Research Activities
As institutions of education and research, universities and graduate schools are required to function as intellectual hubs in the pursuit of solutions to the problems confronting society. At Kanagawa University we are working to develop more sophisticated research functions and plow the results of our research activities back into the community.
Kanagawa University Center Selected under MEXT’s Fiscal 2009 Project to Promote the Establishment of Joint Research Centers in the Humanities and Social Sciences
Under the above project, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) aims to expand the development of centers for joint research in the humanities and social sciences to include private universities and other institutions as well. MEXT will strengthen the research framework and foundations for national, public, and private universities by applying the human and material resources held by these institutions. The International Center for Folk Culture Studies proposed by Kanagawa University’s Institute for the Study of Japanese Folk Culture was selected as a joint research center for the period from fiscal 2009 through fiscal 2013.
Involvement in the MEXT Program for Promoting Advancement of Academic Research at Private Universities
Under this Program, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) offers targeted and comprehensive support for the purposes of strengthening the foundations for academic research at private universities and developing their research functions to a more advanced level. Kanagawa University is currently pursuing several joint research projects selected for this Program in the “Scientific Frontier Promotion Program.”
Scientific Frontier Promotion Programs
Design and Control of a Chemical Environment for the Creation of Functional Materials (2006–2010)
The International Center for Folk Culture Studies
The International Center for Folk Culture Studies (ICFCS) makes the historical materials and databases widely available to researchers outside the university. The materials and database are held by the Institute for the Study of Japanese Folk Culture (ISJFC) and the Research Center for Nonwritten Cultural Materials, which operates under the auspices of the ISJFC and seeks to build on the results attained by the ISJFC's 21st Century COE Program. To further expand and deepen related fields of research, five projects have been established: (1) integrated research on traditional maritime communities and the history, (2) presentation of folk implements and artifacts as cultural resources, (3) systematization of nonwritten materials (pictorial materials, physical techniques, and landscape design), (4) presentation of film materials as cultural resources, and (5) development of systems for sharing folk culture materials. The ICFCS aims to serve as a hub for joint research by Japan's national, public, and private universities as well as other research institutes in Japan and overseas. It also strives to contribute to intercultural understanding in multicultural societies by promoting interdisciplinary and international joint research on the authentic culture of everyday life and folk culture within an integrated transnational and transethnic framework.
