This is a past event. Registration is closed. View other Royal Asiatic Society China in Shanghai events.


Join us for an online book discussion of Kaleidoscope: The Uchiyama Bookstore and its Sino-Japanese Visionaries with author Naoko Kato and moderator John Van Fleet.

In the 1920s, a Japanese businessman set up a bookshop in the city of Shanghai which changed the course of history by providing a forum for Chinese and Japanese intellectuals to meet and discuss the great issues of the day. Now, Naoko Kato's powerful book Kaleidoscope looks at the story of Uchiyama Kanzo and his bookstore from a fresh perspective, breaking it down into a series of reflections that shift as the years turn.


Uchiyama's bookstore was a fulcrum of Sino-Japanese contacts, and many of the members of Uchiyama's salon were intellectuals behind the Chinese Communist Party and Japanese anti-war organizations which were illegal in Shanghai at the time. The ability of Uchiyama and his bookstore to transcend intellectual divisions and borders makes his story of unique inter-cultural interest. The context of Uchiyama's efforts to bring peace between his home country of Japan and his chosen home of China, is one of the most intellectually uplifting stories of the 20th century.

Kaleidoscope was written by Naoko Kato and is based on her 2013 doctoral dissertation, "Through the Kaleidoscope: Uchiyama Bookstore and Sino-Japanese Visionaries in War and Peace". The book was edited by long-time RAS member Marcia Johnson, who discovered the dissertation and brought it to Earnshaw Books. Together, they transformed the academic piece into this book for general readers.


Kaleidoscope can be purchased from Amazon for those outside mainland China, or Earnshaw Books for those in mainland China (for a hard copy, please contact Graham Earnshaw at graham@earnshaw.com / 13901668748 or Tash at WeChat: natashagalasyuk).


This event is run jointly with RAS Beijing.

Speakers

Tickets

  • RAS China members

    Complimentary

    Member Price

    Reserve Ticket
  • RAS China joint/family members

    Complimentary

    Public Price

    For RAS members who signed up under the joint/family option.

    Reserve Ticket
  • Friends of the RAS (registered PRC donors only)

    Complimentary

    Public Price

    Reserve Ticket
  • Non-members

    RMB 100

    Public Price

    Buy Ticket
  • Members of RAS Beijing

    Complimentary

    Public Price

    Reserve Ticket
  • Members of other RAS branches (Hong Kong, Korea, etc.)

    RMB 50

    Public Price

    For members of other RAS branches and chapters.
    You may be asked to provide proof of membership.

    Buy Ticket
  • RAS China Institutional Member

    Complimentary

    Public Price

    Max. 5 tickets per RAS Institutional member.

    Reserve Ticket