Events
Presentations and talks delivered:
"Political captives in postwar East Asia – marriages of (in)convenience," at the MIT/Freie Universität Berlin Workshop on Political Captivity, Berlin, Germany, organized by Professors Richard Samuels and Karl Gustafsson, May 25, 2024.
"When Justice Fails: Postwar East Asia and the struggles over memory and history," part of the Transculturality and Diversity in East Asia series at the University of Valencia, Spain, May 2, 2024.
"When Is a War Criminal Not a War Criminal? – Military Mobilization and Demobilization in Postwar East Asia," in the panel Beyond the Rise and Fall of Japan's Empire: Systems of Reward and Punishment, Association of Asian Studies International Conference, Seattle, Washington, March 15, 2024.
"East Asia's post war battle over history and memory – the hidden legacy of war crimes tribunals," Graduate School of East Asian Studies, Université Paris Cité, February 15, 2025.
"The Geography of Injustice: East Asia's Battle between Memory and History," at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and co-sponsored by the China and World Program, Columbia University, September 21, 2023.
"The Geography of Injustice: East Asia's Battle between Memory and History," City College of New York (CUNY), September 20, 2023.
"The Pathology of Defeat: Japan's Early Postwar Search for a War Narrative," Special Lecture Series, Global Asia Research Center, Waseda University, Tokyo, July 27, 2023.
"Dismantling Defeat: Japan's Early Postwar Search for War Responsibility," Hong Kong University, Hong Kong, April 12, 2023.
"The Geography of Injustice in Postwar East Asia: Japan and its Neighbors," National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan, April 7, 2023.
Invited roundtable workshop on "Occupation and (in)justice in postwar East Asia," Sorbonne, Paris, March 22, 2023.
"A silent country (黙国) perched on the precipice of peace apathy (平和ボケ) : where is Japan heading and what does this mean for Japanese studies?" closing keynote address for the 6th Biennial International Conference of the Israeli Association of Japanese Studies, University of Haifa, Israel, November 17, 2022.
"Transwar propaganda and entertainment: imperial to post-imperial considerations," for the日文研 project: 労働と身体の大衆文化論戦時下・戦後の接続の試論として, Nichibunken Institute, Japan, September 2, 2022 (online).
"The Manchukuo Emperor, Chinese War Criminals, and Brainwashing Justice in Postwar East Asia," Global Asia Research Center, Waseda University, Japan, August 5, 2022.
Co-managed with Dr Vicky Young, Decolonizing East Asian Studies: Rewriting the Boundaries of Region, Nation, World international conference at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Cambridge University, UK, 2-4 June 2022.
"Pulling the Nation's Noodles: Ramen and the Chinese Origins of Modern Japanese Cuisine," Light Center for Chinese Studies, Western Michigan University, April 6, 2022 (online).
"Slapping one's own face" – laying blame for Japan's war responsibility in the early postwar, Tel Aviv University, Israel, March 22, 2022.
"Rethinking Sino-Japanese Relations: Justice and the Legacy of War Crimes Trials in East Asia," Shanghai University, China, November 25, 2021 (online).
"An Abundance of Memory and a Fear of History: how war crimes trials divided East Asia," University of Zurich, Applied History Seminar Keynote, Zurich, Switzerland, November 5, 2021.
"The enemy of my enemy is my….enemy? War criminals in the PRC and the various roads to justice," The Global Asia Research Center, Waseda University, Japan, August 3, 2021.
"Anchors of History: Long Shadow of Japanese Imperial Propaganda," in the Fanning of the Flames Speaker series at the Hoover Institution, Palo Alto, California, June 1, 2021. (See the talk at the Fanning the Flames speaker series).
"Paving The Road Away From Reconciliation: The Anatomy Of Injustice In Post-WWII Japanese War Crimes Trials," Global China Humanities Lecture Series, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, May 4, 2021.
"Past, Present and Future: CSSA Online Discussion about China-Japan Relations," Cambridge University, December 10, 2020.
"Like slapping one's own face:" How Japan Dealt with its Failed Empire in the Early Postwar Years," Oxford University History Society, October 16, 2020.
"Debates over the historical views of war crimes trials (アジアにおいて、戦犯裁判史観を巡る論争), Aoi Global Scholarship Agreement Anniversary Seminar, Waseda University, July 24, 2020, (in Japanese).
"Reflections on the Past Decade of War Crimes Trial History in East Asia: The Battle between National Memory and International Politics," and organizer of the workshop, Justice and Injustice in East Asia, 1945 to the Present: Media, History and Politics, Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, May 26, 2020.
"The Cold War, Reconciliation and the Uneven Path toward Justice in Sino-Japanese Relations, 1945- 2020," Shanghai Jiaotong University, May 21, 2020.
"'A Drunken Charade?': Finding East Asian Justice in Imperial Decline and Colonial Defeat," Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, Sweden, January 28, 2020. (See the video: https://vimeo.com/388163884).
"Using Big Data and Visualizing Data to Gain New Methodologies to Examine War Crimes History," 战后对日本战犯审判文献研讨会, 上海交通大学战争审判与世界和平研究院, Shanghai Jiatong University, Shanghai City Center Campus, January 7, 2020.
Organized and managed Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation-funded workshop: Charting the Geography of Power: Visualizing the Shifting Landscape from Imperial to Postwar East Asia through War Crimes Trials, Shanghai Jiaotong University, China, July 30 – August 1, 2019.
"Justice, Politics and the Postwar Order in East Asia 1945-2019," at the International Summer School on East Asian International Relations in Maritime History, Shanghai Jiaotong University, China, July 29, 2019.
「戦後処理を巡る論争：日中関係--これまで、今、これから」, 中曽根平和研究所（Nakasone Peace Institute）, Tokyo, Japan, July 25, 2019 (in Japanese).
"The Global Moment of Justice: War Crimes Trials in Asia, Politics and Memory," Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo Japan, July 19, 2019.
"Men to Devils and Devils to Men: BC class war crimes in East Asia and Japan's imperial legacy," Japan Institute of International Affairs, 日本国際問題研究所,Tokyo, Japan, July 8, 2019 (in Japanese).
"Imperial Legacies: History as a weapon of memory in Postwar East," National Chengchi University (國立政治大學), Taipei, Taiwan, March 26, 2019.
「 台灣的歷史萬花筒 」(The Kaleidoscope of Taiwanese History), examining the interaction of post-imperial and modern Taiwanese history with Japan, National Chengchi University (國立政治大學), Taipei, Taiwan, March 28, 2019 (in Chinese).
January 2019 Winter Lectures: WWII, the End of Empire and Japanese History, Waseda University, Japan.
a. Lecture 1: The history that you know has been tampered with, January 7, 2019.
b. Lecture 2: The end of the beginning: surrender, decolonization and the Cold War, January 8, 2019.
c. Lecture 3: Finding Justice: Allied War Crimes Trials and the Japanese Response, January 9, 2019.
d. Lecture 4: January 10, 2019: Imperial Legacies: History as a weapon of memory in Postwar East Asia
"The global moment of justice: war crimes trials in Europe and Asia in comparison," 2018 International Symposium on the 70th Anniversary of the Judgement of the Tokyo Trial, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, November 13, 2018.
"Meet the Writers - Wu Ming-Yi (author of the Man Booker Prize nominated The Stolen Bicycle,《單車失竊記》) in Conversation with Barak Kushner," National Liberal Club, London, August 17, 2018.
"處理戰後的勝利：國民黨、日本與共產黨對於正義的立場," Cambridge Workshop: The Cold War and
Post-War Taiwan, University of Cambridge, June 28, 2018 (talk in Chinese).
"Finding Meaning in Defeat: East Asia's Battle Over Postwar Justice," History Department, Stanford University, May 10, 2018.
Discussant for Carter Eckert's book talk on "Park Chung Hee and Modern Korea: The Roots of Militarism, 1866–1945," Center for East Asia Studies, Stanford University, May 11, 2018.
"Contextualising East Asia in 2018: Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Cross-Strait relations," Taipei Representative Office in the United Kingdom, London, UK, April 20, 2018.
"History as a weapon of memory in Postwar East Asia: war crimes, trials, and the elusive search for justice," USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture, University of Southern California, USA, April 16, 2018.
"Japan's 'Endless Postwar' and its relations with East Asia," part of the Living with Godzilla: Challenge, Tribulation, Resilience, and Transformation in Heisei Japan, Japan Studies Association Workshop, Hendrix College, Arkansas (US), April 13, 2018
"East Asian Regional Complexity Concerning the Historical Context of Reconciliation,"「東アジア地域の固有性－和解の歴史的背景」, at the Waseda University International Symposium 和解学創成へ向けて(Toward Creating the Field of Reconciliation Studies), Tokyo, December 16, 2017.
"War propaganda and postwar justice: Japan's struggle for legitimacy after surrender," Truman Institute, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, December 11, 2017.
"Tracing the Lines of Justice and the Spectacle of Law in Postwar Japan and China," hosted jointly by the ANU Japan Institute and the Australian Centre on China in the World, Australia National University, Canberra, Australia, November 8, 2017.
"The Spectacle of Justice in Postwar East Asia and Japan's Struggle with History," Sydney Ideas Lecture Series, University of Sydney, Australia, November 6, 2017.
"The politics of ramen in East Asia: why is a Chinese dish Japan's national emblem," (Japanese Studies Department 100th Anniversary Lectures Series), University of Sydney, Australia, November 3, 2017.
"Rethinking the Reconstruction of Postwar East Asia and the Postwar Pursuit of Justice," Korea Research Institute, Korea University, Seoul, Korea, October 31, 2017.
"對於戰後的戰犯審判的小型座談會," (A small roundtable discussion postwar war crimes trials), National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan, October 12, 2017. (Delivered and discussed in Chinese).
"Japanese War Crimes Trials and the Dissolution of the Japanese Empire in China"（戰後的日本帝國解體及戰犯審判）at the International Chinese Language Program of the National Taiwan University Language Center (國立臺灣大學國際華語研習所) Taipei, Taiwan, October 6, 2017.
"在中国的战争审判与历史认识之争: 中日关系与战后的争议, " (Chinese war crimes trials and the struggle over history: Sino-Japanese relations and the postwar search for justice) 纪念全面抗战爆发八十周年国际学术研讨会 (International Symposium on China's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression), Institute of Modern History (CASS), Beijing, July 9, 2017. (Delivered in Chinese)
"Opening Remarks (致辞) " at the 纪念全面抗战爆发八十周年国际学术研讨会 (International Symposium on China's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression), Institute of Modern History (CASS), Beijing, July 8, 2017. (Delivered in Chinese)
"Creating a Visual Database and Charting Japanese War Crimes and Sites of Chinese Justice in Postwar East Asia," Digital Media and Charting the Geography of Power in East Asia International Conference, Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge, June 29, 2017. Also convener and organizer of ERC-funded Digital Media and Charting the Geography of Power in East Asia International Conference, Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge, June 28-30, 2017.
"The History and Memory of War Crimes Trials in China and Japan, 1945-2017," Shanghai Jiaotong University, June 9, 2017.
"From Empire to State: Tracing the Meaning of Defeat in Immediate Postwar Japan," on panel Phantoms of Japan's Empire: Rethinking Transitions from World War to Cold War, 1945-1950, Association of Asian Studies, Toronto, Canada, March 16, 2017.
Discussant for "Practicing History at the Time of Crisis in Globalization Consensus," Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan, March 4, 2017.
"Men to Devils and Devils to Men: 中国における戦争裁判と歴史認識の争い,"近代日本史研究会 (Japan History Group), University of Tokyo, Japan, March 2, 2017 (delivered in Japanese).
74th OSIPP Panel Discussion, "From the Bursting of the Bubble Economy to Donald Trump's Presidency - Achievements and Challenges in Heisei Japan, " Osaka University, Japan, February 15, 2017.
"Adjudicating Victory in Postwar East Asia: the spectacle of war crimes and the theatre of justice," School of Asian and Oriental Studies (SOAS), London, January 18, 2017.
Organizer and convener of the 3rd Toshiba Foundation-funded conference, The Media and How It Shapes History in East Asia, University of Cambridge, January 13-15, 2017.
Organizer and convener of ERC-funded conference, The Reconstruction of East Asia, 1945-65, University of Cambridge, December 9-12, 2016.
"The Forgotten Postwar and the Politics of Justice," International Academic Forum on the Tokyo War Trial and World Peace, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China, November 12-13, 2016.
"War Crimes and Justice in China and East Asia in the Post-1945 Era," University of Oxford China Centre, University of Oxford, October 13, 2016.
"A Mirror of Historical Consciousness? Seventy Years of Sino-Japanese Struggles to Define and Debate War Crimes," at The Second International Seminar of Conflicting Views of America in East Asia - A Comparative Study of Historical Consciousness in Japan, Korea and China, International House of Japan, Tokyo, July 3, 2016.
「戦後中国における日本人戦犯裁判の戦い：正義とその正当性」学習院大学国際研究教育機構主催国際シンポジウム シリーズ「戦争を考える」第3回『戦犯裁判』 ("The struggle over justice and legitimacy in Chinese postwar trials of Japanese war criminals," Global Exchange Organization for Research and Education, International Symposium Series on Thinking about War, Third Lecture, "War Crimes," Gakushuin University, Tokyo, Japan, June 30, 2016 (delivered in Japanese).
"Searching for Postwar Justice: Japanese War Crimes and Chinese Law, 1945-1990," Maison Franco-Japonaise, Tokyo, Japan, June 28, 2016.
"Chinese Judges, Japanese War Criminals and the Strange Pursuit of Postwar Justice in East Asia," Comparative Asian Research Network (CARN) Monthly Lecture Series on Issues and Research in the Asian Region, Chinese University Hong Kong, Hong Kong, June 20, 2016.
"Winning the war: regional memory in East Asia and the politics of victory," What Is Regional Memory Conference, Jagiellonians Project, Radcliffe Humanities Center, University of Oxford, April 13, 2016.
Organizer and convener of the 2nd Toshiba Foundation-funded conference, The Media and How It Shapes History in East Asia (with special focus on Korea and Taiwan), University of Cambridge, April 7-9, 2016.
"The Breakdown of Empire and Competitive Justice: the Postwar Chinese Use of Japanese War Crimes Trials," China in the World Center, Australia National University, Canberra, Australia, February 29, 2016.
"Legality and Empire – the Struggle over 'Justice' in Sino-Japanese Relations (1944-1947)," The Sino-Japanese War and Its Impact on Asia, International Conference at Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, December 20, 2015.
"Why don't we just execute all war criminals? Japanese War Crimes and Postwar Chinese Justice - the legacy and dilemmas," Trinity Hall History Society, University of Cambridge, UK, December 3, 2015.
"Des Procès Chinois Et La Mémoire Japonaise Des Crimes De Guerre," University of Geneva, Switzerland, November 19, 2015.
"Chinese War Crimes Trials and Japan - A Brief Assessment," on the plenary panel, Constructing a Road for Peace: Historical Responsibility and Multiple Memory, Beijing Forum 2015, Diaoyutai State Guest House, Beijing, China, November 6, 2015.
"National Memory and the Politics of War Crimes in China and Japan," opening lecture for series The Politics of History and Memory in Eastern Europe and Asia, organized by Dr. Martin Grossheim, Dept. of Southeast Asian Studies and Prof. Dr. Thomas Wünsch, Dept. History and Cultures of Eastern Europe, University of Passau, Germany, October 21, 2015.
"War Crimes in East Asia - Chinese Memory and Japanese Behavior," York University, October 7, 2015.
The Asia Pacific War and Its Legacy: A Historical Debate on the 70th Anniversary of the End of the War, a discussion with Professor Rana Mitter and historian Francis Pike, Victory Services Club, London, October 5, 2015.
"Chinese-Chinese Competition in Adjudicating Crimes of War," at the Contested Visions of Justice: Allied War Crimes Trials in a Global Context, 1943-1958 Conference, Boston College Center in Dublin, Ireland, September 26, 2015.
"Decolonization and the Devil: Chinese War Crimes Trials and the Japanese End of Empire," Lafayette College, Pennsylvania, USA, September 21, 2015.
"Building Justice in Early Postwar East Asia: Values, Issues and Caveats/ Construire la justice dans l'Asie orientale d'après-guerre: valeurs, questions et mises en garde," 5E CONGRÈS DES ÉTUDES SUR L'ASIE ET LE PACIFIQUE, INALCO, Paris, September 10, 2015.
"The Regulation of Fun in Meiji Japan," Heidelberg History Conference on Global History and the Meiji Restoration, Heidelberg Center for Transcultural Studies, Heidelberg, Germany, July 5, 2015.
"Law and Constitutionalism in East Asia," Law, (Inter-)nationalism, and the Global Cold War, 1945-1989, Dickson-Poon-China-Centre, Oxford University, June 12, 2015.
"Noodles, Nation, and Nightmares – Japan's Modern History and the Story of Ramen," Eton College, UK, June 5, 2015.
"Sino-Japan Relations: 70 Years On, Why Are They Still Talking About War Crimes?" Brandeis University, Massachusetts, USA, April 29, 2015.
"Men to Devils, Devils to Men," Kings College London, March 26, 2015.
"Friending the Enemy: the White Group and the KMT's Pursuit of an alliance with Post-imperial Japan," Centre of Taiwanese Studies, SOAS, University of London, February 26, 2015.
"Men to Devils, Devils to Men: Japanese War Crimes and Chinese Justice" (Book Launch and Lecture), Daiwa Anglo-Japan Foundation, London, February 24, 2015.
"Mediating War Responsibility in Early Postwar Japan: Confusion, Love Statues and Shell Fish," INALCO, Paris, France, February 13, 2015.
"Justice, War Crimes Trials and the Aftermath of War in East Asia," École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS), Paris, France, February 12, 2015.
"Slurping your way through modern Japanese history: Noodles, Nationalism and the Myths of Japanese Food Culture," Stephen Hales Lecture at Leckhampton House, Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge, February 3, 2015.
Organizer and convener of 1st Toshiba Foundation-funded conference, The Media and How It Shapes History in East Asia, University of Cambridge, January 30 - February 1, 2015.
"〈リバランス〉再調整期のアジア協同体―歴史的視座から," ("The Rebalancing, Looking at the Period of Realigning Relations in the Asian Sphere – From the Historical Perspective"), at the conference イメージング・アジア −〈リバランス〉再調整期のアジア協同体を想起する, ('Imaging Asia,' Thinking about the Asian Sphere in a Realigning Asia), January 7, 2015, Aichi University, Nagoya, Japan (in Japanese).
"Men to Devils, Devils to Men: China and Britain in the Mid-twentieth Century: New Approaches to History," A collaborative workshop between the University China Centre, Oxford University, and Academia Historica (Guoshiguan), Taipei, Taiwan ROC, at Oxford University, November 15, 2014.
"Conflict Between Japan and China: Realpolitik or War Crimes Legacy?" Keele World Affairs Lecture Series, Keele University, November 13, 2014.
"Decolonization and the Search for Justice in the Imperial Aftermath: Japanese Discussions About the Actual Pursuit of Justice," at the conference Rethinking Justice? Decolonization, Cold War, and Asian War Crimes Trials after 1945, University of Heidelberg, Germany, October 27, 2014.
"Looking at expectations of Japan from abroad,"「海外から見た日本への期待」, keynote speech at the International Symposium, Toward 2020, What Message Can Japan Send the World?「２０２０年へ、日本は世界に何を発信できるか」, sponsored by the Nihon Keizai Newspaper and the Toshiba Foundation, October 3, 2014, Tokyo, Japan (in Japanese).
Organizer and convener of ERC-funded conference, Breakdown of the Japanese Empire and the Search for Legitimacy, University of Cambridge, September 20-23, 2014.
"Chinese Post-WWII War Crimes Trials: Breaking the Cycle of Violence," keynote speech at the Remember Violence and Violent Memory Conference, University of Cambridge History Department, May 30, 2014.
"The Chinese Nationalist and Chinese Communist Trials of Japanese War Crimes in a Comparative Historical Perspective," Center for Cold War International History Studies, East China Normal University, Shanghai, May 23, 2014.
"Noodles, Nationalism and Economic Neuroses - ramen as the symbol of Japanese history," Focus Asia: Food in Asia Conference, Lund University, Sweden, April 15, 2014.
"The Justice of Empire: Investigating Japanese Efforts to Define Defeat in the Postwar," at the Shifting Terrains of Struggle in Japan and Japanese Studies Conference, University of North Carolina (Triangle Center for Japanese Studies), USA, April 12, 2014.
"Men to Devils and Devils to Men - Japanese War Crimes and Cold War Sino-Japanese Relations (1945-1965)," The Institute on World War II and the Human Experience, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA, April 8, 2014.
"War Crimes, the Japanese Defeat and East Asia in the Early Cold War," William and Mary College, program in Washington DC, USA, April 4, 2014.
"Chinese and Japanese Competitive Justice for War Crimes in Early Cold War East Asia," The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, March 3, 2014.
"Chinese War Crimes Trials of Japanese, 1945-1956," at The Historical Origins of International Criminal Law Conference, Seminar 1, co-organized by the Centre for International Law Research and Policy, hosted at City University of Hong Kong, March 2, 2014.
"Sure it's delicious, but why is it popular? Historically decoding regional branding, food tourism and the rise of ramen, Japan's epic noodle soup," Devouring Japan Conference, University of Texas, Austin, February 21, 2014.
"Learning to Slurp: History, Noodles and Popular Culture in Japan," Montgomery Dickson Center for Japanese Language & Culture, University of Alaska, Anchorage, February 15, 2014.
"Who gets to judge and who judges? Japanese war crimes and Chinese justice, 1945-65," World History Seminar, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge, January 23, 2014.
"Colonial Guilt: Taiwanese War Criminals and the Conflict with International Law," at the International Conference on Taiwanese War Criminals in International War Crime Trials, National Chung Cheng University (國立中正大學), Jiayi, Taiwan, December 20, 2013.
"Slurp! A culinary and social history of ramen," Japan Foundation, London, December 5, 2013.
"National Indigestion: Ramen (Japanese Noodle Soup) and the Search for East Asian Gastronomic Identity," Birkbeck Food Group, Birkbeck University of London, November 28, 2013.
"Love Statues, Shell Fish and Communist Treachery: Japan's early postwar responses to the War Crimes Issue," Japan Society, London, November 18, 2013.
"Imperial Dissolution and Colonial Crimes: Taiwan and the Postwar Dilemma of Japanese War Crimes," St. Antony's College, University of Oxford, November 15, 2013.
"The Dissolution of the Japanese Empire and the Struggle for Legitimacy in Postwar East Asia, 1945–1965," at the New Perspectives on the Chinese 1950s Workshop, University of York, UK, July 20, 2013.
"Slurp! Revealing the History of Ramen," Guild of Food Writers, London, July 18, 2012, London, UK.
"Thoughts on Japanese War Crimes Trials, Traitors, and Sino-Japanese Relations," lecture in the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies at the University of Tokyo, Japan, May 21, 2013.
"Pawns of Empire 'Revisited': Postwar Taiwan, Japan and the Dilemma of War Crimes," 2013 ILA-ASIL Asia-Pacific Research Forum, International Law and Dispute Resolution: Challenges in the Asia Pacific, May 16, 2013, Taipei, Taiwan.
"Ramen – the Noodle Soup that Changed Japan and the World," University of Heidelberg, Germany (Cluster of Excellence: Asia and Europe in a Global Context), April 24, 2013.
"Imperial Fragility and the Pursuit of Justice in Postwar East Asia - War Crimes and Chinese International Law," Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge, February 11, 2013.
"Searching for Shame in immediate postwar East Asia: the pursuit of justice and the dilemma of benevolence," Shame and Shaming in Twentieth Century History Conference, Center for the History of Emotions, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, December 6, 2012.
"Comparing Chinese War Crimes Trials of Japanese Soldiers: the KMT Versus the CCP," National Taiwan Chengchi University, (Taipei, Taiwan), November 26, 2012.
"Unlikely Heroes: the Defeated Japanese Imperial Military and the KMT's Survival, 1946-49," Tunghai University (Taizhong, Taiwan), November 20, 2012.
"Getting to Trial: KMT (Kuomintang) War Crimes Tribunals and the Japanese Response, 1946-1950," Europe Japan Research Centre, Oxford Brookes University, October 16, 2012.
"Slurp! A Social and Culinary History of RAMEN – Japan's Favourite Noodle Soup," book launch lecture at Daiwa Anglo-Japan Foundation, London, October 5, 2012.
"Taiwanese War Criminals: Imperial Legacy and Colonial Guilt,"（台湾人と国際法：本来の戦争犯罪は誰か), (talk delivered in English and Chinese), Shōkei University, Kumamoto, Japan; conference on Taiwanese War Criminals, September 6, 2012.
"Identity, Food and Consumerism: Charting the Movement of Ramen as a Chinese Dish to a Japanese National Icon," History of Design Seminar, Royal College of Art, London, March 1, 2012.
"Ghosts of Imperial Japan: Chinese Nationalists, Imperial Japanese and the Curious Plot to Defend Post-war Taiwan," Institute of Historical Research, University of London, February 2, 2012.
"Nothing to laugh at: Chinese humor and the image of Japan," University of Sydney (Australia), co-hosted by the Australasia Humour Studies Network, December 13, 2011.
"Chinese Checkers or Japanese Imperial Chess? Postwar Japanese War Criminals and Chinese Justice," invited keynote speech at the Japanese History Workshop Australia, Murdoch University (Perth, Australia), December 2, 2011.
"Learning to Slurp: History, Noodles and Popular Culture in Japan," Third Thursday Lecture at the Sainsbury Institute for Japanese Arts and Cultures, Norwich, October 20, 2011.
"Love Statues: De-Construction of Japanese Imperial Monuments to War," Imperial Sites of Memory Conference, University of St Andrews, September 2, 2011.
"What happened to Japanese soldiers in postwar China and what did the Chinese do to them?" The Cambridge and Oxford Society of Tokyo, Japan, July 22, 2011.
"Sino-Japan Relations from the Immediate Postwar to the Cold War: Examining War Crimes through China"s "Magnanimous Policy" and the "White Group," (終戦直後から冷戦までの日中関係：「以徳報怨」と「白団」のエピソードから戦犯問題を考察する), International Foreign Policy Studies Group, Nishogakusha University, July 21, 2011. (Delivered in Japanese)
"Postwar Sino-Japan Relations: Through the Looking Glass at Historical Studies on War Crimes and Treason Trials, (零度のエクリテュール, 戦後日中関係における: 漢奸裁判をめぐる歴史学), Aichi University, Toyohashi, Japan. July 17, 2011. (Delivered in Japanese)
"Empire"s Little Helpers: Juvenile Crime and the State in East Asia, 1900-2000," Keynote speech at the conference, Juvenile Delinquency in the 19th and 20th Centuries: East-West Comparisons, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany, March 13, 2011.
"Slurping the way to delicious: 19th and early 20th century Japanese food culture and the history of ramen," Royal Asiatic Society, London, March 10, 2011.
"A Brief Comparison of KMT and CCP War Crimes Trials of Japanese and Postwar Political Goals in East Asia," (日本の戦犯裁判: 日中関係の歴史を観察する), Saitama University, Japan, January 6, 2011. (Delivered in Japanese)
"The "White Group": The Role of Japanese Imperial Soldiers in China"s Civil War and the Struggle for International Legitimacy," Department of History, Penn State University, October 25, 2010.
"The Devil Inside: the image of Japan in 20th century Chinese humor," Department of Comparative Literature, Penn State University, October 25, 2010.
"Enemies of a Kind: Chiang Kai Shek and Okamura Yasuji's military efforts in Taiwan to retake the mainland," SOAS conference on Taiwan history 1949-1975, September 25, 2010.
"When Empire Fails: Postwar Japanese Imperial Military Efforts in Taiwan, Re-assessing the Postwar," National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan, September 6, 2010.
"The history of sugar consumption in Japan," at The Historical Consumer: Consumption and Everyday Life in Japan, 1850-2000 conference at the London School of Economics, July 29, 2010.
"An Unsatisfying Peace: Postwar Sino-Japan Relations and War Crimes Trials," as part of the conference, The "Long Arc" of Sino-Japanese Relations: Chinese Perspectives on War, Cooperation, and Conflict Across Three Eras, June 17, 2010, Oxford University.
Invited panelist to the Asahi Shimbun sponsored symposium on the role of media in Japanese history (朝日新聞シンポジウム昭和報道：検証), June 4, 2010, Tokyo, Japan. (Delivered in Japanese)
"Defining the Enemy: Early Cold War Sino-Japan Relations and the Paradox of International Law, Rowan University, New Jersey (USA), April 13, 2010.
"Japanese Love Statues and Chinese Prisons: Early Cold War Sino-Japanese Relations and WWII War Crimes," Sigur Center for Asian Studies, George Washington University, Washington DC (USA), April 8, 2010.
"China's Past, China's Future", keynote presentation at the Oundle School, Oundle, UK, March 12, 2010.
"DEALING WITH THE 'DEVIL' - Analyzing Postwar Chinese Trials of Japanese War Criminals," Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Hebrew University (Jerusalem, Israel), January 4, 2010.
"日本戰犯的審判：中日關係歷史之觀察,"(Riben Zhanfan de shenpan: ZhongRi guanxi lishi zhi guancha) (Japanese War Crimes: Observations on Sino-Japanese Historical Relations " the case of Taiwan) at the conference hosted at Taiwan National University, 交界與游移-近現代東亞的文化傳譯與知識生產 (The Shifting Sands of Common Boundaries "
Interpretation and Production of Knowledge in Modern East Asia) September 10, 2009, Taipei, Taiwan. (Delivered in Chinese)
"Legalizing Guilt: Law and Early Cold War Sino-Japanese Relations," in panel New Thoughts on Old Paradigms: Re-assessing the Early Cold War in East Asia, at International Convention of Asian Scholars, Daejeon, South Korea, August 7, 2009.
"The WWII Japanese and Chinese struggle for hearts and minds," Waseda University, June 15, 2009.
"The historical baggage of Japanese war criminals in China: explaining the immediate postwar in East Asia," lecture at Occidental College, Los Angeles (USA), April 1, 2009.
"Victim"s Justice: Early Cold War East Asia and the Pursuit of a New Order," on the panel The Impact of China: Experience on the Construction of Modern Japanese Identity, Association for Asian Studies annual conference, Chicago, March 27, 2009.
"Devils to men and men to devils - unravelling postwar Chinese war crimes trials of Japanese POWs," Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Bristol, February 9, 2009.
"Nationalism and Popular Food Culture in Modern Japan," SOAS Food Studies Centre, London, November 28, 2008.
"日本战犯的审判： 中日关系历史之观察," (Japan War Crimes Trials: Observations on postwar Sino-Japan Relations) talk delivered in Chinese, History Department, Nanjing University, China, September 25, 2008.
"Eating Your Way to Democracy: Japan's Postwar Politics of Food," Soga Japan Center Speaker Series at Western Michigan University, April 15, 2008.
"Going for the Gold: Health and Sports in Japan's Quest for Modernity," delivered at Olympian Desires: Building Bodies and Nations in East Asia; A Symposium at the University of Kansas, April 10, 2008.
"Nationalism and food in East Asia; hygiene, dining and imperial pageantry," in the World History Seminar at St. Catharine"s College, University of Cambridge, March 6, 2008.
"拉麵與民族主義：飲食的殖民地化," (Noodles and Nationalism: the Colonization of Cuisine), talk delivered in Chinese, December 7, 2007, History Department, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
"The Colonization of Cuisine and the Translation of Empire," at the "Translation: East Asia and the West International Conference for Junior Scholars," December 4, 2007, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan.
"The Meiji restoration was a menu revolution - diplomacy and dining in early modern Japan," at the Japan Research Centre, SOAS, London, November 21, 2007.
"Adjudicating Imperialism in Postwar East Asia: War Crimes Trials and the Cold War in Japan," at the East Asia in International Relations: Power, Institutions, and Identity: Asian Seminar Series at Oxford University, October 24, 2007.
"Noodling around Asia: the politics of eating in Taisho era Japan," Modern Japan History Workshop, Waseda University, Tokyo, September 7, 2007.
"The Cold War in East Asia-Memory and Loathing," at Crossing Boundaries in Cold War Studies Conference, University of Cambridge, May 4, 2007.
"A short history of Japanese cuisine and the meaning of banquets in diplomacy," invited dinner lecture for the Shibusawa/Suntory Workshop in Cambridge on the Two Bilateral Relations with the Superpower, University of Cambridge, March 26, 2007.
"Japan's postwar circus and breadlines - national diet and demobilization," at the Oxford Princeton Workshop, Making Order in the Post-war World: A Comparative Study of Europe and East Asia in the 1940s and 1950s, History Faculty, Oxford University, March 23, 2007.
"What do manga tell us about Japanese history and why should we care? Manga to rekishi, nani zoya?" Annual Cambridge lecture (in English and Japanese) at Chaucer College Canterbury, UK, February 2, 2007.
Thursday, March 2, 2006 lecture in the Department of History at Indiana State University.
Return invitation to speak on Sino-Japanese relations and history at the Anchorage World Affairs Council, Alaska, March 31, 2006.