Ethnoscape of Riverine Society in Bintulu Division [Yumi Kato, et al.]

Ethnoscape of Riverine Society in Bintulu Division Yumi Kato(The Hakubi Project /Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University) Hiromitsu Samejima (Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University) Ryoji Soda(Graduate School of Literature and Human Sciences, Osaka City University) Motomitsu Uchibori (Faculty of Liberal Arts, The Open University of Japan) Katsumi Okuno(College of Liberal Arts, J.F.Oberlin University) Noboru Ishikawa (Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University) Introduction  The study site of this project is the riverine areas of the Kemena and Tatau Rivers in the Bintulu Division. This article provides an overview of the ethnic groups living along those rivers. However, the details of these people, their backgrounds, and their inter-ethnic […]

more

The Edible Birds’ Nest Commodity Chain between Sarawak and East Asia [Daniel Chew]

The Edible Birds’ Nest Commodity Chain between Sarawak and East Asia Daniel Chew (University of Malaysia Sarawak)  Edible birds’ nest, which are moulded from the saliva of the aerodramus swiflets, forming white and black nests, are a highly prized culinary food product reputed to have health benefits. The uniqueness of the appeal of the nests is its association with the dynastic past of China as a special food for rulers and the wealthy, an appeal which carries on to this day as an expensive and prestigious food product for the ethnic Chinese wherever they live. The nests are collected from cliffs in caves and man made structures in maritime and […]

more

The Motherland of Oil Palm [Noboru Ishikawa]

The Motherland of Oil Palm – a Travel Journal of West Africa Noboru Ishikawa(Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University)  The landscape of a myriad of oil palm trees has now become a familiar sight in Sarawak, Malaysia where we have been working on our project. Oil palm trees originate from Africa and just like rubber, oil palm has flourished as a commercial crop in insular Southeast Asia, very far from its original birth place. Today, oil palm (Elaeisguineensis) is grown in plantations, and now has considerable impacts on the local communities and ecological environment of Southeast Asia. The following outlines the thoughts that crossed my mind during my field […]

more

Special International Seminar at Kuching, Sarawak

June 29, 2012 HUMAN-NATURE INTERACTIONS OF THE RIVERINE SOCIETIES IN SARAWAK:A Transdisciplinary Approach a special international seminar held at Kuching, Sarawak Malaysia  The seminar was planned and executed by CSEAS, Kyoto University(Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S): Planted Forests in Equatorial Southeast Asia: Human-nature Interactions in High Biomass Society) co-sponsored by Institute of East Asian Studies, UNIMAS and Sarawak Forestry Corporation.  The objective of the seminar was to propel the collaborations with other researchers overseas and local scholars and to give feedback our research outcomes. The seminar successfully gathered government officials, university researchers, NGO members, corporate officials, media members and members of various research institutions. As many as 70 participants were […]

more

The 46th annual meeting of the Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology

The 46th annual meeting of the Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology Our project had a workshop at the 46th annual meeting of the Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology. The details are as below: Workshop “Tropical forest and its society – the prospect of an ethnographic study of Sarawak” Date:June 23, 2012(Sta.)9:30-12:25 Venue:G(K110) Coordinator:Goro Hasegawa(J.F. Overlin University) Presentation 1  Yumi Kato(Research Institute for Humanity and Nature)      “They dynamism of human-nature relationship – a discussion of a case of Sihan” Presentation 2 Kyoko Sakuma(ASAFAS, Kyoto University)      “The views on human-forests interactions based on resource utilization – the case of birds’ nest hunting by the Bulawan people” Presentation 3  Tetsu […]

more