Research

As part of the Centre's mandate, the PTJC sponsors research and aids the organization of conferences, workshops, etc. to promote research in Japan-related areas.

In 2024, the PTJC launched its Seed Grant Program to support interdisciplinary research collaborations between Canadian and Japanese researchers. The program was designed to help five research teams develop ambitious projects and pursue larger-scale external funding.

The five principal investigators at the University of Alberta are Dr. Sean Caulfield, Dr. Yelena Gluzman, Dr. Kimberly Noels, Dr. Geoffrey Rockwell, and Dr. Kaitlyn Watson. Their projects span environmental art and health, autism and participatory research, language-learning motivation, Japanese film preservation, and access to medicines during health emergencies.

What makes this cohort particularly interesting is that it demonstrates PTJC's broader vision of Japan–Canada research: not simply the study of Japanese language and culture, but collaboration across the arts, humanities, social sciences, technology, and health sciences. To learn more about each of the projects, please visit their pages linked below.