In collaboration with IEE & Waseda Brussels Office

This year’s Forum is to be the 26th iteration of a long-standing academic traditions bringing Japanese and European researchers together to discuss a range of issues of shared interest.

This platform linking scholars and researchers from two continents has proven itself a fruitful and productive environment with several joint publications seeing the light of day over the past two-and-a-half decades. However, much like the EU-Japan partnership itself – which in 2026 will reach the 7 year mark of the conclusion of the Japan-Europe Economic Partnership Agreement, the Forum must renew its agenda and explore new frontiers of shared interest while reacting to a rapidly changing international and national environments, both in Europe and across East Asia.

In seeking to renew its purpose, the Forum can look back on a rich history of scientific collaboration and joint production. Some off the more recent publications associated with the forum include National Identity and Millennials in Northeast Asia: Power and Contestations in the Digital Age (Routledge, 2024); The Sustainable Development Goals Diffusion and Contestation in Asia and Europe (Routledge, 2023); Europe and Japan Cooperation in the Fight against Cross-border Crime: Challenges and Perspectives (Routledge, 2022); Value Politics in Japan and Europe (Routledge, 2021); or Origins and Consequences of European Crises: Global Views on Brexit (Peter Lang, 2020). As reflected in this non-exhaustive list of publications, the forum is a truly interdisciplinary effort onnecting disciplines from across the Socials Sciences and Humanities.

The 2026 Forum at the Institut d'études européennes (IEE) of the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) on March 9th and 10th will continue this tradition as it will host three public panels and two closed workshops. The three Monday sessions are set-up with an eye on relaunching the forum’s scientific agenda with a focus on dynamics of interaction between culture, (geo)politics, and market in Europe and Asia. The Tuesday sessions will involve two ongoing collaborative research projects between Waseda University and the ULB: one on Transcultural Theatre Studies aimed at challenging national narratives in theatre history, and another on The EU and Japan in International Criminal Cooperation working towards a joint publication comparing Japanese and European approaches to international criminal law.

You can consult the full Program to see which topics are to be included in 2026

Monday 9 March and Tuesday 10 March 2026

IEE
ULB - Solbosch
Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 39
1050 Bruxelles

Several sessions are open to the public, you are welcome to Register here for any or all three of the following panels

• 9 March 2026, 10:00-12:00 - How to Accommodate Wars, Cultural Competition and "Constitutive Others": Same Ingredients, Different Recipes? - Chair: François Foret (ULB) - Kant Room

• 9 March 2026, 13:00-15:00 - Modernity, market, democracy: bones of contention or common ground? - Chair: François Foret (ULB) - Kant Room

• 10 March 2026, 13:30-15:30 - Collaborative Practices in Performance: EU-Japan Cooperation and Artistic Interaction - Chair: Vanessa Frangville (ULB) - Kant Room