The Global Japanese Studies Model Unit co-organized the international symposium “Cultural History of the Ruins in Ancient and Medieval Japan”.
An international symposium was held to report on the past achievements and discuss future developments of the research project “Cultural History of the Ruins in Ancient and Medieval Japan,” which has been ongoing for four years since 2019 and funded by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research for three years from 2020 to 2022.
The first half of the symposium, “Session 1: Ruins as Field of Literary Creation” comprehensively discussed the magnetic field of literary creation generated in ruinous spaces in ancient and medieval literature, mainly from the perspectives of stories, waka poems, travelogues, and Chinese poetry.
“Session 2: Painting and Performing Arts of Ruins” explored representations of ruins in medieval paintings and Noh songs, and discussed the contexts in which these images could be interpreted. Details on the speakers and commentators are given below.
More details on each presentation can be found via the following link. While available only in Japanese, please scroll down to page 7 for an English abstract of Harvard University Ph.D. student and speaker María Salvador’s presentation, “From Ruins to Salvation: Death and Hell in the Kasuga Faith”:
Event Details
- Date and Time: Saturday, March 18, 2023, 13:30-18:00 (JST)
- Venue: Room 132, F3 Bldg. 33, Toyama Campus, Waseda University
- Language: Japanese and English
- Participation: Free
- Speakers: Hidenori Jinno (Waseda University), Yumiko Watanabe (Rissho University), Hanako Kinoshita (The University of Tokyo), Takashi Horikawa (Keio University), Satomi Yamamoto (Waseda University), Megumi Umezawa (Kanagawa Prefectural Kanazawa-Bunko Museum), Reiko Yamanaka (Hosei University), María Salvador (Harvard University, Ph.D. student)
- Commentator/Chair: Haruo Shirane (Columbia University), Naoki Sato (Tokyo University of the Arts)
- Organized by: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)(20K00337) “Cultural History of the Ruins in Ancient and Medieval Japan”: Hanako Kinoshita, Associate professor, The University of Tokyo）
- Co-organized by: The Global Japanese Studies Model Unit, Waseda University Top Global University Project, Department of the History of Art, Waseda University
- Cooperation: Yugyoji Museum
Schedule
- Session 1
13:30-13:40 Opening remarks: Yumiko Watanabe (Rissho University)
13:40-15:00 Presentations Part 1
15:00-15:30 Debates, comments by Haruo Shirane
- Session 2
15:50-17:10 Presentations Part 2
17:10-17:40 Debates, comments by Naoki Sato (Tokyo University of the Arts)
17:40-17:45 Closing remarks: Satomi Yamamoto (Waseda University)
Summary
In medieval Japan, we can find many representations of ruins, such as the remains of ancient capitals, temples, or devastated towns and architecture in literature, painting, and the performing arts.
In this symposium, speakers specializing in literature, art history, and the performing arts will analyze ancient and medieval Japanese ruins from various perspectives. Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, ruins have been physically and spiritually close to us. By elucidating how ancient and medieval people coexisted with ruins, we hope to gain a logical foundation for creating a new culture that incorporates ruins in modern society.
