Josai University Educational Corporation

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Commissioner for Cultural Affairs Masanori Aoyagi Gives Special Public Lecture

On November 27, 2013, Josai University Educational Corporation hosted a special public lecture by Commissioner for Cultural Affairs and ancient Greek and Roman scholar Masanori Aoyagi at Tokyo Kioicho Campus. His lecture, titled “The Roman Empire and Japan―Japan as a Foreign Culture,” was cosponsored by the Josai Multicultural Studies Center and the Josai International University Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies.

Mr. Aoyagi, a renowned scholar of ancient Greece and Rome and doctor of literature, graduated from the Literature department of Tokyo University with a degree in art history in 1967. After completing his master’s degree from that same university in 1969, Mr. Aoyagi did research abroad in Rome for three years where he took part in the excavation of the ancient Pompeii ruins. Later Mr. Aoyagi served as the chair of the Tokyo University Literature department as well as university vice president before being designated the director of the National Museum of Western Art in 2008. In July, 2013, Mr. Aoyagi was named the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs. An honorary professor of Tokyo University as well as a member of the Japan Academy, Mr. Aoyagi was a recipient of the Purple Ribbon Medal in 2006 and the NHK Cultural Award in 2011. He has also published numerous award-winning books, including The House of the Ship Europa (Collegium Mediterranistarum Prize) and The Ancient Roman City (Marco Polo Award).
  Before his designation as Commissioner for Cultural Affairs, Mr. Aoyagi was named a Specially Appointed Professor by Josai University and was instrumental in the establishment of the Josai Multicultural Studies Center, which served as a cosponsor of this event.

For his special lecture, Mr. Aoyagi addressed the question of how the Roman Empire, largely considered the pinnacle of human history, could enjoy such an enduring prosperity for over 300 years. Mr. Aoyagi explored his topic from a diversity of angles―political, social, cultural, military, and infrastructural―to illustrate that the Roman Empire developed a highly advanced social system comparable to the modern nation-state. Mr. Aoyagi also launched a cultural comparison between the Roman Empire and Japanese society, proving that, from ancient times, Japanese culture has been a “culture of tranquility” or “cyclical culture” characterized by stability, equilibrium, tradition, and technical repetition. Mr. Aoyagi claims that it is the synthesis of these elements of “vitality” that is responsible for the development of Japanese culture.
  The basement auditorium was filled to capacity with JU and JIU students, faculty, exchange students from Central Europe, China, and many other places, and members of the general public, all of whom listened with great attentiveness to Mr. Aoyagi’s talk.
  A reception was held following the lecture where exchange students and others flocked around Mr. Aoyagi to discuss Japanese and foreign cultures and other topics related to his lecture.

Commissioner for Cultural Affairs, Mr. Aoyagi gives his lecture

Commissioner for Cultural Affairs, Mr. Aoyagi gives his lecture

Exchange students interact with Commissioner Mr. Aoyagi during the reception

Exchange students interact with Commissioner Mr. Aoyagi during the reception


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