The National Museum of Ethnology (Minpaku) is a research center for ethnology and cultural anthropology.

Anthropological Studies of Materiality

Core Project Coordinator: TERADA Yoshitaka
Project period: October, 2009
 

Research in this area aims to re-examine the relationship between the material and the human against the backdrop of the advance of globalization through an anthropology centered interdisciplinary approach with the aim of a developing a new view on human nature. More specifically, the research is designed to shed new light on the relationship between the material world and people in the contexts of industrialization, urbanization, and borderlessness, and identify the nature of this relationship from a long-term, historical perspective. The main research themes include: fetishism; collection and possession of materials and material objects; and the relationship between people and the products of leading-edge science and technology, such as artificial intelligence and information technology. The project has been underway since October 1, 2009.


“Practical Research on the Collection, Conservation, and Documentation of Ethnological Materials: An International Joint Research Project Between the Russian Museum of Ethnography and the National Museum of Ethnology”

  • Coordinator: SASAKI Shiro
  • Research period: April 2012 to March 2015
Details

“Toward a New View of Human Language Based on Comparison of Signed and Spoken Languages”

“Anthropology of Cultural Heritage: Communities and Materiality in Global Systems”

  • Coordinator: IIDA Taku
  • Research period: April 2013 to March 2016