About CSEAS

Director: SHIMIZU, Hiromu

As a result of a great deal of support from many research institutions and academic communities, the Center for Southeast Asian was designated as one of the joint research centers in inter-universities of Japan by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in April, 2010. As a joint research center, all staff hope to be able to contribute to furthering the development of the center.

At present, the need for Southeast Asian Studies is dramatically increasing. The area, located in a tropical region, possesses a wealth of biomass resources provisioned by an abundant solar energy supply and is attracting attention as an area that owns new energy sources which are alternatives to fossil fuels. The region has also overcome a 30 year period of intense conflicts and warring between nations and ethnicities; from the Vietnamese war to the Cambodian civil war and the Sino-Vietnamese war. Yet now, as ASEAN, the region is home to more than 600 million people and has become an important political and economical entity. With Buddhism as the religious backbone for the majorty, the mainland part acts as a crossroads between the Indian Hindu world and the Chinese Confucian and Taoist world, while the insular areas are home to Islam and Christianity. In all, the coexistence and mutual enlightenment of multiple cultures and ethnicities are bringing about social progress across the region.

CSEAS focuses on the dynamic differences and diversity that exist within the region, and researches individual topics and places while simultaneously conducting comparative and comprehensive studies necessary to build a more complete picture of the region. As such, moving forward as a joint research center is for us, an important responsibility.

CSEAS, formally known as Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, a pioneer in area studies, was founded in 1963. Since then, the center has come to embrace not only the humanities and social sciences, but also other disciplines such as agronomy, ecology, medicine and the natural sciences. CSEAS combines both field sciences, the humanities and sciences to offer an interdisciplinary joint research center, a unique feature which makes it stand out from other area studies institutions and facilities around the world.

As an example of joint research that has taken place through an interdisciplinary approach, I would like to introduce one achievement at CSEAS, the Global COE program ‘in search of a Sustainable Humanosphere in Asia and Africa’. Significant research progress research was highly evaluated in last year’s midterm assessment and the program was appraised for excelling in its progress. In order to spread the results of this program a book (In Search of Sustainable Humanosphere: A New Paradigm for Humanity, Biosphere and Geosphere, in Japanese) has been edited by the convener of the program, Professor Sugihara Kaoru, published in 2010 by Kyoto University Press. An English version will follow shortly.

In order to make further strong progress with this program, we hope to deepen and strengthen research in the Southeast Asian region through international collaboration and cooperation. We feel that it is our responsibility to directly tackle issues and problems, as well as possibilities that exist within the region. Alongside the Asian Core Program (2009-2013), we hope to be able to respond to expectations.

We look forward to the continued support and help from those in, or with a connection to our center as well as individual researchers and the broader research community.

15 April 2010

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