The Japanese Language Club of the Center for East Asian Studies - first university-wide activity on December 15 2025
2025-12-15 08:00 - 17:00 UTC
The Japanese Language Club of the Center for East Asian Studies met for its first university-wide activity on December 15. The club members invited all West University of Timisoara students to watch together a classic of anime, director Miyazaki Hayao’s Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Spirited Away). Club members, the students of the Japanese Language and Literature Program of the Faculty of Letters, History, Philosophy, and Theology, were joined by students from other faculties who were eager to rewatch the beloved Miyazaki masterpiece and gained a different perspective on it. The movie and the discussion that followed turned into a wonderful opportunity for everyone to delve deeper into Japanese society and animation, especially cultural topics and elements that make the work a commentary on contemporary Japan.

CSAM meets CSEA
2025-11-21 10:00 - 12:00
On November 21st, the Center for American Studies (CSAM) organized a comparative workshop, moderated by PhD Candidate Derya Alim, a Teaching Assistant in the Japanese Language and Literature Program. During DRAMA! Theater between America and Asia: A Comparative Workshop, both Japanese and English majors discussed the two types of theater, brought up their favorite Japanese and American plays, compared Japanese adaptations of American plays and American adaptations of Japanese plays, debated the influences the two cultures had on each other and the translation of both classical and traditional plays and delved into similarities and differences of Japanese and American plays, both as texts and stage performances.

East Asian Studies Student Symposium
2025-05-16 08:00 - 2025-05-17 17:00 | Center for East Asian Studies (CSEA), Str. Paris nr. 1, Str. Paris nr. 1, Timisoara, Timis, 300003, Romania
The Center for East Asian Studies at the West University of Timișoara invites presentations for its first East Asian Studies Student Symposium to take place in hybrid format on May 16, 2025. Abstracts are invited in all research areas and periods for undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees and research topics in East Asian studies (China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan). Abstracts are expected to be submitted in English or Romanian, be no longer than 250 words, and be received by April 10th at email address: csea@e-uvt.ro
Presentations are invited in person, as well as virtually, depending on the presenter’s availability. The Center for East Asian Studies will cover accommodation for one to two nights for participants who are able to attend in person.
For any other inquiries related to the Symposium, students and their coordinating professors are encouraged to contact the organizers at the email address of The Center for East Asian Studies (csea@e-uvt.ro).
Final Schedule
Online streaming link

On May 16th-17th the East Asian Studies Center of the Faculty of Letters, History, Philosophy and Theology hosted the first International East Asian Studies Symposium.
This year, we received students from the West University of Timisoara from the English-Japanese and Romanian-Japanese language and literature specialties, as well as from other cities such as Bucharest, Alba-Iulia, and from outside the country, originating from Serbia and Armenia. The participants were given the choice of presenting in person or online, with hybrid panels at WUT streamed on Google Meet.
The interest has exceeded expectations, with over 30 participants, most of them attending in person, which contributed to an invaluable exchange between students. The panels were varied in topics, approaching literature, religion, history, culture, media and others in Japan, Korea and China, as well as in the language used, with panels in Romanian and in English.
The symposium itself was launched at the request and with the help of our 2nd year students from the English-Japanese specialty, who have dedicated their time ensuring its success in terms of logistics, selecting papers and communicating with participants among other tasks.
Our team:
Bobiț Arintina
Busuioc Ana
Chira Alexandra
Cvașa Anamaria
Demian Miruna
Faur Alexia
Ilban “Nate” Andrei
Rus Andreea
Șerban Mihaela
Tănase Teodora
Török Daria
Last but not least, this event would have been impossible without the coordination and support of the CSEA founder, George T. Sipos, PhD.
This is but the first of many editions so stay tuned to find out about next year’s symposium!

Event Gallery

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Japanese Culture Classes with Professor Narumi Yoshino
2025-03-03 - 2025-03-14 | West University of Timisoara, Bd. Vasile Pârvan 4, Timișoara, Timis, 300223, Romania
Professor Narumi Yoshino from Kindai University, Japan visited the West University of Timisoara’s Center for East Asian Studies, lending us her knowledge for two weeks, between March 3rd and March 14th, 2025. During this time, she held classes for 1st and 2nd year students pursuing degrees in Japanese language and literature, organising various cultural activities to their benefit.
Students had the opportunity to deepen their understanding of kanji by using traditional brushes, paper and ink in the writing of yojijukugo or four-character idioms. Additionally, they explored Japanese proverbs and their meaning by playing the traditional card game karuta, and, led by the Professor, learned and sung a popular tune, often performed at graduation ceremonies in Japan.

HaiKU noi la seara de literatură japonezăLa Două Bufnițe Piața Unirii nr. 11 (intrarea de pe Matei Corvin)
2024-06-05 18:00 - 20:00 | La Două Bufnițe, Piața Unirii nr. 11 (intrarea de pe Matei Corvin), Timișoara, Timiș, 300085, Romania
George T. Șipoș în dialog cu Loredana Pungă
pornind de la romanul Decădere umană de Osamu Dazai, Editura Humanitas Fiction, colecția Raftul Denisei, 2024.
Traducere, note și postfață de George T. Șipoș

Volumul de față include romanul Decădere umană, urmat de patru povestiri emblematice pentru personalitatea literară a celui care și-a pus amprenta asupra culturii nipone postbelice: Amintiri (Omoide, 1933), Eleva (Joseito, 1939), O sută de vederi ale Muntelui Fuji (Fugaku hyakkei, 1939), Opt scene din Tōkyō (Tōkyō hakkei, 1941). Lucrare reprezentativă a literaturii japoneze postbelice, Decădere umană este o carte-cult atât pentru publicul nipon, cât și pentru cititorii de pretutindeni. Folosind convenția jurnalelor găsite, cartea trasează destinul artistului Yōzō Ōba, a cărui viață este marcată de inadecvare, eșec, alienare și disperare.

Un eveniment al secției de japoneză din cadrul Facultății de Litere, Istorie și Teologie (Universitatea de Vest din Timișoara), Centrul de Studii Est-Asiatice și Librăria La Două Bufnițe.

Between May 23 and 25, 2024, H.E. The Ambassador of Japan to Romania, Mr. Takashi Katae, accompanied by Mr. Hiroshi Kudo, the Head of the Economic Section, visited Timișoara and the West University of Timișoara to attend the WUT 80 celebration
2024-05-23 08:00 - 2024-05-25 17:00 | West University of Timisoara, Bd. Vasile Pârvan 4, Timișoara, Timis, 300223, Romania
Between May 23 and 25, 2024, H.E. The Ambassador of Japan to Romania, Mr. Takashi Katae, accompanied by Mr. Hiroshi Kudo, the Head of the Economic Section, visited Timișoara and the West University of Timișoara to attend the WUT 80 celebration.
During their visit to Timisoara, Ambassador Katae and Mr. Kudo also met with Associate Professor Dr. George T. Sipos, the founding director of the Center for East Asian Studies and of the Japanese Language and Literature Program at WUT and with Professor Dr. Dana Percec, Dean of the Faculty of Letters, History and Theology at WUT to discuss the future of Japanese studies at WUT. During a lunch meeting and subsequent visit to WUT’s Center for East Asian Studies, H.E. Ambassador Katae has re-affirmed the embassy’s and his personal support for the development of Japanese studies at the West University of Timișoara.

Han Chinese Costume Workshop
2023-11-24 10:00 - 12:00 | Sala P08, Strada Paris nr. 1, Timișoara, Romania
Photo credit:
Maurizio Pavone
#Mau TM

SĂPTĂMÂNA CULTURII JAPONEZE LA TIMIȘOARAProiecție de film: Summer Film
2023-11-04 13:30 - 15:00 | Amfiteatrul A01 – UVT, Bd. Vasile Pârvan nr. 4, Timișoara, Romania
Join us for the Japanese Culture Week in Timișoara
and Inauguration of the Center for East Asian Studies
in the presence of Japan’s Ambassador to Romania. H.E. Hiroshi Ueda

SĂPTĂMÂNA CULTURII JAPONEZE LA TIMIȘOARANihon buyo - dans tradițional japonez
2023-11-04 13:00 - 13:30 | Aula Magna „Ioan Curea” – UVT, Bd. Vasile Pârvan nr. 4, Timișoara, Romania
Performed by WUT Master's student, Ms. Cristina Șendroiu, a disciple of Sakon Chigusa of the Hayanagi School

Join us for the Japanese Culture Week in Timișoara
and Inauguration of the Center for East Asian Studies
in the presence of Japan’s Ambassador to Romania. H.E. Hiroshi Ueda

SĂPTĂMÂNA CULTURII JAPONEZE LA TIMIȘOARADemonstrație și atelier de Tosenkyo
2023-11-04 12:30 - 13:00 | Hol parter – UVT, Bd. Vasile Pârvan nr. 4, Timișoara, Romania

SĂPTĂMÂNA CULTURII JAPONEZE LA TIMIȘOARAAteliere de caligrafie japoneză și origami
2023-11-04 10:30 - 12:30 | Hol parter – UVT, Bd. Vasile Pârvan nr. 4, Timișoara, Romania

SĂPTĂMÂNA CULTURII JAPONEZE LA TIMIȘOARAPrezentarea programului de burse pentru studenți al Ministerului Educației din Japonia
2023-11-03 14:00 - 15:00 | Amfiteatrul A01 – UVT, Bd. Vasile Pârvan nr. 4, Timișoara, Romania

SĂPTĂMÂNA CULTURII JAPONEZE LA TIMIȘOARAConferința ES dl. Hiroshi Ueda, ambasadorul Japoniei la București
2023-11-03 11:30 - 12:30 | Amfiteatrul A01 – UVT, Bd. Vasile Pârvan nr. 4, Timișoara, Romania

SĂPTĂMÂNA CULTURII JAPONEZE LA TIMIȘOARAInaugurarea Centrului de Studii Est-Asiatice al UVT
2023-11-03 10:15 - 11:00 | Sala P08, Strada Paris nr. 1, Timișoara, Romania

Diaspora @ WUT Guest lectureProf. univ. dr. emerita Stanca Scholz-CioncaSada Yacco la Timișoara în 1902: primul teatru japonez în Europa și perspectivele globalizării
2023-10-27 16:30 - 18:00 | Amfiteatrul A11, Bd. Vasile Pârvan nr. 4, Timișoara, Timiș, Romania

Japan Speaker Series Text and Image in Modern Japan: The Case of Shimazaki Tōson’s Novel Haru (Spring)
2022-06-02 14:00 - 16:00 | West University of Timisoara, Bd. Vasile Pârvan 4, Timișoara, Timis, 300223, Romania
via Google Meet: 14:00 (Romania) / 06:00 (US Central) / 20:00 (Japan)
This talk looks at the changing relationship(s) between text and image from pre-modern to modern Japan, with a focus on the work of Shimazaki Tōson, especially his novel Haru (Spring), published in installments in the Asahi newspaper (1908). Written in the modern and seemingly transparent genbun icchi (unified written and spoken) style and purporting to express the life and struggles of young Meiji intellectuals “as they really are,” Haru will be discussed in conjunction with the sketch-like illustrations provided by young painter Natori Shunsen. Natori takes numerous representational hints from European movements such as Art Nouveau, while drawing on the other hand from his experience as a reporter.

Associate Professor Irina Holca, Ph.D.
Irina Holca obtained her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in modern Japanese literature from Nara University of Education and Osaka University, respectively. She joined Kyoto University’s Institute for Research in the Humanities as a senior lecturer in 2014 and went on to become an associate professor in the PEAK Program at the University of Tokyo in 2019. She specializes in modern and contemporary Japanese literature and is interested in translation and media studies. She is the author of The (Re)Opened Text: Media, Otherness, and Gender in Shimazaki Tōson’s Works (Bensei Shuppan, 2018; in Japanese), and co-editor of Forms of the Body in Contemporary Japanese Literature, Society, and Culture (Rowman and Littlefield, 2020). A translator of Japanese novels into Romanian, Holca published works such as Banana Yoshimoto’s Kitchen, Natsume Sōseki’s I Am a Cat, Mori Ogai’s Vita Sexualis, among others.

Layered Narratives, Literary Spirits: Writing The Kimono Tattoo
2022-04-20 17:00 - 18:00 | West University of Timisoara, Bd. Vasile Pârvan 4, Timișoara, Timis, 300223, Romania
Click on image for meet link
Persons interested to attend are asked to RSVP

In her lecture, Professor Copeland will discuss her debut novel The Kimono Tattoo published in June 2021 by Brother Mockingbrid Press and recipient of the 2022 Independent Press Award.

Silks unravels. A tattoo is forever. Layer by layer the truth is revealed.
This vision of silk enrobing the body, inky beauty of tattoos, and the specter of murder drove my first novel, The Kimono Tattoo. A fan of the murder mystery, I planned to try my hand at this popular genre to introduce American readers to Kyoto and aspects of Japanese culture. But before I was even aware of it, I found my story incorporating tropes, images, and scenarios from earlier Japanese literature, and especially from the work of Uno Chiyo and Enchi Fumiko. At times I almost felt as if a portal had opened somewhere in my writing world and had admitted the spirits of these writers. How did my earlier encounters with their twists in plot and character, and their hidden messages shape what I wrote? In this presentation I will reflect on these visiting spirits as a means to pay homage to the literary luminaries that inspired my debut novel and guided my career as a scholar, teacher, and translator of Japanese women’s writing.”
(Rebecca Copeland)

Rebecca Copeland is professor of Japanese literature at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research focuses on modern women’s writing, translation, and gender. Her published works include The Modern Murasaki: Writing by Women of Meiji Japan (2006), co-edited with Dr. Melek Ortabasi; Woman Critiqued: Translated Essays on Japanese Women’s Writing (2006); The Father-Daughter Plot: Japanese Literary Women and the Law of the Father (2001), co-edited with Dr. Esperanza Ramirez-Christensen; Lost Leaves: Women Writers of Meiji Japan (2000); and The Sound of the Wind: The Life and Works of Uno Chiyo (1992). She has also translated the works of Kirino Natsuo, Uno Chiyo, and Hirabayashi Taiko, among others.
More recently she has turned her attention to creative writing. Her debut novel, The Kimono Tattoo, winner of the 2022 Independent Press Award, was published by Brother Mockingbird Press in June 2021. That same month, Stone Bridge Press released Yamamba: In Search of the Japanese Mountain Witch, a collection of creative responses to the yamamba, which she co-edited with Linda C. Ehrlich.
