This workshop convenes scholars from Japan and Austria who are interested in the history of social anthropology from various perspectives. In this context, Oka Masao (1898–1982) provides a thematic link. Oka is regarded as a pioneering figure in the field of social anthropology in Japan. In addition to his contributions to the discipline, he served as the inaugural professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Vienna in 1939, thereby establishing the foundation for the study of Japanese culture and society with an anthropological orientation within the Austrian academic landscape. While his achievements are largely visible in academic policies, he also developed a highly specific theory on the origins of Japanese culture that inspired influential discourses on Japan in the postwar period. The workshop is complemented by a report on auxiliary measures related to the increasing threat of natural disasters on historical material.
Provisional schedule
- 13:00–13:15 Welcome address (Bernhard Scheid, IKGA)
- 13:15–14:00 “The development of the ‘stranger theory’ (ijinron 異人論) and its present articulations: Oka Masao in the history of Japanese ethnology/folklore studies” (in Japanese)
Prof. Yama Yoshiyuki 山泰幸 (Kansai Gakuin University, Osaka), discussant: Prof. emer. Okada Norio 岡田憲夫 (Kyoto University) - 14:00–14:45 “Oka Masao and the secret societies of ancient Japan"
Prof. David Weiss (Kyushu University) - 14:45–15:15 Coffee break
- 15:15–16:00 “The protracted founding of Vienna’s first Japan-Institut, 1934–1939”
Dr. Bernhard Scheid (ÖAW, Vienna) - 16:00–16:45 “Japanese Studies at the University of Vienna, 1939–1945.”
Dr. Peter Rohrbacher (ÖAW, Vienna) - 16:45–17:00 Coffee break
- 17:00–17:45 “A report on rescue activities of historical materials damaged by the 2024 Noto earthquake in Japan” (in Japanese)
Prof. Ueda Hisao 上田長生 (Kanazawa University) - 17:45–18:00 Concluding discussion
Registration
To register for on-site participation, please write to office.ikga(at)oeaw.ac.at until September 18, 2025.
