| Date/time | November 15, 2008 (Sat) 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM |
|---|---|
| Location | Room 1163, Liberty Tower 16th Floor, Meiji University Surugadai Campus |
On November 15, 2008, from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM, a symposium titled "The New Frontiers of the Ancient Studies of Japan" took place in commemoration of the adoption of the Graduate Program for Interdisciplinary Specialists in Ancient Studies of Japan. Following words of greetings from Takehiko YOSHIMURA, the Chief Coordinator, and Hiromi NAYA, the president of Meiji University, four members of our teaching staff in charge of promoting the program gave presentations on their research. Their presentations were followed by introductions of the post-doctoral scholars who support this program and a discussion by the four presenters before finally coming to a close. Contents of the research presentations and discussions are presented in brief below.
It was reported that the study of the history of Japanese orthography is now making significant progress, owing to the large number of inscribed wooden tablets excavated in recent years. It was also made clear that the ability to study a great variety of historical materials, such as wooden tablets, manyō waka poems, and ritsuryō manuscripts, in an interdisciplinary and comprehensive manner will become critical for future research.
It was reported that Japanese archaeology, whose formation owes much to E.S. Morse, Shogoro Tsuboi and Yonekichi Miyake, had experienced several occasions of discontinuation, so it did not always follow a steady course of development. It was also reported that archaeology as a stable, self-standing, and systematic discipline started only in tandem with the establishment of architectural history. Since archaeology had always been an interdisciplinary academic field, as we can see when we look back on its history, it was stated that we should once more return to this point of origin.
A report was made on the Kebesu Festival, which takes place on October 14th every year at the Iwakura Shrine in Kushiku-aza-furue, Kunimi-machi, Kunisaki-shi, Ooita Prefecture. The interpretation of the "fire" used in the festival was explained based on video images from field studies, which showed how fire is initially protected, then stirred and kicked to pieces, expressing how the Arriving God vitalizes the order of control and regulation. Based on this interpretation, the possibility that "Kebesu" may actually be "Yebisu (deity of commerce)" was suggested.
Carefully presented cases showed that commentaries on the Tale of Genji compiled during the Middle Ages, such as Kakaishou, drew actively from Shousho and Shousho Taiden, and interpret the work as a tale of royal power and politics. The commentary that noted the relationship between the Tale of Genji and Confucian statements was recognized as a distinct marker in the interpretation of the story.
The discussion took place in a roundtable style, with each of the four members of the teaching staff who made the presentations stating problems they are aware of, and exchanging ideas.
At first, the presenters expressed their views on how their respective fields of research are interdisciplinary. Professor Yoshimura referred to the fact that researchers such as Mitsusada Inoue and Shō Ishimoda left eminent literary works on fields other than their specialty. He placed emphasis on the need to hold active interest in areas other than one’s own specialized field of research, especially in this day and age, when research fields have become individualized and segmented. Professor Nagafuji said conducting field surveys and studying the traditions of peripheral regions surrounding the Yamato Dynasty enabled a more profound and solid understanding of literature. Professor Hinata said interaction and collaborative research with Chinese and Korean researchers studying literature in their native languages lead to a greater ability to look at Japanese literature from a broad perspective. Professor Ishikawa expressed enthusiasm for establishing studies of ancient history as a comprehensive discipline, based on his own experience of having started his academic career in the sciences.
In the continuing discussion, despite recognizing the importance of holding an interdisciplinary stance, misgivings were expressed on whether it is possible to realize and achieve such highly professional yet interdisciplinary research and earn both postgraduate and doctoral degrees within the limited time frame of 5 years. On the other hand, even though it may be difficult to attain a high level of interdisciplinary research, there is the prospect that, by encountering documents in other fields and by participating in programs supervised by teaching staff from a variety of disciplines, students will become able to discover problems from an interdisciplinary perspective, which will lead to research results with higher potential and scalability.
