1Preface
Toward Responsibility for a Cooperative “East Asian Era:”
New Developments in Cultural Interaction Studies in East Asia

WANG Min*This could be called the era of East Asia. East Asia could increase its
momentum even more if it heightened cooperation in a variety of areas. An
increase in our awareness of the issue of what role we should play for further
cooperation is expected. Efforts are being made in every field, but the possibility that cultural cooperation can precede all other areas is high. Culturalinteraction studies in East Asia are evidence of this. There are already many
examples of positive results. I learned of Kaiseimachi in Kanagawa
Prefecture at the 2006 “21st Century Kanagawa Roundtable Conference,” andwas told that Kaiseimachi is researching traces in local history in theAshigara region of the legendary Chinese ruler who introduced flood control,Yu the Great. The fact that Yu the Great, a protagonist from ancient Chinese
history, had crossed to Japan and had been beloved for over one-thousand
years, cannot be emphasized enough as a good example of historical andmodern values that bespeak cooperation in East Asian culture.
Kaiseimachi lies at the foot of Mt. Fuji, the symbol of Japan. It is ofprofound interest that in June, 2013, Mt. Fuji was registered not as a natural
heritage site, but as a cultural world heritage site out of the three categories
of natural, cultural, and compound world heritage sites. It is considered “asymbol of a sacred place and artistic inspiration.” Twenty-five sites, including
sacred areas at the summit and Fuji Five Lakes, are called Mt. Fuji heritage
assets (as an aside, there are eighteen world heritage sites in Japan as of2015). In terms of China, the symbols that all Japanese know could be listed
as Yao, Shun, Wu, Confucius, and other “saints.” If we search in Japan for asymbol common to both Japan and China, it is the Ashigara region ofKaiseimachi! Although it is a coincidence that Mt. Fuji and Yu the Great areboth in the same area, it is profoundly interesting.
In the Ashigara region, there are still remnants of Yu culture, such as the* Wang Min 王敏 is a Professor at Hosei University and President of the Society forInteraction in East Asian Studies.

2Journal of Cultural Interaction in East Asia Vol. 7 2016

temple dedicated to Yu the Great (now Fukuzawa Shrine) built in 1726, therelated Bunmei monument (Bunmei is an alternate name for Yu the Great),and the Bunmei festival, that are still extant today. Of course, Yu the Great
culture in Japan has been adapted to the clime and lifestyles of Japan throughJapanese transplantation and selection. Although changed in form, it wasprobably promoted to a deity in the Japanese belief system even as it
continued to have a Sino-Japanese syncretic cultural character. In any case, it
bloomed in the soil of Japanese culture as belief in Yu the Great, which canbe considered a symbol of the Ashigara region.
The reason the venue selected for the Seventh Annual Meeting of theSociety for Cultural Interaction in East Asia held on May 9, 2015 was
Kaiseimachi was because the sites of Mt. Fuji and Yu the Great could both beseen there. If we expand our thinking somewhat and go back in history, I am
certain we will be able imagine the original landscape where East Asian
culture was in contact, penetrated, collided, adapted, and merged. Whilespreading in all directions, cultural interaction continued through repeatedtrial and error, to become the cultural landscape that was constructed from
historical and cultural accumulation. Further, we should also be able to noticethat infrastructure related to Yu the Great has suffused the daily lives ofmodern man. For example, festivals for different times of the calendar, facilities such as schools that foster future generations, irrigation canals that are
the lifeline of cities, and bridges over rivers, could all be said to embody Yu
the Great as part of the cultural climate.
Yu the Great in Japan is usually considered a god that controls flooding.
A local citizens’ group in Ashigara has been central to discovering historicalrelics of the culture of Yu the Great as a Japanese god of flood control.
Through fieldwork conducted from 2007 to the present, 90 sites of theJapanese god of flood control have been discovered in Japan, from Hokkaido
to Kyūshū to Okinawa. At the very least, in terms of analyzing Japan’s
modern values of hybrid culture, there has been no better example ofconcrete research. It is extremely valuable.
Yu the Great culture has been connecting Japan and China for over a
thousand years. This is true not just for Japan and China; Yu culture spreadties throughout East Asia and has come to be a common culture. I thoughtthat research concerning this topic was not only useful for analyzing SinoJapanese cultural relations, but could be a unique contribution to theacademic field of East Asian cultural interaction studies. In particular, whenYu the Great is understood as the foundation of the architecture for intellectual knowledge in East Asia and as a symbol of Sinographic civilization, the808 common Sinographs to Japan, China, and Korea hammered out under theleadership of the Trilateral Culture Ministers’ Meeting (former Prime MinisterToward Responsibility for a Cooperative “East Asian Era”

3Fukuda Yasuo is the representative for Japan), could be said to be a new
creative evolution that transcends the time and space of over a thousandyears.
The common undercurrent of Yu the Great culture is a flow of knowledge.
People read this dynamically, understood it, and integrated a variety ofmethods in numerous fields, such as the humanities, sociology, and science.
Through elucidating multifaceted points of view, they more than likely felt
the cultural exchange more palpably and intimately. The fact that suchresearch on Yu has achieved the status of a topic in East Asian interculturalstudies should be understood as an achievement made possible by theconstructive development of the conference. We can acknowledge this as avaluable step in the quest for scholarship with possibilities for cooperative
research with local regions and private citizens. Research is comprised ofboth macroscopic and microscopic elements. I am certain that borderless
linked efforts have honed the direction and productivity of learning.
It is appropriate that the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Society for
Cultural Interaction in East Asia was held in Kaiseimachi, which has thedouble symbols of Mt. Fuji and Yu the Great. It allowed us to speak of thesound progress of the conference. I am confident that progress in research on
Yu the Great and East Asian cultural interaction studies will gain momentum.
Further, with multidimensional interaction between the Society members,
specialists, private sector researchers, participants from abroad and Japanesecitizens, I sincerely hope that we will continue to develop interactively
through mutual enhancement.
In conclusion, on May 3, just before the conference, I was blessed withthe opportunity of meeting the Emperor and Empress. I was grateful toreceive warm encouragement for my academic research and humanist
exchanges. I am resolved to transform their words, which went to my heart,
into energy for the future.
I hereby express my gratitude to the Society board members and staff ofthe East Asia Cultural Interaction Studies office, as well as for participation
by both locals and those from abroad. I will keep in mind that it was yourobservations and instructions that made everything possible.
Thank you! Arigatō gozaimasu! (ありがとうございます！)
Kamsahamnida! (감사 합니다 ! ) Xie Xie! (謝謝！)4Journal of Cultural Interaction in East Asia Vol. 7 2016

Appendix 1
Yu the Great and the Japanese, (NHKPublishers, December, 2014)
Appendix 2
Newspaper article on the opening of theconference: May 12, 2015 Kanagawa
Shimbun (see attached file)
Appendix 3
Related articles introducing the subject inChina:“Zai Dongying xiaozhen ganshou Dayu
wenhua chuanbo ‘shenji’” 在东瀛小镇感
受大禹文化传播 “神迹” (Small Village inJapan Impressed by Spread of Yu the Great Culture: Sacred Sites”)
1. http://www.tibet.cn/news/gjxw/201505/t20150510_2863048.htm
2. Newspaper photos: “Riben Fushishanlu liucun de Dayu wenhua liuchuan:‘shenji’” 日本富士山麓留存的大禹文化流传 “神迹” (Spread of Yu the Great
Culture Preserved at the Foot of Mt. Fuji in Japan: Sacred Sites)
http://japan.people.com.cn/n/2015/0511/c35465-26978906-3.html
3. Above articles reprinted in the following major news sources in China:
Xinhuanet, Chinanews.com, People’s Daily Online, Huanqiu.com, China.org.,
Taiwan.cn., SINA, NetEase, Sohu.com., Ifeng.com., Jfdaily, DZWWW.com.,
Dahe.cn., Xinmin.cn., js.chinanews.com., Anhui Radio and TV Station, etc.
Appendix 4
Japanese-language articles disseminated from China
1. Beijing Review (Japanese version):
http://japanese.beijingreview.com.cn/ztjl/txt/2015-05/11/content_687253.
htm
2. Articles reprinted on the Chinese internet:
http://japanese.china.org.cn/jp/txt/2015-05/11/content_35540961.htm