Any person wishing to engage in Area Studies needs first of all to have a love for the subject, a spirit of empathy towards it, and a desire to acquire knowledge regarding the area in question. Also, since Area Studies is viewed as a sensitive field of learning, on-site research is critical. In the year of 2011, when areas in northeast Japan have been struck by disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis, several volunteers set out on missions of reconstruction, and they were motivated by feelings of sympathy and a desire to help. It is precisely here that the starting point of Area Studies lies. In certain sections of the Middle East and North Africa people’s revolutions are underway, and movements initiated by either townsfolk or youngsters are spurring them on. The views of minorities also occupy a special place in Area Studies, and when we observe situations from their standpoint, we naturally develop an interest in those movements. It is indeed now, while globalization is on the rise, that regional societies and minority cultures call for our attention, and the need for us to learn from the lives, the wisdom, and the potential to tackle problems that typifies these regional people, is set to increase. In answering this demand, we of the Area Studies program seek to deal with specific periods or regions, while adopting at the same time a global outlook. By deeply probing individual issues we strive to turn out appropriate human resources, in order to study the problems that afflict our human society.
Our graduate program was established in 1997 within the Graduate Division of Foreign Studies, and 16 years have elapsed since it’s founding. During the years 2005 to 2006, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, in its ‘Attractive Education in Graduate Schools’ initiative, selected a project of ours entitled ‘Area Studies to Contribute to the Modern World,’ and in 2008, a project entitled ‘Training of Researchers through Collaborative Community-based use of Local Area Studies,’ was chosen by it via the initiative entitled ‘Programs for Enhancing Systematic Education in Graduate Schools.’ The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology also chose our project: ‘Promotion of International Cooperation to contribute to Cultural Education Strategies,’ in its University Education Internationalization Promotion Program. Linked to this program are the lectures offered in English at the Sophia Asia Center for Research and Human Development, located in the city of Siem Reap in Cambodia. Moreover, during the years 2006-10, with regard to the efforts made to create a base for Islamic research in Japan, we began a program entitled Islamic Area Studies (under the National Institutes for Humanities). Here, we were designated as one of five bases. In 2011 the second stage of the program began, which will continue until 2015. Here, several students and members of the staff are involved.
In our Graduate Program in Area Studies, we seek to relate in a sincere manner with the people of Southeast Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America. Our students are highly motivated, and we the members of the teaching and administrative staff, make all efforts to assist them.
Kisaichi Masatoshi
Director, SGPAS
April 1, 2012