The AsiaPOP! Symposium, happening this week from Sept. 11 to 14, will host a wide variety of events focused on different elements and art forms found in Asian pop culture.
Since holding its opening reception in late August, AsiaPOP! has already accepted submissions and awarded scholarships to the prizewinning individuals who participated in its manga art contest. This assortment of student-drawn manga can now be found both online and in the Ridenbaugh Gallery.
For those nowhere near ready to submit their artwork for assessment, a manga drawing workshop will be held today to kick off the series of AsiaPOP! activities.
Free movie screenings of Sailor Moon R: The Movie and The First Slam Dunk will be shown at the Kenworthy Theater on Tuesday and Wednesday evening, respectively.
On Thursday, two guest speakers will conclude the AsiaPOP! Symposium following a handful of other speakers who are scheduled to deliver lectures throughout the course of the week. The panel of speakers selected represent a broad spectrum of expertise, from academic leaders to professional voice actors to manga historians.
The Reflections Gallery located in the ISUB will also host the exhibit, Manga and War, until the end of the week. The exhibit, which marks the 70th year since Japan’s defeat in the Pacific War, includes several large pieces of manga and invites people passing by to stop and contemplate moments of history where emotional turmoil was heightened amidst wartime.
“It can be a simple story about good and bad, for like a teenager, or it can be about war trauma for a more matured audience,” said Yuta Kaminishi, a postdoctoral fellow and member of the planning committee for AsiaPOP!, while describing manga. “It’s such a dynamic field, and I would say it’s a core of Japanese popular culture.”
Kaminishi noted that recently popular animes, like Attack on Titan, were originally based on certain manga collections. Additionally, he mentioned that for any student interested in exploring manga after AsiaPOP! is finished, there are volumes available to students in the Administration Building, room 204.
The invention of AsiaPOP! follows the success of an event organized by the Habib Institute for Asian Studies this past year. University of Idaho previously welcomed Keiko Ogura, who described her personal experience as an 8-year-old Hiroshima survivor, during the Remembering Hiroshima event last September.
Jeff Kyong-McClain, the director of the Habib Institute, looks forward to welcoming interested participants to the events planned and is excited about being present himself.
“Our goal is to kind of build enthusiasm for [Asian studies] so that the University of Idaho can become a place where Asian studies attains some level of prominence,” said Kyong-McClain.
“I’m going to be learning along with everyone else who attends these events.”
The AsiaPOP! Symposium is open to all students, and a more detailed schedule with specific times and locations for each event can be found online. Even if you may not have the chance to attend each distinct activity, be on the lookout this week for stickers showing the anime versions of Scott Green or Joe Vandal hand-drawn by sophomore Cami Heath.
As things like K-Pop and Naruto have become increasingly more prominent in American pop culture, both Kong-McClain and Kaminishi believe it can be beneficial for anyone to more clearly understand the levels of influence stemming from Asian pop culture.
Therefore, if you find yourself questioning whether or not to listen to a guest speaker or try your own artistic hand at manga this week, take advice from Kaminishi yourself, “Why don’t you explore?”
Herman Roberts can be reached at [email protected]