02.11.2025

International Symposium: Worlds Seen from Utoro

The collective historical experiences of the Utoro community in Kyoto give rise to numerous issues, such as the legacies of colonialism, war, discrimination, racism, class, gender, diaspora, settlement, subsistence, community struggle, human rights, and memory.

In planning this symposium, we believe it is crucial to establish a forum where we can engage with these various issues. This symposium aims to encompass micro and global worlds from the perspective of Utoro. While it is impossible to discuss all the issues exhaustively in a single symposium, we hope participants will take home new ideas and questions that will help them explore future possibilities.

Date and Time: 2 November 2025, 14:00-17:30

Venue: Ryoshinkan #107, Imadegawa Campus, Doshisha University

Language: Japanese (Korean simultaneous interpretation)

Program: 

  1. NAKAMURA Ilsong (Journalist)
    “Sumud (Resistance): From the Sediment of Colonialism to a City of Coexistence”
     
  2. SOHN-KATADA Aki (Ritsumeikan Univ.)
    “Struggling for Utoro: A Powerful Movement Built by Many Hands”
     
  3. KU Ryang Ok (Lawyer)
    “Cultural Genocide Against Zainichi Koreans: Dreaming of an Asian Court of Human Rights”
     
  4. MORI Chikako (Doshisha Univ)
    "Past and Present Struggles in " Bidonvilles": Insights from European Cases"

    Chaired by: ITAGAKI Ryuta (Doshisha Univ.)


Hosted by: Kyoto Consortium for Korean Studies
Organized by: Doshisha Center for Korean Studies
Co-organized by: Uto Art Festival 2025 Executive Committee, Doshisha University Center for Urban Coexistence Studies (MICCS) Global Mediterranean Studies Project
Supported by: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung

For more information, please refer to the website of Doshisha Center for Korean Studies.

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
Japan Office

7-5-56 Akasaka
Minato-ku
Tokyo, 107-0052
Japan

+81 (0)3 6277-7551
+81 (0)3 3588-6035

office(at)fes-japan.org