Japan Anthropology Workshop (JAWS) developed out of a "growing international interest in the anthropology

Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...

 of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

," and the first conference was organised in Oxford in March 1984. It is now an annual conference organised with hosts across the world.

Conferences

An overview of the JAWS conferences from 2005.

• The 21st JAWS Conference, Tallinn University in Estonia 2011

Held concurrent with Section 5 (Anthropology and Sociology) of the 13th European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS).

• 20th JAWS Conference, University of Texas at Austin 2010

Religion, Ritual, and Identity in Japan
Keynote Speaker: Delores Martinez

• 18th JAWS Conference, University of Oslo 2007

Japan and Materiality in a Broader Perspective
Keynote Speaker: Joy Hendry

• 17th JAWS Conference, University of Vienna 2005

Time and Memory
Held in conjunction with the 11th EAJS Conference

• 16th JAWS Conference, University of Hong Kong 2005

East Meets West
Keynote Speaker: Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney