IMAP in Japanese Humanities at Kyushu University

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日本
Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka
IMAP in Japanese Humanities at Kyushu University

Offering graduate courses in Japanese history, arts and visual culture, literature, and religion in English at Kyushu University

04/06/2026

Looking forward to Sherry Fowler's talk on Buddhist bells and dragons next week!

Sherry Fowler (Professor of Japanese Art History, University of Kansas)
Dragons and Buddhist Bells Across Water and Time

Time: June 8, 2026 (Monday), 16:30–18:00
Place: B–104

Tales and images of Buddhist bells being transported across the sea or sunk in bodies of water help illuminate why the relationship between dragons, bells, and water is so pervasive in Japanese culture. Utilizing object biography, this talk will focus on the lives of key bells (including some from Kyushu) from multiple perspectives that extend long past any human lifetime. As this topic extends from the seventh century to the seizure and return of Japanese Buddhist bells during and after the Asia-Pacific War (1937–1945), it brings the subject into the near present. The vibrant culture behind Japan’s bronze temple bells, long hidden in plain sight, will be revealed.

10/05/2026

We congratulate our alumna (2018) Budoor Steele (Chawan - Authentic Japanese Tea House) for no less than three great accomplishments:

* Budoor received the Minister’s Award from the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries for her work promoting Japanese tea culture (𝑠𝑎𝑑𝑜̄). She is the youngest and the first female to receive this award in the Middle East.
* She was appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for Japanese tea and cuisine, allowing her to continue building cultural connections through tea and hospitality.
* Not the least, Budoor was granted an Associate Professor (𝑗𝑢𝑛𝑘𝑦𝑜̄𝑗𝑢) certificate in the arts of tea.

We are very proud!

08/05/2026

A fascinating upcoming talk by one of our visiting scholars!

Are All Buried Sūtras Kyōzuka? Fujiwara no Michinaga and the Corpus of Sūtra Mounds

Alessandro Poletto (Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Early Career Research Fellow in Buddhist Studies)

Time: May 11, 2026 (Monday), 16:30–18:00
Place: Ito Campus, Kyushu University, Room B–104

The act of burying is not rare in the Buddhist world. From the old manuscripts in Gandhāra to the lavish underground “palace” housing relics at Famensi in Shaanxi Province, Buddhist communities across Asia have deposited objects they deemed important under the ground for almost two millennia.

In the eleventh century, a new ritual regime that involved the production and burial of scriptures started to emerge in Japan, and the sites resulting from this process are today usually referred to as kyōzuka, “sūtra mounds.” Kyōzuka have been discovered at major temples, on important mountains, and adjacent to cemeteries; their production seems to have spanned almost the entire Japanese archipelago. The oldest dated instance, according to virtually all accounts, is that by Fujiwara no Michinaga (966-1028), the influential courtier, who in 1007 climbed Kinpusen to bury a set of scriptures copied in his own hand.

But what makes a sūtra deposit a kyōzuka? In this talk, after a brief introduction to the topic, I will examine Michinaga’s sūtra deposit and its position within the corpus of excavated sūtra mounds. While often introduced as the first and quintessential kyōzuka, it is, in fact, sui generis under almost all aspects, from ideology to material culture. How to make sense of this incongruity? On the basis of a reconsideration of the locus of Michinaga’s sūtra burial within the “canon” of kyōzuka, I will tentatively propose a more nuanced approach to sūtra mounds, one that foregrounds ideological continuity, personal networks, and institutional influences in any discussion of kyōzuka.

20/04/2026

Big congratulations to Spring 2026 MA graduate Dino Van de Velde for completing his thesis Framing the Periphery: Postcards of Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples in the Colonial Japanese Empire, under the supervision of Gloria Yu Yang and Anton Schweizer.

For his thesis, Dino manually analyzed the Lafayette database (~700 postcards of Taiwanese indigenous people) and discovered that the cards fit into three main periods: 1895–1915, 1915–1930, and 1930–1945. The postcards initially showed indigenous groups as dangerous unknown peoples, yet, in the two later periods, highly aestheticized images depicted indigenous people as “tamed” and peacefully living within the Japanese empire. Dino found that the photography of indigenous people gradually became concentrated in institutional hands, which likely created this visual shift. Postcards of Taiwanese indigenous people circulated widely across Japan (in the billions), transforming Japanese perception of Taiwan and becoming an active tool of imperial rule.

Congratulations to Dino for his excellent thesis!

19/04/2026

Big congratulations to Spring 2026 MA graduate Dino Van de Velde for completing his thesis "Framing the Periphery: Postcards of Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples in the Colonial Japanese Empire," under the supervision of Gloria Yu Yang and Anton Schweizer.

For his thesis, Dino manually analyzed the Lafayette database (~700 postcards of Taiwanese indigenous people) and discovered that the cards fit into three main periods: 1895–1915, 1915–1930, and 1930–1945. The postcards initially showed indigenous groups as dangerous unknown peoples, yet, in the two later periods, highly aestheticized images depicted indigenous people as “tamed” and peacefully living within the Japanese empire. Dino found that the photography of indigenous people gradually became concentrated in institutional hands, which likely created this visual shift. Postcards of Taiwanese indigenous people circulated widely across Japan (in the billions), transforming Japanese perception of Taiwan and becoming an active tool of imperial rule.

Congratulations to Dino for his excellent thesis!

04/12/2025

We are pleased to announce the exhibition Interwoven Coasts: Art as Dialogue in the East Asian Mediterranean (交差する海、響きあう文化ー東アジア地中海の芸術的対話).

Curated by Gloria Yu Yang and Anton Schweizer, this is the capstone event of the Getty-sponsored project Shared Coasts, Divided Historiographies. The exhibition is open at Kyushu University’s Fujii Gallery from December 9 to 24. Artworks by four artists—Uehara Michiko, Nema Satoko, Taira Yuki, and Komiya Yukina—explore artistic dialogues across the East Asian Mediterranean.

25/11/2025

Announcing IMAP's next online guest lecture for December 4th at 17:00 JST! Please join us as Professor Katharina Rode-Kaya (Heidelberg University) presents, "Lost and Found: The Case of Akita Ranga Painting." Meeting details can be found in the poster, see you there!

20/11/2025

On the final scorching day of the year, before Autumn took hold of the weather in Kyushu, our IMAP/IDOC cohort ventured on our first excursion of the new semester! This time we visited Kikuchi Castle and the Kumamoto Kofun Museum.

Kikuchi Castle, constructed during the Asuka period in the 7th century, is a Korean style fortress built in response by the Yamato government to a perceived threat of invasion by the allied forces of Tang China and Silla, after the fall of Baekje. Although the main fortress no longer remains, archaeologists have reconstructed many of the buildings on site, including the storehouses and barracks.

The Kumamoto Kofun Museum is built amidst several of its namesake keyhole shaped tombs, showcasing the distinctive style of these ancient burials on Kyushu. The museum itself houses several artifacts found within the tombs, including a full-scale replica of a burial chamber, showcasing painted wall decorations found only in Kyushu kofun burials.

15/11/2025

On November 18th, the IMAP/IDOC community is honored to host Dr. Marta Fanasca (University of Bologna) as she delivers her lecture "Dansō: A (Visual) Ethnography of Japanese Female-to-Male Crossdressing Es**rt." Join us at Kyushu University, Ito Campus East Zone, room D107. The lecture begins at 5pm, don't miss it!

27/10/2025

With the Fall 2025 semester now in full swing, the IMAP/IDOC community would like to take the time to congratulate our Fall 2025 graduating class!

Ileana Rojas - for her research on artist Saori (Madokoro) Akutagawa and the influence of Mexican art on her works.

Dane Whittier - for his thesis on the Phaeton Incident of the Edo Period.

Hayden Burke - for his insights into the cultural relevance of the ongoing construction of a sea wall at Katoku Beach, Amami Ōshima.

A warm congratulations to you all, and best of luck on your next great adventure! You will always have a home here at Kyushu University with our community. また会いましょうね！

住所

744 Motooka, Nishi-ku
Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka
819-0395

ウェブサイト

http://www.imapkyudai.net/

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