The Department of Regional Studies

The graduate students' room.

The Department studies the individual cultures of ethnic groups in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Oceania. It considers the characteristics and history of each culture and focuses on describing a culture and understanding its structure using ethnographic methodology. The Department fosters researchers who have high expertise and actively promote the descriptive study of individual cultures based on fieldwork.

For students in the Department of Regional Studies, Minpaku offers a wealth of printed materials, artifacts, and video and audio recordings from many parts of the world. Since Minpaku is an Inter-University Research Institute, they also have the opportunity to participate in joint projects involving leading researchers from around the world. By taking advantage of these opportunities, they receive the training they need to conduct their own high-quality research. They will also be trained in long-term fieldwork, how to present their work at international meetings, and how to manage joint research. With their supervisors as primary research advisors, each student assembles an advisory group suitable to his or her research topic; they also receive guidance from other faculty members involved in their specialty.

The Department of Comparative Studies

A seminar in process.

The Department of Comparative Studies is designed for students interested in the comparative and cross-cultural study of social systems, religion, technology, languages, arts, and cultural resources. Through the comparative study of ethnic cultures, students are expected to identify the cross-cultural aspects of their research subjects and to develop theoretical interpretations of the comparative data. To foster researchers with high expertise, we encourage new research methods integrating relevant information technology and interdisciplinary approaches with the traditional anthropological methods.

This department is based at Minpaku, Japan's National Museum of Ethnology, an Inter-University Research Institute established to implement large-scale joint research with universities, museums, and other research institutions both in and outside of Japan. It is also an open museum, with exhibitions, talks, and seminars open to members of the general public. In addition to artifacts related to the lifeways of peoples around the globe, its resources also include video and audio recordings, in addition to written and printed materials. Students are trained in both the theory and practice of comparative research and refine their academic writing and presentation skills by writing academic papers and participating in academic meetings, developing the indispensable ability to communicate their findings to the public. Each student has an advisor group constructed to fit his or her research topic and, under the direction of his or her supervisor, receives specialized training in this rich and challenging environment.

The history of the two departments

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The guide to the two departments (in Japanese)

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Click here for a downloadable guide to the two departments. [PDF：4.0MB]