Organizational Milestones

Organizational Milestones (Brief Timeline)

December 2015Ritsumeikan Asia-Japan Research Organization, and its subsidiary Asia-Japan Research Institute, were established at the university's Osaka Ibaraki Campus. This campus functions as a Gateway to Asia for the university.
March 2016Program for Asia-Japan Research Development was inaugurated.
July 20164 research projects were initiated under the Program for Asia-Japan Research Development.
September 2016ANU-RU Visiting Researchers Program started.
February 2017On February 23 and 24, an International Conference on the "Challenges and Prospects for Urban and Regional Studies on Asia" was held to commemorate the inauguration of the Ritsumeikan Asia-Japan Research Organization. It was arranged jointly by Ritsumeikan Asia-Japan Research Organization and the Research Organization of Open Innovation and Collaboration.
April 20175 new research projects were initiated under the Program for Asia-Japan Research Development.
February 2018A preliminary meeting for Meridian 180 co-organized by Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies at Cornell University. Two workshops were also organized on "Is Democracy Sustainable in an Aging Nation?" and "Global Data Governance".
March 2018The Institute's first overseas international symposium on "Global Resource Conservation" in the city of Malan in Indonesia, jointly organized by Brawijaya University and Ritsumeikan University.
April 20183 new research projects were initiated under the Program for Asia-Japan Research Development. Ritsumeikan University joined "Meridian 180", an innovative international academic and intellectual online forum.
June 2018An MOU with Cornell University, USA, signed.
July 2018The "AJI Advanced Support for Academic Writing in English" Program began and ran until December 2018.
March 2019An MOU with Northwestern University, USA, signed. 4 research projects under the Program for Asia-Japan Research Development completed their missions after three years of research activities.
March to April 2019Ritsumeikan University's Meridian180 Group led its first International Online Multilingual Forum on “Smart and Shrinking Cities”.
April 2019"Support Program for Young Researchers' Career Path Development" has started.
AJI Frontier Seminar series started, on a monthly basis.
July 2019Academic Periodical in English launched:Journal of the Asia-Japan Research Institute of Ritsumeikan University.
The second year of "AJI Advanced Support for Academic Writing in English" Program started. It continued until December 2019.
October 2019The first "International Colloquium on Asian Paths of Civilization and Development" held at Putra Jaya, Malaysia.
November 2019Online Academic Periodical in English launched:the Asia-Japan Research Academic Bulletin. / International Workshop on “Kazakhstan’s Literary Heritage” was held in collaboration with Farabi National University in Kazakhstan, the National Center for Manuscripts and Rare Books, and the Eurasia Institute.
January 2020Dr. Tomoko Akami from the Australian National University spoke at the AJI Research Frontiers Seminar as part of a faculty exchange program.
February 2020An International Symposium on Asia and Japan: Perspectives of History held and published as the first edition of AJI Books, January 2021. Part of the Meridian 180 conference, the "Gerontology and Social Technology: Focusing on East Asia" symposium took place.
March 20205 research projects under the Program for Asia-Japan Research Development completed their missions after three years of research activities.
March to April 2020The Gerontology Research Team from Ritsumeikan University's Meridian180 Group hosted the "Gerontology and Social Technology" event for the second time during the Multilingual International Online Forum.
April 20203 new research projects were initiated under the Program for Asia-Japan Research Development.
AJI Interdisciplinary Seminar series started, on a monthly basis.
May 2020Asia-Japan Today: Researchers' Essays Series started online (English/Japanese).
Jun 2020The first volume of the Annual Review of Asia-Japan Research at Ritsumeikan (in Japanese) has been released online.
July 2020The third year of "AJI Advanced Support for Academic Writing in English" Program started. It will continue until December 2020. / The 20 AJI Frontiers Seminar was held.
September to October 2020The Meridian180 Global Summit was held online.
October 2020The second volume of AJI Journal has been released.
November 2020Mainly young researchers from the institute participated through online in the AP Conference, which was hosted by Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University.
January　2021A new series, AJI Books, has been launched online.The first book is: Asia and Japan: Perspectives of History / The Food and Agriculture research team at Meridian180 hosted their third Multilingual Forum.
February 2021The 5th Anniversary International Symposium of Asia-Japan Research at Ritsumeikan University Asia, Japan, and the Global Society held.
March 2021Asia and Japan Today (1): Researchers' Essays at the Arrival of a New COVID Era as the second book of AJI Books series has been released online.
International Symposium Online, based on cooperation agreement between Ritsumeikan University and Northwestern University "Food and Agriculture beyond the Pandemic" held Second International Colloquium on Asian Paths of Civilization and Development was held.
April 20213 research projects were initiated under the Program for Asia-Japan Research Development.
Program Coordinated with Graduate schools to Foster a New Generation of Researchers started.
The 30th AJI Research Frontiers Seminar was held.
MOU has been signed for academic collaboration with Northwestern University.
June 2021Asia-Japan Research Academic Bulletin, Vol. 2, 2021 was opened for publication.
The Ritsumeikan Advanced Research Academy’s office has been established and the AJI Secretariat has been merged with the Office.
July 2021The fourth year of "AJI Advanced Support for Academic Writing in English" Program started. It will continue until December 2021.
The second volume of the Annual Review of Asia-Japan Research at Ritsumeikan (in Japanese) has been released online.
October 2021The third volume of the Journal of the Asia-Japan Research Institute of Ritsumeikan University was published.
The International Symposium on "Islam, Civilization, and Science" was held jointly by Malaysia National University and Kyoto University (online).
December 20214 sessions from the AJI participated in the AP Conference (Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University) in person.
The third and fourth editions of AJI Books were published.
January 2022The third volume of the Asia-Japan Research Academic Bulletin has been published.
The 40th AJI Frontiers Seminar was held.
January-February 2022The AJI hosted a Multilingual workshop titled “Gender Transformation under the Pandemic in East Asia” in 4 languages (Japanese, English, Chinese [Simplified/Traditional], Korean) over 2 sessions.
February 2022The 2022 AJI International Symposium, “Asia-Japan Research Beyond Borders: Global Sharing of Local Wisdom Towards Human Longevity,” took place at Ritsumeikan University.
The online conference for partner universities of Meridian180 took place.
March 2022The AJI Research Development Program successfully completed three projects that were adopted in 2020.
April 2022The AJI Research Development Program adopted three projects and started their research.
The members of the second phase took part in the AJI Graduate Collaborative Next Generation Researcher Development Program.
A new project called the “AJI Book Club” has launched, starting with the “AJI Book Launch” to introduce new books.
AJI and the Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII) made an MOU for academic exchange.
May 2022The “AJI Book Launch” was organized to introduce two new books.
June 2022Professor Wendy Pearlman visited Japan as part of a faculty exchange with Northwestern University, including a book launch for her book translated into and the international symposium broadcast from AJI Studios.
The AJI has opened AJI Studios to share their research findings online.
The AJI begun to renovate the website.
The AJI started to deliver the newsletter for the university in Japanese.
Earlier career researchers introduced three new books at the AJI Book Launch.
July 2022The AJI Advanced Support for Academic Writing in English began its fifth year, running until December 2022.
During her visit to Ritsumeikan University, Professor Annelise Riles, vice president of Northwestern University and director of the Buffett Institute, discussed future collaborations and the results of our research team's Meridian 180 activities. These included the publication of an e-book by Northwestern University and the launch of an international symposium titled “International Symposium of Meridian180 on City, Public Value, and Capitalism.”
August 2022The third volume of the Annual Review of Asia-Japan Research at Ritsumeikan was published.
The AJI and the Buffett Institute at Northwestern University collaborated to host the International Conference, “Nuclear Disaster Compensation: Building an Anticipatory, Participatory, and Transnational Framework in East Asia".
September 2022The AJI established four research units for the development of "Ritsumeikan Asian-Japan Studies" as part of its Priority Research Program.
October 2022The AJI took part in AsiaWeek 2022 at Osaka Ibari Campus, promoting Asia-Japan studies at a public booth and interacted with almost 10,000 visitors.
The AJI International Philosophy Workshop titled "The Anthropocene and Postwar Japanese Philosophy: Critical Assessments and Propositions towards New Perspectives" was held and chaired by Dr. Nobuyuki Matsui.
November 2022The fourth volume of the Journal of the Asia-Japan Research Institute of Ritsumeikan University has been published.
The Ritsumeikan-ANU Public Lectures series has begun.
December 2022The AJI held five on-site sessions during the AP Conference at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University.
MOU has been signed for academic cooperation with Nong Lam University in Vietnam.
January 2023A workshop on “Local Knowledge and Community Participation in Disaster Response” was held by the multilingual Meridian180 Forum.
“Asia Map” has been released in Japanese.
February 2023The AJI International Symposium 2023, titled “Asia-Japan Research Beyond Borders: Asian Societies Striving for a Secure and Sustainable Life,” took place at Ritsumeikan University.
MOU for academic cooperation signed with the Australian National University.
The 4th International Colloquium on “Asian Civilization and Development Paths” was held.
The International Workshop on “Diaspora From the Frontier of Asian Diaspora Studies: Perspectives on Migrants, Refugees, and Returnee Diasporas” was held.
March 2023The AJI, Malaysia National University and the Kyoto University jointly hosted the “International Colloquium on Islamic and Halal Economic Studies: Towards a New Horizon in the Post-COVID Era”.
The Asia-Japan Research series has been published for the first time.
April 2023The AJI Research Development Program has adopted three new projects.