Professor Ryota Ishii

• Research area/content
  • Medieval and early modern archaeology of the Ryukyu Islands, with a focus on exploring new Ryukyu history through settlement surveys.
  • Regional character content. In particular, we conduct research to verify and develop the usefulness of local heroes.
• Content of subjects
  • "Ryukyu/Okinawa Cultural Studies" involves carefully reading and examining research papers and primary sources related to the history and culture of the Ryukyu Islands, as well as learning archaeological fieldwork techniques.
  • "Life and Culture Research" involves closely reading papers on regional character content, as well as learning research techniques through interviews and hands-on experience with operations.
• Recent research guidance
  • We provide research guidance that allows students to hone their basic knowledge and skills in the classroom, then go out into the field to tackle research subjects and give back to the local community. We create and teach a space where students can learn about the "old culture" revealed by archaeology and the "new culture" created by characters as one continuous entity.
• Research Supervisor
  • Master's term, Doctoral term
• Faculty Profile

Professor Sonoko Urushizawa

• Research area/content
  • Social history of performing arts in modern Japan. Aiming to construct an image of society at that time through modern Japanese performing arts (especially Kabuki), he is conducting research on the "traditionalization" of performing arts in particular.
• Content of subjects
  • Lecture: Pre-modern performing arts and social culture.
  • Seminar: Research into historical documents relating to modern Kabuki.
  • While examining various papers on performing arts, particularly Kabuki, from the early modern and contemporary periods, we will consider issues related to the study of performing arts history.
• Recent research guidance
  • Taking into consideration the specialist fields of students who have taken the course in previous years, students will consider how to approach research for their master's thesis while reviewing related papers and reading historical materials.
• Research Supervisor
  • Master's term, Doctoral term
• Faculty Profile

Professor Takashi Kuroiwa

• Research area/content
  • Oriental history. Social and cultural history of Muslims in China. Analyses include changes in social relations and cultural exchanges between Muslims and non-Muslims.
• Content of subjects
  • Lecture: History of Asian Societies.
  • Seminar: History of pre-modern Asian societies.
  • Through the examination of specialized books and papers on Asian culture and history, students will gain a unique perspective on the Asian world. In addition, through the reading of original texts, students will develop the reading comprehension skills necessary for utilizing foreign language literature.
• Recent research guidance
  • We teach methods to recognize that events that are reported as ethnic or religious conflicts are not always due to ethnic or religious differences, but are often rooted in other social and economic factors.
• Research Supervisor
  • Master's term, Doctoral term
• Faculty Profile

Professor Manabu Totsuka

• Research area/content
  • I am currently researching modern Japanese literature, particularly Japanese modernist literature of the 1930s, and the relationship between the translation and creative acts of authors.
• Content of subjects
  • Lecture: In-depth reading of modern Japanese literature from the Meiji to Showa periods.
  • Seminars: Taking into consideration the students' areas of expertise and interests, they will make regular presentations that will contribute to the writing of their master's thesis, and will also read related literary works and research papers that will help them deepen their thesis topic.
• Recent research guidance
  • Based on the above perspective, we hold lectures on literary works (poetry, novels, plays, criticism) and literary theory, and hold discussions based on regular presentations. Recently, based on the students' specialties and interests, we have been closely reading modern Japanese fantasy novels and naturalist critiques and works.
• Research Supervisor
  • Master's term, Doctoral term
• Faculty Profile

Associate Professor Misato Niwa

• Research area/content
  • Japanese early modern and modern literature. I focus on reading early modern literature based on the five senses. I also conduct research on the reception of classics by modern writers from both the material and content aspects of their works.
• Content of subjects
  • Lectures (readings of early modern literary works): Learn about culture and its changes from the early modern period to the early Meiji period.
  • Seminar (Research on Early Modern Literature): This involves close reading of early modern literature. Students will learn techniques for reading through texts, such as analyzing previous research, how to add annotations, and how to read cursive characters.
• Recent research guidance
  • Through close reading and annotation of texts, students will hone their reading comprehension of fiction. In addition, students will receive guidance in writing papers through analysis of previous research and research into historical background.
• Research Supervisor
  • Master's degree
• Faculty Profile

Professor Takeshi Fukuda

• Research area/content
  • Influences of ancient Japanese literature, comparative literature, children's books, and classical studies.
• Content of subjects
  • Lecture: Reading ancient waka poetry. We will introduce important previous research and follow the history of research while reading poems from the Kojiki, Nihon Shoki, and Manyoshu.
  • Seminar: Methodology for studying ancient literature. Students will master the Chinese classics necessary for reading and understanding documents written in Chinese characters, and use that knowledge and methodology to read Japanese classics in detail.
• Recent research guidance
  • As a foundation for research, students learn how premodern Japanese people acquired literacy (reading and writing kanji) and culture, and relive this experience as much as possible. In addition, recent classes have included reading classes in which students read important research papers in the history of Japanese studies, and examine and criticize their contents.
• Research Supervisor
  • Master's term, Doctoral term
• Faculty Profile

Professor Toshio Fukuhara

• Research area/content
  • Japanese folklore, Japanese cultural history, Japanese festival history, Japanese elegance history. Empirical research on the role (one thing) in festivals, festival picture scrolls from around the country, pilgrimage mandalas depicting sacred places and sacred sites, and the elegance associated with sand-carrying in dredging work.
• Content of subjects
  • Lecture: Kyoto History and Folklore Study, reading books about Kyoto's annual events.
  • Exercise: In the study of Edo history and folklore, students will read in a group the "Toto Saijiki," a guidebook for walking through Edo from the late early modern period, and learn about Edo's temples, shrines, and famous places through the eyes of a town headman named Saito Gesshin.
• Recent research guidance
  • I studied the Amemiya Goshinji festival in Chikuma City, Nagano Prefecture, with a graduate student who was writing his master's thesis. We went on participant observation (fieldwork) together, and in the seminar we organized the research history and deciphered related ancient documents.
• Research Supervisor
  • Master's term, Doctoral term
• Faculty Profile

Professor Nobuhiko Maruyama

• Research area/content
  • History of Japanese dyeing and weaving and clothing. I am conducting research from an art historical perspective on Japanese dyeing and weaving and the clothing that is its expression, in order to explore the cultural characteristics that have led to a unique development.
• Content of subjects
  • Lectures and seminars: Research on the history of stencil dyeing in the Middle Ages and early modern times. Using historical documents and actual remains from the Edo period as research materials, we will examine the development of designs and techniques from the early modern period to the modern era.
• Recent research guidance
  • We will provide guidance on how to organically utilize actual materials such as kosode, pictorial materials that depict clothing, and related literature, and will promote practical research that will result in the writing of a thesis.
• Research Supervisor
  • Master's term, Doctoral term
• Faculty Profile

Professor Takuju Minakuchi

• Research area/content
  • History of Chinese thought. I am researching the theoretical history of "jutsu" (arts and sciences) and "ritual and music" (rituals and music), as well as the discourse of Confucian intellectuals on these subjects, mainly from the Song dynasty to the mid-Qing dynasty in China.
• Content of subjects
  • Lecture: Research on the history of Chinese thought.
  • Seminar: Chinese Classical Studies.
  • Using primary sources (classical Chinese texts) related to the history of Chinese thought as teaching materials, students will read and understand the texts precisely down to the last word, and in the course of discussions based on that reading, they will delve deeply into the ideas expressed in the texts. In both cases, active participation by students is essential.
• Recent research guidance
  • The 200-volume "Siku Quanshu Zongmu Tiyao," compiled in 1782 (the 47th year of the Qianlong era) of the Qing dynasty, is a great achievement in Qing dynasty scholarly research, and also an attempt to generalize the world of traditional "knowledge." This enormous work will be taken up every year and read and discussed in sequence.
• Research Supervisor
  • Master's degree
• Faculty Profile

Professor Yuuichiro Momosaki

• Research area/content
  • Ancient and medieval Japanese history. He explores "What was Japanese medieval society and where did it come from?" from the political, legal, normative, and cultural aspects of the Shogunate and Imperial Court. He is also involved in historiography.
• Content of subjects
  • Lecture: An overview of the peculiar and fascinating world of medieval Japan, with emphasis on its relationship with other eras and East Asia as a whole.
  • Seminar: Learn the skills to observe the world with your own eyes by reading historical documents and to receive the messages of your predecessors with aptitude.
• Recent research guidance
  • Through the reading of primary sources (live records by the people involved) and secondary sources (historical books compiled later), students will learn the skills to understand historical facts objectively and accurately. They will also introduce accepted academic theories and the latest findings, and teach the knowledge and methodology of documentary history.
• Research Supervisor
  • Master's term, Doctoral term
• Faculty Profile

Professor Naoki Watanabe

• Research area/content
  • Korean literature and culture, comparative literature. The literary acts and cultural phenomena of colonial Korea and post-liberation North and South Korea are interpreted using keywords such as "modernity," "empire," and "nation-state."
• Content of subjects
  • Lecture: History and culture of Korea and the Korean people.
  • Seminar: Korea/North Korea and Modernity.
  • Students will take turns reading Japanese and foreign works about Korean literature, culture, and history from the 20th century onwards, consider their contemporary significance, and find connections with their own research themes.
• Recent research guidance
  • Recently, we have been holding reading sessions on the following research books:
  • Wang Eun-mei, Korean Chinese in the Modern History of East Asia: The Cold War System and the Sense of "Motherland," Sangensha, 2008
  • Li Haiyan, Postwar Manchuria and Korean Society: Border Crossing, Periphery, and Identity, Ochanomizu Shobo, 2009.
  • Michihiko Shinjo, The Emperor's Annexation of Korea, Hosei University Press, 2011
  • Moeko Hinatsu, "Border-crossing film director Eitaro Hinatsu," Bungeisha, 2011
  • Takashi Fujitani, Race for Empire: Koreans as Japanese and Japanese as Americans during World War II, University of California Press, 2011
  • Jun Uchida, Brokers of Empire: Japanese Settler Colonialism in Korea, 1876-1945, Harvard University Asia Center, 2011
• Research Supervisor
  • Master's term, Doctoral term
• Faculty Profile