Introduction

The Institute for Humanities Research was founded in 1963 as a research facility affiliated with Kanagawa University. As its name suggests, the Institute’s aim is to encourage and support research activities undertaken in fields related to the humanities. Its main roles are as follows:

• To provide a source for financial and administrative support for research
• To collect, maintain and make available research materials
• To publish academic books and journals
• To organize and support academic symposia, lectures and seminars

Support for joint research undertaken by members of the many humanities-themed research groups affiliated with the Institute is one of its primary missions.

Research Activities

Activities that have to date been pursued under the aegis of the Institute can be generally grouped into two categories: fieldwork and research carried out by the members of the Institute-affiliated research groups, and international academic exchanges conducted with various foreign-based research organizations. Since the time of its inception, more than 30 research groups have been organized at the Institute, all working to broaden and expand the scope of research in the humanities.