The Centre for Asian Studies invites scholars of area studies, international relations, international economics and other subjects to submit papers to an international conference Shifting inter-regional balance: EU-East Asia economic cooperation, to be held October 21-22 in Kaunas. The conference focuses on, but is not limited to, the role of small countries amidst the shifting trade and economic cooperation relations between Europe and Asia.

Both the East Asian ‘tigers’ (Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore) and the Baltic States have open economies that depend on resources and markets from global powers. The conflict in Ukraine and subsequent sanction regimes between the US, the EU and Russia created a backlash against liberalization of trade and consolidation of trade relations between these economies. Meanwhile, China’s growth has slowed down, but global influence remains prominent in Russia, the Gulf States and elsewhere. Furthermore, Southeast Asia is often mentioned as a key emerging market. (more…)

A monk of Zen Buddhism, Bo Haeng SN from South Korea this April comes to Kaunas to hold a public lecture. This event is a unique opportunity to meet a person with such an unusual path of life. Monk has written a biographic book “Letters from the Mountains of the Dragon” and directed a monoplay “Golden Temple”, which will be performed both in Kaunas and Vilnius.
The meeting will take place on April 16, at the Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy, auditorium 303. The event starts at 18:30.

The event is organized by the Centre for Asian Studies, Korean culture club “Hallyu” and a magazine “Kelionės ir pramogos”. (more…)

The 3rd of April marked the end of VMU rector’s Prof. Zigmas Lydeka visit in East Asia. Rector’s purpose was to visit universities in Taiwan and Japan.

On March 27th , a meeting was held with National Zhengzhi University’s authorities. This university has tight relations with VMU – both universities not only engage in students exchange (3 students of VMU are studying at NCCU at the moment, 1 student of NCCU is studying in Kaunas), but also in academic exchange as well, together organize the activities of the Taiwan Centre. During the negotiations the expansion of Taiwan Centre, a matter of Chinese language teachers and a question on how to raise Taiwanese students’ motivation to study in Kaunas were discussed.

On March 30th VMU delegation visited Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS), where they met rector Prof. Hirotaka Tateishi. TUFS is one of the four Asian universities, which has Lithuanian language studies. The importance of the collaboration of two universities was stressed in order to help developing each university’s respective regional studies. In addition, the establishing of Global Japan Office at VMU was mentioned by TUFS, which would greatly strengthen Japanese studies in Kaunas. For the new Centre of Lithuanian language and culture in Tokyo and their teacher Dr. Eiko Sakurai VMU delivered a present – books about Lithuania and a collection of Lithuanian language textbooks.
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We would like to invite proposals for the upcoming issue of a semi-annual open access blind peer review journal ‘International Journal of Area Studies‘ (IJAS) to be published in March, 2016. This issue will be dedicated to Korea and will be edited jointly with Busan University (South Korea).

Application Deadline: July 30, 2015

The Journal, published semiannually in March and October, is devoted to area studies from the humanities and social sciences perspectives (including but not limited to research on history, religion, philosophy, politics, and social processes in the regions of the world). We are interested in receiving article proposals related to different facets of the aforementioned scientific fields. (more…)

After 2 years master’s degree program East Asia Region Studies (EARS) coordinated by CAS is once again being launched. New applicants will find the program renewed and upgraded.

“First of all, I would like to apologize to everyone who wanted to enter our program during the past two years. The circumstances were very unfavorable and we had to make harsh decisions to temporarily stall the program. However it was also a good chance to freshly sort the priorities and fix the past’s mistakes” said Dr. Aurelijus Zykas, the chairperson of EARS study committee. (more…)

The Centre for Asian Studies and Japanese club “Hashi” invite to Japanese language contests which will be held at VMU Small Hall  (Daukanto str. 28, Kaunas) on March 5-6: the fifth Japanese Speech contest (March 5, 10:00-14:00) and the second Japanese Reading contest (March 6, 10:00- 15:00). During the Speech contest the participants from different schools and different cities will compete by presenting a short speech in Japanese language. This contest is sponsored by the Japanese Embassy for the Republic of Lithuania, which has prepared a special prize for the contest winners this year: the lunch with H.E. Ambassador of Japan Kazuko Shiraishi, who will participate at the contest as the head of judging committee. The absolute winner of the contest will be awarded with the special trophy. (more…)

In 2014 March 7 VMU signed a collaboration memorandum with Bunkyo Gakuin university in Japan. The students from Japan immediately started learning about Baltic region and by the end of December a number of 17 students and 6 teachers were selected to form a delegation to visit Lithuania.

2015 March 11 – 13 the selected group will visit Vytautas Magnus university, where they will get familiar with VMU and participate in a conference by doing presentations and discussing in work groups. Also a sightseeing excursion is planned to show historically and ethnographically important places in Kaunas. During the period of the program students will live in selected families and actively interact with members of HASHI club. The visit is coordinated by Centre for Asian Studies and VMU japanese culture club HASHI.

Conference Program (more…)

On February 21, the event “Strengthening Japan-Lithuania relations” was organized during the Vilnius Book Fair 2015 on the occasion of the presentation of the book “Colors and Tastes of Japan” written by the head of the Centre for Asian Studies, Dr Aurelijus Zykas. The event attracted c. 500 spectators and was also broadcasted online, thus reaching a broad audience countrywide.

During the event, H.E. Kazuko Shiraishi, Ambassador of Japan in Lithuania, introduced history and current situation of Japan-Lithuania relations. She touched the historical occasions, such as Bunkyū mission of 1863 which passed through Kaunas, Lithuanian POWs in Japan after the Russo-Japanese war, Steponas Kairys who published the first ever books on Japan in Lithuanian and consul Chiune Sugihara. Ambassador also touched the topics about the cultural differences between Lithuanian and Japanese and explained the main reasons of the economic miracle of Japan. “Although there still is much of space for developing our mutual relations, I do hope that in future they will bloom like cherry blossoms are blooming every spring in Sugihara Park in Vilnius” (more…)

CAS junior researcher Daiva Repečkaitė will participate in a training course on the situation of ethnic minorities in Thailand, which is to take place on 8-16 March. The participants of the course will have an opportunity to meet activists from ethnic minority organisations and learn about the situation of ethnic minorities in national parks and other protected areas. After the training several days (17-23 March) will be devoted to independent research.

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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.

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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…)

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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…)

Applications for scholarships for studies in China in 2021-2022 are open. Persons who are nationals of Lithuania, EU or persons from the third countries having the right to live in Lithuania are welcome to apply.

Applications may be submitted by representatives of various fields of Lithuanian science and studies institutions/ representatives of science fields – Bachelor, Masters and PhD students. (more…)