"Loveable Losers: The Taira in Action and Memory," an interdisciplinary academic conference organised by Mikael Adolphson and Anne Commons of the Department of East Asian Studies, University of Alberta, and Joshua Mostow, Department of Asian Studies, UBC, was held at the Banff Centre on August 13-15, 2011. The conference featured seventeen presentations on the role of the Taira family in Japanese history and culture by scholars from Canada, the USA, Japan and France, including a keynote address by Professor Takahashi Masaaki (Kôbe University, emeritus). The conference was very successful: the presentations sparked interesting and informative responses from the discussants and audience members, and uncovered enlightening new perspectives on the activities and reception of the Taira. A full listing of presenters and paper titles can be found at http://www.eastasianstudies.ualberta.ca/en/TairaConference.aspx.
Keynote Speaker Professor Takahashi
Some conference participants at the Banff Gondola