which is now a year old anddoing well.

Clipps generally makescommercials, corporate videos andmusic videos for various clients

worldwide. So far this year, inaddition to various Dubai-basedprojects including one for Toyota,we’ve shot several music videos inCairo for Egyptian and Lebaneseartists. We are currently shootingfive more music videos in Beirut,as well as various corporate videosfor clients who want to target theMiddle Eastern market. You canfind out more about Clipps at:www.clipps.com

I can't quite believe that I’m heredoing the job I dreamed of yearsago, with blue skies and sunshineto boot. Dubai is a great place tolive and you can see photos of mytime here at:www.rupertchesman.com

And if you ever meet BenazirBhutto, please don’t tell her whosat on her handbag.

Sun, sand and scriptsIn his pursuit of a career in television production, Rupert Chesman(BA in Japanese Studies, 2002) now lives and works in Dubai and hasrecently set up his own company.

Rupert (far right) on set in Dubai.

J21897_EastAsia 4/12/07 10:47


I first became interested in the Hokkien dialect when Istarted learning it as a student in Taiwan in the mid-1990s. Hokkien – also known as Minnanyu or “Amoydialect” – originated in China’s Fujian province, but is nowspoken widely throughout Taiwan and in other ethnicChinese communities in Southeast Asia. I beganconducting research on Hokkien popular music in Taiwansome years ago. But it was only after working inSingapore in 2006 that I began to explore a largelyforgotten genre of cinema that was made in Hokkien inthe postwar years, and which once enjoyed a hugemarket throughout Southeast Asia – the so-called “Amoy-dialect films” (Xiayupian).

Amoy-dialect films were those produced in Hong Kongfor sale to Hokkien-speaking markets in Taiwan, the

Philippines, Singapore and (what was then) Malaya fromthe mid-1950s until the early 1960s. The industry wascreated by Southeast Asian Chinese investors and cinemaoperators but was only possible thanks to a communityof Hokkien-speaking performers in Hong Kong itself,including people who had fled the Chinese mainlandfollowing the Communist revolution there, or who hadbecome stranded in Hong Kong en route to SoutheastAsia.

At the industry’s height in the late 1950s, scores of Amoy-dialect films were produced each year by a host ofdifferent companies. Topics ranged from traditionalHokkien opera to modern romantic comedies.

Yet what is most remarkable about the industry is itshistorical context. Amoy-dialect films peaked at what isgenerally regarded as a period of substantial politicalupheaval for Hokkien-speaking communities in Asia, witha Communist insurgency in Malaya and an increasinglyrepressive Nationalist regime in Taiwan. This was also anera in which Chinese dialects such as Hokkien werebeginning to be looked down upon by variousgovernments throughout the region. The success of theindustry in spite of such developments raises all kinds ofinteresting questions.

Today, few Amoy-dialect films actually survive. Probablythe best existing collection is that held by the Hong KongFilm Archive, which I visited for the second time earlierthis year. Nevertheless, ephemera and information canstill be found in other archives and collectionsthroughout the Chinese world. And plenty of people stillremember these films, including those who were actuallyinvolved in making them. I was even fortunate enough tomeet and speak to Chuang Hsueh-fang, one of theoriginal stars of Xiayupian, in Singapore last year.

Some of my preliminary work on Amoy-dialect films waspresented at the conference “Global Perspectives on FilmCultures, Film Exhibition and Cinema-going” in Belgium inDecember 2007, and will appear in the journal Inter-AsiaCultural Studies in March 2008. There is still a great dealmore work to be done on this topic and SEAS is theperfect place to be doing it, given the School’s stronggrounding in East Asian film studies.

A poster for the film White Fan (reproduced with the permission of theNational Archives of Singapore).

With all the attention focused on Mandarin Chinese these days, it is easyto overlook the many other forms of Chinese that are spoken throughoutAsia. Dr Jeremy Taylor, Lecturer in Chinese Studies at SEAS, has beenlooking at one form of Chinese – Hokkien – by examining a genre of filmthat was made in this dialect back in the 1950s and 1960s.

A forgotten cinema

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The School of East Asian Studies waspleased to welcome Dr Harald Fuessto Sheffield in September 2007.Harald has been appointed as anacademic fellow in the NationalInstitute of Japanese Studies, part ofthe White Rose East Asia Centrecreated in 2006 as a joint consortiumbetween the Universities of Sheffieldand Leeds.

Harald spent his childhood in Franceand Germany before moving to the USto study for a BA in History and EastAsian Studies at Princeton University.He then entered the PhD programmeat Harvard University and spent threeyears researching his thesis onmarriage and divorce in Japanesehistory at the University of Tokyo.

Harald’s first position was as aresearch associate at the German

National Institute for Japanese Studiesin Tokyo, followed by a period as amanagement consultant at the BostonConsulting Group in Frankfurt. Hereturned to the academic world as anassociate professor teachingJapanese history at Sophia Universityin Tokyo. However, after a total offifteen years in Japan, he decided toreturn to Europe and brings with himhis accumulated expertise in thestudy of Japan.

Harald has published in English,German and Japanese in the fields ofsociety, law and business of modernJapan, usually from a historicalperspective. His best known book isDivorce in Japan, published byStanford University Press in 2004.Related publications have coveredsubjects such as fatherhood, thecrisis of masculinity in contemporary

Japan and the criminalization ofadultery in Meiji Japan. He iscurrently planning to write a book onthe role of Christian missionaries inthe development of education inmodern Japan and the history ofcapitalism and consumption asreflected in the spread of beer toEast Asia. Let’s drink to that!

Welcome to SEAS

Born in early January 1966 and brought up in Chengdu,Sichuan Province, few people here were aware that Ying’sfirst degree was in pharmaceutical science, taken at WestChina University of Medical Science in Chengdu. This wasalso where she first met her husband Li Ran. Li’s career inengineering brought them to the UK, and whilst living inEdinburgh Ying took an MSc degree in InformationTechnology. Her first library work was as a ChineseProject Officer in the University Library at Durham. Her

then boss, Mamtimyn Sunuodula, charged her with the jobof retrospectively cataloguing the Chinese collection anddescribes her as having “more or less single-handedlycompleted this task well within the target time.”

That was typical of Ying – self-motivated, meticulous,hard-working and always keen to broaden her skills. Whenshe came for interview to join the team in Sheffield in2002, she outshone the other candidates with herenthusiasm and eager anticipation of the opportunity towork directly with students and researchers. She was alsokeen to learn more about Japan and Korea. So, for threeyears she studied the Korean language and had justrecently embarked on a Japanese language course. Thefact that each Japanese character seemed to have lots ofdifferent pronunciations was the cause of muchindignation!

Her outgoing and pleasant personality will beremembered by everyone who met her and that broadsmile will never be forgotten. I know I speak for manywhen I say that she leaves us with a great sadness that her life was ended so early.

Ying leaves a family, husband Li Ran, and two youngchildren, Siaolu and Jason, who have moved back toDurham where Li works for the university.

Obituary – Ying LuSEAS is saddened to announce that Ying Lu, our Chinese cataloguer and libraryassistant, died at home in Sheffield on 6 August 2007 after a short battle with cancer.Gill Goddard, East Asian Studies librarian, pays tribute to Ying.

Ying Lu (far right) with her family.

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In mid-August 2007, I attended aninternational conference entitled“Rising China in the Age ofGlobalization” at University CollegeDublin (UCD). This conference wasco-organized by UCD and China’sRenmin University and attractedscholars, experts and governmentofficials from across the world.

With its rapideconomicdevelopmentduring the pasttwo decades,China hasbecome anincreasinglyinfluential powerin the world andthis conferenceprovided anopportunity todiscuss recentdevelopments inChinese political,economic,cultural and legalfields. I gave a poster presentationbased on my PhD research entitled“Widening Regional EconomicInequality within Guangdong and itsGeographical Cause.”

My research demonstrates theextent to which regional income

inequality within GuangdongProvince has intensified since 1980.Guangdong has made remarkableachievements in economic growthduring the “reform and open-door”period since the late 1970s. In fact, ithas been one of the fastest growingprovinces in China. However,although the policies implemented

by the Chinese government havesignificantly contributed to the rapideconomic development ofGuangdong, the benefits of this fasteconomic growth have not beendistributed equally amongst theareas within Guangdong. Economicgrowth in the peripheral and hill

regions has been much slower thanthe Pearl River Delta Area (PRDA)and a sharp difference in incomesbetween the PRDA and periphery isparticularly evident.

My research points to two causes:on the one hand, the geographicaladvantage of coastal and market

proximity has playedan important role;whilst on the otherhand, the benefits ofthe clusteringtogether of economicactivity have alsobeen crucial incontributing to thecore-peripherypattern of regionalincome inequality.

Not only did thisconference providean opportunity for meto present myongoing research, Iwas also lucky enough

to meet a hero of mine, ProfessorRobert Mundell of ColumbiaUniversity, a Nobel Prize winner andwidely acknowledged as the “fatherof the Euro.”

Rising China and its regionsHong Yu, a PhD candidate in the School of East Asian Studies, discusses his research intoeconomic inequality in China’s regions.

SEAS was delighted to welcome Professor GavanMcCormack back to Yorkshire in October to givea special lecture for the National Institute ofJapanese Studies. Professor McCormack is anemeritus professor at the Australian NationalUniversity and one of the world’s leading scholarsof contemporary Japan and the East Asia region.He was visiting the UK to promote his new bookClient State: Japan in the American Embrace,which provided the focus of a typically thought-provoking lecture.

Japan in the American embrace

Professor Gavan McCormack and hisnew book (photograph courtesy of Bob Cooper, Coombs Photography, the Australian National University) .

Hong Yu (right) withProfessor RobertMundell, 1999 Nobel PrizeLaureate in Economics.

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The Department of Music at Sheffield has had anestablished interest in the music of China, Japan, Koreaand Taiwan for ten years now, with two members ofstaff teaching and conducting research in this area –Dr Andrew Killick, a specialist in Korean music, andmyself with an interest in Chinese music.

There are currently twenty-five or so researchprojects currently underway in the department. Manyof these doctoral students employ ethnographicapproaches, alongside historical study and specialistmusic analysis, to a very wide range of topics. Forexample, Benedikt Bayer is studying improvization onthe qin (a Chinese seven-stringed zither), Jiang Shu islooking at Beijing’s alternative rock scene, TakahashiMichiko is analysing the impact of European folk musicin Japan, Celia Lee is assessing contemporaryorchestral scores by the Paris-based composer ChenQigang, Samuel Wong is focusing on the SingaporeChinese Orchestra and Kwon Hyunseok is undertakingan ethnographic study of local arts in GyeongsangnamProvince in South Korea.

Musical performance has always figured prominentlyas a research technique. Not only is learning toperform an excellent means of gaining primary accessto musicians and forging a personal basis of experiencewithin the tradition or style in question, it is also astrong medium to use for the dissemination ofresearch results.

A case in point is Lu Chin-Shih, who recently gave arecital as a formal part of her PhD examinations. She isa performer of the four-stringed lute known as thepipa and has previously studied at the CentralConservatory in Beijing as well as in her native Taiwan.Her research topic is the transformation of pipaperformance style following the opening of Taiwan tomainland Chinese musical influence over the last twodecades. An earlier, lyrical and restrained performanceaesthetic has been losing ground to a more elaborateand emotive mainland style that is display-oriented andtechnically brilliant. This leads to revisions to thetraditional repertory, the updating of old pieces to suitthe new style and the creation of new pieces to furtherexploit and develop the possibilities of virtuosic

performers and instruments redesigned for maximumtechnical display.

Chin-Shih’s study here has been marked not only bythe production of a PhD thesis and a major recitalcomparing older and more contemporaryperformance styles across a range of solos, but also bythe birth of two children. She even admits to havingspent her honeymoon in Sheffield, visiting here to seewhether it would be a suitable place to study. Chin-Shih’s sister, Lu Pan-Ling is also enrolled at theDepartment of Music as a doctoral student, her topicbeing the dizi, a bamboo flute, and its repertory.

East Asian music, whether by students, staff or visitingprofessionals, features outside the curriculum too.Amongst other examples, we have stagedperformances of the Chinese two-stringed fiddle(erhu), Taiwanese ballads, Beijing opera andcontemporary compositions for the Chinese zither(zheng) and its Korean and Japanese counterparts(kayaguvm and koto). Everyone is welcome to attendthese performances.

Professor Jonathan Stock of the Department of Musicat Sheffield introduces the postgraduate work that iscurrently being undertaken in the Department.

East Asian music at Sheffield

Lu Chin-Shih andher pipa.

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East Asian Studies degrees The School of East Asian Studies offers a wide range of single anddual honours degrees, as well as postgraduate taught and researchdegrees. For further information, contact [email protected], orsee the School’s webpages: http://www.shef.ac.uk/seas

A group of SEAS students participated in a public debateagainst a team of Chinese students from ZhejiangUniversity on 12 October 2007 at the University ofSheffield. The event was part of the International VarsityDebate, which is run by, and will be broadcast on, China’smain television station, China Central Television.

In front of a Chinese audience, made up of students fromboth the University of Sheffield and Sheffield HallamUniversity, the Sheffield team debated the topic ofwhether family or society should take the major role inlooking after the ageing population. They argued forsociety to take the role, where as the Chinese students putthe case across for family to take the role.

Dr Lily Chen, Director of Sheffield’s Confucius Institute andLecturer in Chinese Studies, coachedthe Sheffield team and believes that“this was a wonderful chance for ourstudents to step out of theclassroom and experience a real-lifeevent that tests their ability to useChinese effectively. It alsodemonstrated to the outside worldthe dedication of our students.”

Richard Duffy, Captain of theSheffield team, commented that“this competition was a greatopportunity for me and my fellowteam mates to improve our Chineseskills in both speaking and listening.Our preparation with Chinesestudents studying locally has given usa real insight into what it is like todebate with native speakers ofChinese and has given us the chanceto make new friends.”

School of East Asian StudiesThe University of SheffieldWestern Bank, SheffieldS10 2TN, UK

Tel: +44 (0) 114 222 8437Email: [email protected]

is published by the School of East AsianStudies at the University of Sheffield.

Enquiries to:Dr Hugo Dobson Editor

EASTASIA@SHEFFIELD

EASTASIA@SHEFFIELD

Copyright © 2007 The University of Sheffield

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BA degrees

Most degrees involve four years of study.Those marked with an asterisk take threeyears.

Single honoursChinese StudiesJapanese StudiesKorean StudiesEast Asian Studies*

Dual honoursChinese Studies and/History,Management, MusicChinese Studies with/French, German,Japanese, Russian, SpanishJapanese Studies and/History, Linguistics,Management, Politics, SociologyJapanese Studies with/German, Russian,SpanishFrench/Germanic/Hispanic/RussianStudies with JapaneseKorean Studies and/Linguistics,Management, MusicKorean Studies with JapaneseEast Asian Studies and/Management,Music, Russian Studies*International Politics and East AsianStudies*

Postgraduate taught degrees

In-houseMA/Diploma/Certificate in ChineseStudiesMSc/Diploma/Certificate in ChineseBusiness and International RelationsMSc/Diploma/Certificate in ChineseLanguage, Business and InternationalRelationsMA/Diploma/Certificate in JapaneseStudiesMA/Diploma/Certificate in AdvancedJapanese StudiesMA/Diploma/Certificate in AdvancedJapanese Studies (Research Methods)MA/Diploma/Certificate in ModernKorean StudiesMSc/Diploma/Certificate in East AsianPolitical EconomyMSc/Diploma/Certificate in East AsianBusiness

Distance learningMA/Diploma in Japanese Language andSocietyMA in Advanced Japanese StudiesMSc in Chinese Business and InternationalRelationsMSc/Diploma in Chinese Language,Business and International Relations

International Varsity Debate

The Sheffield team: (from left to right) Lance Pursey,Tom Viart, Jodie Gardiner and Richard Duffy(photograph courtesy of Ian M. Spooner).

Postgraduate research degrees

PhD supervision is available in a wide range of subject areas on China, Japan, Korea andintra-regional studies.

In addition, a number of scholarships are available through the White Rose East Asia Centre.

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issn 1472-6653 december 2007 number 15 students give .../file/december2007.pdfmy favourite is the...

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