Regional Differences of the Japanese People and Their Culture

我们在1991财政年度举行了5次座谈会和一次专题讨论会，详细阐述了1990年取得的成果。学术讨论会和学术研讨会的讨论积极地跨学科地进行，没有拘泥于学科的本位主义。在研讨会上，除其他外，来自每个学科的一位发言者和一位评论员阐明了目前的主要发现是什么，有争议的问题在哪里，未来研究的前景在他们的研究领域是什么样子。他们的论述引发了热烈的讨论。我们观察到一个所有领域共同的主导趋势：动态视角来调查和解释日本人及其文化的地区差异。日本文化和社会的地域差异不仅与生态条件有关，而且与政治和文化活动中心的存在有关。在古代弥生时代和古坟时代，东日本和西日本之间的差异曾经是-同时，我们也认识到，要充分阐明日本人及其文化的地域性，就必须与日本周边地区的人口和文化进行比较。1991年的结论是，认识到迫切需要组织一次关于日本人及其文化地域性的国际会议，并在此基础上提出了一个关于日本人及其文化地域性的国际会议。一个扩大规模的多学科和跨学科研究项目，以调查日本及其文化的同质性和异质性。

We have held 5 colloquia and one symposium during the fiscal year 1991 elaborating the results obtained in 1990. The discussion in the colloquia and the symposium has actively been carried out interdisciplinarily, not sticking to the departmentalism of disciplines. In the symposium, among others, a speaker and a commentator from each discipline made clear what the major findings up to present were, where controvertial issues lied, how the prospect for future research looked like in their fields of study. Their expositions were followed by heated discussion.We observe a leading trend common to all the fields : dynamic angle of view to investigate and interpret regional differences in the Japanese people and their culture. Not merely ecological conditions but also the existence of the centers of political and cultural activities have been responsible for the regional differences of Japanese culture and society. The difference between eastern and western Japan during Yayoi and Kofun Ages in the antiquity was ever-changing in terms of the boundary and contents.At the same time we have realized that compareions with the populations and cultures of the areas surrounding Japan are indispensable for full elucidation of the regionality in the Japanese and their culture.Our conclusion for the year 1991 is the recognition of urgent need for organizing a multi-and interdisciplinary research project of an extended scale for investigating the homogeneity and heterogeneity in the Japanese and their culture.