Christopher Hood (Honorary Professor of modern Japanese history at Cardiff University) gives a lecture on “Pictograms to Emoji to Kamon: The Hierarchy of Japan’s Visual Packaging Culture”, as part of the Kyoto Lectures, organised by the EFEO, ISEAS and the Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University.
This hybrid lecture will be held on site and via Zoom (meeting ID: 820 7088 9460).
Symbols convey meaning, but not all symbols are equal. In this lecture, I consider a hierarchy of symbols within what I term ‘Visual Packaging Culture’, focusing on pictograms, emoji, and kamon as representatives of each group, to question whether symbols truly carry the meanings ascribed to them.
Christopher Hood is Honorary Professor of modern Japanese history at Cardiff University. His books include Japan: The Basics (2024), Dealing with Disaster in Japan (2011), and Shinkansen: From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan (2006). In 2025/6, he was a Japan Foundation Fellow at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, researching symbolism in Japan.
Tuesday October 27 2026
At 6pm (Japan) or 10 am (France)
EFEO Centre in Kyoto
Kitashirakawa bettō-chō 29, Sakyō-ku
606-8276 Kyōto Japon
〒606-8276 京都市左京区北白川別当町29