This is the eighth installment in our COVID Check-Ins series, in which we feature videos by various Joyceans from around the world to update us on how they are handling the COVID pandemic, how their community is responding, and how it has affected their teaching/research.

This entry features Eishiro Ito, who provides us with an update from Takizawa, Japan. Ito discusses connections between Joyce and east Asia, as well as detailing the story of how he became a Joycean. Specifically, Ito traces Joyce’s interest in Japan and China through the influence of Saint Francis Xavier. Ito also emphasizes that we should use this quarantine period as an opportunity to return to the Joyce’s texts and read them anew.