The Japan Liaison Council for Oriental and Asian Studies (J-COAS) is pleased to announce that its First International Conference, entitled Challenges from Classical Studies, will be held at the University of Tokyo on 28–29 November 2026.
Founded in 2004, the Japan Liaison Council for Oriental and Asian Studies (J-COAS) currently comprises thirty-four associations engaged in Oriental and Asian studies. Since 2013, J-COAS has convened an annual symposium each December. At its general meeting of 7 December 2024, the Council resolved to establish a triennial international conference, the first of which will be held in late 2026 at the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology of the University of Tokyo.
In light of recent discoveries of ancient relics and manuscripts, the remarkable development of related fields, and the significant impact of digitization and online methodologies, Challenges from Classical Studies has been adopted as the subtitle of the First Conference. We warmly welcome you to the First International Conference of J-COAS and look forward to an inspiring and intellectually enriching conference.
Language: English
13:30 Opening Session
14:00 Presidential Symposium: Classics in Oriental and Asian Studies: Current Situation and Prospects
18:00 Welcome Reception (Restaurant Cerfeuil at Forest Hongō)
Panel sessions (9:30-12:30 Panel 1・3・5・7・9, 14:00-17:00 Panel 2・4・6・8)
Conference Language: English (Panel Sessions on Japan may include presentations in Japanese. )
1. Studying Asian Religious Classics in the Digital Age
Moderator:
Satoko FUJIWARA 藤原聖子, Professor, The University of Tokyo
Panelists:
Edward SLINGERLAND, Professor, The University of British Columbia
The Database of Religious History (DRH) and the Challenge of Large Digital Humanities Projects
Jenjou HUNG 洪振洲, Professor, Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts
From Citation Counts to Citation Functions: Understanding How Taishō Canon Texts Are Used in Modern Buddhist Scholarship through AI
Wenlu WANG 王雯璐, Lecturer, Waseda University
Encoding Early Modern Chinese Christian Texts: A Bridge Corpus toward a Methodological Commons in East Asian Religious Literature
Kiyonori NAGASAKI 永崎研宣, Professor, Keio University
AI in Buddhist Studies: Current Applications and Near-Future Prospects
Sponcored by The Japanese Association for Religious Studies 日本宗教学会
2. Building Knowledge Infrastructures for the Study of Asian Intellectual Traditions in the DX–AI Era
Organizer and Chair:
Masahiro SHIMODA 下田正弘, Professor, Musashino University
Panelists:
Peter BOL, Professor, Harvard Univeristy
Connectivity and Individuality in Textual Traditions
Jiang WU, Regents Professor, The University of Arizona
From Archive to Discovery: Digitization, AI, and the Reconstruction of Scholarly Collaboration in the Rinzai Roku Translation Project of Ruth Fuller Sasaki and Her Team
Natsuko YOSHIGA 吉賀夏子, Associate Professor, The University of Osaka
Structuring Japanese Historical Documents with TEI: A Case Study of Kabu-cho book ledger and the Future of Knowledge Infrastructure DH
Shigeki MORO 師茂樹, Professor, Waseda University
Resources for the Study of Japanese Buddhism, and the Current Status and Challenges of Their Digitization
Sponcored by The Japanese Association of Indian and Buddhist Studies 日本印度学仏教学会
3. Japanese Ancient Buddhist Manuscripts in the History of the Chinese Tripiṭaka
Chairparson:
Florin DELEANU, Professor, International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies
Panelists:
Toshinori OCHIAI 落合俊典, Professor, International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies
Canonized and Non-Canonized Texts in the History of the Chinese Tripiṭaka
Shoshun HAYASHIDERA 林寺正俊, Professor , Hokkaido University
Tang Dynasty Buddhist Textual Traditions as Seen through Nara and Heian Manuscripts: With Special Reference to the Saṃyuktāgama, the Wu wang jing, and the San fa du lun
Naiqi LI 李乃琦, Assistant Professor, Nagoya University
The Tang Canon of Central China as Seen through the Japanese Manuscripts of the Xuanying Yin yi
Keiryū FUKAMI 深見慧隆, Part-time Lecturer, Ryukoku University
Scriptural Citations in Shinran’s 親鸞Autograph Manuscripts: A Comparative Study of Japanese Manuscripts and the Song Dynasty Woodblock Print Canons
Sponcored by The Japanese Association of Indian and Buddhist Studies 日本印度学仏教学会
4. The Momijiyama Library and Japanese Sinitic Literature: The Scope of Research on Book Collections of Warrior Houses
Chairparson:
Rintarō GŌYAMA 合山林太郎, Professor, Keio University
Panelists:
Wiebcke DENECKE, Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Libraries as Diplomatic Institutions: A Comparative Study of Book Circulation in Early Modern East Asia through the Momijiyama and the Hōsa Libraries
Tomohiko SUMIYOSHI 住吉朋彦, Professor, Keio institute of Oriental Classics, Keio University
On the Background to the Study of the Three Basic Chinese Histories (Shiji, Hanshu, and Hou Hanshu) in the Sanjō Nishi Family
Kimiko KŌNO 河野貴美子, Professor, Waseda University
Literary Studies in the Edo Period Through the Lens of the Shobutsu Ruisan
Michio SATŌ 佐藤道生, Professor Emeritus, Keio University
Copyists of Works in the Kanazawa Library during the Bun’ei Era
Sponcored by The Wakan Comparative Literature Association Japan 和漢比較文学会
5. Circulated Imagination: Texts and Knowledge between Manuscripts and Printed Editions
Organizer and Chair:
Jiayin FU 富嘉吟, Associate Professor, Ochanomizu University
Panelists:
Lu KOU 寇陸, Assistant Professor, Columbia University
Historicizing Literary Canonization in the Age of Manuscript Culture: Gao Shi as an Example
Kentarō NARITA 成田健太郎, Associate Professor, Kyoto Univercity
Exploring the Configurations of Knowledge in the Age of Manuscript Culture through Printed Editions: The Case of Fashu yaolu (An Essential Record of Calligraphy)
Jiayin FU 富嘉吟, Associate Professor, Ochanomizu University
Illuminating the Manuscript World of Tang Literature through Song Printed Editions: The Case of Finest Blossoms of the Garden of Literature (Wenyuan yinghua)
Sponcored by The Sinological Society of Japan 日本中国学会
6. The Reconstruction of Knowledge in Modern East Asia
Organizer and Chair:
Jing HU 胡婧, Assistant Professor, Waseda University
Panelists:
Wenming TANG 唐文明, Professor, Tsinghua University
Transcending the Qin Polity: The Inner Logic Towards a Republic
Bisheng CHEN 陳壁生, Professor, Tsinghua University
Between Prayer and Requital: The Relationship Between Gods and Humans in Zheng Xuan’s Ritual Studies
Jingang ZHAO 趙金剛, Associate Professor, Tsinghua University
The Historical Significance of Origin, Classic, and Interpretation
Tsuyoshi ISHII 石井剛, Professor, The University of Tokyo
A Possibility of "Ritual Enlightenment": Revisiting the "Science and Lifeview" Debate in 1923
Takao ITŌ 伊藤貴雄, Professor, Soka University
The Emergence of the Concept of "Value" and Modern Japanese Thought: Focusing on the Reception of Neo-Kantian Value Philosophy
Shigeo KAWAGUCHI 川口茂雄, Professor, Sophia University
Young Japanese Scholars and European Philosophy: Newly Discovered Letters by Kuki Shuzo, Tanabe Hajime and Yoshimitsu Yoshihiko from the 1910s to the 1930s
Wei WEI 魏偉, Research Assistant Professor, Institute of Philosophy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Beyond the Constraints of Specialized Knowledge: Inquiries into “Knowledge Formation” and the Re-positioning of Classical Wisdom in Modern Japan
Sponcored by The Sinological Society of Japan 日本中国学会
Supported by JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists 26K15834 “Ontology and Epistemology in Xiong Shili, Jin Yuelin, and He Lin: The Evolution of 20th-Century Confucianism and the Formation of Modern Knowledge” 「熊十力・金岳霖・賀麟における本体論と認識論:20世紀儒学の展開と近代知の形成」; JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research(B) 24K00017 「昭和戦前期における新カント派価値哲学の展開・意義・特色―学際的/国際的研究―」; JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) 25K00391 「新発見資料が映し出すもう一つの日本哲学史――吉満義彦文庫と上野直昭関係資料の研究」
7. Manuals and Writing Practices at Asian Cultural Frontiers: Interpreters, Courtiers, and Merchants
Organizer and Chair:
Tomoko MORIKAWA 守川知子, Professor, The University of Tokyo
Panelists:
Tomoko MORIKAWA 守川知子, Professor, The University of Tokyo
Navigating Cultural Frontiers in Nagasaki: Mōru (Moor) Interpreters and the Multilingual Yakushi Chōtanwa
Isabel van DAALEN, Guest Researcher, the Research Center for Shin-Nagasaki Studies, Nagasaki University for Foreign Studies
Dutch Interpreters’ Oaths: The Discrepancy Between What is Said and What is Done
Chisa MIZOBUCHI 溝渕智咲, PhD student, The University of Tokyo
Knowing and Governing Elephants: Practical Knowledge in the Mughal Manual Āʾīn-i Akbarī
Kristine KOSTIKYAN, Head of the department of oriental studies in Matenadaran, Research Institute of Ancient Manuscripts after Mesrop Mashtots
The Ledgers and Manuals of the Armenian Merchants as Sources on the History of Intercultural Exchange
Discussant:
Syōhei ŌKUBO 大久保翔平, Lecturer, Ryukoku University
Sponcored by The Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan 日本オリエント学会
Supported by JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research(A) 22H00014 “Early Modern World and ‘Religious Identities’: Mobility, Local Communities and State Policies” 「近世ユーラシアの宗教アイデンティティ:グローバル多元主義と地域大国主義の相克」
8. Shadows of Sovereignty: Smuggling, Piracy and Transnational Networks in Early Modern Maritime Asia
Organizer and Chair:
Ryuto SHIMADA 島田竜登, Associate Professor, The University of Tokyo
Panelists:
Patrizia CARIOTI, Professor, University of Naples “L’Orientale”
From Piracy to State. The Zheng Supremacy in 17th Century Maritime East Asia
Ubaldo IACCARINO, Associate Professor, University of Naples “L’Orientale”
From Threat to Resource: Sino-Japanese ‘Piracy’ in the Early Modern Philippines (16th-17th Centuries)
Shinsaku KATŌ 嘉藤慎作, Associate Professor, Shiga University
Maritime Security and Sovereignty of a Land Power: European Piracies in the Arabian Seas and Response from the Mughal Empire, c. 1690–1710
Yang LIU 劉洋, Assistant Professor, International Research Center for Japanese Studies
Wokou’s Ransom Economy and the Portuguese Slave Trade in Sixteenth-Century Maritime East Asia
Yusuke YOSHIOKA 吉岡裕介, PhD student, The University of Tokyo
Areca Nut Smuggling in the Gulf of Mannar under Dutch Ceylon, c. 1700
Discussant:
Atsushi ŌTA 太田淳, Professor, Keio University
Sponcored by The Institute of Eastern Culture 東方学会
9. The Classical at the Crossroads: Redefining Southeast Asian Classics through Ecumenical and Vernacular Negotiations
Organizer and Chair:
Tōru AOYANA 青山亨, Vice President / Professor Emeritus, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
Panelists:
Tōru AOYAMA, Vice President / Professor Emeritus, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
Beyond “Indianization” of Southeast Asia: The Conditions and Influences behind the Creation of Regional Classics—the Case of Old Javanese Literature
Hajime TANAKA 田中創, Associate Professor, The University of Tokyo
Hellenism, Romanisation, and Christianisation: Malleable Myths in and around the Roman Empire
Takashi HASUDA 蓮田隆志, Associate Professor, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
Genealogy of Việt / Yuè identity: Vietnam in the Sinicized World
Norihisa BABA 馬場紀寿, Professor, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, The University of Tokyo
Pāli Cosmopolis: Buddhist Texts and Monastic Model in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia
Masami HARADA 原田正美, Part-time lecturer, The University of Osaka
Domesticating the Pāli Cosmopolis: Vernacular Sovereignty in Burmese Classical Literature
Kōji MIYAZAKI 宮崎恒二, Executive Director, National Institutes for the Humanities
From Indian Cosmopolis through Islamic Cosmopolis to Javanese Canon: Classic Formation in Javanese Literature
Takeshi YAMAZAKI 山崎岳, Professor, Nara University
Historical Transformations of the Classical Literature in the Sinosphere
Oman Fathurahman, Professor, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta
From Arabic Cosmopolis to Regional Canon: Islamization and Vernacular Sovereignty
Sponcored by The Japan Society for Southeast Asian Studies 東南アジア学会
President: Akira SAITO
Secretary-general: Ryuto SHIMADA
Members: Mitsuru AIDA, Satoko FUJIWARA, Tomoko MORIKAWA, Tatsuo NAKAMI, Masahiro SHIMODA, Masahisa SUZUKI, Koichi TAKAHASHI, Masaaki TSUCHIYA, Masanori IKEDA
Advisory Board: Mio KISHIMOTO, Moonkyong KIM, Tomohisa IKEDA, Hideo KAWAGUCHI
The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology (Faculty of Letters) at Hōbun 1 & 2 buildings in the Hongō campus
4,000 JPY (2,000 JPY for students)
3,000 JPY for reception participants
* The symposium on Day 1 will be open to the public free of charge.
Name Japan Liaison Council for Oriental and Asian Studies
President Akira SAITO
Address The Tōhō Gakkai
2-4-1 Nishi-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0065
E-mail iec [at] tohogakkai.com ([at] = @)
TEL 03-3262-7221
Payment method Credit card
Pay via the link in the confirmation email, non-refundable.
Registration fee 4,000 JPY (2,000 JPY for students)
3,000 JPY for reception participants
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