[Nichibunken-IHJ Forum] Reexamining the Last 500 Years of World History from a “Pirate View” : ― The Reverse Side of the Oceanic View of Civilization

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  • Lecturer: Inaga Shigemi (Deputy Director-General and Professor, International Research Center for Japanese Studies)
  • Commentator: Kurata Takashi (Associate Professor, Meiji University)
  • Date: Friday, October 14, 2016, 6:30-8:00 pm
  • Venue: Lecture Hall, International House of Japan
  • Language: Only available in Japanese (without English interpretation)
  • Co-organized by the International House of Japan and the International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken)
  • Admission: Free (reservations required) Fully Booked
The world order has been destabilized in recent years, partly due to the development of the Internet and the resulting transformation of commodity circulation and financial exchange throughout the world. So as to critically reexamine this reality, we have to look back the last 500 years of world history since the so-called Age of Exploration. Geopolitical division of territory, exploitation of natural resources, and deportation of human resources through the slavery trade are among the points at issue. Particularly important in this review is the redefinition of piracy: under the surface of fair trade, the reality of transactions is heavily dependent on illegal acts. International law has developed so as to establish necessary regulations. In this lecture, the speaker will put into question the common understanding of piracy so as to propose a new perspective on the past, present and future of the commercial exchange of goods as well as art works.

Inaga Shigemi (Deputy Director-General and Professor, International Research Center for Japanese Studies)

Photo:Inaga ShigemiFormer Dean, Graduate University of Advanced Studies (Sokendai) in Hayama. He majored in 19th-century French art history as well as comparative literature and culture. Since his Ph.D. in Paris (L’Université Paris VII) in 1988, he has developed his field of research into cultural anthropology and intercultural ethics. His books include The Orient of the Painting, (University of Nagoya Press, 1999), In Search of Haptic Plastics (University of Nagoya Press, 2016). Among the proceedings he has edited in English are Traditional Japanese Arts and Crafts in the 21st Century (2005), and Questioning Oriental Aesthetics and Thinking (2010). He also curated the exhibition Receptacle du passage (Container of the Passage) at the Maison de la Culture du Japon.
Kurata Takashi (Associate Professor, Meiji University)

Photo:Kurata TakashiBorn in 1970, Hyogo. Dr. in Environmentology. He completed the Ph.D. in the School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University Graduate School after studying philosophy in the Faculty of Letters, Kyoto University. Prior to his current position, Dr. Kurata served as a research fellow, senior research fellow and appointed associate professor at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature. His publications include Mingei no intimacy “Itooshisa” wo dezain suru (2015), and Shiranai machi no kazoku ni kaeru (co-author, 2016). He has been writing a serial, “Chanoyu to mingei-sono manazashi no saki e,” in the monthly magazine Nagomi (Tankou-sha) from January 2016.