Fu Jen University hosts international forum marking Endo Shusaku's 30th death anniversary.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the death of Japanese literary giant Shusaku Endo, a milestone commemorated in Taiwan by a significant academic event. The “Academic Forum Commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the Death of Shusaku Endo,” organized by the College of Foreign Languages at Fu Jen Catholic University, was officially launched today, attracting more than 30 prominent scholars from Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. Through keynote speeches and in-depth paper presentations, the scholars explored the enduring value and transnational influence of Endo’s works in contemporary East Asian literary and cultural studies. Endo, a potential contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature, is renowned for his creative focus on faith, sin, and the struggles of the human condition.

As a key representative of Japan’s post-war literary movement, Endo’s life and work were deeply intertwined with a unique religious and cultural background. As one of the few Catholics in Japan, his life experience was filled with the tension and collision between Eastern and Western cultures. During his studies in France, he keenly perceived the vast differences between the cultural context of Catholicism in its European homeland and that in Asian societies. This cultural adaptation dilemma, often described as the conflict between “soil and the cross,” became the core nourishment for his later creations. His masterpieces, such as *Silence*, *Sea and Poison*, and *Scandal*, not only established his lofty status in the Japanese literary world but have also been translated into multiple languages, profoundly influencing global understanding of faith, history, and the subtleties of human nature. The academic forum held at Fu Jen Catholic University aims to use the perspectives of international scholars to re-examine how these classic works continue to engage with contemporary readers 30 years later.

The gathering of more than 30 scholars from Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea reflects the strong resonance that Endo’s literature evokes within the East Asian cultural sphere. Japanese scholars presented primary research on Endo’s biographical archives and manuscripts, offering an in-depth analysis of the turning points in his creative psychology. South Korean scholars focused on interpretations of suffering, redemption, and the memory of colonial history in Endo’s works, finding deep dialogue potential with Korea’s modern historical development and literary traditions. Taiwanese scholars approached the topic from the angles of translated literature, the localization of Catholicism, and comparative literature, examining the reception history of Endo’s works in the Chinese-speaking world. This multidimensional academic exchange highlights the universality of Endo’s literature while demonstrating the deepening and close cooperation of the East Asian academic community in literary research.

Notably, Endo’s works have recently regained attention from the international film industry, most famously through the adaptation of his masterpiece *Silence* by renowned director Martin Scorsese. This film not only brought Endo’s name back into the global spotlight but also reignited academic discussions on religious tolerance, cultural conflict, and human weakness in his writings. In an era still marked by geopolitical conflicts, religious opposition, and cultural misunderstandings, the imperfect, struggling, and empathetic souls depicted by Endo appear all the more precious. The commemorative forum held at Fu Jen Catholic University undoubtedly provides an important platform for spiritual dialogue and reconciliation through literature in the current turbulent world.

The College of Foreign Languages at Fu Jen Catholic University has long played a key role in promoting the exchange of Eastern and Western literature and the study of Catholic humanistic spirit. Hosting such a high-profile international academic forum not only underscores the university’s international reputation in the field of literary research but also injects profound humanistic reflection into Taiwan’s literary and academic circles. Through a day of intensive speeches and paper presentations, participants not only paid tribute to the legacy of a literary master but also explored new pathways for future literary research through cross-cultural exchange. Although Shusaku Endo has passed away 30 years ago, his spiritual legacy, reaffirmed through this grand event in Taiwan, once again proves the eternal vitality of great literature that transcends time, space, and national boundaries.

(Source: Central News Agency)