Miss Myfanwy Mainwaring-Smith
(she/her)

Teams and roles for Myfanwy Mainwaring-Smith

Research student
School of History, Archaeology and Religion

I am a first year PhD student interested in Welsh-Japanese connections in modern history. I have research interests in cultural and transnational histories of both modern Japan and modern Wales, and Welsh ventures abroad. For my MA dissertation I was able to use both Japanese and Welsh historiographies to explore Welsh travellers' experiences in Japan in the early twentieth century, focussing on how they presented Japan and the Japanese to their audiences at home. Motivated by the lack of historical research on Welsh-Japanese relations, I am interested in uncovering Welsh perspectives on Japan, its people and culture, and how the Welsh represented Japan in their accounts.

Thesis

The Activities of the Welsh in Meiji Japan (1868-1912)

My thesis will be exploring the activities of various Welsh individuals present in Japan during the Meiji period (1868-1912) involved in missionary work, education and nursing. In addition to uncovering Welsh perspectives of Meiji Japan I am also looking at the imperialist dimensions to their activities, considering how post-colonial approaches can be applied to Japan, a country which was never part of the British empire but became an imperial power itself.

January 2025- Present: PhD History and Welsh History, Cardiff University

Research area: the activities of the Welsh in Meiji Japan (1868-1912).

September 2023- September 2024: MA History (Distinction), Cardiff University

As part of my Masters degree I undertook a placement with Citizens Cymru Wales, for whom I produced a piece of research aimed at non-academic audiences on the history of social movements and community action in Gwent. This experience gave me the opportunity to participate in a work experience day at Westminster at the invite of my MP/the Welsh Secretary.

July 2017- October 2022: Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme and Private English Tutor in Yamagata City, Japan

For over five years I lived in northern Japan teaching English in primary and junior high schools, before becoming a private English tutor. I was able to attend lectures and events by local historians celebrating the visit of female British traveller Isabella Bird to Yamagata in 1878, a figure I was first introduced to in the Year 3 'Travellers to Japan' module I took as an undergraduate student at SHARE in 2016-2017. In March 2020, I was asked to read aloud an excerpt from Bird's Unbeaten Tracks in Japan at a memorial unveiling event attended by the Mayor of Yamagata.

September 2014- July 2017: BScEcon Modern History and Politics (First Class Honours), Cardiff University

I first developed my interest in Japanese history as an undergraduate student at Cardiff University, taking second and third year modules on modern Japanese history and travellers to Japan respectively. In July 2017 I was awarded the Best Dissertation Prize by the School of Law and Politics for my dissertation, 'To what extent did social media influence British voting behaviour in the EU Referendum campaigns?'.