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Korean studies in Japan: Trends of research and education in the humanities and social science sectors
- With a focus on the Japan Chapter of the International Society for Korean Studies and universities in West Japan -
This paper first examines the characteristics of research trend of Korean studies in the Kansai region (West Japan) through type analysis of the topics of academic symposiums at regular conference of the International Society for Korean Studies' Japanese branch. This analysis is conducted through comparison with the Association for Contemporary Korean Studies in Japan in Kanto region (East Japan). The result reveals the following characteristics: ① There is active research related to Korean residents in Japan, ② Research on North Korean is not dealt with as a single topic, and ③ Korea-Japan and inter-Korean relations and historical issues are being discussed a lot along with Korean politics, economy, society, etc.
The Japan Chapter of the International Society for Korean Studies (ISKS) ("the Japan Chapter") engages in its own active independent research activities concerning both Koreas, although it has not yet been registered as a society with the Science Council of Japan. It is a research society with a nationwide organization, but most of its directors and members are researchers at universities located in West Japan. The ACKJ is also a research society with a nationwide organization, but most of its directors and members are researchers at universities in East Japan.
This paper has two purposes. First, it intends to introduce the Japan Chapter's research activities in response to the wish expressed by the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS) to know about the status of Korean studies conducted in West Japan. To introduce the SKS Japan Chapter's research activities more clearly and plainly, this paper intends to discuss them in comparison with the ACKJ's research activities. However, it should be noted that as the SKS focuses on human sciences and deals with little social science research, and as I do not belong to the SKS and thus do not know much about it, this paper will not deal with them.
The second purpose of this paper is to discuss the trend of Korean studies-related education in West Japan, in as far as I know about it, in response to the AKS's request. I am not an expert in the subject in question. As I was staying in Seoul while writing this paper, I was not able to refer to materials published in papers, books, or theses other than what I could find on the Internet. Accordingly, the contents of this paper are likely to be influenced by my bias, experience, and sentiment. As such, I ask for the reader's understanding about the lack of academic depth resulting from such a situation.
The Japan Chapter is one of seven chapters or branches of the ISKS worldwide. According to the ISKS's homepage (https://www.isks.org/), its inaugural meeting was held right after the 3rd International Symposium on Korean Studies held on August 5, 1990 at the Osaka International Exchange Center in Japan. The meeting was attended by scholars and researchers from Japan, China, the United States and Europe, and the foundation of the ISKS's Headquarters was announced with the participants' consent. The Japan Chapter was established around the time that the ISKS's Headquarters was founded. The Japan Chapter's secretariat is based in Osaka, as is its headquarters. It has about 200 members and 2 subsections specializing in the humanities/social science and science/technology. The two subsections hold a research meeting every quarter. By February 2019, they had held 93 and 73 research meetings, respectively. The contents of the research meetings, along with notices and other relevant information, used to be carried in the Japan Chapter Newsletter first. Since 2013, a journal named Korean Studies has been published annually.
2) Features of the Japan Chapter's symposiums in comparison with those of ACKJ
The Japan Chapter has held a total of twenty-five symposiums to date, which have addressed the following subjects among others: ① Inter-Korea relations and the international situation including that of North America (three times); ② Politics, economy, and society of South Korea (seven times); ④ Relations between South Korea and Japan/between North Korea and Japan and historic issues (seven times); and ⑤ Koreans in Japan (eight times). However, they have not dealt with ③ Politics, economy, and society of North Korea. As for the symposiums of ACKJ, they have dealt with ① five times, ② 12 times, ③ four times, ④ eight times, and ⑥ four times, and have not dealt with ⑤, as shown in Table 2.
The first thing to note about the Japan Chapter's symposium is that active research about Koreans in Japan is being conducted. As stated in the foregoing paragraph, Koreans in Japan (eight times) is at the top of the list in terms of the number of occasions on which a subject is discussed, whereas the ACKJ's symposiums have never dealt with it. Thus, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the Japan Chapter is the foothold for research on Koreans in Japan. "The Emergence of Hate speech and Antiforeignism and Koreans in Japan" (18th symposium), "Folk Artistic Ability on the Korean Peninsula and Koreans in Japan" (22nd symposium), "Articles Written by Women about Women – Korean Women in Japan in Literature" (25th symposium) have been noteworthy subjects in terms of the independence of the planning or social/contemporary demand asking for explanation/solution.
The second thing to note is that they do not deal with North Korea as an independent subject. The symposiums of the Japan Chapter have never dealt with it, whereas those of the ACKJ have addressed this issue four times. The ACKJ aims to conduct objective academic research on the Korean Peninsula, which is not closely related to social movement. For its members, the Korean Peninsula is nothing more than an object of research. On the other hand, the Japan Chapter's Korean studies include an academic eagerness to heal "the pain" of division of the two Koreas and to overcome it, rather than viewing the Korean Peninsula as a mere region. The Japan Chapter seriously views such an attitude as something that paradoxically hampers "purely" objective research on North Korea and does not designate the North as an independent subject for that reason.
Third, the following are the symposium's favorite subjects: Relations between South Korea and Japan/between North Korea and Japan and historic issues; Politics, economy, and society of South Korea. The subjects addressed by the Japan Chapter's symposiums are similar to those of the ACKJ. However, the Japan Chapter displayed its own unique identity when it selected the March 1st Independence Movement of Korea as a subject of its symposium. The Japan Chapter invites young and energetic researchers to its symposium. Its presenters include Professor Kang Seong-eun of Korea University, Japan. The Japan Chapter's symposiums also discuss how the NK government views the March 1919 Independence Movement, in addition to the viewpoints adopted by South Korea and Japan. It shows that the Japan Chapter has built a wide-ranging network of researchers specializing in Korean studies both domestically and internationally.
3) Features of the Japan Chapter's research activities displayed in its special lectures
The Japan Chapter holds special lectures from time to time in addition to symposiums, sessions involving presentations on freely chosen subjects, and research activities and presentations by its two subsections specializing in humanities/social science and science/technology. Table 3 displays the list of its activities. To such special lectures, it invites not only Japanese researchers specializing in Korean studies, but also the executive officers of its headquarters and well-known researchers in Korea, the United States, and China through the international network of its headquarters and members. It also holds sessions at which the books written by its members are reviewed.
The following gives some idea of the kinds of classes related to Korean studies that are carried out at four prestigious universities in West Japan, namely, Doshisha, Kwansei Gakuin, Kansai, and Ritsumeikan. I relied on the method of entering "Korea" in the Internet search box to find the syllabus and the names of lectures.
I found a total of 157 cases in the information concerning Doshisha University. Its lectures on Korean studies include Society and Culture on the Korean Peninsula, Politics and Economy on the Korean Peninsula, History of Japan-Korea Relations, Readings in Korean Studies, Studies in Korean Literature (Readings in Modern Korean Short Fiction), Korean Readings in Regions and Cultures, etc. There are also other cases in which classes are carried out only once or twice concerning a country in Asia or East Asia under titles including "Asia" or "East Asia." Examples include: The History and Future of Korea-Japan Relations (1) (2) (on two occasions) in a special lecture on international relations; Korea: Failure in Politics Designed to Close the Gap (on one occasion) in a special lecture on Contemporary Politics (Asian Politics and Economy; Korea (1)— Higher Education System (on three occasions) in a special lecture on Asian Education Culture; From Dictatorship associated with Development to Democratization: Cases of South Korea and Taiwan (on 15 occasions) in a special lecture on Asian Economy, etc.
I found a total of 114 cases in the information concerning Kwansei Gakuin, although most of its lectures are concerned with teaching Korean. The only thing that can be viewed as Korean studies is Korea's Politics and Diplomacy. Lectures like East Asian Politics-B and Peace Research may deal with South Korea once or twice.
As for Kansai University, I found a total of 34 cases. Lectures falling in the category of Korean studies include: On the Contemporary Culture of Korea, Special Lecture on Contemporary Law (Introduction to Korean Law), Professional Reading – Culture and Society in Korea), etc. A lecture named On Northeast Asian Economy exclusively deals with (1) the South Korean Economy and (2) the North Korean Economy, although its title does include the word "Korea."
A total of 298 cases were found in the information concerning Ritsumeikan University. Lectures falling in the category of Korean studies include: Research on Contemporary Korea, Introductory Practicum in Korea, The World and Economy Interpreted in Korean, East Asia and the Korean Peninsula, Special Issues concerning Contemporary Korean Linguistic Culture, Social Phenomena Discussed in Korean, etc..
The reason for there being a relatively large number of Korean studies lectures at Doshisha and Ritsumeikan is associated with the fact that Doshisha runs an Asia/Pacific Course at the Global Regional Culture College and Korean researchers, while Ritsumeikan has a group of Korean researchers at its Korea Research Center, which was established before those at other universities.
2) Universities of education in West Japan
I entered the word "Korea" in the syllabus search box of Kyoto University of Education and could find only one lecture named Training for Understanding Foreign Culture (Korea). The syllabus's introduction to the class says that the course aims to deepen mutual cultural/social understanding through exchanges with the students of Chuncheon National University of Education, a sister school, and encourages students to voluntarily suggest and discuss educational subjects, while engaging in periodic online exchanges with their counterparts at the Chuncheon National University of Education.
As regards Nara University of Education, it does not provide a keyword-based search program. I checked its entire list of lectures. The school has a total of 955 lectures, none of which is related to Korea, except for those aimed at teaching Korean. I could not find anything related to Korea or minority Koreans in Japan even in the syllabus related to the following: Human Rights and Education, Understanding Diversity for Teachers, Educational Seminar for International Understanding, Research for Understanding Foreign Culture, Regional Research for International Understanding, etc.
I tried the same in the syllabus-related search box of Hyogo University of Teacher Education. There are no classes including the name "Korea," but I managed to find four cases. It appears that the school provides the following classes: The Sino-Japanese War and Annexation of Korea in a special lecture on politics; The Era of the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War/From Annexation of Korea to World War II in a seminar on foreign history; and The Status of School Education in Korea in Global Studies (each on one occasion). I also found a class entitled Korean Communication, which is really only concerned with the teaching of Korean.
As for Osaka University of Education, I found the following three cases in addition to the classes for teaching Korean: Curricula for the Department of Music and Classes in Korea (on one occasion) in Music Pedagogy; Korean Society and Culture and Multicultural Symbiotic Education and Koreans in Japan (each on one occasion) in Education for understanding Asia. Contents about Korea are included in classes involving a comparison between carious countries' school education systems and national language textbooks, such as Russia, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and the United States (the number of occasions could not be ascertained).
This paper surveys the activities of four prestigious private universities concerning Korean studies education in West Japan. I have found that Doshisha University, where the Yun Dong-ju Memorial Stone is located, has established a Korean studies-related curricula, and that there are lectures that appear to be very important, while Ritsumeikan University sets peace and democracy as its founding philosophy. I have also formed the impression that Kwansei Gakuin and Kansai University have too few Korean studies-related lectures. As for universities of education, they have virtually no Korean studies-related lectures, so it would appear that the future teachers of Japan are learning almost nothing about Korea, a close neighboring country, which means that they have few opportunities to understand Korea. Therefore, it is important to disseminate Korean studies to foster future-oriented Korea-Japan relations.
Finally, I would like to say that the ISKS, like the AKS, has endeavored to develop Korean studies. Professor SONG Namseon, a member of the ISKS's secretariat, has contributed a foreword entitled "For More adequate Korean Studies" in the Japan Chapter Newsletter (No.17) (https://www.isks.org/office/japan/paper/tuushin/tuushin017.html). This article displays the ideas of a researcher specializing in Korean studies very well. I agree with his conviction that "Korean studies are what we should aim at, rather than a mere sector." As such, I recommend that you read his article.
1. Introduction
With regard to research societies in Japan that study South Korea or North Korea, if you put in the word "Korea" or "Chosen" in the list of research societies (https:// gakkai.jst.go.jp/gakkai/) run by an academic organization in Japan, it will come up with such names as Chosen Gakkai (Society for Korean Studies) ("SKS") or the Association for Contemporary Korean Studies in Japan ("ACKJ"). Established in 1950, the SKS is the oldest society specializing in Korean studies. Based in the Department of Korean Culture and Language of Tenri University, which is located in Nara Prefecture, Japan, it is dedicated to study of Korea's language, people, culture, and history. The ACKJ was established in 2000, the year in which the leaders of the two Koreas held the first summit since the national division.The Japan Chapter of the International Society for Korean Studies (ISKS) ("the Japan Chapter") engages in its own active independent research activities concerning both Koreas, although it has not yet been registered as a society with the Science Council of Japan. It is a research society with a nationwide organization, but most of its directors and members are researchers at universities located in West Japan. The ACKJ is also a research society with a nationwide organization, but most of its directors and members are researchers at universities in East Japan.
This paper has two purposes. First, it intends to introduce the Japan Chapter's research activities in response to the wish expressed by the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS) to know about the status of Korean studies conducted in West Japan. To introduce the SKS Japan Chapter's research activities more clearly and plainly, this paper intends to discuss them in comparison with the ACKJ's research activities. However, it should be noted that as the SKS focuses on human sciences and deals with little social science research, and as I do not belong to the SKS and thus do not know much about it, this paper will not deal with them.
The second purpose of this paper is to discuss the trend of Korean studies-related education in West Japan, in as far as I know about it, in response to the AKS's request. I am not an expert in the subject in question. As I was staying in Seoul while writing this paper, I was not able to refer to materials published in papers, books, or theses other than what I could find on the Internet. Accordingly, the contents of this paper are likely to be influenced by my bias, experience, and sentiment. As such, I ask for the reader's understanding about the lack of academic depth resulting from such a situation.
2. Significance of the Japan Chapter's Korean studies
1) About the Japan ChapterThe Japan Chapter is one of seven chapters or branches of the ISKS worldwide. According to the ISKS's homepage (https://www.isks.org/), its inaugural meeting was held right after the 3rd International Symposium on Korean Studies held on August 5, 1990 at the Osaka International Exchange Center in Japan. The meeting was attended by scholars and researchers from Japan, China, the United States and Europe, and the foundation of the ISKS's Headquarters was announced with the participants' consent. The Japan Chapter was established around the time that the ISKS's Headquarters was founded. The Japan Chapter's secretariat is based in Osaka, as is its headquarters. It has about 200 members and 2 subsections specializing in the humanities/social science and science/technology. The two subsections hold a research meeting every quarter. By February 2019, they had held 93 and 73 research meetings, respectively. The contents of the research meetings, along with notices and other relevant information, used to be carried in the Japan Chapter Newsletter first. Since 2013, a journal named Korean Studies has been published annually.
2) Features of the Japan Chapter's symposiums in comparison with those of ACKJ
The Japan Chapter has held a total of twenty-five symposiums to date, which have addressed the following subjects among others: ① Inter-Korea relations and the international situation including that of North America (three times); ② Politics, economy, and society of South Korea (seven times); ④ Relations between South Korea and Japan/between North Korea and Japan and historic issues (seven times); and ⑤ Koreans in Japan (eight times). However, they have not dealt with ③ Politics, economy, and society of North Korea. As for the symposiums of ACKJ, they have dealt with ① five times, ② 12 times, ③ four times, ④ eight times, and ⑥ four times, and have not dealt with ⑤, as shown in Table 2.
The first thing to note about the Japan Chapter's symposium is that active research about Koreans in Japan is being conducted. As stated in the foregoing paragraph, Koreans in Japan (eight times) is at the top of the list in terms of the number of occasions on which a subject is discussed, whereas the ACKJ's symposiums have never dealt with it. Thus, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the Japan Chapter is the foothold for research on Koreans in Japan. "The Emergence of Hate speech and Antiforeignism and Koreans in Japan" (18th symposium), "Folk Artistic Ability on the Korean Peninsula and Koreans in Japan" (22nd symposium), "Articles Written by Women about Women – Korean Women in Japan in Literature" (25th symposium) have been noteworthy subjects in terms of the independence of the planning or social/contemporary demand asking for explanation/solution.
The second thing to note is that they do not deal with North Korea as an independent subject. The symposiums of the Japan Chapter have never dealt with it, whereas those of the ACKJ have addressed this issue four times. The ACKJ aims to conduct objective academic research on the Korean Peninsula, which is not closely related to social movement. For its members, the Korean Peninsula is nothing more than an object of research. On the other hand, the Japan Chapter's Korean studies include an academic eagerness to heal "the pain" of division of the two Koreas and to overcome it, rather than viewing the Korean Peninsula as a mere region. The Japan Chapter seriously views such an attitude as something that paradoxically hampers "purely" objective research on North Korea and does not designate the North as an independent subject for that reason.
Third, the following are the symposium's favorite subjects: Relations between South Korea and Japan/between North Korea and Japan and historic issues; Politics, economy, and society of South Korea. The subjects addressed by the Japan Chapter's symposiums are similar to those of the ACKJ. However, the Japan Chapter displayed its own unique identity when it selected the March 1st Independence Movement of Korea as a subject of its symposium. The Japan Chapter invites young and energetic researchers to its symposium. Its presenters include Professor Kang Seong-eun of Korea University, Japan. The Japan Chapter's symposiums also discuss how the NK government views the March 1919 Independence Movement, in addition to the viewpoints adopted by South Korea and Japan. It shows that the Japan Chapter has built a wide-ranging network of researchers specializing in Korean studies both domestically and internationally.
3) Features of the Japan Chapter's research activities displayed in its special lectures
The Japan Chapter holds special lectures from time to time in addition to symposiums, sessions involving presentations on freely chosen subjects, and research activities and presentations by its two subsections specializing in humanities/social science and science/technology. Table 3 displays the list of its activities. To such special lectures, it invites not only Japanese researchers specializing in Korean studies, but also the executive officers of its headquarters and well-known researchers in Korea, the United States, and China through the international network of its headquarters and members. It also holds sessions at which the books written by its members are reviewed.
3. Status of Korean studies-related education at universities in West Japan
1) Four prestigious private universitiesThe following gives some idea of the kinds of classes related to Korean studies that are carried out at four prestigious universities in West Japan, namely, Doshisha, Kwansei Gakuin, Kansai, and Ritsumeikan. I relied on the method of entering "Korea" in the Internet search box to find the syllabus and the names of lectures.
I found a total of 157 cases in the information concerning Doshisha University. Its lectures on Korean studies include Society and Culture on the Korean Peninsula, Politics and Economy on the Korean Peninsula, History of Japan-Korea Relations, Readings in Korean Studies, Studies in Korean Literature (Readings in Modern Korean Short Fiction), Korean Readings in Regions and Cultures, etc. There are also other cases in which classes are carried out only once or twice concerning a country in Asia or East Asia under titles including "Asia" or "East Asia." Examples include: The History and Future of Korea-Japan Relations (1) (2) (on two occasions) in a special lecture on international relations; Korea: Failure in Politics Designed to Close the Gap (on one occasion) in a special lecture on Contemporary Politics (Asian Politics and Economy; Korea (1)— Higher Education System (on three occasions) in a special lecture on Asian Education Culture; From Dictatorship associated with Development to Democratization: Cases of South Korea and Taiwan (on 15 occasions) in a special lecture on Asian Economy, etc.
I found a total of 114 cases in the information concerning Kwansei Gakuin, although most of its lectures are concerned with teaching Korean. The only thing that can be viewed as Korean studies is Korea's Politics and Diplomacy. Lectures like East Asian Politics-B and Peace Research may deal with South Korea once or twice.
As for Kansai University, I found a total of 34 cases. Lectures falling in the category of Korean studies include: On the Contemporary Culture of Korea, Special Lecture on Contemporary Law (Introduction to Korean Law), Professional Reading – Culture and Society in Korea), etc. A lecture named On Northeast Asian Economy exclusively deals with (1) the South Korean Economy and (2) the North Korean Economy, although its title does include the word "Korea."
A total of 298 cases were found in the information concerning Ritsumeikan University. Lectures falling in the category of Korean studies include: Research on Contemporary Korea, Introductory Practicum in Korea, The World and Economy Interpreted in Korean, East Asia and the Korean Peninsula, Special Issues concerning Contemporary Korean Linguistic Culture, Social Phenomena Discussed in Korean, etc..
The reason for there being a relatively large number of Korean studies lectures at Doshisha and Ritsumeikan is associated with the fact that Doshisha runs an Asia/Pacific Course at the Global Regional Culture College and Korean researchers, while Ritsumeikan has a group of Korean researchers at its Korea Research Center, which was established before those at other universities.
2) Universities of education in West Japan
I entered the word "Korea" in the syllabus search box of Kyoto University of Education and could find only one lecture named Training for Understanding Foreign Culture (Korea). The syllabus's introduction to the class says that the course aims to deepen mutual cultural/social understanding through exchanges with the students of Chuncheon National University of Education, a sister school, and encourages students to voluntarily suggest and discuss educational subjects, while engaging in periodic online exchanges with their counterparts at the Chuncheon National University of Education.
As regards Nara University of Education, it does not provide a keyword-based search program. I checked its entire list of lectures. The school has a total of 955 lectures, none of which is related to Korea, except for those aimed at teaching Korean. I could not find anything related to Korea or minority Koreans in Japan even in the syllabus related to the following: Human Rights and Education, Understanding Diversity for Teachers, Educational Seminar for International Understanding, Research for Understanding Foreign Culture, Regional Research for International Understanding, etc.
I tried the same in the syllabus-related search box of Hyogo University of Teacher Education. There are no classes including the name "Korea," but I managed to find four cases. It appears that the school provides the following classes: The Sino-Japanese War and Annexation of Korea in a special lecture on politics; The Era of the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War/From Annexation of Korea to World War II in a seminar on foreign history; and The Status of School Education in Korea in Global Studies (each on one occasion). I also found a class entitled Korean Communication, which is really only concerned with the teaching of Korean.
As for Osaka University of Education, I found the following three cases in addition to the classes for teaching Korean: Curricula for the Department of Music and Classes in Korea (on one occasion) in Music Pedagogy; Korean Society and Culture and Multicultural Symbiotic Education and Koreans in Japan (each on one occasion) in Education for understanding Asia. Contents about Korea are included in classes involving a comparison between carious countries' school education systems and national language textbooks, such as Russia, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and the United States (the number of occasions could not be ascertained).
4. Conclusion
The foregoing concerns the introduction to and survey of the research activities of the Japan Chapter as part of the research on Korean studies done in West Japan. I have no idea whether the AKS's category of Korean studies includes "Koreans in Japan." For one thing, "Koreans in Japan" occupies an important position in the ISKS's Korean studies. As stated in the foregoing, the Japan Chapter has served as a crucial foothold for research on Koreans in Japan and achieved many things so far, with The Dictionary about Koreans in Japan (Akashi Shoten, Nov. 2010) being one of its most conspicuous achievements. In Korea, it was translated and published by the Institute for Korean Zainichi at Chungam University (Publisher: Sunin). This paper cannot really do much more than introduce and survey the relevant symposiums and special lectures due to the restrictions on space and time for presentation. It is regrettable that the paper could not deal with the presentations given on freely chosen subjects at symposiums, the presentations given at symposiums about humanities/social science, or the research theses carried in the academic paper Korean Studies. I hope that I will have an opportunity to do that in the future.This paper surveys the activities of four prestigious private universities concerning Korean studies education in West Japan. I have found that Doshisha University, where the Yun Dong-ju Memorial Stone is located, has established a Korean studies-related curricula, and that there are lectures that appear to be very important, while Ritsumeikan University sets peace and democracy as its founding philosophy. I have also formed the impression that Kwansei Gakuin and Kansai University have too few Korean studies-related lectures. As for universities of education, they have virtually no Korean studies-related lectures, so it would appear that the future teachers of Japan are learning almost nothing about Korea, a close neighboring country, which means that they have few opportunities to understand Korea. Therefore, it is important to disseminate Korean studies to foster future-oriented Korea-Japan relations.
Finally, I would like to say that the ISKS, like the AKS, has endeavored to develop Korean studies. Professor SONG Namseon, a member of the ISKS's secretariat, has contributed a foreword entitled "For More adequate Korean Studies" in the Japan Chapter Newsletter (No.17) (https://www.isks.org/office/japan/paper/tuushin/tuushin017.html). This article displays the ideas of a researcher specializing in Korean studies very well. I agree with his conviction that "Korean studies are what we should aim at, rather than a mere sector." As such, I recommend that you read his article.
