Activities and Projects
Jomin Bunka Museum: Toward Integrated Museum Studies
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Jomin Bunka Museum’s “Approach to Folk Culture” -
Inside the museum
As it celebrated its Centennial, the Institute for the Study of Japanese Folk Culture (ISJFC) worked to enhance its functions as a museum and was therefore designated as a facility equivalent to a museum under Article 29 of the Museum Act on March 10, 2023. The Jomin Bunka Museum was born out of this process.
This change has allowed the Institute to become a research institute with stronger museum functions than ever, engaging in integrated museum studies. The findings of joint research projects and other activities will be disseminated to the public through exhibitions, workshops, and other museum projects, while also being utilized in university education, including curatorial training. Integrated museum studies is a way of integrating research and education and contributing to society made possible by the very fact that this university-affiliated research institute also possesses museum functions.
Publication of Research Findings
of Everyday Life” 12th Open Meeting The History and
Folklore of the Toilet (February 2024)
The findings of joint research projects led by the staff of the Institute are widely publicized in the form of various publications, symposiums, exhibitions, and research meetings. The Institute website provides up-to-date reports on field surveys and study groups as information becomes available.
Collection, Research, and Publication of Materials
The historical materials collected in the joint research projects and the history and folklore archives of the Institute are being compiled and catalogued for use in future research. The archives are also being made available to the public with the Digital Archive.
Institute Seminars
(February 2024)
Occasional seminars have been held since 1983 to share research findings among the members of the Institute. External specialists are also invited to read their papers. Open to public. A total of 140 sessions have been held as of June 2024.
Academic Exchange
fishing nets in Yuasa, Wakayama Prefecture
ISJFC collaborates with various institutions in different regions and different research fields.
Academic Exchange Agreements
Delegation (March 2023)
ISJFC conducts academic exchange with the following international institutions to enhance mutual understanding and cooperation in folk culture studies:
- School of Arts and Humanities, Shandong University of Arts and Design, China (August 1, 2024)
- School of Cultural Resources, Taipei National University of the Arts
(March 28, 2020) - National Museum of Ethnology, Japan (March 26, 2020)
- Institute of Oceanic Culture, National Taiwan Ocean University, Taiwan
(June 28, 2017) - China Marine Culture Research Center, Zhejiang Ocean University, China
(May 25, 2016) - Center of Japanese Studies, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
(April 1, 2012) - Institute of Korean Cultural Heritage, Chung-Ang University, South Korea
(July 14, 2012) - Institution for Marine and Island Cultures (MIC), Mokpo National University, South Korea (April 1, 2011)
- Youngnam Culture Institute, Kyungpook National University, South Korea
(December 28, 2009) - Institute for Maritime Culture, Pukyong National University, South Korea
(December 25, 2009) - Institute of Oceanic Culture, Ocean University of China, China
(November 24, 2009) - Ocean Culture and Economic Research Center, Shanghai Ocean University, China
(November 20, 2009)
East Asian Island and Ocean Forum
Ehime Prefecture/December 2017) Sponsored by
International Center for Folk Culture Studies/Institute
for the Study of Japanese Folk Culture Kanagawa
University
The East Asian Island and Ocean Forum was launched in 2012 with research institutions in Korea, China and Japan. The host institution rotates annually among the three countries. In 2023, the 10th Forum was held in Mokpo, Korea, hosted by Mokpo National University under the theme “The Anthropocene, Changes in Island Humanistic Geography and Reconstruction of Sea Areas.”
Research Center for Nonwritten Cultural Materials
enhance fighting spirit (collection of the Research
Center for Nonwritten Cultural Materials)
Research Center for Nonwritten Cultural Materials was established and attached to the Institute to develop the 21st Century COE Program “Systematization of Nonwritten Cultural Materials for the Study of Human Society.” With the focus on the forms of human activity that are not expressed by the written word, the Center is dedicated to the study and collection of nonwritten cultural materials. The Center put particular effort into the dissemination of knowledge of the nonwritten cultural materials to the international research community.
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International Center for Folk Culture Studies
(through March 31, 2022)
An Ethnographical Study of Traditional Female Divers
in Taiwan Called Hailu, with the Aim of Developing
Research on Traditional Female Divers in East Asia
and the Pacific Rim (Photo by Shen Te-Lung)
The Center was established as a joint usage and research center (certified period July 2009–March 2020) based within this institute. The Center has worked on interdisciplinary joint research projects to establish methodologies for the comprehensive, true-to-life investigation, research, and analysis of lifestyles and cultures and to explore pathways toward multicultural coexistence, sharing and making available the institute’s historical materials and databases to various external researchers. Its projects concluded their 13-year run on March 31, 2022.
