An International Symposium Commemorating Shibusawa Keizō
"Another Face to Public Scholarship: Shibusawa Keizō as Intellectual and Cultural Figure" *

Last updated on September 10, 2013
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Date: Saturday, September 7, 2013
Time: 13:30-17:00
Venue: Fukutake Hall, University of Tokyo
Reservations: keizokinen50 [at] shibusawa.or.jp

Following in the footsteps of his grandfather Eiichi, Shibusawa Keizō spent his life in business and as a public servant, including directing the Bank of Japan and serving as Minister of Finance. It is also well known that his true passion was research and support for the advancement of scholarship. Although he chose not to be an academic himself, the private museum and research center that he created in his own home during his college years and called the “Attic Museum” (which would later become the Institute for the Study of Japanese Folk Culture) assembled not only collections of folk toys, folk tools, and historical documents, but a cohort of young independent scholars who together with Shibusawa produced a significant body of research on a wide range of topics. In the 1930s, the network of scholars connected to Shibusawa produced interdisciplinary surveys that would form the basis for joint research projects among nine academic societies in sociology and the humanities.

This symposium will focus a spotlight on facets of Shibusawa's career as a cultural figure, an intellectual, and a patron of scholarship, exploring the possibilities of what could be called Shibusawa's “alternative public scholarship.”

Speakers:

Noriko Aso (Associate Professor, University of California, Santa Cruz)
-- “What Was a Cultural Treasure to Shibusawa Keizō?”

Alan Christy (Associate Professor, University of California, Santa Cruz)
-- “Filming Minzokugaku Practice at the Attic Museum”

Tsurumi Tarō (Professor, Waseda University)
-- “Shibusawa Keizō as a Supporter of Academic Activities”

Satō Kenji (Professor, University of Tokyo)
-- “"Alternative Public Scholarship" Explored by Shibusawa Keizō”

Commentator:

Jordan Sand (Associate Professor, Georgetown University)