Report of International Symposium “Oka Masao: A Pioneer of Japanese Folklore”

Date
10th and 11th March 2012

Time
10th March 2012: 13:00-17:00
11th March 2012: 10:00-18:00

Venue
Hosei University Boissonade Tower 26th Floor Sky Hall, Hosei University Ichigaya Campus

Schedule
10th March 2012
13:00-13:10 Greetings / Shin Abiko
13:10-13:50 Josef Kreiner (Hosei University) / Oka Masao and his work
13:50-14:30 Toshiaki Shimizu (National Museum of Ethnology) / Strangers, present-oriented ethnology, and ethno-historic constructions: Masao Oka in the history of ethnology in Japan
14:30-14:50 Junzo Kawada (Kanagawa University) / Oka Masao, a great researcher and enlightener by orality
14:50-15:20 Intermission
15:20-16:00 Christoph Antweiler (University of Bonn) / A European perspective on Masa Oka and Japanese anthropology
16:00-16:40 Hans Dieter Oelschleger (University of Bonn) / Oka Masao’s role in international ethnology / cultural anthropology
16:40-17:00 Takami Kuwayama (Hokkaido University) / Masao Oka’s position in the discourse on Japanese culture inside and outside of Japan

11th March 2012
10:00-10:40 Kikuko Hirafuji (Kokugakuin University) / A reappraisal of Oka’s position within the study of Japanese mythology
10:40-11:20 Klaus Antoni (University of Tuebingen) / In the footsteps of Oka Masao: studies in comparative mythology by Nelly Naumann and Obayashi Taryo
11:20-11:40 Masaki Kondo (National Museum of Ethnology) / Oka Masao and the Museum of Ethnology
11:40-13:00 Intermission
13:00-13:40 Katsumi Nakao (J. F. Oberlin University) / The Japanese ethnology during the war time: Masao Oka as a head of the Institute of Ethnology
13:40-14:20 Sepp Linhart (University of Vienna) / Oka Masao as father of Japanese social anthropology
14:20-14:50 Bernhard Scheid (Austrian Academy of Sciences) / Cultural Circles and Cultural Layers: Oka Masao and Wilhelm Schmidt’s ethnological theories
15:00-15:20 Intermission
15:20-16:00 Junko Okada (Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples) / Masao Oka’s Northern Studies: Ainu and Alaskan Inuit
16:00-16:40 Takao Sofue (National Museum of Ethnology) / Common remembarances of field research among the Alaskan Eskimo and other
16:40-17:00 Kazuhiko Sumiya (St. Paul’s University) / Culture strata om amcoemt Japan
17:20-18:00 Conclusion

Executive Summary
In this symposium, 15 participants examined the contribution of Oka Masao to the field of Japanese Folklore. Around 200 attendees listened each presentation and congnized Oka’s activities and contributions.