EAJRS – LISBON 2022
Past, Present and Future of Japanese Studies in Spain1
Alfonso Falero (University of Salamanca/國學院大學)
Jorge Rodriguez (University of Salamanca/“Humanism Eurasia” Research Group)
Keywords: Japanese Studies, Japanese Literature, Area Studies, Japanese Language
1. General perspective
In recent years, the emergence of new undergraduate and postgraduate studies specializing
in Japanese Studies has been a constant trend in Spain. An updated study on the situation ofJapanese Studies has also recently been published by Professors Blai Guarné and Takuro
Iwasa (Autonomous University of Barcelona 2020), and on university research groups byProfessor Guarné (2022). Since the intervention of A. Falero at the EAJRS Congress in 2004,
many things have changed and others not so much. In this paper we intend to present a newbalance.
"Oriental studies in Spain originated at the University of Salamanca. At the Council held in
Vienne (France) in 1311, Pope Clement V decreed a Canon authorizing and ordering theuniversities of Salamanca, Oxford, Paris and Bologna to teach Oriental languages, specifically‘Arabic, Hebrew and Chaldean’" (Agud 2013; Peña 1904). Despite this early initiative,
historical circumstances prevented the expansion of this academic interest towards oriental
languages to Japanese or Chinese, despite the great impact of the Iberian missions in these
territories, and the availability of the first glossaries, Among these, we cannot fail to recall
the figure of the Dominican Diego Collado, author of the first grammar of Japanese written
by a Spaniard in Latin, the Ars grammaticae Japonicae linguae, in 1632, and a pupil of theSalamanca classroom. The work of the so-called "Iberian century" is kept in the privatearchives of the Jesuits and Dominican friars mainly, and the documentation of the official
exchanges in the Archivo de Indias in Seville, which can still be consulted today.
Despite this, the Spanish academic world turned its back on these advances and Orientalism
went into a long decline. Of course, the great wave of Japanism crossed the Pyrenees, andfrom Catalonia or later from Madrid publishers in Spain, news of the great international
milestones of modern Japan returned. But we had no scholars during the first half of the20th century. We have to wait for what we call the first postwar generation of scholars,
inaugurated by the ex-Jesuit Alvarez Taladriz, pioneer of the recovery of "Iberian" studies in
the 1950s, and the Jesuit Juan Masiá, pioneer of inter-religious dialogue.
But we had to wait until the beginning of this millennium for studies from Japan to take rootin Spanish universities. In 2003, the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science changed thename of the studies that include Japan, abolishing the old label of "Languages and Culturesof the Far East" and establishing the current name of "East Asian Studies", "thus moving
1

Paper ascribed to the Recognized Research Group " Humanism Eurasia " of the University of Salamanca.

from an archaic name, with a markedly orientalist tone, to an area of knowledge in line withits definition in European universities" (Guarné 2022). Starting with the parallel initiative ofthe two autonomous universities of Barcelona and Madrid in 2003, in this year, for the firsttime, degrees in East Asian Studies were offered, followed immediately by the University of
Salamanca, and research centres and groups began to be founded in the same universities.
These are the matrix of the current degrees in East Asian Studies, which are offered at theautonomous universities of Barcelona, Madrid, and the universities of Salamanca and Seville,with a Minor in Japanese Language at the University of Granada.
Master's degrees are organized immediately to meet the great public demand for these studies
at the major universities. Starting in 2007 with the Master's in Contemporary East Asia at theAutonomous University of Barcelona, 2009 saw the inauguration of the double Master's inEast Asian Studies/Japanese Studies in Salamanca, the first Master's in Spain to offer a degreein Japan as a specialization, and not only as a specialization or itinerary in East Asia. It isfollowed by the University of Granada and recently by the universities of Zaragoza,
Autónoma de Madrid, and a second Master in Advanced Studies in the Languages,
Literatures and Cultures of East Asia, with a specialization in Japanese Studies, recently
inaugurated in Salamanca (2021).
The teaching and knowledge of the Japanese language has been and continues to be an
important pillar of these curricula. Many of the students entering these programmes areencouraged by their previous, albeit partial, knowledge of the Japanese language. The studyof Japanese in university facilities dates back to the mid-1980s, inaugurated in the Faculty ofTranslation and Interpretation at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Today it ispossible to study the language in most university centres in Spain, including official language
schools.
But research is initiated through doctoral programmes. Today it is possible to obtain adoctoral degree in Japanese studies at the above-mentioned autonomous universities, inSalamanca and in Zaragoza. Doctoral studies open up the possibility of joining researchgroups. The main ones are the following (see Guarné 2022).
At the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Group "GREGAL: Cultural Circulation
Japan-Korea-Catalonia/Spain" (https://grupsderecerca.uab.cat/gregal/es) operates. This
group has as its precedent the creation of the Centre for Japanese Studies in 1988, a pioneerof its kind, now transformed into the Centre for East Asian Studies and Research (CERAO).
Since 2013, it has launched the "Library on Japanese Studies" of the Bellaterra publisher. The
GREGAL group "studies the circulation, reconfiguration and fitting together of the creative,
linguistic and representational flows that, with Japan and South Korea as main vectors, affectand transform Spanish society in globalizing processes on a worldwide scale" (Guarné 2022).
It has open access resources such as the virtual exhibition "Stories of Clay: The Lives andWorks of Chosõn Korean Potters in Tokugawa Japan" (https://aftermath.uab.cat/storiesof-clay/), and the multilingual database "The Database of Research on the Imjin War"(https://aftermath.uab.cat/about-the-database/).

The University of Zaragoza is a pioneer in the study of artistic Japanism in Spain. It is hometo the Group "Japan and Spain: Relations through Art" (https://jye.unizar.
es/#:~:text=Skip%20to%20content-,El%20grupo%20de%20investigaci%C3%B3n%20Jap%C3%B3n%20y%20Espa%C3%B1a%3A%20relaciones%20a%20trav%C3%A9s,del%20arte%20japon%C3%A9s%20en%
20Espa%C3%B1a.). Founded in 2004, it focuses on the "study of the reception, presence
and influence of Japanese art in our country" (Guarné 2022). This group has been joined at
the University of Zaragoza since 2012 by the "Japan" Research Group (https://gijapon.unizar.es/), which "focuses its scientific work on the analysis of the synergies between
Japan, Europe and Spain in the Social, Legal and Human Sciences" (Guarné 2022). The
University of Zaragoza offers its "Federico Torralba Collection of East Asian Studies" as asite for publications on Japan.
The complete list of museums with Japanese works of art is published on the website of theinter-university research group “Japan and Spain: Relations through Art”, mentioned above,
and which is coordinated by E. Barlés.2 This research group also has the “List of Japanese
Art Collectors in Spain.”3 There is also a list of the "Main Agents which Have Played an
Essential Role in the Phenomenon of the Presence and Impact of Japanese Art in Spain:
From the Modern Age Up to Our Days"4 (see list of archives below). Soon they will publish
the “Bibliotheca Japonica”, which is a very complete bibliographic repertoire on Japanese art
and culture from the Modern Age to the present day in Spanish languages.5 We also have on
the website https://jye.unizar.es/ all the activities (including courses, weeks, congresses,
exhibitions, theses, master dissertations, etc. which the research group has carried out since
it was created in the year 2004.
At the Autonomous University of Madrid, we have the Centre for East Asian Studies(http://departamento.lllf.uam.es/ceao/) since 1992, which has been publishing the "Japan
Collection" since 2017.
The "Asia" Research Group (https://giagroupucm.wixsite.com/grupogia/sobregia) has
been housed at the Complutense University of Madrid since 1994. "It focuses on developing
knowledge about Asian art in Spain, promoting the study of Asia in Spanish universities, andfacilitating the work of Spanish researchers in this field of study" (Guarné 2022). The same
university also runs the “Group for the Study of Interactions Europe-Asia”, which "hasbased its research project since 2015 on the field of East Asian history from aninterdisciplinary perspective, fundamentally from contemporary history and international

2 It is the result of the R+D project: Cataloging and Study of the Collections of Traditional and Contemporary

Japanese Art in Spain (Public and Private Museums), reference code HUM2008-05784 (Ministry of Science andTechnology), main researcher: Dr. E Barlés (University of Zaragoza).
3 This is the result of the R&D project: HAR2011-26140 “Japanese Art Collectors and Collectors in Spain”(Ministry of Science and Innovation, main researcher: Elena Barlés, PhD (University of Zaragoza).
4 A product of the R&D Project: “Protagonists of the Presence and Impact of Japanese Art in Spain (reference
code HAR2014-55851-P, Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, main researcher: Elena Barlés, PhD(University of Zaragoza).
5 It will be the result of the R&D Project “Art and Culture of Japan in Spain: Diffusion and influence” (reference
code PGC2018-097694-B-I00, Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, main researcher: Elena Barlés,
PhD (University of Zaragoza), which ends in 2022.

relations, and an epistemological orientation that combines a global perspective with a
specific focus on countries such as Japan, China, Korea and the Philippines" (Guarné 2022).
In 2017 the "Humanism Eurasia" Group was launched at the University of Salamanca, but
this group is presented in the second section of this essay.
At the University of Granada, focused on the study of language, we have the Group"DidacticsofForeign
Languages"(https://masteres.ugr.es/ele-lengua-culturametodologia/investigacion/grupos), with a research line on the teaching of Japanese.
The University of Valladolid is home to the Research Group on the "Reception of theJapanese Imaginary in English and French Travel Literature, XIX-XXI Centuries"(https://www.watatsumi.org/), which "is interested in mythical-symbolic studies of theJapanese imaginary and its reception in modern European travel literature, with the main
objective of analysing the influence of Japan on English and French travel writers" (Guarné2022).
Finally, at the University of Seville, which offers one of the degrees in East Asia, and has
distinguished emeritus researchers such as Fernando García Gutiérrez (1928-2018, Japaneseart) and Fernando Rodríguez-Izquierdo (1937-, haiku), there is the research group "Equipode Filosofía de la Cultura" (https://investigacion.us.es/sisius/grupo/HUM153), which
includes research on Japanese culture.

2. Research Group “Humanism Eurasia” of the University of Salamanca
First, I will briefly summarize the history of the research group up to the present, continue
with a very brief mention of its structure, and expand on the contributions and work we havebeen doing throughout this time.
2.1 History
The “Humanism Eurasia” Research Group was established in 2017 with the idea of forminga transdisciplinary group of researchers covering various fields related to languages, cultures,and societies of the vast geographical and cultural concept to which we give the name ofEurasia.
In addition to the intention of claiming the integration of this space from the point of viewof intellectual flow, an idea that has been embodied in the focus on the passage from local
and regional frameworks to a global orientation, the objective of the Research Group is themulti-disciplinarity of the field of Humanities, interweaving humanistic approaches from art,
literature, religion, philosophy, or history, with the prism of the Social Sciences. The objective
is, ultimately, to try to understand how a society explains itself.

2.2 Structure
After its consolidation, the Research Group was structured into several work units
specialized in more specific disciplines or fields of study. Thus, originally the units of
Anthropology (later Folklore Anthropology), Societies, Art and Aesthetics, Contemporary
Literatures and History and Classical Texts were created. Later, the Contemporary Pop
Culture unit, which I personally coordinate, was added.
Each of the units has a coordinator and several researchers belonging both to the Universityof Salamanca and to other Spanish or international universities, who are coordinated by aSteering Committee for the whole group. To highlight the international vocation of theGroup, we have researchers belonging to Japanese institutions such as Kokugakuin
University, Tokai University or Waseda University; I would also like to mention Carmen
Amado, President of Macau Scientific and Cultural Centre and professor at the University of
Coimbra.
2.3 Projects
Between 2018 and 2020, the Research Group carried out the Research Project "Transversal
Anthropology of Knowledge: Castilla-León and East Asia", funded by the Junta de Castillay León and continuing the work initiated by Alfonso Falero in a previous project carried out
between 2009 and 2011 of translation and study of the work of the Japanese ethnologist andphilologist Orikuchi Shinobu.
In addition, between February 2021 and the end of December of the same year, David
Doncel, co-director of the Group and coordinator of the Societies work unit, was the PI of
the Research Project "Educational and Professional Guidance, training of Chinese humancapital in Spanish culture", financed by the University of Salamanca.
2.4 Conferences
One of the activities that the Humanism Eurasia Research Group has focused on carryingout periodically has been the International Conference on Research and Training Humanism
Eurasia, conceived as a congress that brings together the most relevant contributions not
only about East Asia, but also exploring its connection with Europe, in such a way that they
try to give value to the concept of Eurasia.
The first edition of the Conference was held on March 14 and 15, 2019, under the thematic
title of Transversal Anthropology of Knowledge. It was attended by about forty researchers
from Spain and abroad, many of them of recognized prestige, belonging to each of thespecialties related to Eurasian studies in which the structure of the Research Group is divided.
Due to the success of the I Conference, very soon the Group decided to repeat them thefollowing year trying to make them an annual event. The II International Conference on
Research and Training Humanism Eurasia was planned for March 16 and 17, 2020, but as
we all know, due to the declaration in Spain of the State of Alarm caused by the Covid-19

pandemic, its celebration in person had to be suspended. However, instead of choosing topostpone the Conference to the following year, we considered the option of delaying it fora few weeks and reorganizing it in an exclusively virtual format, through the Studium
platform of the University of Salamanca. In this way, the Conference could be held between
April 1 and 15 of the same year, and we consider it to have been a success given thecircumstances, as well as discovering that the format offered an interesting means ofinteraction between speakers and attendees.
The III International Conference on Research and Training Humanism Eurasia was held on
May 27th and 28th, 2021 in the Aula Magna of the Faculty of Philology of the University of
Salamanca. Due to the restrictions imposed by the health situation, the Conference also had
a virtual support, which facilitated the live participation of researchers living in places like
Japan, and the attendance of a part of the public who could attend the lectures from theirown computer. In addition, for the first time the Conference was structured around amonographic theme, "Women and/or water in East Asia", so that many of the papers
provided different points of view on the subject, trying to conclude a global vision of the
proposed theme.
In the year 2022, the University of Salamanca and the East Asian Studies Area of the
Department of Modern Philology of the Faculty of Philology is responsible for hosting andorganizing the celebration of the XV National and VI International Congress of the
Association of Japanese Studies in Spain, which will take place between 26 and 28 October.
Because of this, the Humanism Eurasia Research Group has been actively involved in theorganization of this Congress, and we have chosen to integrate our participation in it, so that,in a way, our annual conferences are assumed within it.
Something similar is planned for June 2023, when the University of Salamanca will host thenext III Congress of the Association of East Asian Studies in Spain, and again our Group is
integrated into the organization of this.
Beyond the organization of the Conferences and Congresses, the Group has had theopportunity to be present at Congresses such as the II International Congress of the East
Asian Studies Association, held virtually in Madrid between June 2 and 4, 2021, and in which
we participated by presenting several thematic panels.
2.5 Publications
In addition to holding the Conference and participating in different Congresses, our
Research Group has also focused on the elaboration of publications, with the aim ofcontributing to the framework of knowledge of Eurasian studies.
In this sense, it is worth mentioning the Eurasia book series, whose first volume, subtitledResearch Advances, we published in 2021 in the publishing house Ediciones Universidad de
Salamanca, within the Aquilafuente collection. This book, of about 370 pages, coordinatedby Alfonso Falero and David Doncel and edited by myself, is the result of the highest quality
work initiatives presented at the II International Conference on Research and Training

Humanism Eurasia, so it has chapters of different specialties written by a total of 36
researchers. In addition, one of the innovations that we consider most relevant is ourcommitment to offer opportunities to researchers from both China and Japan, so that thebook contains a bilingual section of contributions written in Chinese and Japanese that havea translation into Spanish or English, according to the specific preference of the researcher.
Thanks to the good result that we consider that Eurasia: Research Advances had, after thecelebration of the III Conference, the Group took the decision to take advantage of thisopportunity to turn this publication into a series, so we are currently finishing editing its
second part: Eurasia Volume 2: Women and Water. This second work has been structured, likethe edition of the Conference to which it is associated, around the central theme of women
and water in the Eurasian context, covering both specific studies on one of the two elements
and multiple approaches to their cultural, anthropological, historical or even religious
connections. Therefore, this volume, which we will also publish with Ediciones Universidad
de Salamanca, is expected to be less ambitious in quantity, with around 270 pages, but more
succinct in its content, with the participation of a total of 24 authors.
In addition to the Eurasia series, some of the units of the Research Group are working on
their own publications. The most outstanding and soon to be published is Orikuchi Shinobu:
Fundamental Texts, a compendium of translations of this ethnologist and philologist by the
Anthropology of Folklore unit, whose line of research has focused on the comparative studyof Japanese and Castilian folklore. The book is coordinated by Alfonso Falero, Masako Kubo
and Sara Gómez, who in turn form the work and translation team together with Wakako
Kikuda and Rumi Tani, being the work edited by me. It will be published very soon by Satori
publishing house, inaugurating a new collection of academic essays, Studia Japonica, directedby Alfonso Falero and Santiago Martín Ciprián, the latter a professor of Hispanic Language
and Culture at Tokai University (Japan) and a researcher of the language and texts of ancientJapan at the University of Salamanca.
Finally, the Contemporary Pop Culture unit, which I coordinate, is currently compiling a
volume tentatively entitled Between kawaii and moe: Two-dimensional fascination in contemporary
Japan, which aims to highlight the study on two socio-cultural concepts so famous andrelevant to understand the current pop culture in Japan, and which includes prestigious
authors in this type of studies within the Japanese field, such as Morikawa Kaichirō or Patrick
W. Galbraith, a reference in studies on Japanese otaku culture in English, who also
participated in the III International Conference on Research and Training Humanism
Eurasia.
Before concluding, it is necessary to point out that most of the researchers of Humanism
Eurasia contribute to academic knowledge through individual publications regarding their
specific lines of work, but on many occasions integrated and linked to the research carriedout by the Group itself.

2.6 Future of the Research GroupBy way of conclusion, I would like to say a few words about the short and medium-term
future of the Group. In addition to the above-mentioned publications that have not yet been
published, we will continue to hold the International Conference on Research and Training
Humanism Eurasia, and thus the Eurasia book series, as well as the Studia Japonica collectionof the Satori publishing house.
We also plan to work towards a greater concretization of our lines of research, limiting theexisting work units in order to achieve greater cohesion from an academic and organizational
point of view. In addition, we are preparing to apply for new projects that will allow us tofurther develop and deepen our work.
3. Resources and future prospects
As for resources in archives and museums, we refer to the list attached to this paper. In termsof the dissemination of academic results, the role played by the journal Mirai. Estudios Japoneses(Mirai Nihon kenkyū kiyō 未来.日本研究紀要), founded in 2017, as the publication organ of
the Association of Japanese Studies in Spain.
One year later (2018), the 150th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations
between Japan and Spain was celebrated, which we can consider a turning point towards thecurrent state of research in this country.
We conclude this paper by noting a series of challenges to be faced, and in return a series ofvalues to be cultivated in the coming years. In terms of challenges:- advanced level of Japanese language in university programmes- mobility of university teaching staff- overcoming linguistic mediocrity in Japanese studies research- obsolete structure of area studies- 2003. Far Eastern Studies < East Asian Studies- verticalism of national studies- hegemonism in global studies- transversality of macro-regional studies- tendency to build an academic ghetto vs. interdisciplinarity- rigidity of Spanish academic structures.
And in terms of values:- human capital- young researchers- high demand for Japanese studies at the national level- richness of Spanish as a vehicular language- indigenous tradition of Japanese studies- academic and human hybridization.

REFERENCES
Agud, A. et al (eds. 2013), Séptimo Centenario de los Estudios Orientales en Salamanca, Universityof Salamanca Eds.
Barlés Báguena, Elena (2003) “Luces y sombras en la historiografía del arte japonés en
España”, en E. Barlés (ed.) “Las colecciones de arte extremo oriental en España”,
Artigrama: Revista del Departamento de Historia del Arte de la Universidad de Zaragoza, 18,
2003, pp. 23-82
Bouso, R. (2004) in Heisig, James W. (ed. 2004) Japanese Philosophy Abroad, Nanzan University
Press, pp.
Falero, A. (2013) “Japanese Philosophy in Salamanca: A Historical Survey” en A. Agud et al.
(eds. 2013) pp. 705-714
Falero, A. (2005) “A Brief History of Intellectual Japanism in Spain and Europe”, Congressof the International Association for the History of Science, Beijing University 7/2005
Falero, A. (2004) “A History of Japanese Studies in Spain”, European Association ofJapanese Resource Specialists Annual Conference, University of Salamanca
Guarné, B. (2022) “El futuro ya está aquí: nuevas tendencias de la investigación en losEstudios Japoneses en España”, Mirai. Estudios Japoneses, 6, 2022, pp. 3-10
Guarné, B./Iwasa, T. (2020) “Japanese Studies in Spain: A Growing Academic Field” inJapanese Studies Around the World, pp. 6-36
Palomera Parra, Isabel (2015) “La destrucción de la memoria”, paper presented at the XXIV
Jornadas FADOC (Facultad de Documentación, Complutense University of Madrid
https://www.ucm.es › 3-2015-04-13-jornadasfadoc
Peña Fernández, Teodoro (1904) Guía de la Universidad de Salamanca, Universidad de
Salamanca Eds. 1999
ARCHIVES
Archivo de Indias
https://www.culturaydeporte.gob.es/cultura/areas/archivos/mc/archivos/agi/porta
da.html
The General Archive of the Indies basically holds the collections produced by theinstitutions created by the Spanish Administration for the government andadministration of the Spanish overseas territories. These institutions are: Council ofthe Indies and Secretaries of the Office, Casa de la Contratación and the Consulatesof Seville and Cadiz. There are also other collections from smaller institutions and evenfrom private individuals related to the Spanish colonies in America and Asia.
Archivo de la Frontera
http://www.archivodelafrontera.com/category/archivos/archivos-pacifico/Description: Private archive holding a number of historical texts from the Iberian
century
Biblioteca Nacional de España
https://www.bne.es/es
Description: National Library catalog and collections. Documents can be bought
onlineDominican Archive in Ávila
http://archiprov-avila.org/
Description: Its contents include documents from the end of the 15th century to thepresent day. And we can get to know the reality of the whole Dominican Mission in
the Far East - Philippines, Japan, China, Formosa, Vietnam, Korea, Singapore,
Venezuela and Spain - and the culture and expression of it in those places with thesituations lived both in religious and civil matters.
Franciscan Archives of the Immaculate Conception
https://bibliotecas.ofminmaculada.org/
Description: The year 2015 marked a great change in the Franciscan Order. After many
years of work, the unification of the eight Franciscan provinces of Spain took place,
forming the new Franciscan Province of the Immaculate Conception. One of the main
projects initiated by the new province was the enhancement of the Franciscan archives
and libraries that made up the new province.
Japón y España: Relaciones a través del arte
https://jye.unizar.es/materiales/
Description: A complete list of Spanish museums housing Japanese works of art. Alsoa list of collectors of Japanese art in Spain, ordered in chronological order. A list of the"main agents who have played an essential role in the phenomenon of the presence
and impact of Japanese art in Spain (from the modern age to our days)", ordered bytypology and chronology.
Jesuit Archive in Alcalá de Henares
https://jesuitas.es/es/archivo-historico
Description: The Archive of Spain of the Society of Jesus in Alcalá de Henares (AESIA) is the historical archive of the Spanish Province of the Jesuits at the service of theProvincial Curia. It is a private archive that makes part of its holdings available toresearchers, in accordance with the rules for the use of the Archive, which can be
consulted on this page.
List of Main Museums and Institutions with Japanese Art Collections
List of Japanese Art Collectors in Spain
Main Agents Which Have Played an Essential Role in the Phenomenon of the Presence and Impact ofJapanese Art in Spain (From the Modern Age Up to Our Days
Bibliotheca Japonica
https://jye.unizar.es/materiales/
Description: The first one is ordered by autonomous community, the second ischronologically listed, and the third one is ordered by typology and chronology.
Portal de Archivos Españoles
https://pares.culturaydeporte.gob.es/inicio.html
Description: Digital repository of the Spanish government where the Archivo deIndias and the old archive of Simancas are uploaded.

Real Academia de la Historia
https://www.rah.es/
Description: Collections held on codices and manuscripts, printed books anddocuments. Documents can be bought online
University of Salamanca Libraries
http://bibliotecas.usal.es/
Description: access to the historical library with incunabula from the 16th c.
Salamanca, 20 December 2022