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Welcome

Welcome

In 1974, the National Museum of Ethnology, Japan (Minpaku) was founded as an Inter-University Research Institute in cultural anthropology and ethnology, equipped with one of the world’s largest museum facilities. It opened to the public in 1977 at the site of the 1970 International Exposition located in Senri, Osaka. 2024 marks its 50th anniversary.

Each researcher at Minpaku engages in fieldwork in various parts of the world to promote the investigative study of the diversity and commonality of human culture and the dynamic state of society on a global scale. Anthropological Studies of the Graduate Institute for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI is also based in the museum. The National Museum of Ethnology is regarded as the only anthropological institution in the world equipped with research, education, and museum facilities that can cover the entire globe.

Over 345,000 objects have been collected at Minpaku, constituting the world’s most extensive ethnographic collection after the second half of the 20th century.

Based on such academic resources, Minpaku continues to conduct its activities under the mission of “creating the science for global human coexistence,” which helps to produce a more profound recognition of the self and the other, and to present guidelines for building a convivial society, cooperating with universities and research institutions in Japan and abroad across disciplines.

Human civilization today is facing the most significant turning point in several centuries. Until recently, the group regarded as central ruled and controlled unilaterally the group regarded as peripheral. The dynamics of this power relationship seem to be changing now. These days, we witness that contacts, interactions, and amalgamation, including the creative and the destructive, are occurring worldwide in a bilateral manner between those two entities, one used to be regarded as central and the other peripheral.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has fundamentally changed our way of life since its global spread in 2020. Through the pandemic experience, we have come to understand that our lives are intricately linked not only to animals and plants but also to the movements of invisible viruses and bacteria. During this period, our temporary practice of reducing direct interpersonal contact revealed a sense of discrimination latent in society. New developments have emerged that have divided the world.

Currently, more than ever, anthropological knowledge and ethnological museums that deepen the understanding of the self and others based on empathy for others, including all living creatures, are required.

Minpaku is now promoting Special Research Project entitled “Ethnic Groups and Ethnicity in the Post-Nationalist Era.” Amid the instability and gyrations of nation-state frameworks, ethnic groups face conflicts and divisions. This international research project has been designed to analyze and elucidate the current world situation in a multilayered manner by combining cultural anthropology and its related fields, and thus to explore guidelines for the realization of a convivial human society.

In addition, Minpaku is now carrying out a project on the “Info-Forum archives” (Full title: “Sustainable development humanities research based on the Info-Forum archives of human culture).” This project aims to share information about its collection of artifacts, photographs, and videos, along with academic resources such as research papers, not only with domestic and international researchers and users but also with the people initially providing those materials. The project will continuously accumulate and analyze the newly gained insights, with efforts to promote exploration through space and time for the commonality and diversity of human cultures and their transformation.

Through these research and museum activities, the National Museum of Ethnology, Japan, is trying to establish, in a more evolved and substantial manner than ever before, the “forum of wisdom.” That is a place where diverse people will enjoy having intellectual interactions, sharing their ideas, and engaging in collaborative work.

I sincerely ask for your continued cooperation and support in implementing our activities.

YOSHIDA Kenji
Director-General of National Museum of Ethnology, Japan