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Conference Outline

Saturday, May 09Sunday, May 10Monday, May 11Tuesday, May 12Wednesday, May 13

Location: Tokyo International Forum | Hall B5

09:30- Conference Check-in | Hall B5 Foyer

10:00-10:35: Welcome Address & Recognition of IAFOR Scholarship Winners | Hall B5
Joseph Haldane, IAFOR, Japan

10:40-11:05: Keynote Presentation | Hall B5
Design Unbound: Expanding the Frontiers of Design
Miles Pennington, The University of Tokyo, Japan
11:05-11:20: Q&A

11:25-11:50: Keynote Presentation | Hall B5
Community-Led Frailty Prevention in Japan: Empowering Older Adults for Healthy and Active Ageing with Well-being
Katsuya Iijima, Keio University, Japan
11:50-12:05: Q&A

12:10-12:30: Karate Demonstration | Hall B5
The Waseda University Karate Club
This performance will showcase a series of katas – detailed patterns of movements or ‘drills’ – and also a choreographed fight sequence exhibiting the katas in action.
This is a free event open to all registered delegates

12:30-12:35: Conference Photograph | Hall B5

12:35-13:35: Extended Break

13:35-14:35: Featured Roundtable Session | Hall B5
Senior Academic Leadership
Diana Khor, Hosei University, Japan
Yuko Takahashi, Tsuda University, Japan
Umberto Ansaldo, VinUniversity, Vietnam (Moderator)

14:40-15:40: The Forum | Hall B5
The Forum is a plenary session designed as a platform for international, intercultural, interdisciplinary – and inclusive – discussions, joining experts and practitioners alike in an open dialogue format. Come share your thoughts and experiences as global educators and researchers.

15:45-16:45: Conference Poster Session & Welcome Reception | Hall B5 Foyer

19:00-21:00: Conference Dinner | Shunju Tameikesanno
This is an optional ticketed event

Location: Tokyo International Forum | The Glass Building

09:30-: Conference Check-in | Glass Building, 4F Foyer

09:45-10:30: Conference Orientation for First-Time Presenters | Room 409 (4F)
Melina Neophytou, IAFOR, Japan
Matthew Chima, IAFOR, Japan

This session provides an overview of what to expect at the conference, including guidance on preparing your presentation, publishing opportunities, and ways to engage with IAFOR. Pre-registration is required. Space is limited.

10:30-10:45: Coffee Break | Glass Building, 4F Foyer

10:45-12:25: Onsite Parallel Session 1
Room G401: ACSS | Economics and Management
Room G402: ACSS | Geopolitics & Technology: Europe in US-China Competition (Panel)
Room G403: ACCS | Asian Feminist and Queer Worlds (Panel)
Room G404: ACSS | Ethics-Driven Approaches to Development and AI (Workshop)
Room G405: ACAH | Tools for Creating Beautiful Built Environments (Workshop)
Room G407: ACAH | Arts - Media Arts Practices
Room G408: ACCS | Gender Studies / Feminist Theory
Room G409: ACCS/ACAH | Cultural Studies: AI and Technology
Room G410: ACSS | Social and Education Psychology

12:25-13:25: Extended Break

12:30-13:15: Haiku Workshop | Room 409 (4F)
What is Haiku?
Emiko Miyashita, Haiku International Association, Japan
Kyoko Uchimura, Haiku International Association, Japan

Haiku is a style of poetry that enlightens and opens readers and writers to new perspectives, renowned for both its simplicity and complexity. As an art form, it has rapidly evolved from structured Japanese short-verse to an international phenomena that has hybridised via the infusion of many languages and literary techniques.
In this workshop, renowned haiku instructors Emiko Miyashita and Kyoko Uchimura will explain some of the basic differences between traditional Japanese and foreign-language approaches to the art form. They will also discuss how to evaluate haiku for its technical mastery and its emotional impact.
Pre-registration is required. Space is limited.

13:25-15:05: Onsite Parallel Session 2
Room G401: ACSS | Economics and Management
Room G402: ACSS | International Relations and Politics
Room G403: ACAH | Sexuality, Gender, Families
Room G404: ACSS | Psychology in Teaching and Learning
Room G405: ACAH | Arts - Aesthetics, Design and Agenda
Room G407: ACAH | Arts - Media Arts Practices
Room G408: ACCS | Gender in Cultural and Literary Studies
Room G409: ACSS/ACCS | Cultural Studies: Cultural Heritage
Room G410: ACSS | Cognitive and Behavioural Sciences

15:05-15:35: Networking Coffee Break | Glass Building, 4F Foyer

15:35-17:15: Onsite Parallel Session 3
Room G401: ACSS | Economics and Management
Room G402: ACAH | Globalisation
Room G403: ACSS | Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Gender
Room G404: ACSS | Teaching and Learning
Room G405: ACCS/ACAH | Arts - Theory and Practices
Room G407: ACAH | Arts - Media Arts Practices
Room G408: ACCS | Women's Studies
Room G409: ACCS | Cultural Studies: Cultural Adaptation
Room G410: ACSS | Cognitive and Behavioural Sciences

17:30-18:00: Flash Presentations | Room 409 (4F)
Maximise your visibility with the opportunity to network and showcase your research highlights. Simultaneously, you will gain a comprehensive overview of other presenters, helping you identify potential collaborators and must-see sessions. This session is open to all delegates, including those who have already presented.
Pre-registration is required. Space is limited.

Location: Tokyo International Forum | The Glass Building

09:15-: Conference Check-in | Glass Building, 4F Foyer

09:30-11:10: Onsite Parallel Session 1
Room G401: ACSS | Education and Social Welfare
Room G402: ACSS | Health and Wellbeing in Urban and Rural Locations (Workshop)
Room G403: ACSS | Politics and Public Policy
Room G404: ACCS | Media Studies
Room G405: ACAH | Literature/Literary Studies
Room G407: ACAH/ACSS | Technology and Communication in Education
Room G408: ACAH | History/Historiography
Room G409: ACSS/ACCS/ACAH | Psychology and Social Psychology
Room G410: ACCS | Cultural Studies: Education

11:10-11:25: Coffee Break | Glass Building, 4F Foyer

11:25-13:05: Onsite Parallel Session 2
Room G401: ACSS | Education and Social Welfare
Room G402: ACSS | Urban Studies
Room G403: ACSS | Politics and Public Policy
Room G404: ACSS/ACAH | Media Studies and Visual Arts
Room G405: ACAH | Philosophy and Literature Studies
Room G407: ACAH/ACSS | Teaching and Learning
Room G408: ACAH | History/Historiography
Room G409: ACSS | Psychology and Social Psychology
Room G410: ACCS | Cultural Studies: Urban and Community

13:05-13:20: Break

13:20-15:00: Onsite Parallel Session 3
Room G401: ACSS | Education and Social Welfare
Room G402: ACSS | Technology in Urban Studies
Room G403: ACAH/ACSS | Politics and Public Policy
Room G404: ACAH/ACSS | Media and Film Studies
Room G405: ACAH | Language/Linguistics
Room G407: ACAH | Teaching and Learning
Room G408: ACCS | Indigeneous Studies
Room G409: ACCS | Psychology and Sociology
Room G410: ACCS/ACSS | Sociology and Media Studies

15:00-15:30: Networking Coffee Break | Glass Building, 4F Foyer

15:30-17:10: Onsite Parallel Session 4
Room G401: ACSS | Education and Social Welfare
Room G402: ACCS | Architecture in Urban Studies
Room G403: ACAH/ACSS | Anthropology, Archaeology, Cultural Studies and Humanities
Room G404: ACSS | Cultural and Media Studies
Room G405: ACAH | Language/Linguistics
Room G407: ACAH | Teaching and Learning
Room G408: ACCS | History and Philosophy
Room G409: ACCS | Linguistics, Language and Cultural Studies
Room G410: ACCS | Cultural Studies: Arts and Performance

17:10-17:25: Break

17:25-19:05: Onsite Parallel Session 5
Room G401: ACAH | Arts - Social, Political and Community Agendas in the Arts
Room G402: ACSS | Computational Sciences
Room G403: ACSS | Immigration, Refugees, Race, Nation
Room G404: ACAH | Media, Film Studies, Theatre, Communication
Room G405: ACCS | Cultural Studies: Language and Discourse
Room G407: ACSS | Teaching and Learning
Room G408: ACSS/ACAH | History and Cultural Studies
Room G409: ACSS | Politics and Social Psychology
Room G410: ACSS | Anthropology and Humanities

Location: Tokyo International Forum | The Glass Building

09:15-: Conference Check-in | Glass Building, 4F Foyer

09:30-11:10: Onsite Parallel Session 1
Room G401: ACSS | Sustainability and Social Psychology
Room G402: ACSS/ACAH | Journalism and Communications
Room G403: ACCS | Sociology: Area Studies
Room G404: ACAH/ACCS | Health and Care
Room G405: ACAH | Media and Literature Studies
Room G407: ACAH/ACCS/ACSS | Cyberspace and Technology
Room G408: ACCS | Cultural Studies: Politics
Room G409: ACAH | Arts - Visual Arts Practices
Room G410: ACSS/ACAH | Anthropology and Humanities

11:10-11:25: Coffee Break | Glass Building, 4F Foyer

11:25-13:05: Onsite Parallel Session 2
Room G401: ACSS | Sustainability
Room G402: ACCS/ACSS/ACAH | Teaching and Learning
Room G403: ACSS | Sociology: Family
Room G404: ACCS | Psychology and Care
Room G405: ACAH | Literature and Film Studies
Room G407: ACSS/ACCS | Science, Environment and the Humanities
Room G408: ACCS/ACSS | Cultural Studies: Politics
Room G409: ACAH | Arts - Arts Theory and Criticism
Room G410: ACSS | Economics and Management

13:05-13:20: Coffee Break | Glass Building, 4F Foyer

13:20-15:00: Onsite Parallel Session 3
Room G401: ACSS | Sustainability
Room G402: ACSS | Teaching and Learning
Room G403: ACSS | Sociology
Room G404: ACSS | Perspectives on Ageing and Care
Room G405: ACAH | Literature and Film Studies
Room G407: ACAH | Science, Environment and the Humanities
Room G408: ACCS | Cultural Studies: Heritage
Room G409: ACAH | Arts - Teaching and Learning the Arts
Room G410: ACSS | Economics and Management

15:10-15:30: Onsite Closing Session | Room 409 (4F)

Conference Venue: Online via Zoom

09:25-09:30: Message from IAFOR

09:30-10:30: Online Forum | Live-Stream Room 1
The Role of the Arts and Humanities in Troubling Times
Apipol Sae-Tung, IAFOR, Japan (Online Moderator)

The Forum is a plenary session designed as a platform for international, intercultural, interdisciplinary – and inclusive – discussions, joining experts and practitioners alike in an open dialogue format. Come share your thoughts and experiences as global educators and researchers.

10:30-10:40: Break

10:40-12:20: Online Parallel Session 1
Live-Stream Room 1: ACSS | International Relations and Politics
Live-Stream Room 2: ACCS | Education for Global, Diverse Communities (Workshop)
Live-Stream Room 3: ACAH/ACCS | Linguistics, Language and Cultural Studies
Live-Stream Room 4: ACSS/ACAH | Demography and Population Studies
Live-Stream Room 5: ACAH/ACCS | Literature/Literary Studies
Live-Stream Room 6: ACSS | Economics and Management

12:20-12:30: Break

12:30-14:10: Online Parallel Session 2
Live-Stream Room 1: ACAH/ACSS | Politics, Media and the Arts
Live-Stream Room 2: ACCS/ACAH/ACSS | Gender in Literature and Media Studies
Live-Stream Room 3: ACSS/ACAH | Anthropology, Religion and Spirituality
Live-Stream Room 4: ACSS/ACAH | Demography and Population Studies
Live-Stream Room 5: ACAH/ACCS | Media Studies
Live-Stream Room 6: ACSS/ACAH | Economics and Management

14:10-14:20: Break

14:20-16:00: Online Parallel Session 3
Live-Stream Room 1: ACSS | Politics and Sociology
Live-Stream Room 2: ACAH/ACCS | Perspectives in Gender and Sexuality
Live-Stream Room 3: ACAH/ACCS | Philosophy, Language and Cultural Studies
Live-Stream Room 4: ACSS | Social Welfare
Live-Stream Room 5: ACAH/ACCS | AI in Society and Culture
Live-Stream Room 6: ACSS/ACCS/ACAH | Digital Technology and Quality of Life

16:00-16:10: Break

16:10-17:50: Online Parallel Session 4
Live-Stream Room 1: ACCS | Media Studies
Live-Stream Room 2: ACAH/ACSS | Teaching and Learning
Live-Stream Room 3: ACSS/ACCS | Anthropology, Cultural Studies and Humanities
Live-Stream Room 4: ACSS | Sociology
Live-Stream Room 5: ACAH/ACSS | Arts - Theory and Practices

17:50-17:55: Message from IAFOR

The above schedule may be subject to change.

Accepted Presentations

One of the greatest strengths of IAFOR’s international conferences is their international and intercultural diversity.
As of March 20, 2026, ACAH2026 has received over 680 submissions from over 84 countries and territories - including: Philippines, United States, India, Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, and Singapore.

View Accepted Presentations

Featured Presentations


  • Design Unbound: Expanding the Frontiers of Design
    Design Unbound: Expanding the Frontiers of Design
    Keynote Presentation: Miles Pennington
  • Community-Led Frailty Prevention in Japan: Empowering Older Adults for Healthy and Active Ageing with Well-being
    Community-Led Frailty Prevention in Japan: Empowering Older Adults for Healthy and Active Ageing with Well-being
    Keynote Presentation: Katsuya Iijima
  • Extractive Capitalism, Ethics, and Narratives of Belonging
    Extractive Capitalism, Ethics, and Narratives of Belonging
    Panel Presentation: TBA
  • Senior Academic Leadership
    Senior Academic Leadership
    Featured Roundtable: Umberto Ansaldo, Yuko Takahashi, Joseph Haldane

Featured Speakers


  • Umberto Ansaldo
    Umberto Ansaldo
    VinUniversity, Vietnam
  • Katsuya Iijima
    Katsuya Iijima
    The University of Tokyo, Japan
  • Diana Khor
    Diana Khor
    Hosei University, Japan
  • Emiko Miyashita
    Emiko Miyashita
    Haiku International Association, Japan
  • Miles Pennington
    Miles Pennington
    The University of Tokyo, Japan
  • Yuko Takahashi
    Yuko Takahashi
    Tsuda University, Japan
  • Kyoko Uchimura
    Kyoko Uchimura
    Haiku International Association, Japan

*Please be aware that the above schedule may be subject to change.

Final Programme

The online version of the Conference Programme is now available to view below via the Issuu viewing platform. Alternatively, download a PDF version. The Conference Programme can also be viewed on the Issuu website (requires a web browser). An Issuu app is available for Android users.

Click to download as a PDF

The Conference Programme contains access information, session information and a detailed day-to-day presentation schedule.

Important Information Emails

All registered attendees will receive an Important Information email and updates in the run-up to the conference. Please check your email inbox for something from "iafor.org". If you can not find these emails in your normal inbox, it is worth checking in your spam or junk mail folders as many programs filter out emails this way. If these did end up in one of these folders, please add the address to your acceptable senders' folder by whatever method your email program can do this.

Previous Programming

View details of programming for past ACAH conferences via the links below.

ACAH2025
ACAH2024 ACAH2023 ACAH2022
ACAH2021 ACAH2020 ACAH2019
ACAH2018 ACAH2017 ACAH2016
ACAH2015 ACAH2014 ACAH2013
ACAH2012 ACAH2011 ACAH2010
Design Unbound: Expanding the Frontiers of Design
Keynote Presentation: Miles Pennington

What is design today? Once primarily concerned with shaping products, design has steadily expanded its scope from objects to services, from services to systems, and increasingly into the realms of policy, society, and complex global challenges. As the world itself has become more interconnected and uncertain, design has evolved from a form-giving discipline into a way of thinking and acting: a means of navigating complexity, creating value, and turning intent into impact.

This keynote begins by exploring this evolution of design by tracing how its scope and role have expanded over time, using this as a foundation to reflect on a personal journey in design education and practice. From early experiences in industrial and product design, through interdisciplinary programmes such as Innovation Design Engineering, to leading initiatives that bring design into dialogue with science, technology, and society, a recurring question emerges: if design itself has moved beyond traditional boundaries, what should design education become?

The talk then introduces the development of the new UTokyo College of Design, initiated by President Fujii’s recognition that universities must rethink their role in a rapidly changing world. Rather than positioning design as a discipline among others, the College is conceived as a bridge between fields, between ideas and action, and between the university and society, enabling students to engage meaningfully with complex, real-world challenges.

Within this context, the concept of paradisciplinarity is briefly introduced as a way of understanding how disciplines can be both respected and transcended not as fixed structures, but as resources to be drawn upon in addressing complex problems. Rather than presenting a fixed model, this keynote reflects on an ongoing process: expanding the boundaries of design, and exploring how education itself might be redesigned to support new forms of thinking, learning, and societal transformation.

Read presenter's biography
Community-Led Frailty Prevention in Japan: Empowering Older Adults for Healthy and Active Ageing with Well-being
Keynote Presentation: Katsuya Iijima

Japan has entered the era of a super-aged society, known as an era of 100-year life, both on an unprecedented scale and at extraordinary speed. In addition, there is a large gap between average life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, with a difference of only 10 years. We must promote healthy ageing, but in order to achieve healthy ageing with well-being and a suitable way of life for each individual living in each community, what is needed now?

When thinking about societal innovations to promote healthy ageing, we have to increase opportunities for connections and exchanges with people across all generations, not just conventional healthcare measures. In Japan, frailty prevention activities have been modeled based on peer support led by senior residents, and are currently actively promoting these activities nationwide. This resident-led peer support activity aims to create a new system of self-help and mutual assistance and also provides senior residents with their well-being or ikigai, their purpose in life, and a sense of fulfillment or accomplishment through contributing to the community. In addition, it is an urgent task to create a place for activities such as lifelong education and multi-generational exchange, and finally build a comprehensively integrated community care system that allows people to live with peace of mind when they eventually need long-term care. In order to rebuild a fulfilling local community, we not only have to promote interprofessional working, but also interdisciplinary gerontological collaboration with multi-stakeholders, such as municipal governments, industries, professional medical and care staff, academic researchers, and citizens. To progress innovation to promote both frailty prevention and community-based integrated care systems for older people, we are now conducting multi-faceted challenges as a community redesign toward a healthy ageing society.

Read presenter's biography
Extractive Capitalism, Ethics, and Narratives of Belonging
Panel Presentation: TBA

Deep-sea mining and the global race for critical minerals are not only material and strategic developments, but also narrative ones shaped by extractive capitalism and the stories that justify it. Discourses of security and ‘protection’ often obscure the violence embedded in regimes of extraction, while the absence of a muscular global moral compass leaves societies navigating the rough seas of ethno-nationalism, war, domination, and supremacy. These dynamics are further sustained by an incorrect valuing of nature and the environment, grounded in a largely Western-led split between humanity and nature that renders the ocean a resource frontier rather than a shared ecological space.

The power of storytelling is therefore becoming a key cultural concern in the face of the existential crises posed by climate change, nuclear war, and AI, and in responding to the narrowing of future possibilities produced by ethno-nationalist and hyper-capitalist forces. We need, now more than ever, new narratives of belonging, knowledge-making, creativity, and ethics that can open up conversations and cultivate the skills, values, and strengths of conviviality and diverse voices. This panel offers a deep dive discussion into extractive capitalism, the violence of ‘protection’, and the ethical imaginaries that might help pave the way for more open, plural, and ecologically attuned futures.

Read presenters' biographies
Senior Academic Leadership
Featured Roundtable: Umberto Ansaldo, Yuko Takahashi, Joseph Haldane

This roundtable and interactive session will explore the career paths of academic leaders and provide tips on the skills needed to succeed in leadership positions. Speaking from national and professional contexts, the session leaders will describe their individual paths to leadership roles and the trade-offs that often accompany a career in higher education leadership and administration. Following the brief presentations, audience members will be asked to provide their own thoughts and observations on successful and unsuccessful leadership styles, as well as engage in an active discussion of the potential for academic leaders to make positive changes within their institutions and professional organisations.

Read presenters' biographies
Umberto Ansaldo
VinUniversity, Vietnam

Biography

Professor Umberto Ansaldo is currently Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at VinUniversity, Vietnam. He previously served as Head of the School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry at Curtin University, Australia from 2021 through 2023, Head of the School of Literature, Art and Media at the University of Sydney, Australia from 2018 through 2020, and Head of the School of Humanities at HKU, where he taught from 2009 to 2018.

Professor Ansaldo’s disciplinary roots are in linguistics, specifically in the study of language contact, linguistic typology, and language documentation. He is the author of four books to date (with CUP, OUP, Routledge, and Stockholm University Press), has edited or co-edited 11 volumes and journal special collections, and has authored multiple journal articles and book chapters. His most recent publication is the co-editorship of The Routledge Handbook of Pidgin and Creole Languages (Routledge, 2021).

At HKU, Professor Ansaldo led the Humanities Area of Inquiry on the Common Core Curriculum Committee in HKU’s major revision of its curriculum (2010-2013), a time when, along with the University of Melbourne, Australia, HKU was leading in reimagining undergraduate curricula. As Chair of Linguistics, he was instrumental in establishing the Department within the top ten programmes in Linguistics (QS rankings), with the programme ranking at number one in Hong Kong.

At the University of Sydney, Professor Ansaldo sat on the University Executive Research Committee and led his School through a transformative period in terms of curriculum innovation and research engagement. He was in charge of overseeing the incorporation of the Sydney College of the Arts into the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences.

Professor Ansaldo has secured competitive research grants and leveraged industry funding for the advancement of the humanities and social sciences throughout his career. One of his proudest achievements was his role in securing financial support to develop and host an exhibition on language and the brain, the ‘Talking Brains’ exhibition at the CosmoCaixa in Barcelona, Spain in 2017. This type of engagement and championing of the Humanities is what Umberto is most passionate about.

Professor Ansaldo has lived and worked in Sweden, The Netherlands, Singapore, Australia, and Hong Kong. and speaks seven languages, including Mandarin. He is well-acquainted with Asia and has conducted fieldwork in Muslim communities of the Indian Ocean, and has developed strong international networks in Southeast Asia, Japan, and Europe.

Previous Presentations

Panel Presentation (2025) | Peace Education in Times of Conflict
Keynote Presentation (2024) | Can Today’s Universities Contribute to a Better Future?
Katsuya Iijima
The University of Tokyo, Japan

Biography

Professor Katsuya Iijima is a medical doctor in Geriatric Medicine and Professor within the Institute for Future Initiatives at The University of Tokyo, Japan. As a Gerontology researcher, he is currently the Principal Investigator of many projects in regard to prevention of sarcopenia-related frailty. He participated in the Third Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentarian Forum on Global Health, chaired by the Japan Parliamentarian League for the World Health Organization (WHO) in Tokyo, in August 2017. He contributed to developing the ‘Tokyo Declaration’ via his presentation regarding Japan’s experiences in addressing a ‘super-ageing society’ through multisectoral strategies. His current specialties and interests include prevention of sarcopenia-related frailty with well-being and the Japanese concept of ‘Ikigai’, population approach and cultivation of older resident supporters in local communities, integrated community-based care systems,, integrated implementation of health services and care prevention for older adults in new policies of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, andGeron-Technology, or medical-engineering collaboration. He is an intellectual private-sector board member of the National Assembly of Dynamic Engagement of All Citizens and a professional board member of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

Keynote Presentation (2026) | Community-Led Frailty Prevention in Japan: Empowering Older Adults for Healthy and Active Ageing with Well-being
Diana Khor
Hosei University, Japan

Biography

Professor Diana Khor is the President of Hosei University in Tokyo, Japan, a position she has held since March 2025. She previously served in several senior leadership roles at the university, including Executive Trustee and Vice President, Director of the Global Education Center, and Dean of the Faculty of Global and Interdisciplinary Studies. She received her Bachelor of Social Science in 1983 and her Master of Philosophy degrees in 1985 from the University of Hong Kong. She also earned her MA in Sociology in 1987, and her PhD in Sociology in 1994 from Stanford University, United States.

Professor Khor joined Hosei University in 1999 as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of General Education. In 2003, she was appointed Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law and was promoted to Professor in 2005. Since 2008, she has served as Professor in the Faculty of Global and Interdisciplinary Studies.

Professor Khor’s academic background is in Sociology, with a focus on gender and sexuality, particularly in East Asia. As Vice President and now President, she has been committed to advancing global education, strengthening international engagement in higher education, and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion across the university.

Roundtable Discussion (2026) | Senior Academic Leadership
Emiko Miyashita
Haiku International Association, Japan

Biography

Emiko Miyashita is a prominent and widely published haiku poet, as well as an award-winning translator who has given invited lectures and workshops around the world. She serves as a councillor for the Haiku International Association, as well as secretary of the Haiku Poets Association International Department in Tokyo. She is a dojin (leading member) of Ten’i (Providence) haiku group lead by Dr Akito Arima, and also a dojin of the Shin (Morning Sun), haiku group lead by Dr Akira Omine. From January 2008, until March 2010, she judged and wrote an English-language haiku column with Michael Dylan Welch every first Sunday in the Asahi weekly paper.

Haiku Workshop (2026) | What Is Haiku?

Previous Presentations

Haiku Workshop (2025) | What Is Haiku?
Haiku Workshop (2024) | What Is Haiku?
Miles Pennington
The University of Tokyo, Japan

Biography

Miles Pennington is Professor of Design-Led Innovation at the University of Tokyo, Japan. He is the prospective Dean of the UTokyo College of Design, a new interdisciplinary programme focused on addressing complex societal challenges through design due to open in September 2027. He is also Director of the DLX Design Lab, an international and multidisciplinary lab that collaborates with researchers across the university to create value through design. Professor Pennington’s projects have included work on low-cost ocean monitoring, bio-intelligent systems, innovative healthcare devices, and explorations into metamaterials and coral conservation. Prior to joining The University of Tokyo in 2017, he led the Innovation Design Engineering (IDE) at the Royal College of Art, United Kingdom, a joint Master’s programme with Imperial College London, United Kingdom. He is an alumnus of IDE, graduating in 1992, and was also the founder and Head of the university’s Global Innovation Design (GID) programme. In addition to his core roles, he was a Director of Takram, London, an innovation consultancy with its headquarters in Tokyo, until 2017. He is currently Co-Director of the DLX Design Academy and has served as Specially Appointed Advisor to the President on Design Vision since April 2023.

Keynote Presentation (2026) | Design Unbound: Expanding the Frontiers of Design
Yuko Takahashi
Tsuda University, Japan

Biography

Professor Yuko Takahashi was named the eleventh president of Tsuda College (now Tsuda University) in 2016. She holds a BA from Tsuda College, an MA in International Affairs from the University of Tsukuba, Japan; and an MA in History and a PhD in Education from The University of Kansas. Her major research areas are American studies, American social history, and gender history.

Professor Takahashi has held numerous academic leadership roles, including president of the Japan University Accreditation Association (2023–present), president of the International Federation for Research in Women's History (2020–2025), and president of the Japanese Association for American Studies (2018–2020). She also served as a commission member of the Japan-U.S. Educational Commission (2018–2022), is a council member of the Science Council of Japan, and a trustee of the American Studies Foundation. A two-time Fulbright scholar, she conducted research at Stanford University in 2003 and Wellesley College in 2013. Her publications include Tsuda Umeko no Shakaishi (Umeko Tsuda: A Social History, 2002) and Tsuda umeko ̄ joshi kyōiku o hiraku (Umeko Tsuda: Pioneering Women’s Education, 2022).　

Featured Roundtable (2026) | TBA
Kyoko Uchimura
Haiku International Association, Japan

Biography

Ms Kyoko Uchimura is a haiku poet born in Tokyo. She earned a BA in Art History from International Christian University, Japan, and studied at the University of Sussex, United Kingdom, from 1988 to 1989 as an exchange student. She worked for Christie’s art auction house from 1990 to 2014, contributing her expertise there for over twenty years.

Ms Uchimura began writing haiku in 2002, receiving the New Talent Award of the haiku group ‘Ten’I’, led by Dr Akito Arima, in 2008. She recently won first prize in the group’s essay contest in 2023. In 2013, she published her first haiku collection, titled ‘Venus’. She is currently a member of the Association of Haiku Poets in Japan.

Since 2014, Ms Uchimura has worked in an editorial role for Ten’I and the Haiku International Association since 2018, where she serves as a councilor and is responsible for editing the association’s quarterly haiku magazine, ‘HI’. She often writes short reviews for other haiku magazines. She has supported the administrative office of the Haiku UNESCO Promotion Council since 2018.

Haiku Workshop (2026) | What is Haiku?

Previous Presentations

Haiku Workshop (2025) | What is Haiku?