Japanese Komonjo/Kuzushiji Workshop
July 15 – August 11, 2007
Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library
Yale University

Professor Umezawa Fumiko of Keisen Universityin Tokyo will lead the annual Komonjo/Kuzushiji Workshop with teaching materials drawn from two premier collections of pre-modern printed books, scrolls, and manuscripts in Yale's Beinecke Library: the Japanese Manuscript Collection and the Yale Association of Japan Collection.

Professor Umezawa will lead participants in the reading of the kuzushiji texts while also providing an overview of hentaigana, sorobun, and the basics of kanbun. The Workshop will consist of four weeks of morning classes and informal afternoon sessions during which Professor Umezawa will be available to assist students as necessary. Applications from graduate students, faculty members, educators, museum curators, and library professionals are welcome. The deadline for submitting applications is March 15, 2007.

The Workshop is sponsored by the Beinecke, Yale University Libraries, and the Council on East Asian Studies at Yale and organized by Professor Edward Kamens, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures and Ellen Hammond, Curator of the East Asia Library. The books and manuscripts from the Japanese Manuscript Collection and the Yale Association of Japan Collection that will form the basis of the curriculum were acquired through the efforts of Asakawa Kan'ichi, history professor and first curator of the East Asian Collection. This year is the 100th anniversary of his appointment to both positions at Yale in 1907. The workshop is one event of a series to commemorate Asakawa's career at Yale.