アジア民族造形学会

The purpose of “Asia Ethno-Forms Association” is to "find the essence of the “KOKORO (origin/feeling)” and “SHAPE” related to the livelihood of Asian people and to exchange culture of different ethnic groups in Asia between association members” which is stated in Article 2 of the Constitution. Only those who agree with this purpose and join the association can become members of it.

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The above explanation looks easy to understand but it is not. So, we would like to explain a little more here. When you read the purpose, it explains "livelihood of Asian people". First, we will have to decide about "Asia" and its location.

For that, it is necessary to think of "Europe" as an idea that confronts "Asia". "Europe" comes from the name of Greek mythology the goddess “Europa”. According to Greek mythology, the historian Herodotus of the 5th century BC used it in "History" and became widely known.

 

The region extending west from the Aegean Sea called “Europe” by Herodotus, and the other regions east from the Bosphorus and Dardanelles (Dardanelles) called "Asia". In other words, "Asia" is not “Europe”, and refers to the entire Eurasian continent. In Asian Games, regional divisions are still appearing in sports such as athletics and soccer. 　

 

Kazushige Kaneko, the founder of the Association, also draws a map roughly along this area in the "World's First Colored Asian Map". However, if you look deeply, you can find that it is quite difficult to divide the area uniformly. For example, Russia is blurred into the Northeast Asia category, and Tibet and the Xinjiang Uygur district are also included. This is not only due to the early circumstances that made the unknown world Asia, but also because it was divided based on the boundaries of modern nations.

 

Asia is too large. All regions of the Eurasian continent other than "Europe" are defined as "Asia". Therefore, “Asia” refers to the Far East including Japan, Southeast Asia, and South Asia according to "Asia Ethno-Forms Association". This is because the regional range matches with the regional range of Kazushige Kaneko Memorial Room which exhibits in the National Kyusyu Museum and the National Museum of Korea.

 

Next, regarding the definition of "SHAPE" the constitution states that the six types of cognitive organs i.e., eye, ear, nose, tongue, skin and opinion which are active to understand colour, voice, scent, taste, touch and rule are called as "SHAPE". In a simple world, those things that have own shapes, such as paintings, tools, cloth, pottery, etc., and also those things that have not own shapes but can be felt by the five senses, such as music, smell, and taste.

 

From above, we, member of association must understand the area and the activities of the association that we must carry out. Nowadays, I often hear the word livelihood education which means each educational and cultural activities of our life from birth to death is indicated as livelihood education. From the time of birth to death, many people have been studying and pursuing that in which field they have an interest. Some private research institutes have begun to announce excellent research that is comparable to university research.

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“Asia Ethno-Forms Association” is registered in the Science Council of Japan's Collaborative Research Society. However, all members who join the association are equal. It does not matter if your research fields are your hobbies, or way of refreshment, we will accept it if you do not lose your quest. That is a prerequisite for membership.

 

Now, it may become academic by investigating the objects of interest that are not recognized as academic. In this association, members will find colleagues who have an interest in a similar field, create a small research group and do research in new academic fields. Through this process, we hope, this association will contribute to the development of Japanese academics’ sector.