Ambassador's Commendation awarded to Dr Helen Macnaughtan

SOAS senior lecturer Dr Helen Macnaughtan has been presented with the Ambassador’s Commendation by Mr Hayashi Hajime, Ambassador of Japan to the United Kingdom, in recognition of her 'distinguished service' in contributing to the "deepening of mutual understanding and friendship between Japan and the United Kingdom".

Taking place at the Crossing the Finish Line: Japan and Sport Symposium, an event hosted by the Embassy of Japan and attended by an audience featuring voices from across academia, government, media, and a large contingent from the sports and Japanese studies communities, Ambassador Hayashi praised Dr Macnaughtan on her promotion of understandings on Japan in the UK focusing on gender and sports aspects, and paid tribute to her great achievements.

Supported by the Toshiba International Foundation, the symposium was hosted by the Japan Research Centre, with Dr Fabio Gygi, Chair of the JRC, and Professor Adam Habib, Director of SOAS, welcoming guests to the event. As well as the award, it featured reflections on the Symposia Series and a celebration of the launch of one of the major outputs from the project, a forthcoming publication the Handbook of Japan and Sport. The book's editors, Dr Helen Macnaughtan and Dr Verity Postlethwaite, gave an overview of the publication which covers a range of sports, themes and time periods, while highlighting the diversity of voices contributing to the volume.

The keynote talk was given by Professor Robin Kietlinski of LaGuardia Community College of the City University of New York, who gave a presentation titled A Century of Breakthroughs: Japanese Sportswomen from the 1920s-2020s. The evening was rounded off by a sake and canapes reception provided by the Embassy of Japan and Sake Samurai.

Photo courtesy of the Embassy of Japan