Geography and Geographers in Japan Since 1980: Preface to the Special Issue

Abstract

Indigenous geographical ideas are deeply rooted in Japanese traditional wisdom and way of life, whereas the modern discipline of geography developed and was institutionalized in Japan during the process of modernization that began in the late nineteenth century. Geography has been an essential discipline in Japan since then, and the number of academic geographers and academic societies has grown, especially after World War II (Kiuchi 1976; Takeuchi 2000). To date, Japan has hosted two major international geographic conferences. The first was the Regional Conference of the International Geographical Union (IGU) held in Tokyo and Nara (Tenri) from August 28 to September 3, 1957. This event was the first IGU conference held in Asia; 421 geographers (including 336 Japanese) from 21 countries participated. During the conference, 103 papers were presented in 13 sections and 9 papers were presented at the Symposium on the Geography of Southeast Asia. Excursions before and after the congress provided foreign geographers with an opportunity to experience the diverse features of Japan (The Organizing Committee of IGU Regional Conference in Japan and the Science Council of Japan 1959). The 1957 conference marked the beginning of a new era of development of Japanese geography as the post-World War II recovery period came to an end and high economic growth was poised to begin. More recently, the 24th International Geographical Congress (IGC) was held in Tokyo in 1980. Pre-congress meetings started on August 23, followed by the opening ceremony on August 31. The main congress lasted from September 1 to 5, followed by a week of post-congress excursions. The 1,543 participants hailed from 63 countries the world over, including 750 from Japan. More than 500 papers were presented at regular sessions, symposia, workshops, and other programs (Editorial Committee of the IGC Proceedings 1981). Two English volumes were published to introduce geography and the geographers of Japan (The Association of Japanese Geographers 1980; Science Council of Japan 1980). The conference marked a memorable event in the history of Japanese geography when the discipline of geography had been firmly established at academic institutions, the number of geographical associations was growing, and geographers were investigating a variety of research topics. Three decades have passed since the 24th IGC, and Japan will again host the IGU Regional Conference in Kyoto in August 2013. Kyoto is the ideal place to discuss the conference theme: “Traditional Wisdom and Modern Knowledge for the Earth’s Future.” Over 1,600 papers and posters are expected to be presented, suggesting a substantial growth of the conference compared with the 1980 IGC. Japanese geographers are busily preparing for the international event (e.g., Murayama et al. 2012). This special issue of the Geographical Review of Japan Series B, the English language journal of the Association of Japanese Geographers (AJG), is intended to introduce recent geographic developments in Japan and to provide an overview of the diverse interests, concerns, and activities of Japanese geographers.