Message from the President

The massive earthquake and tsunami that hit the Pacific coast of eastern Japan on March 11, 2011 left more than 20,000 people dead or missing. Many towns and farming and fishing villages were destroyed and a great number of people continue to live in evacuation shelters or temporary housings. We pray for the repose of the souls of those who lost their lives and extend our hope for the early reconstruction of the affected areas.

What we realized anew in the face of this unprecedented disaster is the importance of everyday life. Daily life, which naturally varies from one part of the country to another, forms the basis of human culture. It is replete with language and ideas and sustained by economic activity founded on the accumulation of technology. Together with our families and relatives, our neighbors and communities, we are part of the rich fabric of life woven out of local history, culture, and art.

The National Institutes for the Humanities (NIHU), founded in 2004, was incorporated to serve as the holding organization for the major humanities research institutes in Japan. Starting with five, it now comprises six research institutes. NIHU helps each of the institutes to fulfill its discipline-based founding objectives, promotes cooperation among the institutes, and encourages their initiatives in shared use of resources and collaboration with universities and other organizations, involving a wide range of humanities and social sciences researchers in Japan and overseas. Some research institutes are based on multiple disciplines and others are seeking to establish new disciplines.

“Discipline” here refers to the development and transmission of scholarship in certain specialized fields of research that is indispensable to the advancement of human culture. In line with its role as an inter-university research corporation, NIHU takes responsibility for encouraging interdisciplinary and collaborative research, thereby contributing to the enhancement of scholarship as a whole.

About the Mark of NIHU

The National Institutes for the Humanities logo is comprised of a circle and the Japanese kanji character representing humankind. The circle represents strength, harmony and permanence, and gently wraps itself around “humankind”. The powerfully brush stroked character “humankind” in the circle is the calligraphy of Kukai (774-835), a famous Japanese monk, scholar, poet and artist.

It is used here as a symbol for humanity and knowledge. The color green represents nature and peace of mind while the logo in its entirety expresses the old and the new and softness alongside sharpness.

* The kanji character “humankind” as written by Kukai is taken from one of his works titled “Cui Zi-Yu’s Beliefs” which has been designated an important cultural property and is kept by the Houkiin Temple on Mount Kōya. The character is used with the permission of the Houkiin Temple.