Hachioji CampusUkai Seminar invited Ms. Saskia Turen from Bunka Gakuen University Graduate School to give a lecture.

On Wednesday, November 13, 2024, Teikyo University Faculty of Language Studies Department of Language Studies Associate Professor invited Ms. Toren Saskia, a TV reporter, model and singer, as a guest speaker at Bunka Gakuen University Graduate School Assistant Professor to give a lecture in Atsuko Ukai's Life Design Seminar and History of Fashion Culture class.
Ms. Saskia majored in Japanese studies at the University of Leuven in Belgium, studied at Shinshu University as a Monbukagakusho (MEXT) student, completed her studies at the University of Leuven Graduate School, and came back to Japan to study fashion culture theory. Since 2020, he has been teaching in the Global Fashion Specialization at Bunka Gakuen University Graduate School. In 2022, he was awarded the Incentive Award of the Japonisme Society for his doctoral dissertation on Kimono and Mitsukoshi Department Store Conversion in the Art Nouveau period.

In the Life Design Seminar, Saskia talked about her experience studying abroad at Shinshu University, where she was interested in Japan because of the foreign atmosphere she felt in Asia since her childhood, anime, and how she fell in love with the warm people around her even though she couldn't speak English at all. She also talked about her dream of teaching Japanese, how she went on to Graduate School, how she started studying fashion without even knowing it, and how she introduced us to a katami-wari kimono that she made herself using stencil dyeing.
In Japan, it is common to think that you can only do one thing, but in Europe, a different way of thinking is common, and he sent the message that "it's better to take as many suitcases as you can." Furthermore, from his own experience, which led to a deep connection with Japan through a series of coincidences, he told the students, "It's important to have dreams for the future, but sometimes it's also important to just go with the flow."
In the class on clothing culture history, he spoke about his specialty, kimono culture research. He presented images while explaining how the Art Nouveau style, named after a Japanese art store, became popular in Europe and then returned to Japan, where it was incorporated into kimono patterns during the Meiji period. He also explained how the Westernization of kimono patterns was deeply connected to the process in which Japanese kimono shops transformed into department stores. His analysis, which showed that kimonos, which have traditionally been worn in Japan since ancient times, have constantly evolved and are now being reborn as modern fashion, especially among young people, was a great inspiration for students interested in clothing history.
Our university will continue to provide a place for Practical learning education as outlined in Educational Guidelines.

For more information about Faculty of Language Studies click here
For more information about Associate Professor Atsuko Ukai, click here
More about Saskia Turen here

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