We are pleased to announce that our online Japanese language textbook in Lithuanian, Japonukalba.vdu.lt, has been updated as part of a project funded by the Japan Foundation. The project was carried out by Japanese language teachers Kayako Takagi and Simona Kumpė, with the aim of revising the N5 level to better meet the needs of current learners.

Japonukalba.vdu.lt is an online textbook designed around the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), offering three levels (N5-N3). The JLPT is a standardized test widely recognized as proof of one’s proficiency in Japanese. As such, much of the learning material for the Japanese language is based on this test.

However, in recent years, there has been a shift away from a purely grammar-focused approach toward one that emphasizes practical language skills—specifically, what learners can do with their Japanese, what they can say, and where they can use it.

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We invite you to the traditional spring festival – Vytautas Magnus University Asia Week, which will take place in Kaunas, Lithuania, from 7-11 April 2025.

Organised since 2014, this five-day series of events is designed to introduce the increasingly popular East Asian culture. It is safe to say that VMU Asia Week stands out in terms of the number of events, participants and partners it attracts. The festival is organised by the VMU Asian Studies Centre and the student clubs Hashi, Hallyu and Wu Wei. The main sponsor is Vytautas Magnus University.

VMU Asia Week, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, has prepared a programme full of both time-tested and annually popular events, as well as new, maybe a bit unexpected, but no less welcome encounters (still being added): (more…)

From March 9 to 19 of this year, 20 students from Hiroshima University (HU) are visiting Vytautas Magnus University as part of the short-term START+ program. During the visit, students listen to special lectures prepared by VMU lecturers, participate in educational activities, and travel to Kaunas and Vilnius to visually reinforce the content of the lectures. To make cultural adaptation easier, HU students are also joined by active volunteers from the RASK program in extracurricular activities, thus sharing student experiences, promoting internationality, and fostering intercultural communication.
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Staff members of the Centre for Asian Studies, Arvydas Kumpis and Simona Kumpe have visited partner institutions in Japan – Hiroshima and International Christian Universities, as well as the Zuiryo High School in Nagoya, where the famous Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara was studying back in the days.

During their visit to the Zuiryo High School on February 20 Arvydas and Simona, who are currently visiting Meijo University in Nagoya, gave a lecture on the similarities and differences between Lithuania and Japan.

During the visit to Hiroshima University on February 21, they met with students who will visit Vytautas Magnus University in early March as participants of the “Start+” project. After briefly discussing the program of the upcoming visit, some valuable advice was shared on how to better prepare for the arrival to Lithuania. (more…)

From January 6 to March 27, 2025, the head of the Center for Asian Studies, Dr. Arvydas Kumpis is doing a short-term research internship at Meijio University (Nagoya, Japan). The research carried out during the internship is financed by research grant provided by the Meijio University.
The largest in the Chukyo region, Meijio university is private university and will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year. University researchers have won two Nobel Prizes (for the inventions of the blue LED light and the reusable lithium-ion battery). Meijio University is a partner institution of VMU.

When did readers in Japan first see Lithuania’s name written? How did those who wrote it learn about this country? These questions are explored in an article by Dr. Linas Didvalis, an associate professor at the Center for Asian Studies, recently published in an academic journal issued by Meiji University in Japan.

The article is dedicated to exploring the early knowledge about Lithuania that exists in Japanese written sources such as books and maps. The chronological boundary of the study starts with the early 17th century when a curious case of naming territories in the Baltic region first appears with the arrival of Mateo Ricci’s world map to Japan. The first undisputed reference to Lithuania is then indicated in the early 18th century with further cases appearing later in the decades starting with the 1780s. Lithuania’s name is reaching Japan at this time mainly due to exceptional incidents, such as G. B. Sidotti’s attempt to visit Japan or Kodayu Daikokuya’s unfortunate adventures while being stranded in Russia. A substantial increase in more detailed information is noticed with the beginning of more liberal stages of Edo period’s isolationist policy at the start of the 19th century which then transitions into the Meiji era. Overall, Lithuania’s name is discovered in around a dozen written sources, which provides a basis for further research to establish a more nuanced and contextualised view on Japanese early knowledge about European countries beyond those that interacted with Japan the most.

Link to the article.

On October 18–19, 2024, the Centre for Asian Studies at Vytautas Magnus University (VMU, Kaunas, Lithuania) hosted the international academic conference “Nation Building and Cultural Diversity in East Asia: Challenges, Narratives, Perspectives.” The event attracted over 30 presenters from 12 countries, including Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, India, Poland, the United Kingdom, and others. While the majority of scholars gathered in Kaunas, some presentations were delivered remotely, and the entire conference was open to the public to observe online, extending the audience beyond the university venue. Over the course of two days, participants explored topics such as multiculturalism, intellectual and political history, nationalism, contemporary national images, and religious diversity, focusing on specific cases in Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and China.

The conference opened with greetings from the Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Dr. Giedrius Janauskas, the Head of the Centre for Asian Studies, Dr. Arvydas Kumpis, and the Head of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania, Constance Wang. This was followed by a keynote speech from Prof. Chih-yu Shih of National Taiwan University, who examined classical Chinese texts, searching for Confucian insights that could help explain (or critically assess) the contemporary dichotomy between democracy and autocracy.

The organizers extend their gratitude to all participants, student volunteers, the VMU administration, and everyone else who contributed to the success of the conference. The event was part of the larger “Spotlight Taiwan” project.

Komaru Transportation Company together with Fukuyama City University and VMU Center for Asian Studies is organizing the Seventh Japanese Language Speech Contest. Students of the Japanese Language in Lithuania are welcome to participate. Traditionally, the organizers are going to surprise participants with special prizes.

The topic of the contest is “transportation” in its broad meaning, including traffic, travels etc. Speeches must be original and created by participants. Speeches will be evaluated by a special committee that will take into consideration its grammar, fluency, expressions, content and answers to questions.

The registration is open until September 27 (Friday), 2024. In order to register fill out an online application. After registering the participants will receive a link to submit their speeches in written form (until October 6, 2024).

If you have additional questions, please contact CAS senior coordinator Ms. Kayako Takagi via email (kayako.takagi@vdu.lt).

On October 18–19, 2024 the Centre for Asian Studies at Vytautas Magnus University (VMU, Kaunas, Lithuania) is holding an international academic conference “Nation Building and Cultural Diversity in East Asia: Challenges, Narratives, Perspectives”. We invite everyone interested to join as listeners.

East Asia is one of the most diverse regions in the world when it comes to its ethnic composition as well as traditional and contemporary culture. This diversity can be explored from multiple academic angles, ranging from history and cultural studies to anthropology and political sciences. On the one hand, diversity can be celebrated by exploring its multifaceted forms of expression through arts, language, customs, etc. On the other hand, diversity is also a political field which is actively managed, controlled and shaped through the process of nation building, centralization, and economic integration. All East Asian countries must deal with historical legacies, trends of globalisation and migration, regional dynamics, as well as transformations of identity that challenge real or imagined cultural homogeneities. For example, the conference is partially inspired by a major change of self-identification among Taiwan’s citizens as well as development of national policies regarding multiculturalism. The organisers believe that such and other cases deserve in-depth investigation to draw lessons that are relevant not only for the East Asia region but Lithuania and Europe as a whole.

The conference will include presentations both on historical and contemporary affairs with(in) East Asia in such fields as history, art, politics and society. On both days the conference will start at 9am and take place at Room 310, Putvinskio str. 23, Kaunas. Please download full program for further information.

The conference can be observed online connecting via MS Teams.

The conference is organized by VMU Centre for Asian Studies and supported by Spotlight Taiwan.

We invite scholars of various academic fields of humanities and social science to submit proposals to an academic conference “Nation Building and Cultural Diversity in East Asia: Challenges, Narratives, Perspectives” which will be held at Vytautas Magnus University (VMU, Kaunas, Lithuania) on October 18–19, 2024.

East Asia is one of the most diverse regions in the world when it comes to its ethnic composition as well as traditional and contemporary culture. This diversity can be explored from multiple academic angles, ranging from history and cultural studies to anthropology and political sciences. On the one hand, diversity can be celebrated by exploring its multifaceted forms of expression through arts, language, customs, etc. On the other hand, diversity is also a political field which is actively managed, controlled and shaped through the process of nation building, centralization, and economic integration. All East Asian countries must deal with historical legacies, trends of globalisation and migration, regional dynamics, as well as transformations of identity that challenge real or imagined cultural homogeneities. For example, the conference is partially inspired by a major change of self-identification among Taiwan’s citizens as well as development of national policies regarding multiculturalism. The organisers believe that such and other cases deserve in-depth investigation to draw lessons that are relevant not only for the East Asia region but Lithuania and Europe as a whole. (more…)

We are happy to announce a call for papers for the 6th annual ISCAS (International Student Conference on Asian Studies). The conference will take place on April 15 at Vytautas Magnus University (V. Putvinskio 23, Kaunas).

Your academic interest in East Asian cultures, languages, arts, economics, or related fields can materialise into the conference paper. Organized by students of VMU East Asian Languages and Cultures in collaboration with the Centre for Asian Studies and the Department of Cultural Studies, the conference offers an excellent opportunity to present your research, academic work, or insights to peers from this and related disciplines. Participants will also gain valuable experience, strengthen their public speaking skills, and find inspiration through discussion and exchange. Presentations may be delivered in Lithuanian or English. (more…)

We are happy to announce a call for papers for the 5th annual international students’ conference on Asia. The conference will take place on April 9 at Vytautas Magnus University (V. Putvinskio 23, Kaunas).

If you are interested in East Asian cultures, languages, arts, economics or other areas, this event is just for you. The conference, organized by VMU East Asian Languages ​​and Cultures students, together with the Centre for Asian Studies and the Department of Cultural Studies, is a great opportunity to share your accumulated knowledge, work or research with colleagues in this field and not only, to gain experience and improve your public speaking skills, or even get some inspirations. (more…)

We are sharing the invitation to submit abstracts for the 4th annual Student academic Conference, focusing on Asia. The conference will be held on April 24, 11:00-14:00, V. Putvinskio 23-310 in Kaunas, Lithuania.

This event, which has become an integral part of VMU Asian Week, is organized by VMU Regional Studies Asian specialization students and VMU Center for Asian Studies together with the Department of Cultural Studies. As every year, students from various fields whose work and research touch on the topic of Asia are welcome, both from the humanities, social sciences, arts and other disciplines. (more…)

The National Taiwan Library announced “Guidelines to the National Taiwan Library Fellowship for International Visiting Scholars and Students”.
The library provides Fellowship for experts and scholars to pursue their academic goals in Taiwan studies or Southeast Asia studies. Please click here to read more.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Lithuanian.

It is time for all who are interested in East Asian cultures, languages, economics, politics and more to come together for what has become an annual student research conference, organised by the VMU East Asia Cultures and Languages students.
This conference is a great opportunity to share your knowledge, work and research with colleagues in the field, to try and improve your public speaking skills, to gain experience and to listen to presentations by like-minded people. (more…)

Sorry, this entry is only available in Lithuanian.

Are you interested in politics of Japan? Maybe you are interested in economy of China? Maybe you are fascinated in Korean art and traditions? It does not matter in which field you are interested in, as long as it is related to East Asia we have a very interesting proposition to you. (more…)

VMU Department of International Relations informs about ongoing studies exchange and internship contests as well as “Erasmus Days’21” which are going to take place on February 17th, 18th, and 19th, during which students will be able to learn more about exchange opportunities. (more…)

Beijing Normal University entrusts the European Federation of Overseas Chinese and Chinese Associations to recruit 100 candidates for MBA and MPA studies (conducted fully in English) from all over the world. Appropriate students are welcome to sign up. (more…)