Tsugutaka Sato Research Office
(Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Waseda University)
Professor Tsugutaka Sato joined Waseda University in Spring 2003, and teaches at both the School of Culture, Media and Society and the Graduate School of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Professor Sato specializes in pre-modern Arabic and Islamic history, and in particular has been noted globally for his research of the Iqta' system, a system of land administration that spread in the medieval Islamic world. (State and Society in Medieval Islam: Studies on the Iqta' System in Arabic Society, Yamakawa Shuppansha, 1986. State and Rural Society in Medieval Islam: Sultans, Muqta's and Fallahun, Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1997.)
Professor Sato also has a wide range of research interests other than this, and includes among others the collection and analysis of folklore of the Islamic saint Ibrahim, and published his findings in the book "Legends of the Saint Ibrahim", (Kadokawa Shoten, 2001). His latest interest is in sugar products, which were consumed as a luxury food and as medicine by rulers and the ruled alike in the medieval Islamic world, and is attempting to bring a new observation into the history of Islamic society through the analysis of sugarcane production, the refinery process, the categorization of products, and how the products were consumed.
A marchant of spices, herbs and perfumes in the old town of Cairo, Egypt.
Lectures
At the School of Culture, Media and Society, professor Sato is in charge of two lectures, an interdisciplinary subject as an introduction and a elective seminar on oriental history through the reading of historical documents. In 2006, 150 to 160 students attended the introduction lecture, and about 16 students attended the seminar. At the Graduate School, professor Sato is in charge of two courses, an advanced course on oriental history for instruction on presenting and writing theses for researches for graduate students, and a seminar on oriental history through the reading of original historical documents in Arabic. Eight to ten students attend both courses. Some years, students majoring in western history or sociology but not oriental history, attend the courses. The following are summaries of the individual lectures.
Interdisciplinary Subject I "History and Culture of Islam"
In the first term, the course will take a general view of the history and culture of Islam covering the birth of Islam in the 7th century, till the 10th to 12th century when Islam world went through reforms. In the second term the course will take a general view of what kind of changes the Islamic world went through after the reforms in the 10th to 12th century, before entering the modern era. This lecture will focus on the issues of Islamic nations, sovereignty and society.
Elective Seminar on Oriental History 3
In this seminar, we will read English translated portions pertaining to Egypt and Syria of "Records of Pilgrimage to Mecca(Rihla)" by Ibn Battuta (1304-68/69 or 77). Those possible will read the original Arabic text and consider translations. Following this, we will read related publications and theses (in Japanese and other languages) to investigate the latest trends in research. The aim of this seminar is for students to master how to read and research historical documents through their work.
Advanced Course on Oriental History 5
Based on the theories of Umma and Caliph by Muslims, students will participate in assigned co-research on actual nations, sovereignties and societies, and will report and debate on the topics by comparing with their own fields of research. The course also gives instruction on master's theses and doctoral dissertations.
Oriental History Seminar 5
While reading Ibn Iyas’ autographic chronicle "The Pearl Necklace about the Events of the Eras" and mastering Arabic manuscripts, related topographies, geographic documents and biographies will also be studied to examine various issues in Arabic and Islamic history.
Dam of the Yusuf Canal which located at the entrance of region of Fayyum
The masters and doctorate students
The Sato Research office accepts students with a wide range of interests regardless of the age and field of their research, as long as it pertains to Islamic history. As an example, we will introduce some of the masters and doctorate students who belong to this office, and their researches.
Ms. Yuko Sugimoto, who is in her doctorate program, is doing analysis and research of the formulation and development of modern Arabic nationalism, with a focus on the Syrian region. Based on modern Caliph theories, she is analyzing issues including the modernization and the preservation of Islamic traditions. Modern Arabic nationalism was born out of rebellion against colonization by the great powers of Europe, but there were various ideas on modernization and the formation of national states. By reconsidering the escape from the control by European powers through the reunification of the Islamic community (Umma), and the restoration of autonomy by Arabs or Islam based on arguments concerning the Caliph who is the head of the community, Ms. Sugimoto is trying to decipher the ideological trends in modern Arabic society.
Ms. Nobuko Kimura, who is in her doctorate program, has chosen her object of research as Egypt in the late Mamluk dynasty and the early Ottoman empire, focusing on research of clothes and accessories through the paintings, not only words, as historical sources, with the key element being the Zant hats worn by Mamluk knights. The Arabic society is one based on words, which is rich with vast amounts of written materials, and physical materials other than written materials such as architecture and artifacts were conventionally researched under the category of art history. Ms. Kimura is undertaking an ambitious research of deciphering the politics, society and culture of the times, by viewing the symbolic culture centered on clothes and accessories, with the help of written materials.
Professor Sato and Mr.Yoshimura
The author, Takenori Yoshimura, who is also in his doctorate program, is researching irrigation system and flood control of the Nile River in Egypt, during the 13th and 14th century Mamluk dynasty. From ancient times, irrigation farming near the Nile has defined the politics and economics of Egypt, which was also carried into the Islamic ages. At the same time, Islam is a single civilization entity that shares and comprehends all systems including politics, economics and knowledge over a large geographic area that covers the Middle East and Egypt. Various systems including politics and economics that Islam inherited from previous dynasties were introduced into Egypt. In this research, Mr. Yoshmura attempts to observe how an Egypt which was defined geographically and economically by the Nile, and Egypt as part of the Islamic world, integrated and merged, based on case studies from the Mamluk dynasty.
[Written by Takenori Yoshimura]
Waseda University Institute of Islamic Area Studies
The Waseda University Institute of Islamic Area Studies is a Project Research Institute, which was newly established in 2006 with professor Tsugutaka Sato (Waseda University Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences) as its director. A Project Research Institute is an organizational group for joint research consisting of Full-time Faculty at Waseda University, as well as off-campus researchers when necessary, and is financed by external funding. The following 11 members currently belong to the Institute of Islamic Area Studies.
Researchers
SATO Tsugitaka (Professor, Faculty of Letters, Arts, and Sciences)
KONDO Jiro (Professor, Faculty of Letters, Arts, and Sciences)
SAKURAI Keiko (Professor, Faculty of International Liberal Studies)
TANADA Hirofumi (Professor, Faculty of Human Sciences)
YAJIMA Hikoichi (Professor, Faculty of Education and Integrated Arts and Sciences)
HASEGAWA So (Visiting Associate Professor, Institute of Egyptology, Waseda University)
SAI Yukari (Research Associate, Organization for Aian Studies, Waseda University)
OASHI Kyohei(Research Associate, Media Network Center (MNC), Waseda University)
At Institute of Islamic Area Studies (Asso. Professor Kentaro Sato in the middle of the back row)
Visiting Faculty(full-time)
YUKAWA Takeshi (Visiting Professor)
SATO Kentaro(Visiting Associate Professor)
Visiting Faculty(part-time)
HOSAKA Shuji (Visiting Associate Professor/Kinki University)
KAWATOKO Mutsuo (Visiting Professor)
Visiting Researchers
Abdul-Karim Rafeq (Professor, The College of William & Mary, USA)
Ahmad H. Sa'di (Lecturer, Ben-Gurion University, Israel)
Muhammed Afifi (Professor, Cairo University, Egypt)
AKUTSU Masayuki (Part-time Lecturer, Asia-Africa Linguistic Institute)
NAKAMACHI Nobutaka (Associate Professor, Konan University)
At International Conference in University of Sus, Tunisia(2006 Dec)
As you can see, at the Institute of Islamic Area Studies various members are diligently involved in full-time joint research. In particular, I want to introduce two of our visiting researchers, professor Abdul-Karim Rafeq and senior lecturer Ahmad H. Sa'di. Professor Rafeq is a Syrian researcher who visited Japan for a month in November 2006, and usually teaches in the United States. Professor Rafeq is a world-renowned researcher who pioneered the new field of Arabic court document research. Although he is already passed the age of 70, he is very energetic, and an overwhelming love for his homeland Syria and the Arab culture is felt through his calm manner of speech. Moreover, He is an Arab Christian (the notion that “all Arab people are believers of Islam” is far too biased. The Middle East is also a cradle for Christianity), and has repeatedly mentioned that originally the Arabian-Islamic society was one which was rooted in tolerance for multiple religions. This fact seems to have strengthened his disappointment and concern towards recent Middle East situations and the anti-Islamic feelings that has spread in Western countries.
Senior lecturer Sa'di visited Japan for about one and a half months from January 2007. Senior lecturer Sa’di who is a spirited researcher in his forties specializing in sociology, usually works for a university in Israel, and although he has an Israeli nationality, is Arab (Palestinian) by ethnicity. Those who are not familiar with the Middle East might be puzzled with the concept of "Arab Israelis", as well as "Arab Christians" of professor Rafeq. Indeed Israel is a nation founded by Jews who migrated from various places to Palestine, but the fact is that there were many people who speak Arabic and have been living there before Israel was founded. Many of these people were forced to disperse into neighboring regions, but even so there were many who chose (or had no choice but) to remain under Israeli rule. Because they are not Jews although they have Israeli nationality and passports, they have to live as secondary class citizens. Senior lecturer Sa'di is also such an Arab Israeli. Just like professor Rafeq, Senior lecturer Sa'di is a very quietly-spoken person, but through his words, I am able to feel the unimaginable hardships that he and his family must have endured. When I asked him whether he had any problems at Tel Aviv airport when leaving Israel, he shrugged his shoulders and answered saying "yes there were, but it is nothing new". Hearing this, I was shocked at the reality of discrimination towards Palestinians on a daily basis.
For someone like myself who is working at the research institute almost everyday, it is a joy to be able to listen to stories from professor Rafeq and Senior lecturer Sa’di over lunch. However, I have to be careful of the lunch menu, as Senior lecturer Sa’di is believer of Islam. One day I thought the broiled fish lunch course was safe, but they served it with a pork broth.
Mosque in Old City of Sus
The Institute of Islamic Area Studies relies for its main financial source on the NIHU Program / Islamic Area Studies conducted by the Inter-University
Research Institute Corporation, National Institutes for the Humanities (NIHU). This is a joint research program that is headed by General Director Tsugitaka Sato, who is also the Director of the Institute of Islamic Area Studies, with the objective being a network-type program consisting of five research centers at Waseda University, The University of Tokyo, Sophia University, The Toyo Bunko (Oriental Library), and Kyoto University in conjunction with NIHU. Waseda University is playing a central role as the General Office of these research centers, and a Center for Contemporary Islamic Area Studies is set up within its Institute of Islamic Area Studies in collaboration with NIHU. In fact, a project titled Islamic Area Studies was executed for five years from 1997 to 2002 with Special Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology, and this NIHU Program / Islamic Area Studies succeeds that project and is scheduled to become a large-scale joint research organizing many Japanese and overseas researchers. As a result, it is expected that this program will contribute to the formation of a base of Islamic research and education in Japan.
In this NIHU Program / Islamic Area Studies, the following three points are set as the main common issues.
To implement international joint research projects with scholars from regions around the world, through examining the relationship between Islam and a given region through the eyes of both ‘the privy' and 'others'.
To collect and manage documents which will serve as the basis for research, and to manage the Arabic language information retrieval system in order to develop bibliographical studies on Islamic history and culture.
To help enrich Islamic area studies at the graduate level, as well as encourage the participation of young scholars into the joint research, and foster next generation scholars of Islamic studies.
Moreover, the geographical scope that is covered by the study extends not only to the Middle East in the narrow sense, but also extends to South Asia, Southeast Asia, China, Europe, Americas, and Japan. Our research will look into common problems to Islam that are transregional, as well as the relations between individual region and Islam.
A lecture given by Ayatollah Ette Shiite Cleric from Iran (2007 July, at Waseda University)
Currently, at the Waseda Center of the NIHU Program / Islamic Area Studies within the Institute of Islamic Area Studies, there are three organizations, which are the Project Management Unit, Research Group 1, and Research Group 2. Project Management Unit, an organization unique to Waseda, plays a coordinating role for the entire joint research, connecting the centers, performing operations that cannot be done by each center singly. For example, in November 2006 the Project Management Unitorganized a commemorative lecture celebrating the inauguration of the NIHU Program Islamic Area Studies, featuring an all-star cast consisting of professor Rafeq who was visiting Japan, Hiroshima City University professor Omar Farouk from Malaysia, and the Speaker of the Lower House Yohei Kono. Professor Rafeq also gave a series of seminars for young researchers in Japan, and initiated them into the extremely specialized technique of comprehending Arabic court documents. Moreover, because the Palestinian problem is also an especially important issue within Islamic area studies, a series of seminars was also executed by senior lecturer Sa'di during his visit to Japan in cooperation with the center at the University of Tokyo.
Besides the Project Management Unit, there are currently two research groups at the Waseda Center. These and their themes are: Research Group 1, "Knowledge and Authority in Islam: A Study of Dynamism"; and Research Group 2 “Muslim Networks in Asia”. In group 1 the following six main researchers are conducting joint research on the form of knowledge and authority unique to Islam.
YUKAWA Takeshi (Group Leader / Waseda University)
SATO Kentaro (Waseda University)
SHIMIZU Kazuhiro (Kyusyu University)
KURITA Yoshiko (Chiba University)
NAKAMACHI Nobutaka (Konan University)
R. S. Humphreys (University of California Santa Babara)
In group 2, the following five main researchers are conducting joint research focused on various problems of Asian Muslims including South Asia, Southeast Asia, China, Central Asia, South Korea, and Japan, which up till now have only played a backseat role in Islamic research.
SAKURAI Keiko (Group Leader, Waseda University)
TANADA Hirofumi (Waseda University)
NEJIMA Susumu (Toyo University)
KUROIWA Takashi (Musashino University)
Omar FAROUK (Hiroshima City University)
SAI Yukari (Waseda University)
Both groups vigorously execute overseas field investigations in various places including Egypt, Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and China, as well as exchanging information on each other’s research situations by holding study groups. In the future, we expect to publish much of the fruit of researches. Details of our research activities are updated on our website, so I encourage anyone who is interested to access the site.
Currently the Institute of Islamic Area Studies is situated on the fourth floor of Building No. 41-31 at Waseda University, located quite near the Waseda Station. Being the General Office of the large project NIHU Program / Islamic Area Studies, our office is a whirlwind of documents, telephone calls, and e-mails, but has a distinctive atmosphere of a research lab for Islamic area studies, by the sound of news programs by Arabic broadcaster Al Jazeera flowing from someone's computer via the Internet.
[Written by Kentaro Sato]
CONTACT
Institute of Islamic Area Studies, Waseda University
Waseda University 41-31Bldg.,4F
27-7 Waseda-machi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 162-0042 JAPAN
tel&fax: 03-5286-1749
e-mail: info@islam.waseda.ac.jp
http://www.islam.waseda.ac.jp/en/
