The IMS10: Japan

Milton's influence is universal, and Milton scholarship has never been more multicultural and multinational than it is now.

In order to celebrate Milton's far-reaching influence, the IMS10 was held in Tokyo, Japan.

Tokyo was a superb location for exploring Milton's cultural and global influences. By name, Tokyo also collaborates the symposium with Milton's poetic vision. When translated from its Japanese characters, Tokyo means "eastern capital," allowing a resonant pairing of Milton's eastern garden with Tokyo and also with Japan.

Participants in the IMS10 therefore traveled east, and well beyond Milton's England, to explore Milton's far-reaching global and cultural legacy.

To supplement this eastern theme, the conference featured two highly engaging cultural events. The poet, Mutsuo Takahashi, adapted Samson Agonistes to the Noh style. There was also a concert by mezzo-soprano, Mutsumi Hatano, and lute-player, Takashi Tsunoda, with a performance of Milton’s poems by Timothy Harris, actor and director.

There were planned visits to places where some vestiges of the Edo period remain so that participants may imagine what life was like for Milton’s contemporaries in old Japan. Also, participants were able to visit museums and galleries on their own. In sum, the IMS10 offered a superb forum for scholarly exploration and an exciting venue for cultural exchange.