On December 25, 2025 at the Global Plaza, Professor Rogers of the Faculty of Foreign Studies delivered a special lecture to foreign exchange students on Showa-era hagoita and the cultural history surrounding them. The event featured an exhibition of more than fifty vintage Showa hagoita, including an exceptionally rare 1940 Tokyo/Sapporo "Lost Olympics" commemorative hagoita.

Professor Rogers began by introducing the Japanese era-name system to help students understand why the word Showa evokes such strong associations with the 1960s and 1970s. To give students a deeper understanding of the era, he discussed key historical contexts: the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japan's postwar reconstruction, the economic miracle of the 1960s and 1970s, and the economic bubble of the 1980s. This helped students to understand the specific periods that the Showa era are often broken down into.

With this foundation in place, Professor Rogers then traced the history of hagoita from the origins of the game hanetsuki in the Muromachi era (1336-1573), to the emergence of oshie hagoita, and eventually to the influence of manga and anime on Showa-era designs.

By attending the talk, students gained a deeper appreciation for Professor Rogers' efforts to curate these handcrafted works, cultural assets that are unfortunately being lost to time due to a lack of preservation. They learned that Showa-era hagoita not only reflect the aesthetics of their age but also capture the rise of Japan's "cute" culture, making them valuable objects worthy of preservation and study.