VMU Centre for Asian Studies together with Asitaski and Embassy of Japan in Lithuania invites everyone to the premiere of the movie “Mikoshi Guy” in Lithuania. The screening of the movie will take place on 17th of June, at 6:00 PM at VMU Multifunctional Research and Studies Centre, room 103 (V. Putvinskio st. 23, Kaunas). The event will be held in English and is free and open to all. The movie will be screened in original language with English subtitles.

ABOUT THE MOVIE
In Japan due to the ongoing demographic changes the younger generation is moving out of smaller habitats to the big cities. Due to this a lot of local celebrations (matsuri) are not happening. In order to preserve matsuri culture the main character of the movie Nobuya Miyata is participating in 50 local celebrations every year. The documentary “Mikoshi Guy” portrays how matsuri is uniting people. This power of bonds is traveling to Europe. Nobuya begins to participate in “Karneval der Kulturen” festival in Berlin (Germany) and presents Japanese matsuri culture. (more…)

On May 25th, VMU Centre for Asian Studies invites all to try out Chinese calligraphy. During the workshop guests will have an opportunity to learn how to write “I am Lithuanian” and “Happy New Year” in Chinese additionally, to learn how to draw crabs, bamboos and flowers.

The workshop will be held in English.

This event is a part of “Putvinskis street days 2019” program, which is organized by Kaunas Artists’ House. All events are free of charge. More about the festival: Putvinskio gatvės diena 2019
#PGD_2019.

Everybody interested in East Asia are invited to listen to the defense of students final thesis. 

Public Master thesis defense of the students of East Asia Region Studies will take place on May 22 nd, 2019 and public Bachelor thesis defense of the students of East Asian Cultures and Languages will take place on June 3-5. All defenses will be taking place at 10:00 AM in room 310, V. Putvinskio st. 23.

This year 5 Master students and  47 Bachelor students are defending their thesis.

The list of Master students and their topics.
The list of Bachelor students and their topics.

The Centre for Asian Studies continues “Time for Asia” events and invites you on April 30 o an open lecture given by a visiting professor Jorge Garzón. The guest from Torcuato di Tella University (Buenos Aires, Argentina) will speak on topic “Overlapping regionalism in East Asia”. As the speaker describes:

The term overlapping regionalism describes the phenomenon of states increasingly choosing to participate in multiple regional organizations which also have often similar policy competencies. This raises the puzzle of why states seek membership in several regional organizations at the same time? Or why states do not use already existing regional organizations to cooperate? The overlap of regional organizations raises also questions regarding its consequences for regional order and regional integration. Do they facilitate cooperation among states or rather contribute to regional fragmentation? In the course we will analyze and discuss these questions with help of examples from East Asia.

The lecture will be held on April 30 (Tuesday) from 15:00 at Putvinskio str. 23-101, Kaunas. The lecture will be in English and is free and open to all. (more…)

We are sorry to inform you that the event is being cancelled due to illness and it is planned to be moved to June. Detailed information will be published later.

 On May 9th, Thursday, 18:00 in room 414 (V. Putvinskio st. 23, IV floor) VMU Centre for Asian Studies organizes public lecture about Zen meditation and yoga practice “The Invitation to Zen Practice”. The event will be held in English, is free of charge and open to all.

VMU will be visited by three guests from Japan: Zen Buddhism monk Sohaku Matsushita, light artist Mr. Suguru Funaki and yoga instructor Ms. Rie Sumi. In the beginning of the event Mr. S. Funaki will present Japanese hand-made lanterns made from Japanese paper.

Instructor Ms. Rie Sumi will demonstrate yoga practice. Yoga is an important part of Zen Buddhism because Buddha was a yoga practitioner who mastered the correct posture and breathing methods which allowed him to become one with the universe. During the yoga practices he entered into the deep concentration “smadhi” and experienced “satori” – he was enlightened by the morning star. (more…)

On April the 15th, VMU’s Dragons Academy at the Centre for Asian Studies together with the students from Korean culture club “Hallyu”, Japanese culture club “Hashi” and Chinese culture club “Wu Wei” visited Alytus “Jotvingiai” gymnasium. In celebration of the second anniversary of Alytus Orientalist Club activities, the students at the gymnasium were given lectures on the languages and cultures of East Asia. Also, cultural workshops were held, where students had the opportunity not only to get to know the art of calligraphy, origami, Chinese papercutting, but at the same time got a chance to interact with international exchange students from East Asia.

Dragons Academy is a network of formal and informal educational institutions, coordinated by the Center of Asian Studies of Vytautas Magnus University. The academy was founded in 2017 with the aim to spread the knowledge about the East (more…)

Komaru Transportation Company together with Hiroshima University’s Lithuanian Center and Vytautas Magnus University’s Centre for Asian Studies is organizing the Second Japanese Language Speech Contest. Participants from schools and universities are welcome. As last year, the contests is ready to surprise the winners with special presents (last year the main prize was a trip to Japan).

The Japanese language speech contest will be taking place on May 17th, 13:00 in room 103 (V. Putvinskio st. 23, Kaunas).

This year’s topic is “transportation” in its broadest meaning, including traffic, travels, etc. Speeches must be original works created by the participants. Each speech will be evaluated by a special committee that will take into account grammar, pronunciation, contents, expressions, fluency, answers to questions. (more…)

March 27, 2019 Dr Aurelijus Zykas finishes his work as head of the Centre for Asian Studies, which he started in 2008, eleven years ago.

„It was extremely interesting and challenging period of life. I hope, I succeeded to continue the activities and ideas of my predecessor, Mr. Arvydas Ališauskas, who had established Japanese Studies Centre. – Dr. Aurelijus Zykas stated, – I believe, together with our team we were able to raise Asian studies in Kaunas to some higher level. Here, in Kaunas, the vivid community of Asian studies specialists was developed, and now it is dispersed in different countries of the World. I would like to express my appreciation to all the divisions of the University and our social partners. We all worked together and achieved joint aims“.

Among the achievements of the Centre for Asian Studies during the last decade, the following should be mentioned: (more…)

The Centre for Asian Studies continues “Time for Asia” events and invites you on March 4 to an open lecture given by the newly appointed South Korea’s ambassador to Lithuania H.E. Mira Sun. In the lecture Lithuania-Korea Relations and Peace Process on the Korean Peninsula the Ambassador will talk not only about Lithuania-Korea relations but also about ongoing tensions and recent attempts to achieve peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.

Before diplomatic career, H. E. Mira Sun was working as a human rights lawyer. She is a specialist of civil society, international relations in East Asia, resolution of historical tensions between Korea and Japan, and other areas. It will the first Ambassador’s visit to Kaunas and her first lecture given in Lithuania. H.E. Mira Sun will also participate in the opening of Asian Week and will visit the Centre for Asian Studies and King Sejong Institute Kaunas.

The lecture will be held on March 4 (Monday) from 10:00 at Putvinskio str. 23-310, Kaunas. The lecture will be in English and is free and open to all.

FB event: facebook.com/events/2268447939884531/ (more…)

The Centre for Asian Studies (CAS) at Vytautas Magnus University together with the students’ clubs “Hallyu”, “Hashi” and “Wu Wei” invites Kaunas residents and city’s guests to the VMU Asian Week 2019. This year the event will take place on March 4-8 in venues of VMU and other public places in Kaunas.

VMU Asian Week is a one week-long cycle of events dedicated to East Asian countries – China, Japan and Korea. It is done through the presentation of specific aspects of culture, arts and cuisine. CAS social partners in Lithuania actively participated in the organization of this event.

Events organized last year were a great success and attracted a lot of attention from the general public and media. You can see the moments from the previous Asian Week here. (more…)

The JLPP (Japanese Literature Publishing Project) invites all to participate in the 4th JLPP Translation Competition. The JLPP International Translation Competition aims to foster emerging translators of Japanese and promote Japanese literature around the world by encouraging the translation of superb literary works from Japan. (more…)

The Government of the People’s Republic of China in accordance with the agreement on bilateral education exchanges offers scholarships to the Republic of Lithuania for the academic year 2019-2020.

Scholarships are provided for the period from September 2019 to July 2020.  (more…)

The Goi Peace Foundation cordially invites the young people to participate in the 2019 International Essay Contest for Young People.

The theme for this year’s contest is: “Creating a society full of kindness”. As 20th anniversary special edition, this year’s contest involves action in addition to writing. (more…)

The application period for Sophia university Summer Session in East Asian Studies and Japanese Language 2019 is open. Participants on the programs directly experience many aspects of not only Japan but also East Asian culture and society and witness the myriad of ways in which the cultures of the world are reflected in the maze-like urban landscape of Tokyo. (more…)

University of East Anglia (UEA) is organizing Japan Orientation Summer School from 29 June to 13 July 2019. “Japan Orientation” is a two week summer school program held at University of East Anglia in the city of Norwich, UK, in collaboration with the Toshiba Interational Foundation (TIFO). This program is designed for university students who are specializing in Japanese Studies or interested in the study of Japan. (more…)

Students are invited to participate in a competition for one semester or one academic year long[1] exchange studies at non-EU countries with Erasmus+ or VMU Mobility scholarship.

Students have to submit completed online application form (Outgoing – Application for Bilateral and Erasmus Study Exchange (non-EU countries)) until for Japanese universities 17^th of February, 2019; other universities till 25^th of February, 2019. (more…)

Embassy of Japan in Lithuania will present opportunities to study in Japan for Lithuanian citizens. Special attention will be given to Japanese Government Scholarships (MEXT) proveded to Lithuanian citizens. Students that have studies in Japan will share their experiences. 

Date: February 6th, 2019 (Wednesday).
Time: 4:45-6:00 PM. (more…)

In order to promote Chinese and Lithuanian cultural communication, enrich campus cultural activities and encourage students’ enthusiasm in learning Chinese, “The 1^st Chinese Character Creative Design Poster Competition in Lithuania” will be sponsored by Confucius Institute at Vilnius University in February, 2019. The solicitation of designing works will start on February 1, 2019. (more…)

The Matsumae International Foundation (MIF) invites researches to apply for “2020 Research Fellowship Program”. Fields of research such as natural science, engineering and medicine are considered with first priorities. 

Applicants are free to select host institutions (universities, national research institutions or the (more…)

Showa Women‘s University (Tokyo, Japan) invites female undergraduate and graduate university students to participate in the 3 week summer program. The program is designed for students who are interested in Japan, but not yet studies Japanese.

During your stay in Japan together with Japanese (more…)