:: Shingetsu Institute ::

Newsletter No. 172
January 25, 2006

JAPANESE UNIVERSITY OPENS BEIRUT OFFICE

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies -- which already has one of the few strong Islamic Studies programs in Japan -- has launched an exciting project that should consolidate their leading position: They are opening a research center in downtown Beirut.

To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time in the history of Japan-West Asian relations that any such project has been attempted. The information below is from their new website:

JaCMES Beirut Liason Office: An Introduction

As part of The Research and Educational Project for Middle East and Islamic Studies (Project MEIS), the Field Science Center of the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA) has established a research office in central Beirut. Named the Japan Center for Middle East Studies (ILCAA/Tokyo University of Foreign Studies) (JaCMES), this Beirut liaison office will serve as an international and inter-university research center. The Lebanese government has granted its approval for the research center at a cabinet meeting on December 15, 2005.

1. The Beirut liaison office has the following aims:

-- Raising the level of Middle Eastern Studies in Japan
--Furthering academic exchange with Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries
--The expansion and consolidation of the international network of Middle East Studies
--Supporting young Middle East scholars in Japan

2. The activities of the office will encompass:

--Encouraging international joint research projects through hosting international symposia on topics such as: Insuring Human Security in Pluralistic Societies, and Social Change in the Middle East Today
--Exchanging information with research centers and universities within Lebanon, so that a comprehensive representation of Lebanese scholarship and cultural activities may be introduced to Japan
--The dissemination of scholarly information via the Internet
--Furthering exchange between researchers and graduate students through The Research and Educational Project for Middle East and Islamic Studies
--Supporting Japanese research within Lebanon
--We have already exchanged memoranda with the American University of Beirut, the Lebanese University Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences Section I, and the Orient Institute of Beirut, expressing our willingness to collaborate on research. We plan to expand our collaborative network to include other universities and research institutes as well.

3. Location:

Located in downtown Beirut within in the central business district, the office is fully equipped as a research center, including a conference room with a capacity of thirty to forty people. A five-minute walk from the Municipality Building and the Parliament Building, it is situated on the second floor of a building facing Martyrs’ Square. Next door to us on the same floor is the Lebanon Press Club, and our window has a frontal view of St.George’s Maronite Cathedral. To its right we see the colossal Khatem al-Anbiyaa Mosque, and to its left are the stone columns of Roman ruins. We are fortunate to be situated where we can survey a scene of such religious diversity and multiple layers of history, ranging from antiquity until our present day.

Address:

Japan Center for Middle East Studies (ILCAA/Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)
2nd Floor, Azariyeh Building (Lazarists Center) A2-1, Bashura, Emir Bashir Street, City-Center, Beirut, LEBANON - Tel. and Fax. +961-1-975851