We have begun the third year of our Islamic Area Studies project and are currently at the stage of implementing several important plans. This year we began to compile the Islamic Area Studies Series, in both English and Japanese, based on the papers presented in our conferences. It is one of the projectﾕs primary goals to make the results of our research available to both scholars and the general public, and to this end, we will publish ten volumes in this series during the remaining years.

We will also hold several international conferences this year. In October, we will host a symposium entitled Beyond the Border: A New Framework for Understanding the Dynamism of Muslim Societies. Marking the halfway point of our five-year project, this symposium was organized with the intent of bringing together scholars from different countries and different academic disciplines for a better understanding of Islam. The title of the symposium, Beyond the Border, refers to the influence of Islam, which goes beyond all borders, and to the multifaceted nature of the Islamic world.

Beyond the Border also reflects the project's intention of studying Islam from various viewpoints. Indeed, the project lays emphasis on comparative analysis between geographical regions, between historical eras, and between academic viewpoints. There are several other conferences this year which focus on comparative studies, such as Islam and Politics in Russia and Central Asia on October 13-14, 1999 (organized by Unit 1); Democratization and Popular Movements in Islamic Areas on November 20-30, 1999 (organized by Unit 2); and The Islamic Movement and the Womanﾕs Workplace: Political and Economic Viewpoints (organized by Unit 3). Studying Islam and Islamic areas in combination with other research subjects can lead way to new observations and to innovative methods of study. We hope that scholars will participate actively in these conferences and perhaps find clues to new aspects of Islamic studies through interaction with other scholars.

Often, when we try to understand a subject at a deeper level, it reveals itself to be more complex and many-layered, and sometimes we even come across completely unexpected facts. As a member of this project, I have had many such enlightening experiences, and I believe that the IAS project will continue to explore the possibilities of Islamic studies.