Organizational Structure
1. Organizational Structure
In April 2000 the Institute for Research in Humanities restructured its organization into five research divisions and an attached facility. To facilitate research and operational activities, the research divisions and attached research center are grouped into two departments: Humanities and Oriental Studies. The Administrative Division comprises four sections: General Affairs, Accounting, Library sections and the office for the Center for Informatics in East Asian Studies (CIEAS).
All decisions regarding the Institute are made by the faculty council, supported by various committees. Decisions regarding the direction and organization of research are made by the council of researchers, which usually meets twice a year and then recognized by the faculty council.
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2. Details of Respective Research Divisions
Cultural Research Methodologies Division
This Division aims to review the conventional methods of studies on human cultures, and to present new research methodologies and approaches, by transcending barriers between academic fields and disciplines.
To this end, the Division promotes interdisciplinary programs including collaborations with researchers in natural sciences such as life sciences and other advanced sciences, in addition to collaborations among researchers in various areas of humanities and social sciences.
The Division also functions as a center for integrating research results of the other Divisions, and is collaborating with the International Center for Humanities Studies to return research outcomes into society on a global basis.
Cultural Processes Division
To search the essence of a culture and its origin, it is indispensable to clarify mechanisms and ways in which a culture is generated, developed and inherited. This clarification is also essential for analyzing complex contemporary cultures and developing an outlook on future cultural development.
However, “culture” is a broad concept encompassing diverse areas, ranging from political and economic affairs to literature, thoughts and fine arts. Since studies of these different areas entail different approaches, there is no single, unified approach in studies of cultures. Moreover, the ways cultures are created, transformed and bequeathed differ significantly depending on specific age and region. This great diversity, which is attributable to difference in time and space, makes studies of cultural aspects extremely challenging.
In this Division, researchers are studying uniqueness of individual cultures in specific time and space, while at the same time searching for the common and universal features of various cultures in order to clarify the essence of culture. To this end, researchers in the Division analyze mechanisms of cultural generation and present their visions about ideal ways of cultural creation.
Cultural Interrelationships Division
Throughout human history, various cultures have been created, introduced, assimilated and intermingled. Human civilization was formed through such cross-cultural contacts that took place throughout human history all over the world.
As a result of advanced globalization, the 21st century sees synchronized movements in economic and political affairs, as well as instantaneous dissemination of information. Social changes also appear to be linked and interlocked globally. At the same time, however, individual societies seek to maintain their original local cultures and lifestyles. Cross-cultural contact is therefore affected by the dynamism of the two forces: one to promote cultural mobility and the other to preserve and maintain cultures unique to respective regions. Another important element in studies of cross-cultural contacts is their significant changes taken place over the long history. Studies of cross-cultural contacts therefore should be based on long-term perspectives; otherwise researchers may misunderstand changing trends, including even the present trend.
Based on the achievements of the Cultural Process Division, researchers of the Cultural Interrelationships Division study effects of previous cross-cultural contacts so as to seek solutions needed in this age of advanced globalization.
Cultural Representation Division
Researchers of the Cultural Representation Division conduct comprehensive studies of East Asian cultures, which feature a long history and an extensive geographical sphere. To understand both spatial and temporal aspects of the East Asian cultures, researchers take double approaches, comprising field works and literature studies. When people invented a new culture, they bequeathed its essence to succeeding generations through use of either characters and texts (particularly in case of literature and thoughts) or non-linguistic means. In the latter case, it is more difficult to detect the values and thoughts underlying respective cultural inventions. To understand them correctly, original approaches must be taken in individual cases and categories.
In this Division, focusing on the East Asian cultural sphere, particularly China, researchers are primarily engaged in studies in the following five areas: archaeological artifacts, unearthed literature, science and technology, iconic arts, customs and folkways. In addition to describing historical transformation of their study objects, the researchers explore the roles and functions of respective, embodied cultural aspects in East Asian culture.
Cultural Composition Division
Together with researchers of the Cultural Representation Division, researchers in this Division seek to present a whole picture of cultural systems in the East Asia, particularly China. By contrast with the Cultural Representation Division, which uses non-linguistic cultural aspects and explores thoughts and concepts embodied in individual cultural aspects, this Division focuses on cultural aspects expressed in the form of language. The primary research areas include linguistic history, history of religions, history of thoughts, history of institutional systems and Western studies at the end of the Qing dynasty. In these areas, researchers explore chronological development of cultural consciousness, while at the same time studying cultural aspects that embody cultural consciousness. Studying the process of embodying consciousness in concrete cultural aspects, researchers analyze processes in developing cultural systems from their deep levels to the surface level. In these processes, researchers analyze both structures and dynamism of cultural systems.
In the areas of the history of languages and institutional systems, this Division helps the Center for Informatics in East Asian Studies in preparation of the database of documents and materials in Chinese language together with the database of rubbings of inscriptions that are in the possession of the Institute for Research in Humanities. In the area of Western studies at the end of the Qing dynasty, together with researchers of the Research Center for Modern and Contemporary China, researchers of the Division analyze the deep structure of modern and contemporary China from the perspectives of humanities and history.
Center for Informatics in East Asian Studies (CIEAS)
The Center for Informatics in East Asian Studies (CIEAS) was established in April 2009 by reorganizing the former Documentation Center for Oriental Studies. The main roles of the CIEAS are to conduct studies of Chinese characters using informatics and scientific approach, and to make accessible to researchers in diverse academic fields historical materials in Chinese language through effective use of new media. The CIEAS is preparing a wide variety of databases, including the Bibliography of Oriental Studies, which covers books and articles on China in Chinese, Japanese and European languages and is now available on the Web.
International Center for Humanities Studies (ICHUS)
The International Center for Humanities Studies (ICHUS) was established in April 2006 in the Institute for Research in Humanities. Having the director of the Italian School of East Asian Studies and the director of the Kyoto branch of l’Ecole Française d’Extrème Orient as a visiting professor and a visiting associate professor, respectively, ICHUS is committed to international collaborations, researcher exchange and international symposium programs, thereby promoting advanced studies of humanities.
Research Center for Modern and Contemporary China (RCMCC)
The Research Center for Modern and Contemporary China (RCMCC) was jointly established in April 2007 by Kyoto University and the National Institutes for the Humanities, which is part of the Inter-University Research Institute Corporation. RCMCC is designed to play a leading role in the study of contemporary China.
In addition to staff members of the Center, Kyoto University faculty members are engaged in research activities, particularly those from the Graduate School of Economics (Shanghai Center), graduate schools of Letters, Human and Environmental Studies, and Law; and the Academic Center for Computing and Media Studies. By receiving researchers from such diverse backgrounds, the Center aims to promote sustainable joint studies among researchers of contemporary China.
Moreover, the Center is engaged in collaboration with other universities through the network with Waseda University (responsible for the network management), Keio University, the University of Tokyo, the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature and the Toyo Bunko (Oriental Library). The Center is one of Japan’s six hub facilities dedicated to studies of contemporary China.
3. Facilities
Main Building
In May 2008, the Institute for Research in Humanities relocated its main functions from an old building in Higashi Ichijo to a building on Imadegawa Street, in the northern section of the Yoshida Campus.
To secure sufficient space for the increasing volume of books and other documents, the new main facility has libraries with spacious stack rooms. In addition, it houses research rooms for all current faculty members except those affiliated to the Center for Informatics in East Asian Studies, along with an administrative office, seminar rooms for researcher meetings, research rooms for special researchers and visiting researchers, and extra rooms for potential use of new research programs. Moreover, the new facility houses attached research centers: the Research Center for Modern and Contemporary China and the International Center for Humanities Studies. In this way, the new main building is expected to play significant roles in future research activities.
Kitashirakawa Branch Building
The branch facility was completed in November 1930 in an exclusive residential area in Kitashirakawa. It was originally used by the Kyoto Institute of the Academy of Oriental Culture. The building, designed by Kenzo Tohata and designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs as a tangible cultural asset, features a blend of Oriental style and Spanish Romanesque style that evokes an image of a Spanish monastery. The central hall (east of the tower) houses a library, and research rooms are arranged in the front section. The building’s floor area amounts to 2,712 square meters; its compound totals 4,228 square meters. The building, currently used by the Center for Informatics in East Asian Studies (CIEAS), is known as a symbol of Sinology in Kyoto.