During October 4-11, Alanta Kaminskaitė, a fourth-year Bachelor’s Degree Program in East Asian Cultures and Languages student has won national “MIRAI” program’s contest and visited Japan. The program is supported by the Japanese government and is dedicated to the young leaders of the future. During the program, dozens of students from various countries spent a week in Japan, where they participated in discussions, visited local and central government institutions, various campaigns, universities, got acquainted with Japan’s economic and political system, culture. (more…)

On November 23rd in VMU Small Hall (S. Daukantas st. 28) the Center for Asian Studies together with the Embassy of Japan in Lithuania invites you to the screening of the movie about Chiune Sugihara “Persona Non Grata”. Movie starts at 6:00 P.M. The event is free and open to everyone.

Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese Vice-Consul in Lithuania who lived in Kaunas (in a “Sugihara House” historical building) during the period of 1939 – 1940. While residing there, he saved thousands of Jewish people by issuing transit visas though Japan allowing them to flee from the holocaust and Nazi occupation. (more…)

We are very proud to announce that during Vytautas Magnus University’s (VMU) Vice-Rector‘s for International Relation’s prof. Ineta Dabašinskienė visit to Japan on 23rd of June 2017 established relations between Sophia University recently developed into a new partnership. Collaboration was officially recognized by signing the Cooperation Agreement on 11th of October 2017 with cooperation scope for student and faculty exchanges, joint projects’ and programmes’ implementation. We are delighted that Sophia University became 18th Partner University in Japan. (more…)

Open lecture about Tibet

October 18th, 2017

Time for Asia events invite all to an open lecture on contemporary Tibet – “Deep Tibet: emerging trends in Tibet today”. It will be given by Tibet’s expert Vincent Metten (EU Policy Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Brussels’ office) on October 27, from 12:00 in Putvinskio 23 building, room 103. During the lecture, Mr. Metten will present Tibet’s contemporary situation, emerging challenges and future trends. The event is free and open to all. (more…)

On October 18-29, in the hall next to V. Biržiška reading room (K. Donelaitis str. 52), VMU Centre for Asian studies with the help of Taipei Mission in the Republic of Latvia organize exhibition of Taiwan’s dolls “Taiwan and its culture”.

Glove Puppetry, also known as “Budai Xi”, is a kind of opera which makes use of cloth puppets. Ever since it was introduced to Taiwan by Fujian immigrants in the18th century, its compact and rapid artistic performance became integrated with opera music in Taiwan, making it the most popular operatic form in Taiwan. (more…)

Dr. Aurelijus Zykas, Head of the Centre for Asian Studies has published a monograph “Lead by soft power: communication of country’s image and Japan”. It provides analysis on relevant topics that link such fields as public diplomacy, information warfare, propaganda, country’s image and nation branding. The Monograph not only gives an overview of the history and interrelationship of activities related to the management of image communication, but also combines various theoretical approaches. Through the case of Japan, the image communication challenges arising to the states of contemporary World are being discussed. (more…)

Time for Asia events start a new season with an open lecture about China’s foreign policy. We are honored to have Prof. Jisheng Sun who is the current Vice President of China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU) and Secretary General of China National Association for International Studies. She has published and translated numerous books, articles and papers regarding international relations and China’s foreign policy. In the past she worked as a visiting professor at Marietta College, Ohio and as a research fellow at Harvard University. Prof. Sun’s lecture “Certainty vs. Volatility and Turbulence: China’s Foreign Policy and the World” will be held on October 19 from 17:30 in Putvinskio 23-310. The event is free and open to everyone. (more…)

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Each year the Centre for Asian Studies (CAS) is inviting scholars from different academic fields to present their research on specific aspects of East Asia. This tradition is continuing, and this year we are happy to invite everyone interested to Korea, Japan and China to the 11th international CAS conference called “Civil Society in East Asian Countries: Contributions to Democracy, Peace and Sustainable Development”. It will be held on October 26-27 in VMU Small Hall (S. Daukanto g. 28) and will attract participants from Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland, Finland and other countries. The event is free and open to all. (more…)

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Chief coordinator of the Centre for Asian Studies dr. Linas Didvalis has participated in the recent European Association of Japanese Studies (EAJS) conference that was held from 30 August to 2 September 2017. The conference is held every three years and is one of the largest academic events in the world dedicated to Japanese studies. This year it attracted more than 1200 scholars from all over the world who gathered at the Universidade NOVA in Lisbon, Portugal. (more…)

On 13–26 August, a VMU senior coordinator of the Centre for Asian Studies, Gheorghe-Alexandru Fratila, had a visit to the National Chengchi University of Taipei, Taiwan, for a training program of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language. During this visit, he has undergone an intensive training session concerning the improvement of skills required to achieve an optimal teaching performance of Chinese as a foreign language, including teaching material selection and administration, effective time management, key student approach techniques, required drill procedures, and insight on how native teachers present and describe the long-term language teaching process. (more…)