Japanese Journal of Human Geography 65 ― 6（2013）

Address by H. I. H. Prince Akishino
The IGU Kyoto Regional Conference
August 5, 2013（Monday）

Professor Vladimir Kolossov,
The President of the International Geographical Union,
Distinguished guests and participants,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is my great pleasure to be here withyou at the opening of the InternationalG e ographical Union Kyoto Regional
Conference, with participants from around70 countries and regions assembled here in
Kyoto today.
I consider it especially meaningful thatvarious presentations and discussions
concerning geography at this conference willaddress the main theme of “TraditionalWisdom and Modern Knowledge for the Earth’sFuture”. Geography is a comprehensive
discipline, covering the entire earth, andranging from the natural sciences to thehuman and social sciences. And it covers aHis Imperial Highness Prince Akishino
large number of subjects related to theearth, from our daily activities, to global environmental issues such as population, energy anddisasters. All of these subjects are crucial long-term issues for sustaining our livelihoods.
Therefore, initiatives based on broad viewpoints are needed, and expectations of, and demands
on, geographers are predicted to increase steadily in the future.
From here, I would like to talk about my own involvement with geography, and about myresearch interests relevant to geography. My first encounter with geography came when I
happened to join the Geographic Society at my high school. At this Society, I foundopportunities to come into touch with diverse cultures, such as traditional local industries andperforming arts, by travelling to various parts of Japan.
After entering university, I established a similar society with my friends and travelled to many
parts of Japan and also to Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. Among my travel destinations, theexperience of visiting Thailand inspired my research interests into freshwater fishes of Southeast
Asia, and led to visits to the Maekhong and Chaophrya rivers in the following years, during
which I came to realize the importance of field research. Furthermore, these visits enabled adeeper understanding not only of the fish, but also the diversity of fishing gear and fishingmethods in the northern, northeastern, and central parts of Thailand.
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Japanese Journal of Human Geography 65 ― 6（2013）

My present research interests have shifted from freshwater fish to domestic animals such as
livestock. In particular, I am working to try to elucidate the origin and domestication process ofchickens by understanding the multiple relationships between chickens and humans. These
researches cover several countries, including a bilateral joint research project between Japanand Thailand, and I feel that comparisons from a broader regional perspective are required.
Now, I will briefly touch upon the importance of interdisciplinary research from my own
experience.
As I mentioned earlier, I understand geography to be an interdisciplinary subject coveringboth the natural sciences and the human and social sciences. Interdisciplinarity is also crucial
to my research interests into livestock, especially domestication studies. As you all know,
livestock were created from their wild ancestors by humans for some purpose. In this regard,
livestock are not simply living organisms but are also cultural creatures that can be regarded asliving cultural assets.
Basically my interests cover livestock in general, including poultry, and in particular thedomestication and breeding of varieties of chickens, because I am interested in why humans
created a wide range of varieties of chickens with different forms and coloration.
It is considered that there are 4 ancestral species of junglefowls in existence around theworld, and I have been interested in which junglefowl species was the progenitor of chickens.
To elucidate this question, I once compared 4 junglefowls and various chicken breeds byextracting mitochondrial DNA to determine their base sequences. The findings of this analysis
implied that the maternal ancestor of present chickens was one of the 4 junglefowl species, theRed Junglefowl, Gallus gallus, and moreover that, among the subspecies of Red Junglefowl, thedomestic chicken was derived from subspecies inhabiting continental Southeast Asian areas
such as Thailand and its adjacent areas. These findings are summarized in my doctoral
dissertation. However, the results of my research are from almost 20 years ago, and various
other findings have subsequently been published.
Besides research in molecular biology, I have conducted field research in China’s Yunnan
province, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. In my experience of traveling these areas, I
came to recognize that livestock, including chickens, are creatures created by humans to suit
the traditional customs and preferences of their respective local communities. In thesecommunities regional types observed may derive from prototype chickens used to breed
different varieties. And it is essential to consider human preferences to understand why theresultant variations in form and coloration were created.
So which research fields need to collaborate to gain more insight into the living organisms
created by humans ? From what I have mentioned so far, at least ethnology, folklore, andbiology are essential fields. Other fields worthy of consideration would include archaeology,
history, linguistics, etc. Also in areas inhabited by different ethnic groups, if noticeable
variations are found in the same area, they may arise from such factors as varying preferences
and customs for rituals. In researching these regional characteristics of cultures and the factors
influencing them, geographic barriers should be considered first. Therefore, we would have toconsider that the base for conducting this kind of research is in fact the subject of geography.
From this example of my research interests, which happen to be in domestication studies, amore comprehensive understanding cannot be reached unless several research fields and experts
are engaged. Each field independently will undoubtedly advance beyond their present
achievements into the future. However, by looking back on my own experience, I expect― 2 ―Address by H. I. H. Prince Akishino for the IGU Kyoto Regional Conference

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collaboration in interdisciplinary research, that cuts across disciplinary boundaries by sharing
different perspectives, to become increasingly important.
If you are interested in how my research interests of exploring domestication and thebreeding of varieties were approached from interdisciplinary viewpoints including biology, thehumanities, and regional and spatial aspects of geography, please kindly refer to the publicationfrom The Siam Society entitled “Chickens and Humans in Thailand : Their Multiple
Relationships and Domestication”, which Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhornof Thailand and I supervised as Honorary Editors.
I suppose that what I have mentioned is relevant to the main theme of this RegionalConference, “Traditional Wisdom and Modern Knowledge for the Earth’s Future”.
In order to understand various issues regarding our global environment, the first point is that
we need to respect field research, for example the insights, traditional knowledge and wisdomfrom informants in the field, and in doing so, we need to note cultural differences amongcultural areas, which may not necessarily follow national boundaries.
Another point that I wish to reiterate is that various global environmental issues cannot be
solved from narrow viewpoints. Though it is important to study a single discipline in depth,
this alone quite often does not give the wide perspective needed to identify issues. I believe thisconsideration is encouraging mutual exchange among related areas of expertise to deepen theirrespective fields through interdisciplinary collaboration. This sort of collaborative research canbe regarded as a pointer to the future of geography as an integrated discipline. And I also hopethat it will greatly contribute to the further development of geographic studies in the future.
In closing my address, I wish that this conference here in Kyoto will be fruitful, meaningful
and enjoyable for all participants.
Thank you for your kind attention.
The above is the full text of the congratulatory address given at the opening ceremony of the IGU Kyoto
Regional Conference held in the morning of August 5, 2013, at the Kyoto International Conference Center,Kyoto, Japan.
Yoshitaka Ishikawa
Chair, Organizing Committee, IGU Kyoto Regional Conference― 3 ―