Professor Yuke Kawaji from Kyorin University in Tokyo visited UNSA Faculty of Philosophy

Last week, the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Sarajevo had the distinct honor of hosting Professor Yuke Kawaji from Kyorin University in Tokyo, alongside Professor Eleonora Yovkova Shii from Toyama University.

Professor Kawaji delivered a public lecture titled “TANKA: Traditional Japanese Poetry Through 1200 Years,” while Professor Yovkova Shii presented an online lecture entitled “Online Tools for Japanese Grammar Self-Study.” During these sessions, participants were introduced to advanced digital resources for autonomous learning of Japanese grammar and explored twenty-one masterpieces of TANKA poetry translated into Bosnian. The lectures were moderated by Japanese language lecturer Nozomi Miyanoya from the Department of English Language and Literature.

As part of her visit, Professor Kawaji also conducted a workshop on traditional Japanese poetry for students enrolled in the Japanese language course. During the workshop, participants were afforded the opportunity to delve deeper into this exquisite form of Japanese literary expression and to experiment with writing TANKA poetry themselves.

Professor Kawaji met with Doz. Dr. Minka Džanko, Vice Dean for Scientific Research, International Cooperation, and Publishing, and Professor Amira Sadiković from the Department of English Language and Literature. They discussed plans for establishing a Japanese Language Department and the success of the Japanese language course at the Faculty of Philosophy. Notably, several participants from this course have pursued their academic development at universities in Japan. During the meeting, Professor Amira Sadiković presented Professor Kawaji with a collection of works by writers and poets from Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with texts on stećci, translated into English, as a gift for Kyorin University.