Call for Symposium Presenters: Rural Medieval: Tabihikitsuke & Sixteenth-century Japan

Japan Past & Present (JPP) is pleased to invite paper proposals for a symposium hosted by its Premodern Japan Collaborative: "Rural Medieval: Tabihikitsuke and Sixteenth-century Japan," to be conducted bilingually in Japanese and English at UCLA on October 2–3, 2026.

This symposium will bring together scholars and educators from around the world to present research and pedagogy materials related to the late medieval diary of Kujō Masamoto 九条政基 (1445–1516), known as Masamoto kō tabihikitsuke 政基公旅引付 (or simply, Tabihikitsuke). Tabihikitsuke documents Masamoto's activities managing his family's estate in Izumi Province from the years 1501–1504, offering an intimate portrayal of rural society; political interactions with regional power-holders; and the cultural, spiritual, and social norms of the time. 

In preparation for the forthcoming digital publication of a transcription and translation of the diary in collaboration with Lee Butler (author of Four Years in Izumi: Village Japan in the Early Sixteenth Century) on the JPP website, we invite proposals for presentations pertaining to Tabihikitsuke and its world. Potential topics might include sociopolitical relationships in and beyond Izumi Province; rural communities; poetics, literary references, or other elements of the diary's content; local incarnations of performance, spirituality, and cultural practices; the materiality of the manuscript; or Tabihikitsuke's textual history and reception. Presentations may be research-oriented or teaching-oriented (e.g., pedagogical materials developed for using Tabihikitsuke in classroom settings).

The symposium will include time for discussion focused on the development of the JPP Tabihikitsuke translation project; after the symposium, presenters will be expected to work with the project leaders to prepare the texts for publication on the Japan Past & Present website. We hope this symposium and the resulting digital edition will encourage engagement with Tabihikitsuke and promote knowledge of Japan's medieval world more broadly. 

The Yanai Initiative will cover the cost of travel and accommodations for accepted speakers.

Paper titles and proposal abstracts (approximately 300–400 words in English or 600–800 characters in Japanese) and a CV of no more than 2 pages should be submitted via email to pjc@japanpastandpresent.org and admin@japanpastandpresent.org by June 19, 2026, 11:59 PM (PT). 

The languages of the symposium will be English and Japanese, and presentations will be primarily in-person with limited access for remote participation. Proposals will be reviewed, and notifications sent out, by mid July. Please address any questions to Dr. Nadia Kanagawa (pjc@japanpastandpresent.org) and Dr. Paula R. Curtis (admin@japanpastandpresent.org).