The National Museum of Ethnology (Minpaku) is a research center for ethnology and cultural anthropology.

Core Research Projects (April 2004-March 2013)

Socio-Cultural Plurality

Core Project Coordinator: UDAGAWA Taeko (Center for Research Development)
Research period: April 2004-March 2010
  • Tourism and Glocalization: Perspectives on East Asian Societies (Coordinator: HAN Min)
  • The Anthropology of Care and Education for Life (Coordinator: SUZUKI Nanami)
  • Reconstructing Knowledge in the Field of Social Movements (Coordinator: UDAGAWA Taeko)
  • Creating Convivial Spaces: Socio-cultural Dimensions (Coordinator: YOKOYAMA Hiroko)
  • Transborder Anthropology (Coordinator: SHOJI Hiroshi)

History in Anthropological Perspective

Core Project Coordinator: TSUKADA Shigeyuki (Center for Research Development)
Research period: April 2004-March 2010
  • The Relationship between Eurasia and Japan: Mutual Interaction and Representation (Coordinator: TSUKADA Shigeyuki)
  • A History of Modernization under Socialism: A Narrative-based Reconstruction of Experience (Coordinator: KONAGAYA Yuki)

Cultural Anthropology in Social Practice

Core Project Coordinator: KISHIGAMI Nobuhiro (Center for Research Development)
Research period: April 2004-March 2009
  • A Basic Study for Developing Applied Anthropology in Japan (Coordinator: KISHIGAMI Nobuhiro)
  • Anthropological Studies of Disaster Response and Management (Coordinator: HAYASHI Isao)
  • The Social Use of Anthropology (Coordinator: TAMURA Katsumi)

New Directions in Human Sciences

Core Project Coordinator: SAITO Akira (Center for Research Development)
Research period: April 2004-March 2010
  • Rethinking Modernity in East Asian Village Societies (Coordinator: OTA Shinpei)
  • Toward an Integrated Approach to Language Change: Examining the Comparative Method, Typological Features and Non-Linguistic Phenomena (Coordinator: KIKUSAWA Ritsuko)
  • Visual Documentation of Traditional Performing Arts: Challenges and Prospects (Coordinator: FUKUOKA Shota)
  • Textology: An Interdisciplinary Study in the Relations between Man and Text in Historical and Comparative Perspective (Coordinator: SAITO Akira)
  • Practical Research for the Creation of a New Museology (Coordinator: YOSHIDA Kenji)
  • Where Do Personal Memories Go?: Studies on Things and Homes in the Ubiquitous Society (Coordinator: SATO Koji)
  • Cultural Identity and the Public, Space (Coordinator: TAKEZAWA Shoichiro)
  • Fermented Alimentation, Production and Sensorial Perceptions: Environment and On-going Memories (Coordinator: IZUMI Yuka)