CineMAP Japan Beta, A Symposium:
Location, Location, Location 

Join us for a workshop at the University of Wisconsin-Madison May 3-4, 2024 for the launch of CineMAP, a tool for recording and visualizing the locations of Japanese films.  

"CineMAP JAPAN Beta, A Symposium" is an opportunity for scholars to reflect on the use value, affordances, work to be done, and limitations of a new research tool—CineMAP Japan. CineMAP Japan is a database and visualization tool which will allow users to map the locations where Japanese films were shot. 

With location data thousands of Japanese films from 1897 to 2020, the tool can be used for thinking spatially about the history of film, culturally about urban development, or about the efficacy of soft power policies promoting tourism to pop culture pilgrimage sites. 

Following a zoom session in March explaining the tool, participants will be given access to the CineMAP visualization tool and its data with the expectation that they will present their findings or impressions of experimenting with the tool at the symposium in Madison. 

For information on registering to join the symposium virtually, visit the event page.

After the symposium, written versions of presentations (500-2000 words) will be posted on the CineMAP Japan Beta website hosted by Japan Past & Present. This event is supported by a Yanai Initiative grant, a Northeast Asia Council grant from the Association of Asian Studies, and the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Workshop Hosts:

  • Jonathan Abel (Pennsylvania State University)

  • Steve Ridgley (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Workshop Participants:

  • Sarah Frederick, Boston University

  • Sharon Hayashi, York University

  • Philip Kaffen, University North Carolina Chapel Hill

  • Diane Lewis, Washington University, St. Louis

  • Christine Marran, University of Minnesota

  • Anne McKnight, UC Riverside

  • Michael Raine, Western University