Introduction of Major Institutions

The Institute of Oriental and Occidental Studies at Kansai
University

The Institute of Oriental and Occidental Studies at Kansai University was
founded in May 1951, with the aims of advancing the academic study of both
Eastern and Western cultures, especially in comparative research, and ofcontributing to international harmonization among cultures. Starting as one of
the first group of full-scale research institutions at Kansai University, theInstitute has advanced comparative research with Asian Studies as its core,
while also keeping a variety of other foreign cultures in view. Today, theInstitute has four research divisions (Japan, Asia, Comparative Cultures, andLanguage and Philosophy) which are subdivided into eight research groups.
The Institute of Oriental and Occidental Studies 1) conducts research andpublishes its findings; 2) organizes research seminars and symposia; 3) carries

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out projects to promote academic research; and 4) hosts scholars from overseas. The results of our research are published in the annual periodical, The
Bulletin of the Institute of Oriental and Occidental Studies. Our list of publications amounts to more than 100 books, including the “Research Library”
series, the “Translation and Annotation” series, the “Sources and Materials”
series, the “Index” series, the “International Joint Studies” series and the“Monograph” series.
We promote our academic research and share our findings with the publicby holding research seminars, by inviting scholars from outside to holdspecial seminars, and by organizing international symposia.
The Center for the Study of Asian Cultures associated with the Institute,
was selected by the Ministry of Education Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology for an Academic Frontier Research Promotion Project to be aworld-class research center for cultural exchange study in East Asia. The
Center, based on the Institute’s Chinese Studies, explores various academic
activities and publishes the findings of many research projects.
In order to promote an active and open research environment, and to
explore new fields of study, we accept visiting scholars in research exchange
programs. We also have an associate research fellow system to train young
scholars, and a part-time research fellow system to accept young scholars who
are working on high-level research outside academia.
In addition, we established the Memorial Association for the Hakuen
Academy, thanks to the donation of about 20,000 books from the renowned
Chinese studies Institute in Osaka, Hakuen Academy, in 1951. We hold theannual Hakuen Lecture, and last year marked the 50th anniversary of such
lectures.
We believe that the Institute of Oriental and Occidental Studies, with its
comparative studies of a wide variety of cultures and its cultural exchanges
throughout the world, has an important and relevant role in a world where
civilizations and cultures and their inter-relationships are becoming less welldefined. At the same time, we should not stay within narrow boundaries, butinstead shoule expand our frontiers with a clear vision for the future.

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Institute of International Maritime Affairs at Korea Maritime
University

The Institute of International Maritime Affairs at Korea Maritime
University was founded in May 2000 with the intention of stimulating
research in the humanities and social sciences, developing interdisciplinary
activities, as well as setting up an educational, industrial, governmental, andacademic complex and helping to devise policies for regional development.
Since then the institute has accomplished a variety of research on international maritime affairs, such as the culture of seaports and problems relating
to harbors, shipping, and maritime territorial disputes.
In November 2008 the institute was selected for participation in the
Humanities Korea（HK）Program of the Korea Research Foundation. As aresult, the national treasury has funded it with eight hundred million won, andthe university funds it with four hundred million won every year, for a totalof 12 billion won per year during the next ten years. Thanks to these funds,
the institute has been able to add considerable human and material resources
to its research infrastructure.
An urgent task for the humanities in the twenty-first century is to transcend
the limitations of existing nation-states and entrenched national consciousness. To carry out this task, the institute pursues, as its present main theme,
cultural interaction in seaport cities. The institute is distinguished from otherhumanities research centers in that it views oceans as space for “communication and reciprocal revitalization,” not as areas of “barriers and ruptures.”More than forty menbers of the institute have carried out research in such

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specialized fields as history, literature, philosophy, linguistics, anthropology,
public administration, sociology, and architecture. Now they are researching
seaport cities, pursuing various joint research projects to reconstruct andanalyze the interchange of people, thoughts, and artifacts. They also study
such characteristics of seaport cities as transnational territoriality, cultural
hybridity, and diversity.
The institute has disseminated its findings through regional contacts topublicize and popularize research results; through next-generation education
to assure the durability and consistency of research; and through academic
exchanges to facilitate interaction with other research institutions at home andabroad. The institute also holds academic conferences and publishes anacademic journal. Besides these activities, it has carried out research relating
to marine policies and international logistics. The institutes accomplish ments
are connected to the urgent tasks of society. It endeavors to construct, forexample, a network among Korean seaport cities and build up an interseaport city cooperative complex able to transcend the barriers of nationstates.
Cultural Interaction in Seaport Cities
The institute maintains that the seaport city is a “place of resonance”
where various aspects of culture have succeeded one another, heterogeneous
features have been dynamically mixed, and creative thoughts and talents havebeen fostered amid the increasing interactions of regions encompassing a
number of states. Thus, the seaport city contains several important sociocultural qualities that deserve our attention:
First, the historicity of interactions among seaport cities. The seaport city
has functioned as a place of exchange for humans, information, culture, andcommodities long before the globalization of today.
Second, the transnational territoriality of seaport cities. A seaport city opens
toward the sea, which links the territories of several states.
Third, the seaport city as a place of cross-cultural contact. A seaport city has
accumulated experiences of conquest as well as of discrimination andconflict from which it has suffered.
By studying the cultural interactions of seaport cities, the institute seeks
to elucidate the necessary conditions for encouraging different people to transcend their own nationalities, religions, and ethnicities to construct anddevelop a common public sphere. To achieve these aims, the institute firstinvestigates the development of seaport city’ networks, antagonisms driven bycross-border freedoms and nationalism, and the structural features of the area
framed by networks. Next, the institute inquires into the differentiation andstratification of social structures within seaport cities; conflicts, coexistence,Introduction of Major Institutions

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and commingling between heterogeneous cultures; and the manifestations andmodifications of ethnic identities within the sociocultural evolution of seaportcities. Lastly, the institute seeks to discover the universal values of seaportcities irrespective of particular historical experiences and to illuminate theconditions for generating a new and original culture through the universalismof seaport cities.
To sum up, the cultural-interaction in seaport cities project focuses on
openness and closure; patterns and types of contact, with a stress on intermediation; transnationality; exclusive nationalism and conflict mitigation systems;
tensions between the diaspora and the homeland; foreigners’ patriotism for thehomeland; traversing mass cultures and conflicts with native cultures; thelogistics of decentrality and plurality; the formation and patterns of knowledge of others; immigrant zones; national administrative systems; and thegenealogy of attitudes toward heterogeneities.

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The Research Institute of Korean Studies at Korea University

The Research Institute of Korean Studies（RIKS）at Korea University has
been a key presence in the field of Korean studies since its establishment in
1957. Following its expansion and reorganization in 1997, it has responded to136

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the academic demands of the times by combining information-processing
theory and technology with its strong base in humanities research. The institute has also been at the forefront of promoting the internationalization of
Korean studies. With more than 110 distinguished researchers and assistants,
a well-developed research infrastructure, and a strong research record, RIKS
has been aiming to become a world-class institute for humanities research.
1 Major Research Projects and Activities
Korean cultural dynamics: A new perspective on Korean studies
RIKS is committed to overcoming the traditional barriers of fragmentationand overspecialization in modern scholarship by unifying the achievements
and capacities of scholars of Korean studies across fields to develop Korean
cultural studies as an integrated field. In 2007 RIKS established the
Humanities Korea （HK） Culture Research Project to investigate, with aninterdisciplinary approach, pre-modern and modern Korean culture as multilayered and multifaceted. The project attempts to move beyond static paradigms of humanities research toward a dynamic research methodology that
encapsulates the continuity and discontinuity of culture. RIKS currently runs
ten special research projects:
Intellectuals and the Reproduction of Knowledge in Chosŏn-Era Korea
Silver and East Asia
Comparative Cultural Study on Canon Formation
Trends 21: Analysis of Language, Culture, and Society Based on Newspaper
Texts
Manchuria as a Linguistic and Geographic Frontier
The Tradition and Modernity of Individuals
Representation and Media Dynamics in Korean Cinema
Emerging Korean Democracy
East Asia and the Cultural Politics of Colonial Korean Theatre
Research on East Asian Oral Narrative Literature
Publications and cultural lecture series
Since its establishment, the institute has paid much attention to thedissemination of information and continues actively to seek ways to integrate
the latest information technology in order to provide new levels of analysis in
Korean humanities.
In 1979 RIKS began work on its first dictionary, the Chinese-Korean
Dictionary, which was successfully published ten years later in 1989. The
institute has continued to play a vital role in Sino-Korean cultural exchangewith its publication of the Contemporary Chinese-Korean Dictionary, theIntroduction of Major Institutions

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Unabridged Chinese-Korean Dictionary, and the Korean-Chinese Dictionary.
Additionally, after seventeen years of research, the institute published the
Korea University Korean Dictionary. In 2011 RIKS released both its Korean
and Chinese-Korean dictionaries as smart-phone applications.

RIKS publishes the biannual Korean Cultural Studies, a specialized
academic journal on Korean cultural studies launched in 1964. Since volume
33 in 2000, the journal has been converted into an electronic format andissued every June and December. Articles in the journal are available on the
RIKS website.
In 2009 RIKS established the Cultural Lecture Series with the aim oftraining future researchers in Korean studies and disseminating researchoutcomes to the general public. RIKS offers courses in various languages
ranging from Japanese and Chinese to Manchu and Sanskrit, as well as acourse on Sino-Korean cursive writing. RIKS is also working to develop
more general interest cultural studies courses to attract a wider public.
With the goal of stimulating discussions on the humanities among thegeneral public, Webzine RIKS（https://riks.korea.ac.kr/webzin）published its
first issue in 2011. It has three sections. “Discourse and Discussion” analyzes
key words that have become part of present-day debate. “Perspective”
comments on current events or cultural trends. “Humanity and Text” presents
unique writings by authors from diverse backgrounds.
In addition, Korean Studies Database Services provided by the RIKS
website include the Electronic Chosŏn Cultural Atlas, Examples ofContemporary Korean Language, Chinese Characters in Unicode, Database of
Old Hangul, and Index of Korean Studies.

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2 International Cooperation and Joint Projects
RIKS strives to move beyond borders to foster environments that promoteinternational exchange between the humanities and other fields in order tobroaden perspectives. Furthermore, the institute attempts to promote interaction within the Korean studies community and to work with regional
researchers and groups within the larger context of East Asian studies.
Korea University–UC Berkeley Forum on East Asian Cultural Studies
RIKS and the Institute of East Asian Studies at the University of California
at Berkeley jointly organize an international forum for research on East Asian
culture. The forum broadens the perspective of Korean studies into the realmof East Asian studies and is developing a world-class cultural-research groupby expanding the scope of exchange and cooperation in the field. The inaugural forum was hosted by RIKS at Korea University in 2009. The forum isheld once every two years.
Publication of an international academic journal: Cross-Currents
RIKS publishes Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review,
an English-language international academic journal produced in collaboration
with the Institute of East Asian Studies at UC Berkeley. The journal has twoparallel versions: an e-journal available on its website（http://cross-currents.
berkeley.edu）and a print journal published biannually. Through the publication of Cross-Currents, RIKS aims to promote the collaboration and exchangeof ideas among researchers in the field. The first issue will be publishedthrough the University of Hawaii Press in 2011.
Overseas resources for Korean studies
Since 2008 RIKS has promoted the digitalization of Korean studies
resources in the possession of foreign institutes. By 2011 RIKS will haveIntroduction of Major Institutions

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digitalized approximately 2,200 canonical texts archived in the East Asian
Library at the University of California, Berkeley. These texts will be madeavailable on the RIKS website. Beginning in late 2011, we plan to catalog
and digitalize old Korean documents archived in the Tōyō Bunko（Oriental
Library）in Japan. Website: https://riks.korea.ac.kr/kostma.
International Dunhuang ProjectIn 1994 the International Dunhuang Project was launched under the
auspices of the British Library to give global access to artifacts that originated in Dunhuang, China — an area famous for its excavation sites andarchaeological importance. In December 2010 RIKS officially launched theInternational Dunhuang Project Seoul Center. The project’s Korean website（http://idp.korea.ac.kr）is now accessible to the public.

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Research Center for Nonwritten Cultural Materials at Kanagawa
University

The Research Center for Nonwritten Cultural Materials was establishedin April 2008 as a subsidiory of the Institute for the Study of Japanese Folk
Culture, with the aim of building on and furthering the results of research
projects pursued under the auspices of the 21st Century COE Program,“Systematization of Nonwritten Cultural Materials for the Study of Human
Societies”（FY2003-2007）.
The Center seeks to document and systemize nonwritten records andhuman activities difficult to express in writing, and by developing new methodologies for researching them, to explore and expand the horizons ofresearch into human societies. To meet this objective, the Center brings
together scholars from both inside and outside Kanagawa University andpromotes joint research with a focus on the three central themes of the 21stCentury COE Program: illustrated materials, physical techniques, and environment and scenery.
During the first three years after its launch（FY 2008–2010）, the Center
pursued six areas of research the following two categories: A）Core Joint
Research Projects（research on building research networks and developing
information dissemination systems for a global training and research center）;
and B）Specific Joint Research Projects（new joint research projects based on

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accumulated research know-how from the 21st Century COE Program）.
A. Core Joint Research Projects
1. Studies on Network Formation for Research on Nonwritten Cultural
Materials.
2. Studies on System Development for the Dissemination of Nonwritten
Cultural Materials.
B. Specific Joint Research Projects
1. Compilation and Joint Research on the Multilingual Version of Pictopediaof Everyday Life in Medieval Japan
2. The Process of Urban Reconstruction Following the Great Kanto
Earthquake, Creation of Database and Collection of Materials
3. Former Japanese Concessions in China and Korea
4. Studies on the Realities of Continuity and Transformation: The Case of
60 Years of Research in Tsushima
The progress and results of research during this first period were publishedin the Annual Report: “The study of Nonwritten Cultural Materials,” Vol 7. In
addition, the first group of Specific Joint Research Projects was published as“Multilingual Version of Pictopedia of Everyday Life in Medieval Japan”,
Japan vol 3（March 2011）, and the third group of Specific Joint Research
Projects was published as “New Dynamics of Research on Concessions:
History and Architecture” （ed. By OSATO Hiroaki and SON An Suk,
Shanghai Renmin Publishing House, June 2011）.
From fiscal year 2011 we will build on the results of the first period（FY2008 - 2010）to organize and pursue collaborative research on the following
seven projects under five themes:
1. Joint Research and Compilation Project on Pictopedias of Everyday Life
1a. Joint Research and Compilation Project on the Multilingual Version of
Pictopedia of Everyday Life in Medieval Japan
1b. Joint Research and Compilation Project on Pictopedias of Everyday
Life in Early Modern Japan Focusing on the Ryūkyū Islands
1c. Joint Research and Compilation Project on Pictopedias of Everyday
Life in Modern Europe
2. Joint Research on Concessions and Media Space in East Asia
3. Joint Research on Continuity and Transformation of Scenery Surrounding
Japanese Shrines
4. Joint Research on the Environmental History of Waterfront Life
5. Joint Research on Effective Retrieval and Secure Distribution of
Nonwritten Cultural Materials
Each fiscal year, research results related to nonwritten cultural materials
are published as papers in the Annual Report mentioned above. Research on

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nonwritten cultural materials, as well as information on Center activities andwork, is also published twice a year in newsletters.
The Center also hosts workshops several times a year, with the collaboration and participation of scholars from outside the university （including
foreign scholars） to conduct common research. The meetings discuss theresults of the Center’s joint research projects and issues deemed significant
for the study of nonwritten cultural materials.
In addition to promoting collaborative research and making research
results public, the Center fosters young scholars and develops a network forresearch on nonwritten cultural materials as part of the goals of the 21stCentury COE Program. Hence, we have established a Research Sponsorship
Program offering support to students who wish to become scholars capable towork anywhere in the world. Each year we select five students as scholarship
recipients.
Also, to build a network of research institutions and scholars dealing withnonwritten cultural materials, the Center has established links with eightoverseas universities and research institutions, and invites and dispatches
young scholars as part of our research exchange program.
Finally, we hope that readers will support and help the Center attain its
goals in its various areas of endeavor.

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Japanese Research Institute at Nankai University
Established in April 2003, the Japanese Research Institute of Nankai
University is at present the only institute-level entity among institutions ofhigher learning in China for conducting Japanese research and training
scholars at an advanced level. Its predecessors were the Japanese History
Research Section of the Historical Research Institute of Nankai University,
established in 1964, and the Japanese Research Center of Nankai University,
established in 1988. It is also a base for Sino-Japanese research, receiving
considerable aid from the Japan Foundation, and an institutional leader of theExpert Team for Japan-related Issues associated with the Ministry of
Education of China.
Relying on programs in world history and the world economy （keynational disciplines of Nankai University） and in international politics （aIntroduction of Major Institutions

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discipline in which Nankai University offers a doctoral degree）, the Japanese
Research Institute was able to form departments in Japanese History andCulture, Japanese Economy, and Japanese Politics and Foreign Relations. This
research institute has 14 full-time, and more than 40 part-time research
fellows. It has appointed many well-known experts from home and abroad toserve as visiting professors. It conducts applied academic research in its
supported disciplines and undertakes many projects of scientific research at
the national and provincial levels. Presently, it is engaged in a major project
founded by the Ministry of Education: “Research on Modern Japan’s
Understanding of and Actions toward China.” It has also cumulatively
published more than 200 academic works. In 2010 it published ten volumes
in the series, Research on the Course of Japanese Modernization, studying themodern history of Japan from such perspectives as politics, economies, diplomacy, ideology, culture, society, and education. It also publishes the Nankai
Series on Japanese Research（including 37 studies to date）and Nankai Riben
yanjiu （Nankai Japanese Research）, the journal of the Japanese ResearchInstitute.
As a base for training Japan scholars, this institute enrolls master’s degree
students in the areas of Japanese history, economics, politics and diplomacy,and doctoral students in the areas of Japanese economic history, modern
history, social history, cultural history, diplomatic history, intellectual history,
and the Japanese economy. The Japanese Research Institute endeavors tocreate desirable learning and research conditions for postgraduates. Every
year, together with the Modern Japanese Research Center of Peking
University and the Japanese Research Center of Fudan University, it holds theJapanese Research Forum for doctoral candidates. So far, this institute has
produced 161 master’s degree holders and 92 doctoral degree holders.
In addition, the Japanese Research Institute carries out activities open to144

Journal of Cultural Interaction in East Asia Vol.3 2012scholars outside the Institute. At its invitation, experts and scholars come fromhome and abroad to engage in joint research, attend academic meetings, andgive lectures. The institute also holds “Lectures on Japanese Ideology andCulture” at regular intervals and convenes international academic conferenceson issues of interest every year. Finally, it has set up academic exchange
programs with many universities and research institutes in such countries andregions as Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong.

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The East Asian Cultural Research Team of the Research Center
for International Japanese Studies at Hosei University

1 International Japan Studies as Research on a Foreign Culture
The study of Japan as a foreign culture requires a comparative-cultural
perspective if only because prior development of the field has relied primarily
on foreign scholars. The comparative-cultural perspective seeks to push
Japanese scholars of Japan to look at Japanese culture as a foreign culture.
One cannot regard Japanese culture as a self-evident reality, nor can one takea distinctive, extreme aspect of Japanese culture and regard it as absolutely
characterizing the culture. What is needed is to regrasp Japan’s character anddistinguishing features from a wide perspective, and to reassign Japan’s place

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in Asia and the world at large. Though a regional culture may seem selfcontained, it may have received influence from another region. This is especially true of Japan and China.

The East Asian Cultural Research Team of the Research Center forInternational Japanese Studies at Hosei University, using the various imagesof Japan as a foreign culture, conducts studies designed to bring out thecomplex character of Japanese culture as it affects the rest of Asia and theworld. Just as Ruth Benedict, in The Chrysanthemum and the Sword,
approached Japanese culture through the exotic and the contradictory, so
foreign researchers of Japanese culture might pose topics of concern about
Japanese culture. Japan scholars from around the world can then discuss these
topics to reach an informed consensus on the regional nature and distinctive
character of Japanese culture. Through this approach, we can ascertain
universal aspects of culture.
2 The Basic Concept of the Study of Japan as a Foreign Culture
I would like to present the following two points on the basic ideas of theresearch of our team.
The first is that by including the perspective of foreign scholars of Japan,
we can refashion Japan studies to fit the contemporary age. To break down
old habits of a closed, self-contained discipline engaged in esoteric researchand to create an international, interdisciplinary field of study, we need toenrich our discussion with contributions from both Japan and the outside
world. It is our aim to provide such a model.
The second is that a rediscovery of Japanese culture from the perspective

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of foreign scholars of Japan will open up new vistas in Japanese culturalresearch. Japanese culture is a distinct mixed culture formed through direct
and indirect influences from the nearby cultures of East Asia （China andKorea）and, from the modern age on, from the foreign cultures of Europe andAmerica. The organic composition of Japanese culture, with its regional anduniversal aspects, offers insights into the quickening pace of globalization. By
logically presenting this organic composition, we can increase the self-awareness of Japan and other Asian nations as well, enrich our perspective on
Japan’s cultural connections with neighboring countries, and, by means ofJapanese and foreign perspectives, spiritually augment our experience.
3 Research Program
Based on our focus on the research concepts enumerated above, our teamhas promoted the following research topics:“Research on Japan as a Means of Developing a Model of Coexistence in
East Asia”（2003–2006）“Research on Japan as a Means of Furthering Mutual Understanding”（2006–
2007）“Questions for Japanese Culture: Research on Japan as a Means ofDeveloping Thought and Practice”（2007–2009）“Research on Japan as a Foreign Culture”（2009–2010）“A Reconsideration of Japanese Identity: Research on Japan as a Means ofMutual Enlightenment and Mutual Development”（2011–2013）
4 Research Results
From 2003 to 2007, our team achieved the following results（as reflectedin the publications below）and engaged in the following activities:
4.1 Main publications published by the East Asian Cultural Research
Team of the Research Center for International Japanese Studies at
Hosei University
Higashi Ajia kyōsei moderu no kōchiku to ibunka kenkyū: Bunka kōryū tonashonarizumu no kōsa（Building a Model for Coexistence in East Asia and（March 2006）
Foreign Culture Studies: Cultural Interaction and Nationalism）
Sōgō rikai to shite no Nihon kenkyū: Nitchū hikaku ni yoru shin tenkai（Research on Japan as a Means of Furthering Mutual Understanding: New
Developments from Sino-Japanese Comparisons）（Tokyo: Hōsei Daigaku
Kokusai Nihongaku Kenkyūsho, March 2007）
Kokusai Nihongaku （International Japan Studies）, no. 4 （Tokyo: Hōsei
Daigaku Kokusai Nihongaku Kenkyūsho, March 2007）
Kokusai Nihongaku, no. 5 （Tokyo: Hōsei Daigaku Kokusai Nihongaku

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Kenkyūsho, April 2007）
Nihon bunka e no toikake: Jirei chōsa oyobi chōsa jikei kekka（Questions for（April 2007）
Japanese Culture: Case Studies and Case Study Totals）
Kokusai Nihongaku, no. 6 （Tokyo: Hōsei Daigaku Kokusai Nihongaku
Kenkyūsho, April 2008）
Chūgokujin no Nihon kenkyū: Sōgō rikai no tame no shisaku to jissen（Research on Japan by Chinese Scholars: Thought and Practice toward
Mutual Understanding）（Tokyo: Hōsei Daigaku Kokusai Nihongaku
Kenkyūsho, March 2009）
Kokusai Nihongaku, no. 7 （Tokyo: Hōsei Daigaku Kokusai Nihongaku
Kenkyūsho, October 2009）
Ibunka kenkyū to shite no Nihongaku: Naigai no shiten（Japan Studies as
Research on a Foreign Culture: Japanese and Foreign Points of View）（Tokyo: Hōsei Daigaku Kokusai Nihongaku Kenkyūsho, March 2010）
Tenkanki Nitchū kankei ron no saizensen: Sōgō hatten no tame no Nihon
kenkyū（The Forefront of Discussion on Sino-Japanese Relations in a Periodof Transition: Japanese Research as a Means of Mutual Development）（Tokyo: Hōsei Daigaku Kokusai Nihongaku Kenkyūsho, October 2010）
Chiiki kenkyū to shite no Nihon kenkyū: Nitchūkan no kyōdō（Research on（Tokyo: Hōsei
Japan as Regional Research: Sino-Japan-Korean Cooperation）
Daigaku Kokusai Nihongaku Kenkyūsho, forthcoming in August 2011）
4.2 Major domestic and international publications
Journal papers and newspaper articles are omitted.
Japanese works
Nitchū bunka no kōsaten （Intersection of Japanese and Chinese Culture）（Tokyo: Sanwa Shoseki, April 2008）
Chūgokujin no Nihonkan（Chinese Views of Japan）（Tokyo: Sanwa Shoseki,August 2009）
Higashi Ajia no Nihonkan: Bungaku, shinkō, shinwa nado no bunka hikaku ochūshin ni （East Asian Views of Japan, with a Focus on Cultural
Comparisons of Literature, Beliefs, and Myths）（Tokyo: Sanwa Shoseki,
October 2010）
Tenkanki Nitchū kankei ron no saizensen: Chūgoku toppurīdā no shiten（TheForefront of Discussion on Sino-Japanese Relations in a Period of Change:
The Viewpoints of Chinese Top Leaders）（Tokyo: Sanwa Shoseki, April
2011）
Kindaika shakai to komyunikēshon no gihō: Gurōbaruka to kanji bunkaken no
gengo（Modern Society and Communication Technology: Globalization andthe Languages of the Sinosphere, provisional title）（Tsu: Mie Daigaku

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Shuppankai, forthcoming in June 2011）
Tabunka kyōsei to shite no Nihon kenkyū: Shakai hatten no ayumi to tomo ni（Japan Research on Multicultural Coexistence: Keeping Pace with Social
Development, provisional title）（Tokyo: Bensei Shuppan, forthcoming in
October 2011）
Korean works
Modern Society and Communication
Technology: Globalization and the Languagesof the Sinosphere（in Korean）（2010 FourthInternational Conference for Sinosphere
Communication at Chungbuk National
University, South Korea, October 2010）
Chinese works
Riben wenhua lun （A Thesis on Japanese（Chongqing: Chongqing Chubanshe,
Culture）
June 2008）
Wenhua chayi yu chongtu （Cultural Differences and Clashes）（Liaoning:
Liaoning Renmin Chubanshe, January 2009）
Shenghuozhong de Riben: Dujie Zhong-Ri wenhua zhi chayi（Japan in Our（Jilin:Dialy Lives: Deciphering Chinese and Japanese Cultural Differences）
Jilin Daxue Chubanshe, October 2009）
Shiren Huang Ying （The Poet Huang Ying）（Chongqing: Chongqing
Chubanshe, August 2010）
Riben wenxue yanjiu: Lishi zuji yu xueshu xianzhuang（Studies in Japanese（Nanjing:
Literature: Traces of the Past and the Present State of Scholarship）
Yilin Chubanshe, August 2010）
Gongze Xianzhi yu Zhongguo （Miyazawa Kenji and China）（Chongqing:
Chongqing Chubanshe, November 2010）
4.3 Expansion of research networks
Expansion of international Japan research networks by means of seminars
Since 2006 we have held the East Asian Culture Forum about once amonth, to which we invite a lecturer from Japan or abroad. To date, there
have been about 50 sessions. This forum has served as our main means of
expanding research networks.

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From expansion of multidisciplinary networks to contributions to society
In addition to building Japan studies research networks among universities
socio-cultual interaction and research institutes, we are also developing
organic cooperative relationships for social cultural interaction activities, andhave begun our own planning and activities. For instance, in January 2009
together with the East Asia Publishers Conference, we held the symposium,“Can We Build an East Asian Reading Community?” And in October 2010,
the binational seminar “Modern Society and Communication Technology:
Globalization and the Languages of the Sinosphere” was selected for support
by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and was held at Chungbuk
National University in South Korea.
4.4 Training of young scholars
From 2007 we have accepted ten young scholars who have received
Chinese or Japanese government support for study primarily of the research
produced by our team. We are also implementing exchange programs with
universities in Germany and Hong Kong.
5 Future Topics
We are presently considering pursuing the following research topics inthe future:• China and Japan as foreign cultures with the aim of promoting multicultural coexistence• Cultural connections in the Sinosphere• Japan as regional research
Japan is an object of study by the other nations of East Asia, but for Japan,
Japan is the main subject of Japan studies conducted by foreign nations. We

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Journal of Cultural Interaction in East Asia Vol.3 2012

hope that the results of research on Japan will lead to improved transmissionof knowledge in Japan and abroad so that we may learn from each other anddevelop together.
WANG Min
Professor and Head of the East Asian Cultural Research Team
Research Center for International Japanese Studies at Hosei University