How did Japanese Science Fiction develop? Where should it go?
Date: 10 November 2026 (Tues)
Time: 5 PM (HKT)
Venue: Room 4.36, 4/F, Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU
Speaker: Fujii Taiyo, Japanese SF writer
All are welcome! No registration required.
Japanese science fiction, which began with translations, expanded significantly into the world of visual expression following the war. In this lecture, I will present a brief history of this evolution and discuss how the field of SF literature—a small corner of the vast landscape of Japanese science fiction that continues to pioneer new ideas—has been cultivating new writers, focusing on developments from the 2000s onward. This lecture will also introduce "SF Prototyping," a practice where Japanese science fiction writers collaborate with business entities in workshops.
Taiyo Fujii, originally from Amami Oshima, has worked in stage design, desktop publishing, exhibition graphics, and software development. In 2012 he self-published Gene Mapper, becoming Amazon.co.jp’s top Kindle title; a revised Hayakawa edition (2013) earned Nihon SF Taisho and Seiun nominations. Orbital Cloud won both major SF awards in 2014. Hello, World! won the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for Young Writers. Fujii served as the 18th chair of the SF Writers Association (SFWJ), reorganizing it as a company and founding its board. Recently he’s active in SF Prototyping and ongoing international short‑story collaborations, earning multiple Seiun Awards.
Respondents:
· Dr. Emily Xueni Jin, sci-fi researcher and translator, PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures (Yale)
· Dr. Zhang Feng (Sanfeng), sci-fi critic and researcher, Lecturer in the Department of Urban Planning and Design, HKU
Society of Fellows in the Humanities
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