#  "The Islands and the Stars: A History of Japan’s Space Programs" 

 



    ![Screenshot from Wijeyeratne's book The Islands and the Stars](/sites/g/files/omnuum8416/files/styles/hwp_5_4__480x385/public/2026-03/Screenshot%202026-03-24%20at%202.26.55%E2%80%AFPM.png?itok=2uqs9Rn7) 

 



 

####  calendar\_today Date and Time 

 **April 13, 2026** 

 12:00PM EDT 

####  pin\_drop Location 

 **Bowie-Vernon Conference Room (K262), CGIS Knafel Bldg., 1737 Cambridge St. and online via Zoom (registration required).**  



 

 [ Click here to register for Zoom. arrow\_circle\_right ](https://harvard.zoom.us/meeting/register/NmTTH8qiRYG4RCLTnBLmfA) 

 



 

**Speaker**

[**Subodhana Wijeyeratne**](https://subowijeyeratne.com/), Assistant Professor of History, Purdue University

**Moderator**

[**Andrew Gordon**](https://agordon.scholars.harvard.edu/), Lee and Juliet Folger Fund Professor of History, Harvard University

*This seminar is part of the Special Series on Technology, Society, and Geopolitics. It is co-sponsored by the Japan Foundation, the Harvard Department of History, and the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies.*

## **Additional Resources:**

1. Wijeyeratne, Subodhana. 2026.[ The Islands and the Stars: A History of Japan’s Space Programs](https://www.sup.org/books/asian-studies/islands-and-stars). Stanford University Press.
2. Wijeyeratne, Subodhana. 2020. "[A Race to War: Japanese Public Intellectuals and Racial Explanations of the Russo-Japanese War](https://apjjf.org/2020/19/Wijeyeratne)." *Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus*.
3. Wijeyeratne, Subodhana. 2024. *Triangulum*. Rosarium Publishing. (Finalist for the 2025 Phillip K Dick Award.)

 ![Poster for 4/13 seminar](/sites/g/files/omnuum8416/files/2026-04/Poster.jpg)

 



 

 



 

 

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