Research Projects

Rethinking Gender in Islam as the Inter-Asian phenomenon: From the Reference of the Difference to an Opportunity for Change

Summary and Aims of the Project

This project focuses on today's spread of Islam and Islamic people, goods, and information (including intangible resources such as ideas and values), examines the relationship between Islam and gender as a phenomenon rooted in people's actual lives, and proposes a new perspective that replaces the traditional "division of areas around gender".

In the past, Islam was often viewed as an indicator of fixed differences viewed by Western "Orientalism". On the other hand, this project attempts to analyze, formulate, and present Islam as an actual "Inter-Asia" phenomenon, through gender issues, where Islam provides an opportunity, or device, for personal, situational, strategic, and arbitrary but accidental changes.

Islam is both a daily physical experience and a widely influential meta-discourse. Although we sometimes hear negative words about Islam in Japan, when we consider gender issues, it is particularly important to consider the positive aspects of Islam, rather than excluding it as the root of all evil, and reconsider it as the key to enabling multicultural coexistence.

Research Projects