Chaplin Memorial Award for Excellence in Japanese Language Teaching

The Hamako Ito Chaplin Award for Excellence in Japanese Language Teaching is made possible through the generous donation of Professor George Chaplin, whose wife, Hamako Ito Chaplin, was a devoted, experienced, and well-respected professor of the Japanese language at Yale University for many years.

2023 Call for Nominations

The Hamako Ito Chaplin Memorial Award will again be conferred in 2023, administered through the Association for Asian Studies. In accordance with the wishes of the Chaplin family, each year a prize of $1,000 will be awarded to either a current graduate student or a full-time instructor of Japanese for excellence in Japanese language teaching at the college-level. A full-time instructor who has completed graduate study within the last 3 years in an area that directly involves Japanese language teaching is eligible to apply. Possible academic fields of specialization include Japanese language pedagogy, linguistics, anthropology, and literature. Current graduate students must demonstrate their intention to enter the teaching field in a North American university. Professor Michiko Kaneyasu (Old Dominion University) serves as Chair of the Selection Committee, Professor Colleen Laird (University of British Columbia) serves as representative of the Northeast Asia Council of AAS for the committee, and Professor George Chaplin serves ex-officio.

Individuals interested in applying (self-nomination) and faculty members interested in nominating an eligible graduate student or instructor (nomination) — should download an application form at the following link:

Hamako Ito Chaplin Award Application 2023

You may also request the application form via email by contacting Dr. Michiko Kaneyasu (mkaneyas@odu.edu).

Completed applications must be submitted to the following email address by January 27, 2023: mkaneyas@odu.edu. The award will be announced in the AAS #AsiaNow Blog.

2022 Award

The Hamako Ito Chaplin Memorial Award Committee is pleased to announce that Dr. Jeff Peterson (Visiting Assistant Professor of Japanese, Brigham Young University) is the recipient of the 2022 Hamako Ito Chaplin Memorial Award for Excellence in Japanese Language Teaching. Dr. Peterson has a background in Japanese language pedagogy and linguistics. He has taught Japanese classes at all levels, and they are described as student-centered, effective, and engaging. Dr. Peterson helps students develop functional communication skills through culturally and contextually rich learning experiences. He has an extensive record of developing educational materials, including co-authoring an elementary-level Japanese language textbook series and curating new reading materials for the BYU library’s Japanese extensive reading area. The selection committee would like to congratulate Dr. Peterson for his accomplishments and look forward to his continued contribution to Japanese language education. 

Past Awards