IWNTJ 2026
International Workshop of the Network for Translingual Japanese 2026
International Workshop of the Network for Translingual Japanese
International Workshop of the Network for Translingual Japanese (IWNTJ) 2026
Maritime Communities, Japanese Language Mobility, and Coexistence
Event Overview
Dates: August 26–28, 2026 (Wednesday–Friday)
Location: Broome, Western Australia
Format: Hybrid on August 26; in-person on August 27–28
Venues: St. Mary’s College Broome, Mangrove Hotel, and Nyamba Buru Yawuru
Capacity: 50 participants
Conference Chairs:
-
Prof. Makiko Matsuda (Tokyo Metropolitan University)
-
Prof. Emi Otsuji (University of Technology Sydney)
Conference Themes
-
Translingual Approaches to Japanese Language Education
-
Maritime Communities and Language Mobility
-
Multilingual Practices in Diaspora Communities
-
Learning from First Nations knowledge and cultural practices
Rationale and Significance
This international workshop will coincide with the Shinju Matsuri (Festival of the Pearl), Broome's premier cultural celebration that honors the town's multicultural pearling heritage. By scheduling IWNTJ 2026 during this festival period, we aim to create meaningful connections between academic discussions on translingual practices and the living maritime multicultural traditions of Broome.
Festival Website: https://www.shinjumatsuri.com.au/
Registration
Please complete the registration form below.
Registration Form
The registration fee will be collected on site.
Registration Information
Capacity:50 participants (registration will close once capacity is reached) - Format:In-person only
Registration Information
Registration fees: 200 AUD /JPY 22000 (tax included)
Early-bird discount: 150 AUD/JPY 16000 (tax included) (Deadline: JULY 10)
Note
Those who have registered before 30 JUNE: 5000 JPY. This amount does not include lunch for 27th & 28th. If you wish to have lunch at the conference venue, please let us know by July 10th.
5000 JPY will include:
-
Access to all conference sessions
-
Conference materials
-
Coffee breaks and refreshments
-
Please note that participation in the Welcome Reception and the Pre-Conference Aboriginal Language Workshop is optional and requires a separate fee.
Program
Program (The program will be updated periodically.)
Accommodation
As the conference period coincides with the Pearl Festival, which is peak tourist season in Broome, participants are strongly encouraged to book their accommodation early.
Recommended Accommodation
Mangrove Hotel
Please make your reservation through the hotel’s website. A discount will be applied when you enter the promotion code.
The promotion code will be provided after you complete your conference registration.
Keynote speech 1
In the Same Boat: The Sister-City Youth Exchange Program of Broome and Taiji
Keito Sakurai
(Curator, Taiji Town Historical Archives / Advisory Curator, New Bedford Whaling Museum)
St. Mary's College made the brand-new youth exchange program central to celebrate its 2008 centennial year, twenty-seven years after the establishment of the Broome-Taiji sister-city relationship. A principal's letter to Taiji students stated that the Irish sisters founded the school in response to a request by the local Japanese community, and that the school was a testament to Broome's rich multicultural heritage. Over two hundred students from the two have had the opportunity to broaden their horizons by leaving their remote coastal communities, seeing themselves objectively during their visit to their sister-city town, and appreciating the legacy of ancestors who worked together in Broome's pearling industry.
Hayato Sakurai works at the Taiji Town Board of Education as a maritime historian and the coordinator of the youth exchange program between Broome and Taiji. He is currently interested in the history of fishing on distant shores by people from the coastal villages of the Kii Peninsula. He is a co-curator of the 2026 special exhibition “Migrants' Knots: Sea Tales Connecting Kishu, Boshu, and Monterey,” which explores the history of the Japanese-dominated abalone fishing industry in Monterey, California.
Keynote speech 2
Languages and Cultures Network Nurtured in Australia: Community Language Practices for Children Connected to Japan
Chihiro Kinoshita Thomson
(Professor, University of New South Wales)
Abstract
Australia hosts a large number of Japanese nationals—over 100,000 as of 2025—making it the country with the second-largest number of Japanese nationals outside Japan, after the United States. Many of these individuals are children born in Australia to international families comprising Australian and Japanese parents. These children grow up in multilingual environments, surrounded by the languages of their families, schools, and wider society. They naturally acquire dominant English as the language of the host society while also learning Japanese.
This form of Japanese is often described as a heritage language inherited from their parents. However, the term “heritage language” has its limitations. We also observe emergent and creative uses of Japanese within Japanese-speaking communities in Australia that cannot be fully captured by this concept. We refer to this as KEISHO-GO, or Japanese as community language—a lived, shared, and evolving linguistic practice.
In this lecture, I will introduce the Australian environment that nurtures the development of KEISHO-GO, and discuss the activities of the Australian Network for Japanese as a Community Language. This network engages in educational and research initiatives that provide information and resources to support communities of KEISHO-GO speakers.