Presentation Day

Yesterday’s presentation went very well. There were some nice comments from others and a few questions. I feel like my work was appreciated, which is a nice feeling. Many people appreciated my approach and are interested in exploring it more, as well as reading more about Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly’s theory of borders which I base my approach on. If more people read and apply Emmanuel’s theory to their work, then I think that I can count this conference a success.

As for the other presentations, I only wish we had more time as everyone’s presentation was interesting. We had to get through each and every presentation, so we were very limited for time. As it was, even with tight moderation, we were one hour over schedule by the end of the day. Of the presentations that really stick out in my mind are Jabin Jacob’s presentation on how local provinces along the Indian and Chinese border need to start working together, and Andrew Burridge’s passionate and striking telling of the criminalization of immigration on the US-Mexico border and its human toll. Showing how 500 migrant deaths occur each year mainly due to hyperthermia chilled me to the bone. As well, I learned a lot about central Asia. The immigration problems from central Asian republics to Russia reminds me a lot of the Mexico-U.S. border, the trans-boundary water resource issues remind me of the multitude of Canada-US issues but with multiple governments.

After the presentations we went out for dinner and then went to a Karaoke Bar and sang songs until 2:00 in the morning. It was an authentic Japanese experience with about 15 people in a room singing and dancing away.  For those who know me, I am sure you are not surprised that I belted out more than a few tunes often with the enthusiastic help of others, as my choice in music is superb. Well, maybe it’s just superbly eclectic, but people really enjoyed the songs I chose. I can now take “Sing Karaoke in Japan” off my to do list.

I got back to the hotel at 2:15am and gave April a call since it was 10:00am in the yesterday back in Canada. I am impressed with Skype. It cuts in and out, but for the most part it works very well. It was late and I needed to go to bed. I made contact with the most important person, so I felt it would be in my best interest to steal a few hours of sleep. The group was meeting at 8:20 at the Sapporo Japan Rail Station to go to the city of Hakodate for the weekend.

Doing that thing I do

This was citrus sherbet in a plastic tube you squeeze out. It was refreshing.

They had these jelly packs at the University Co-op. They are essentially vitamins and supplements in Jello. Consuming lots of white rice can do a number on one's digestive system, so the "Fiber & diet" with 1100mg of fiber sounded like a good idea for 100 Yen. It was actually much tastier than I expected.

Conference: Day One Summary

Yesterday was a very full day.

As I mentioned earlier, the conference started today. The purpose of this conference is threefold:
1. It hopes to bring together and bridge the various networks that study borders from around the world.
2. It hopes to introduce the resources of the Slavic Studies Research Centre at Hokkaido University to researchers around the world.
3. It hopes to bring together to introduce young researchers to each other in order to establish networks.

I can certainly say that it has been successful on point three. The centre is translating information into English, so it is likely going to be successful on point one. And, on point three, the dedication of the people who work here has lead to the establishment of the first edition of the Eurasia Border Review. Given the importance of Central Asia for natural resources and the multitude of borders in this region, I am confident that point one will be met.

We learned about the history of the Kuril islands and their settlement between the Japanese and the Russians. It is quite fascinating how

We also had lectures on the Japanese maritime borders, piracy and border island municipal governments. Dr. Koji Furukawa’s talk on municipal government was my favourite and the similarities between Canada are quite striking. The central government says it wants to increase economic activity in these areas but has no clue on how to do this. When local governments come up with innovative ideas the central government refuses these ideas. There is a great disconnect between the border areas and Tokyo and most bureaucrats in Tokyo have never been to the borderlands and don’t understand them. It sounds a lot like Ottawa! Dr. Furukawa concludes that local politics is extremely important and border governments have to take the initiative to look after themselves because the central government will not do it for them. This is a very similar conclusion to my findings on the Canada-U.S. border.
The furthest south Japanese “island” is a piece of coral about six feet in circumference. A concrete barrier surrounds it so that the water does not engulf and submerge it. Because of global warming, the Japanese are now attempting to grow more coral to increase its size. It has no strategic value whatsoever. It’s really quite comical.

We had a welcome diner at the Sapporo beer gardens where they serve all you can eat lamb stir-fry (called Genghis Khan) that you make on the table in front of you. Many others took advantage of the all you can drink beer while I had numerous Coca Colas. It was delicious and a good time was had by all. The vegetarians were relegated to a different table, but their meals looked delicious as well.
After the beer gardens we went to celebrate the 30th birthday of a friend of one of the English (England) PhD students here –a Bulgarian named Slavvy (I think it was a nickname of sorts. I had fascinating conversations about the differences between Slavic languages (We have a Macedonian, a Russian linguist, and a Russian Finn),  how the Balkan states functioned better when they were parts of larger empires and the failure of the nation-state concept in that area of the world, and hockey with the Finns.
I got back to the hotel at 1:00a.m. and this was early as most of the rest went on to find a karaoke bar. I do want to witness a karaoke bar, but it was too late for me. I am glad I didn’t continue as I heard some of the rest stumble and crash in around 4:00 a.m (the lectures start at 9:30—I think the drinkers are going to be hurting today).

Today we have lectures on Okinawa as a borderland and lectures on Sino-Russian relations, Central Asian migrant workers, and border issues in the Caucasus.

Dinner: Before

Dinner: During (Cooking)

Dinner: After (with wide open-mouth smile)

Old smokestack at Sapporo brewery