The final conference of the “Calvino here and elsewhere” series, part of the global celebrations marking the centenary of the birth of Italo Calvino, was held at the Auditorium of the Italian Cultural Institute of Tokyo.
The event, entitled “Calvino in Japan. Travelling, reading, writing”, was organised in collaboration with the University of Tokyo, the Calvino Laboratory, the National Committee for the centenary of the birth of Italo Calvino, the Arnoldo and Alberto Mondadori Foundation, the Ministry of Culture, Sapienza University of Rome, the University of Milan, the University of Milano-Bicocca, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Beijing International Studies University, and Kyoto University of Foreign Studies. It provided a significant opportunity to explore the impact and legacy of Calvino’s work within the Japanese context.
Following the opening remarks by the Director, Silvana De Maio, the first session featured a keynote by Professor Wada Tadahiko (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies), who traced the reception of Calvino’s works in Japan and examined how Calvino himself perceived Japanese literature.
The second session featured contributions from Italian Calvino scholars: Laura Di Nicola (Sapienza University of Rome), Mario Barenghi, Francesca Caputo, and Angela Borghesi (University of Milano-Bicocca), and Bruno Falcetto (University of Milan). They reconstructed Calvino’s complex relationship with Japan and its culture through an analysis of his writings and archival materials, highlighting the distinctive features of his style and his dialogue with other authors.
