‘Migration, Adaptation, Innovation’ on research in Japan.

In July, Floris went to Japan to conduct research for the project and in particular to further the outputs the project has planned.

After a long flight via Abu Dhabi I arrived in Tokyo where I was set to start research at the Waseda University Library as well as the National Diet Library. Both places are home to numerous documents and sources, and it is always a fantastic opportunity to do research there.

However, this time around I did not stay in Tokyo and my research took me initially to Kyoto to visit the Kansai-kan of the National Diet Library outside of Kyoto. Here the Asian collections are kept and there was a wealth of information available. Thankfully the staff were extremely helpful and showed a lot of interest in the project as they helped me finding particular documents.

The entrance to the National Diet Library Kansai-kan

From Kyoto the road led to Okayama, which I used as a base from which I travelled to do research in Tsuyama, Takamatsu, and Tokushima. Here there there were not only archives, but also a number of other sites that are important for my research. For example, the somewhat neglected Korean graves next to a road in the north of Tsuyama city, as well as a number of Korean graves close to Tokushima city.

From here the terrible rainfall and flooding stopped me from travelling further down south and I choose to go to Kōchi to continue the research trip. This detour proved extremely fruitful and it was a joy to be able to conduct research there. The people at the Kōchi Prefectural Museum and the Kōchi Municipal Library were extremely helpful and spared no effort trying to help me find out more about early modern Korean migrants in the area, and locate documents. It was also a joy to walk through the neighbourhood where many of the Koreans who settled in Kōchi lived.

The site where Koreans settled in Kōchi

From Kōchi I travelled back to Tokyo where I was able to wrap up research at Waseda and National Diet Library before flying back home. The trip was tiring, but very productive and I’m extremely thankful for all the people who were so helpful during my time in Japan. I can’t wait to share the research in upcoming talks and publications.