Josai University Educational Corporation

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Josai Hosts Lecture by Kojin Karatani “Mountain People and Mountain Witches (Yamabito and Yamamba)” as Part of 50th Anniversary

On December 10, 2014, the Josai University Educational Corporation (Noriko Mizuta, Chancellor) hosted a lecture by philosopher and critic Kojin Karatani entitled “Mountain People and Mountain Witches (Yamabito and Yamamba)” at the Tokyo Kioicho Campus auditorium. The event was organized as part of the 50th anniversary of Josai University Educational Corporation’s foundation, which happens next year, and was sponsored by the Center for Inter-Cultural Studies and cosponsored by Josai International University’s Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies.

Mr. Karatani began his career as a literary critic. He also wrote on the work of such thinkers as Karl Marx and Immanuel Kant, before developing his own theoretical frame of thought. In January 2014, Mr. Karatani published his most recent volume Theory of Nomads: Kunio Yanagita and Mountain People (Chikuma Publishing) which analyzes the work of Kunio Yanagita and his movement from “mountain people” to “settled people.” A public speaking appearance by Mr. Karatani is extremely rare, but with a personal invitation from Chancellor Mizuta―with whom Mr. Karatani is acquainted through past literary discussions on gender and expression―this special lecture could be organized.

Citing Zeami’s Mountain Witch and Ms. Akiko Baba’s Demon Studies (Chikuma Publishing), Mr. Karatani presented his theories on this particular subject. “Unlike the mountainfolk or the lowland folk, the mountain people have no interest in permanent settlement. According to Yanagita, their existence is akin to that of a tengu (mountain spirit). The mountain witch too is distinct from the field woman or the village woman in that she is a mountain person, as I learned from the theories of Ms. Mizuta,” he said. Elsewhere Karatani said, “The mountain witch has no resistance to sexual difference; it is an existence that transcends gender.” Faculty, students, and campus visitors who filled the near-capacity auditorium listened with great interest to Mr. Karatani’s compelling theories.

The lecture was followed by a friendly reception in Mr. Karatani’s honor. Poet and JIU faculty member, Yoshimasu Gozo, who is a good friend of Mr. Karatani, raised his glass in the guest’s honor, saying, “Today’s lecture was both revolutionary and compelling, on a subject matter that I never grow tired of. That Josai could host such a great lecture by such an amazing thinker, brings me great joy.”
  In addition, the volume of joint dialogues Mizuta Noriko Dialogues and Symposia Collection 1: Patriarchy and Gender (Ed. Noriko Mizuta, Josai University Educational Corporation University Press, 2014) that feature Mr. Karatani, Chancellor Mizuta, and others was published by Josai last February.

Mr. Karatani during his lecture

Mr. Karatani during his lecture

Part of the lecture series commemorating Josai’s 50th anniversary

Part of the lecture series commemorating Josai’s 50th anniversary


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