About the Islamic Area Studies Project Updated on September 29, 1999
Prospectus: Islamic Area Studies Project Prof. Dr. SATO Tsugitaka, The University of Tokyo The term "Islamic World" is often used to refer to the regions of the Middle East; however, we know well that Islam as religion and civilization has spread beyond the Middle East to Central and Southeast Asia in the east, the Balkans and Africa in the west. Furthermore, in contemporary Western countries, and also in China and Japan, Muslims have formed important social groups. That is to say, regions closely related to Islam now encompass the world.
In communities where Muslims reside, we find both symbiotic relationships with other peoples and serious problems, such as ethnic strife, interregional conflict, population explosion, and destruction of the environment. For example, Muslims are today deeply involved in the Bosnian conflict, the civil war in Afganistan, "the new ethnic question" in the European Union, and the struggle for human rights in the United States. Energy sources possessed by Islamic countries in the Middle East have influenced the world economy in the past decades, and will continue to do so in the coming century. Therefore, we may say that social, political and economic trends in the Islamic world will definitely determine the development of world civilization in the twenty-first century, making it necessary for non-Muslim peoples to take positive steps in better understanding Islamic history, ideas, and contemporary situation.
One attempt in coming to a better understanding of Muslims both in the Islamic and non-Islamic worlds, is the five-year project entitled Islamic Area Studies. This project has been planned under the aegis of the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, scheduled to begin in April 1997, and to continue through March 2002. The project has three main objectives: (1) to discover new approaches in Islamic Area studies through the accumulation of primary data related to Islamic civilization and Muslim contemporary issues, (2) to develop a computer system suitable for multilateral Islamic Area Studies, and (3) to support and encourage the formation of a new generation of scholars to be entrusted with the future development of these studies. The project also invites non-Japanese scholars to participate and cooperate in realizing the above objectives. Our goal is to create multidisciplinary area studies on the Islamic world in cooperation with scholars all over the world.
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Organization The project is headed by Dr. SATO Tsugitaka, professor at the University of Tokyo; and the project headquarters is attached to the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Humanities. The project is divided into six main research units, which in turn are organized into study groups. However, the different research units of the project intend to work as a whole through the joint meetings of several units and groups. The research units and their affiliated institutions are as follows.
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SATO Tsugitaka: Project Leader; The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, Arab-Islamic History
KOMATSU Hisao: Leader of Unit 1, Director of General AffairsKISAICHI Masatoshi: Leader of Unit 2, Public Relations and Publications
KATO Hiroshi: Leader of Unit 3
OKABE Atsuyuki: Leader of Unit 4
HANEDA Masashi: Leader of Unit 5, International Exchange
HAYASHI Kayoko: Acting Leader of Unit 6, Public Relations
SAKAI Keiko: Planning, Unit 1
YANAGIHASHI Hiroyuki: Vice-director of General Affairs, Unit 1
SHIMIZU Manabu: Planning, Unit 2
AKAHORI Masayuki: Publications, Unit 2
USUKI Akira: International Exchange, Unit 3
OTSUKA Kazuo: Planning, Unit 3
MASUYA Tomoko: International Exchange, Unit 5
MIURA Toru: Publications, Unit 5
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Unit 1 Thought and Politics in the Islamic World
Unit Leader: KOMATSU Hisao; The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, Modern History of Central Asia
Group 1-A: Contemporary Islamic Thought and Movements
Group Leader: KOMATSU Hisao; The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, Modern History of Central AsiaKOSUGI Yasushi: Kyoto University, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Islamic Studies
IIZUKA Masato: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Islamic Studies
Group 1-B: Islam and International Relations
Group Leader: SAKAI Keiko: Institute of Developing Economies/Japan External Trade Organization, Study of Arab RegionsISHIDA Ken: Chiba University, Faculty of Law, International Politics
UYAMA Tomohiko: Hokkaido University, Center for Slavic Studies, Central Asian Studies
Group 1-C: Islamic Law and Society
Group Leader: YANAGIHASHI Hiroyuki: The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, Islamic LawKOBAYASHI Yasuko: Aichi Gakusen University, Faculty of Business Administration, Modern Indonesian History
NAKAZATO Nariaki: The University of Tokyo, Institute of Oriental Culture, Modern South Asian History
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Unit 2 Society and Economy in the Islamic World
Unit Leader: KISAICHI Masatoshi: Sophia University, Faculty of Foreign Studies, Maghreb Area Studies
Group 2-A: Islam and Social Development
Group Leader: KISAICHI Masatoshi: Sophia University, Faculty of Foreign Studies, Maghreb Area StudiesKURITA Yoshiko: Chiba University, Faculty of Letters, Middle Eastern and North African Modern History
KAWASHIMA Midori: Sophia University, Faculty of Foreign Studies, Philippines Studies
Group 2-B: Islam and Economic Development
Group Leader: SHIMIZU Manabu: Utsunomiya University, Faculty of International Studies, Economic Development in West AsiaNAGASAWA Eiji: The University of Tokyo, Institute of Oriental Culture, Society and Economy in Modern Egypt
TORII Takashi: Meiji University, Faculty of Commerce, Southeast Asian Economies
Group 2-C: Islam and Popular Movements in the Islamic World
Group Leader: AKAHORI Masayuki: Sophia University, Faculty of Foreign Studies, Cultural AnthropologyTONAGA Yasushi: Kyoto University, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Islamic Thought
HORIKAWA, Toru: Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, Faculty of Foreign Studies, Southwest Asian History
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Unit 3 Nations, Regions, and Islam
Unit Leader: KATO Hiroshi: Hitotsubashi University, Faculty of Economics, Socio-Economic History of the Middle East
Group 3-A: Nation-States and Muslim Identity
Group Leader: KATO Hiroshi: Hitotsubashi University, Faculty of Economics, Socio-Economic History of the Middle EastISHII Masako: National Museum of Ethnology, The Japan Center for Area Studies, Philippines Studies
SHINMEN Yasushi: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Central Asian History
Group 3-B: Contemporary Muslims and Cultural Conflict
Group Leader: OTSUKA Kazuo: Tokyo Metropolitan University, Department of Social Anthropology, Ethnography of the Middle EastYAMAGISHI Tomoko: Meiji University, Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Iranian Area Studies
NAITO Masanori: Hitotsubashi University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Political and Social Change in Modern Turkey
Group 3-C: Source Materials for the Study of the Contemporary Islamic World
Group Leader: USUKI Akira: National Museum of Ethnology, The Japan Center for Area Studies, Middle Eastern Area StudiesOKA Mari: Osaka Women's University, Social Anthropology, Modern Arab Literature
AKAMINE Jun: National Museum of Ethnology, The Japan Center for Area Studies, Philippines Studies
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Unit 4 Geographic Information Systems for Islamic Area Studies
Unit Leader: OKABE Atsuyuki: The University of Tokyo, Department of Urban Engineering,Spacial Information Science
ASAMI Yasushi: The University of Tokyo, Department of Urban Engineering, Housing and Environmental DesignMIZUSHIMA Tsukasa: The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, Southeast Asian Socio-Economic History
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Unit 5 Islamic History and Culture
Unit Leader: HANEDA Masashi
The University of Tokyo, Institute of Oriental Culture, Iranian History
Group 5-A: Development of Art and Scholarship
Group Leader: MASUYA Tomoko: The University of Tokyo, Institute of Oriental Culture, Islamic Art HistoryYAMANLAR MIZUNO Minako: University of East Asia, Graduate School of Integrated Science and Arts, Turkish-Islamic Art History
MORIMOTO Kazuo: University of Tokyo, Institute of Oriental Culture, Iranian History, History of Sayyids and Sharifs
Group 5-B: Inter-Regional Interactions
Group Leader: HANEDA Masashi: The University of Tokyo, Institute of Oriental Culture, Iranian HistoryFUKASAWA Katsumi: The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology,Modern History of European Port Cities
KUROKI Hidemitsu: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Modern History of Syria and Lebanon
Group 5-C: The Potentials of Comparative Study
Group Leader: MIURA Toru: Ochanomizu University, Faculty of Letters and Education, Social History of Arabic-Islamic RegionsKISHIMOTO Mio: The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, Socio-Economic History of Late Imperial China
SEKIMOTO Teruo: The University of Tokyo, Institute of Oriental Culture, Southeast Asian Social Anthropology
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Unit 6 Source Materials for the Study of Islamic Civilization
Unit Leader: KITAMURA Hajime: Toyo Bunko (Oriental Library), Tibetan Language Studies
Acting Leader: HAYASHI Kayoko: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Department of Foreign Studies, Ottoman History
KONDO Nobuaki: Tokyo Metropolitan University, Department of Social Anthropology, Modern Iranian HistoryTANIGUCHI Junichi: Kyoto Women's University, Faculty of Letters, Social History of West Asia Under Islam
HOSAKA Shuji: The Middle East Institute of Japan, Politics and Religion in the Gulf Regions
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Each study group is composed of members who conduct research while calling on the cooperation of other researchers interested in the group's research subject. The project is open to all interested scholars in Japan and abroad. If you would like to participate or would like further information about this project, please contact:
E-mail: i- inr@l.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Fax: 81-3-5841-2686
Tel: 81-3-5841-2687