Network-based Projects
These are projects in which NIHU's institutes play a central role in forming a network with universities and other research institutes in Japan and overseas as well as implementing issues that are important to Japan and the world. Through the establishment of the NIHU Global Area Studies Program and the Inter-University Research Institute Network Project to Preserve and Succeed Historical and Cultural Resources, efforts are being made in research to solve problems from various research field.
Global Area Studies Program（Steering Unit, MINPAKU)
So far, area studies have mainly focused on elucidation of the unique, essential, and inherent nature of conventionally constructed areas, imagined (created) through a postcolonial knowledge system. In this research program, with collaboration of the following four projects consisting of networks of various research institutes and universities, we are aiming to uncover the mechanisms of the establishment (and failure) and transformation of the global order from a viewpoint of comparison and relevance of various areas, and to explore possibility of new area studies that go beyond the conventional conceptualization of areas.
Project Website [Japanese only]
Global Mediterranean
This project examines the movement of people, goods, and knowledge through the modern and contemporary Mediterranean from a supra-regional and interdisciplinary perspective, exploring frameworks in area studies.
- MINPAKU
(Central Hub) - Modern Migration and Reconstructing the Area Concept
- Toyo University
- Historical Changes in Images/Representations [Japanese only]
- Tokyo University of
Foreign Studies - Inter-Civilizational Circulation of Literature and Performing Arts
- Doshisha University
- Multiculturalism and Coexistence in Contemporary Society
Indian Ocean World Studies
Focusing on the world surrounding the Indian Ocean, this project will elucidate the dynamics by which flows of people, goods, information, values, and so on have been involved in the generation, development, accumulation, and disappearance of relationships inside and outside that world.
- MINPAKU
(Central Hub) - Linkage and Continuity of Movements
- University of Tokyo
- Development, Medicine, and the Environment
- Osaka University
- Hybridity and Creativity of Literature and Ideas
- Kyoto University
- Peaceful Coexistence[Japanese only]
Maritime Asian and Pacific Studies (MAPS)
Based on the fundamental cultural commonalities within the “Austronesian” language sphere, this project aims to comprehensively outline cross-border movements of people, goods, and information from maritime Asia to Oceania.
- MINPAKU
(Central Hub) - Resource and Infrastructure Development, Livelihoods, Cultural Heritage, and Cultural Reconstruction
- Kyoto University
- Food and Health, Physical, Physiological, and Cultural Evolution, Climate and Social Change
- Toyo University
- The Logic of Seaside Habitation, Natural Disasters, Resilience, Commonality and Regionality
- Tokyo Metropolitan
University - Mobility of People and Goods, Economic Capital and Mobility, Materiality and Landscape Changes
East Eurasian Studies
This project aims to elucidate the influence of the existence of East Eurasia, home to the large states of China and Russia, on the global world from the perspective of cultural collisions and well-being (sense of happiness).
Project Website [Japanese only]
- Tohoku University
(Central Hub) - Minority Rights and the Media [Japanese only]
- MINPAKU
- Religion and Subcultures [Japanese only]
- Kobe University
- Declining Birthrate, Aging Population, and Conflict
- Hokkaido University
- Border Crossings and Gender
Inter-University Research Institute Network Project to Preserve and Succeed Historical and Cultural Resources
This project will contribute to the construction of local history and culture by having the foundations of historical and cultural materials in the area recognized by not only researchers but also the area as a whole, based on the results of activities to preserve historical and cultural materials conducted in the area (preservation, survey, and research activities), building on the “Shiryo Net” established in universities and areas across Japan, centering on NIHU (lead institute: REKIHAKU), Tohoku University, and Kobe University. Moreover, it aims to help researchers and areas share the best ways to preserve materials and the foundations of local culture through collaboration and co-creation between local governments and society.
Research and organization of local materials through collaboration between citizens, students, researchers, etc. (Yamagata University)
Project Website [Japanese only]
- REKIHAKU
[lead institute] - - Promotion of research on area-centered preservation of materials
- Construction of a research platform to find physical things as materials
- Building diverse networks for material preservation and inheritance
→ Website [Japanese only]
- Tohoku University
- - Interdisciplinary research in the humanities and the natural sciences to understand local communities after the Great East Japan Earthquake
- Promotion of area studies and citizen science through citizen participation
→ Website [Japanese only]
- Kobe University
- - Development of methodologies for collaboration and co-creation with local communities
- Research on the preservation and utilization of contemporary materials, including earthquake disaster materials