Ene Selart's gave a presentation at the Baltic-Scandinavian Research Association

On 28 May, the Centre's coordinator of Japanese Affairs, Ene Selart gave a presentation at the Baltic-Scandinavian Research Association (バルト・スカンディナヴィア研究会) on the topic "Letters from Estonians about the Russian-Japanese War (1904-1905): a text analysis based on print media."

The presentation was based on letters sent home by Estonians who participated in the Russian-Japanese War, whether as soldiers, officers, doctors, or nurses. The letters described the battles, life situations, Manchurian nature, and the bravery and weaponry of the opponents. More than 300 such letters were published in the Estonian-language press.

The purpose of the presentation was to give an overview of the complexity of the research topic: theoretical and methodological problems, such as the possibilities of applying different methods of text analysis and the categories and text examples of thematic text analysis of letters. In addition, the listeners learned about the situation of the Estonian press during the Russian-Japanese War and the empirical background of the research.

The event took the form of a hybrid form both at the University of Tsuda in Tokyo and via Zoom. The meeting was led and moderated by Yuko Ishino, a professor specializing in the study of Finnish history at Kokushikan University.