East Meets West at Pop Culture Conference

Sumo women, Hulk Hogan wanna-be's in Borneo, reggae bars in Guangzhou -- these all are part of Asian pop culture to be examined at the Asia Pop Culture Conference April 16 to 18 at the University of Victoria's Cadboro Commons Conference Centre. This first-of-its-kind conference brings together more than 60 scholars and practitioners from around the world for presentations on everything from rock music and transvestite singers in China to Indonesian martial arts novels and jazz in Shanghai. The conference is sponsored by UVic's Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives and Faculty of Fine Arts, and registration is required.

Mina Hall, author of The Big Book of Sumo and one of the rare "double outsiders" -- a woman and non-Japanese -- to be welcomed into the normally closed world of sumo wrestling, will give a free public presentation about the sport on April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the David Lam Auditorium in the MacLaurin Building room A144 on the UVic campus. Hall will share her knowledge of sumo's history, culture, and traditions, and recall her personal experiences at sumo tournaments with its stars, including her friend Hawaiian Akebono, the only non-Japanese wrestler to make it to sumo's top rank of yokozuna.

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