On the triannual conference of the European Association for Japanese Studies in Ghent (August 17-20, 2023), that attracted more than 1100 particpants, Andreas Niehaus (LW 21) was elected to be the new president of the association for 2023-2026. He succeeds Prof. Verena Blechinger-Talcott, vice-president of international affairs at the Freie Universität Berlin.

The European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS) is an association of scholars, researchers and students engaged in Japanese Studies (that is, research in the humanities and social sciences on Japan-related subjects that uses Japanese-language materials and relates to the body of research accumulated within the academically institutionalized field) and has about 1500 members at the moment.  Founded in 1973, the general objective of the EAJS is to promote research in Japanese Studies in Europe, Japan and other regions of the world. The EAJS aims to promote the flow of information and communication in Japanese Studies through triennial international conferences in Europe and Japan, as well as through workshops and symposia. While intitally attracting primarily European scholars, the organization has grown into an international organization with a high pecentage of Japanese and Amercian scholars as well.