Eightieth Anniversary Message

As we publish this issue, 73:2, Monumenta Nipponica has entered its ninth decade as a forum for the exchange of ideas and presentation of research on Japan. Two very special events, a symposium and an exhibit, were held in celebration of the journal’s eightieth anniversary. It is our great pleasure to bring you news of these events as well as a brief introduction to the content you will find in the pages of this issue.

The MN 80th Anniversary Symposium, which took place 6 October 2018, featured a roundtable discussion, “The Present and Future of Japanese and Area Studies,” and a presentation session, “Environment and Ecology in Japan: Approaches and Methodologies.” In the roundtable discussion, scholars from different regions—Europe, Japan, and North America—and disciplines—history, literature, and gender studies—introduced the institutions they represent, and together we confronted questions surrounding the viability of Japanese studies amid today’s political, economic, and cultural currents. Participants in the presentation session—again, from Europe, Japan, and North America—showcased new models for area studies by focusing on the emerging interdisciplinary field of environment and ecology in Japan, highlighting a range of subjects including climate change, earthquakes, religion, and gender. Videos from the symposium are available both on our website and on the Monumenta Nipponica YouTube Channel.

On display at the MN Anniversary Exhibit, held 1–19 October 2018 in the Sophia University Library, were ten information-rich panels on the history of the journal and many of the key individuals who have shaped, guided, and supported it over the decades, as well as current and expected trends. Four large vitrines complemented the panels, with selected items available atop the glass for close inspection. Among the items accessible to visitors was a handmade replica of a scrapbook containing newspaper clippings from the days of the journal’s founding. Plans are under way to write up a history of the journal that will include some of the content of the exhibit panels.

This issue of the journal features two articles by Japanese scholars, in keeping with the MN legacy of introducing current trends in Japan to Anglophone readers. The first, by Itō Keisuke (translated by Paula R. Curtis), addresses the important topic of climate change, analyzing quantitative data from the medieval period to shed light on the relationship between climatic patterns and famine as well as the part commerce might play in making society more or less resilient to extreme weather events. The second, by Odaira Mika (translated by Michael Burtscher), takes up the Meiji-period project of “national moral edification,” which pulled in two directions by calling both for a “return to antiquity” and for “civilizational progress.” Odaira demonstrates how this project can be seen as a common thread weaving together several developments of the late nineteenth century involving the modernization of deity rites, an unsuccessful campaign to allow women to serve as shrine priests, and efforts to enroll women as doctrinal instructors. Rounding out the issue are eighteen book reviews covering a diverse range of topics.

We live at a time when scholarship in its myriad forms is available not only with the turn of a page, but also at the click of a button. Even as we steadfastly maintain our traditional methods of fostering and presenting excellent research, we also strive to reach out in novel ways; the printed page and our growing online presence are, ultimately, of a piece. And so new joins old, and we cherish both as emblems of our mission.