If you’re going to be in London on October 8, 2012, be sure to check out Yoko Arisaka’s lecture for the Royal Institute of Philosophy. The talk is entitled “Modern Japanese Philosophy: Historical Contexts and Cultural Implications Today,” and it’s the first lecture in a new series called Philosophical Traditions. Later lectures will talk about Buddhism, Daoism, Indian philosophy and other topics of interest to comparative philosophers.

On January 25, 2013, Bret Davis will also be giving a talk about Japanese philosophy.

Click over to the Royal Institute website for the full list of speakers and topics.

Update. Here is the abstract to her talk:

Modern Japanese philosophy was established during the turbulent era of rapid modernization and westernization in the Meiji Period (1868-1912) and thrived until the end of the Pacific War in 1945. The project intensely grappled with the idea of producing a ‘uniquely Japanese yet philosophically universal’ system, which they conceived as the first such attempt among the non-Western nations. The talk will introduce and contexualize its development, summarize some of its major themes, and discuss two of the most prominent philosophers–Kitaro Nishida and Tetsuro Watsuji. The discussion ends with a reflection of philosophical themes as they relate to the post-Fukushima culture of Japan.