The National Institutes for the Humanities (NIHU) is pleased to announce Dr. Carol Gluck, George Sansom Professor of History at Columbia University, as the winner of the sixth NIHU International Prize in Japanese Studies. Dr. Gluck specializes in the modern history of Japan, the history of international relations, history, and public memory, and made tremendous contributions to the international development of Japanese studies. Her research is also interdisciplinary, drawing on and examining the theories of the latest historical studies, cultural studies, social analyses, and other disciplines. Further, through collaborative research between Japan and the United States as well as university-based interdisciplinary educational programs, Dr. Gluck has committed herself to fostering the next generation of scholars and mentored many researchers who now play leading roles in Japanese studies around the world. She has also served as an intellectual bridge between academia and society. (For details, see “Achievements and Reasons for Awarding,” compiled by screening committee chair SANO Midori below.)

NIHU is looking forward to engaging with Dr. Gluck at the award ceremony and commemorative lecture to be held at the Japan Academy in Ueno, Tokyo on March 19, 2025.

This is the sixth award offered since NIHU has established the prize in 2019 with the support of the Kuraray Foundation. We have been fortunate to receive recommendations for outstanding scholars both from within Japan and abroad, allowing smooth screening of qualified candidates. NIHU is deeply grateful to those who understand and cooperate with our goals in awarding the prize. The screening committee hopes to see nominations for the award covering a diverse range of scholars in terms of gender, region, and other factors. We look forward to your kind consideration.

Text: WAKAO Masaki, Executive Director, NIHU

Achievements and Reasons for Awarding

Based in the United States and internationally active as a prominent scholar of modern Japanese history, Dr. Carol Gluck has made major contributions based on historical research to the global spread and enhancement of the standard of Japanese studies.

Her book, Japan’s Modern Myths: Ideology in the Late Meiji Period (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985), which received the John K. Fairbank Prize in East Asian History, broke away from Orientalist narratives of Japan in English-speaking countries. By extensive citing of sources to illustrate the country’s development as a modern nation-state, her work marked a major turning point in Japanese studies, as it shifted images away from “Japan the unique,” placing Japanese history in the broader context of world history.

Her co-edited books Showa: The Japan of Hirohito (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1993) and Words in Motion: Toward a Global Lexicon (Durham: Duke University Press, 2009) brought forth new transnational dialogue on the history of twentieth-century Japan. These works showcase not only Dr. Gluck’s broad knowledge and profound interest in intercultural dialogue; they also demonstrate the leadership she exercises in her field.

Dr. Gluck’s influence has transcended academia and produced results in the field of public history as well. The open lectures and symposiums she organized have been instrumental in sharing knowledge of Japanese history extensively with general readers. The events also contributed greatly to discussion of narratives presented in the major mass media in Japan, the United States, and elsewhere, as well as sharing Dr. Gluck’s expertise on historical debates with international audiences.

Throughout her long and distinguished career, Dr. Gluck has been both an innovator and a mentor in the fields of history and Japanese history alike. In addition to devoting herself to training younger scholars, she has mentored and supported many graduate students and young academics who went on to serve leadership roles in Japanese studies around the world. She has also formed an international network by working as a visiting scholar at the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Social Science and Faculty of Law; the School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, France; Leiden University, the Netherlands; the University of Oslo, Norway; and other major research institutes worldwide. Further, Dr. Gluck has contributed to the promotion of Japanese studies as an editor for a number of journals including Japan Forum; Japanese Studies; Social Science Japan Journal; and Memory, Mind and Media.

It is the screening committee’s pleasure to announce that Dr. Gluck has been selected as the sixth recipient of the NIHU International Prize in Japanese Studies. We applaud the ways in which she has built intellectual bridges between Japan and the United States and other countries, and continued to inspire generations of up-and-coming scholars of Japanese studies.

[The Previous award ceremony and commemorative lecture]
The Fifth NIHU International Prize in Japanese Studies: Award Ceremony and Commemorative Lecture
The footage of the award ceremony and commemorative lecture is available on NIHU’s YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJLAoT15XHc