1．Overview

Field of application	Humanities
Title of program	Declaration of International Japan-Studies
Field of research	Japanese culture
Keywords	alien culture, internationalization, network, metascience, comparative research
COE majors etc.	International Japan-Studies Institute; Japanese history and Japanese literature programs, Graduate School of Humanities; political science program, Graduate School of Politics; Institute of International Japan-Studies; Nogami Memorial Institute of Nohgaku Studies; Institute of Okinawan Studies

 

2．Research Team

Name	Title	Specialty	Degree	Area of responsibility
Hoshino Tsutomu (COE leader)	Professor of Philosophy, Graduate School of Humanities; Director, Institute of International Japan-Studies	Philosophy, ethics	Master of Arts	Overall coordination Thematic Task Force (1) (theoretical development of international Japan-studies; coordination between task forces)
Katsumata Hiroshi	Professor of Japanese Literature, Graduate School of Humanities	Modern and contemporary Japanese literature	Master of Arts	Thematic Task Force (1) (theoretical evelopment of international Japan-studies; coordination between task forces) Thematic Task Force (2) (comprehensive research on the study of Japanese culture in Western Europe — Germany and France — and China)
Aoki Tamotsu	Guest Scholar, Institute of International Japan Studies;Waseda University	Cultural policy, cultural anthropology	Doctor of Human Science	Thematic Task Force (1) (theoretical development of international Japan-studies; coordination between task forces)
Kawamura Minato	Professor of Japanese Literature, Graduate School of Humanities (cross appointment); Professor, Faculty of Intercultural Communication	Literary criticism, modern and contemporary Japanese literature	Bachelor of Laws	Thematic Task Force (2) (comprehensive research on the study of Japanese culture in Western Europe — Germany and France — and China)
Tanaka Yoko	Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences	Early modern literature, comparative literature	Master of Arts	Thematic Task Force (2) (comprehensive research on the study of Japanese culture in Western Europe — Germany and France — and China)
Abiko Shin	Professor of Philosophy, Graduate School of Humanities	French hilosophy and intellectual history	Master of Arts	Thematic Task Force (2) (comprehensive research on the study of Japanese culture in Western Europe — Germany and France — and China)
Wang Min	Professor, Institute of International Japan-Studies	Comparative research on Japan and China, Japanese studies	Doctor of Humanities	Thematic Task Force (2) (comprehensive research on the study of Japanese culture in Western Europe — Germany and France — and China)
Josef Kreiner	Special Professor, Planning and Strategy Center	Japanese culture	Doctor of Letters	Thematic Task Force (2) (comprehensive research on the study of Japanese culture in Western Europe — Germany and France — and China) Thematic Task Force (4) (nurturing of international Okinawan studies)
Gao Zengjie	Guest Scholar, Institute of International Japan Studies; Deputy Director and Professor, Institute of Japanese Studies, China Academy of Social Science	Intellectual history, Japanese studies	Doctor of Letters	Thematic Task Force (2) (comprehensive research on the study of Japanese culture in Western Europe — Germany and France — and China)
Josef A. Kyburz	Guest Scholar, Institute of International Japan Studies; Professor, Paris University X; Senior Researcher, Institut des Hautes Etudes Japonaises, College de France	Cultural anthropology, ethnology, religious studies	Doctor of Letters	Thematic Task Force (2) (comprehensive research on the study of Japanese culture in Western Europe — Germany and France — and China)
Sawato Hirosato	Professor of Japanese History, Graduate School of Humanities	Early modern Japanese history	Doctor of Letters	Thematic Task Force (2) (comprehensive research on the study of Japanese culture in Western Europe — Germany and France — and China)
Nishino Haruo	Professor, Graduate School of Humanities; Director, Nogami Memorial Institute of Nohgaku Studies	Noh theater	Doctor of Letters	Thematic Task Force (3) (Noh theater in a global context)
Yamanaka Reiko	Specialist in Japanese Literature, Graduate School of Humanities; Professor, International Japan-Studies Institute (cross appointment); Professor, Nogami Memorial Institute of Nohgaku Studies	Noh theater	Doctor of Letters	Thematic Task Force (3) (Noh theater in a global context)
Steven G. Nelson	Professor of Japanese Literature, Graduate School of Humanities	History of Japanese music	Master of Fine Arts	Thematic Task Force (1) (theoretical development of international Japan-studies; coordination between task forces) Thematic Task Force (2) (comprehensive research on the study of Japanese culture in Western Europe — Germany and France — and China) Thematic Task Force (3) (Noh theater in a global context)
Yasue Takashi	Professor, Faculty of Law	Sociology	Master of Sociology	Thematic Task Force (4) (nurturing of international Okinawan studies)
Iida Taizo	Director, Institute of Okinawan Studies;Professor of Political Science, Graduate School of Politics	History of political thought in Japan	Doctor of Laws	Thematic Task Force (1) (theoretical development of international Japan-studies; coordination between task forces) Thematic Task Force (4) (nurturing of international Okinawan studies)
Yoshinari Naoki	Professor, Institute of Okinawan Studies	Geography	Doctor of Science	Thematic Task Force (4) (nurturing of international Okinawan studies)

3．Overview of the COE Development Program

(1) Objective of Developing a Center of Excellence and Overview of the Whole Program The objective of developing this center of excellence at Hosei University is to nurture Japanology — Japan-studies —
into an internationally recognized discipline by seeking a common basis of understanding about Japanese culture.
Overseas, interest in Japan and Japanese culture is growing, yet misunderstandings abound. Japanese studies of Japan and Japanese culture, lacking as they do an awareness of methodology and being so inward-looking, are not readily accessible to people (scholars) outside Japan. That is why we believe it is essential to nurture international Japan-studies as a discipline accessible to Japanese and non-Japanese alike.
In pursuing the task of nurturing international Japan-studies, we make a conscious effort to view our own culture as if it were another’s. Scholars from other countries study Japanese culture as something different from their own. We contrast the viewpoint of overseas scholars with our own to highlight
differences in how Japanese culture is understood, and we attempt to elucidate what those differences mean. The goal of this approach is to establish a methodology — a metascience — that avoids the myopia to which scholars studying their own culture all too often fall victim, and to nurture Japan-studies into an internationally recognized discipline.
Metascience is the academic technique we use to identify the conditions under which dialog on the subject of Japanese culture can take place between scholars at home and abroad, and thereby to establish a common basis of understanding for pursuing research on Japanese culture (Japanology). It is thus
a discipline devoted to scholarship on scholarship. Adopting this metascientific approach will not simply pave the way to the study of Japan as a different culture and highlight the cosmopolitan aspects of Japanese culture; it will also bring us closer to achieving an international standard for the pursuit of research on Japanese culture — a standard that avoids the myopia characteristic of Japanese scholarship on the subject and holds its own on the world stage. International Japan-studies are the embodiment of that standard.
As for Nogami Memorial Institute of Nohgaku Studies and the Institute of Okinawan Studies, their accumulated research will serve as grist for more broad-based scholarship on Japanese culture. On these fronts, too, we will attempt to internationalize research in the field of Japanese culture by exploring approaches to Noh research and Okinawan studies that are accessible to the international community.
Examining Japanese culture as something alien brings into sharp relief its multifaceted character: indeed, the sweeping label “Japanese” itself proves woefully inadequate, for you will discover a geographical range that transcends national boundaries and a history that is richly multilayered. In place of the conventional view of Japan as a culturally homogeneous society inhabited by a single race, we will focus on the cosmopolitan, multilayered, multifaceted character of Japanese culture, thereby identifying both its unique and universal aspects.
We take maximum advantage of IT, disseminating our research findings worldwide over the Web, and using
networks to share research findings in real time with institutions and researchers both here at home and abroad.
The ultimate aim of these joint research efforts is to develop an international hub of research and education in the field of Japanese culture.
(2) Overview of the Task Forces’ Activities
– Task Force (1)
Topic: Theoretical development of international
Japan-studies; coordination between task forces
Head: Hoshino Deputy: Katsumata Other members: Aoki,
Nelson, Iida
Note: Falls under the Center for International Japan-Studies.
1) Establishing a metascience (methodology) and applying it specifically
2) Coordination between task forces and theoretical development of international Japan-studies
– Task Force (2)
Topic: Comprehensive research on Japanese cultural studies
Head: Kreiner Deputy: Katsumata Other members: 　Kawamura, Tanaka, Abiko, Wang, Gao, Kyburz, Sawato
Note: Falls under the Institute of International Japan-Studies.
1) Analysis and assessment of Japanese cultural studies abroad (in Germany, France, and China only)
2) Identifying differences (gaps) in perceptions of Japan and seeking a common basis of understanding
– Task Force (3)
Topic: Noh theater in a global context
Head: Yamanaka Deputy: Nishino Other members: Nelson
Note: Falls under the Nogami Memorial Institute of Nohgaku Studies.
1) Analysis and assessment of Noh research abroad
2) Noh studies as part of the world’s cultural heritage
– Task Force (4)
Topic: Nurturing of international Okinawan studies Head: Yasue Deputy: Iida Other members: Yoshinari, Kreiner
Note: Falls under the Institute of Okinawan Studies.
1) Research on the emergence of the core culture of the Ryukyu Islands / Okinawa and on the region’s cultural
identity
2) Nurturing of international Okinawan studies as a strategicsteppingstone to the development of international
Japan-studies

(3) Educational Implementation Plan
Alongside the COE majors (the Japanese history and Japanese literature programs of the Graduate School of Humanities, the political science program of the Graduate School of Politics, the Nogami Memorial Institute of Nohgaku Studies, and the Institute of Okinawan Studies), Hosei’s center of excellence has established the International Japan-Studies Institute as a hub that offers a unique educational program.
The International Japan-Studies Institute is a new form of graduateschool that accepts students from other programs who are interested inpursuing Japanese studies. Those students are typically Japaneseliterature, Japanese history, or geography majors enrolled in theGraduate School of Humanities; political science majors in the GraduateSchool of Politics and sociology majors in the Graduate School ofSociology whose research pertains to Japan are also accepted. Theinstitute’s aim is to foster research and education on Japan from awide range of viewpoints, such that both instructors and students avoidbecoming trapped within theconventional bounds of their discipline ormajor. In its first academic year, 2003-04, the institute offered onlya Master’s program, but in April 2004, before the first Master’sstudents even completed their degree, it launched a doctorate programas well. It has already completed application to the Ministry ofEducation and is now certified to award a Ph.D.
The International Japan-Studies Institute adheres to the basic concepts behind the COE program: studying Japan as a different culture, and focusing on the cosmopolitan aspects of Japanese culture. It also has the following unique features:
1. It fosters research and education on Japan from a wide range of viewpoints, encouraging interdisciplinary study.
2. Besides regular students, it also welcomes overseas students and people who are already in the workforce.
3. It brings world-class researchers from abroad and actively enlists them in its research and educational programs.
4. It performs remote education and research over networks that it has developed both at home and abroad.
5. It gives high priority to fieldwork.
6. It offers an internship program as part of the Ph.D. (students are encouraged to do the program abroad).
7. It integrates research and instruction.
8. It implements research and instruction in the followingfields,which together encompass the full range of
international Japan-studies:
Cluster 1: Japan-Studies Cluster 2: Japan in Asia Cluster 3: Traditional Culture and the Popular World
Cluster 4: How Geography Molds Culture Cluster 5: The Other Japan Cluster 6: Fine Arts and Performing Arts in Japan
This innovative curriculum is one of the things that make the International Japan-Studies Institute a center of research and education in the field of Japanese studies unlike any other. Selected Ph.D. students enrolled in the International Japan-Studies Institute, as well as in other COE programs, have already been accepted as academic researchers at the Institute of International Japan-Studies, where they receive research scholarships and engage in joint research. The results of their research are published in part in the bulletin of the Institute of International Japan-Studies, International Japan-Studies.1）