SOPHIA UNIVERSITY VIEWBOOK

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19MissionThis Institute was established by the late Father Johannes Laures on February 5,1939, the anniversary of the martyrdom of 26 Japanese saints, for the purpose of research on the history of Christian missions in Japan, cultural exchange between Japan and Europe in conjunction with missionary work, and for widerange di■usion of such knowledge and results.ActivitiesKirishitan Bunko is a world-famous center for the collection, study, and publication of materials on early East-West relations and Christian missionary activities in Japan and Asia. The Kirishitan Bunko collection includes about 15,900 volumes, including books, documents, maps, materials published in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, Roman Catholic Church publications from the Meiji period, Petitjean editions, and other related materials. In recent years a Japanesegovernment grant has provided funding for the release of an internet version of the third edition of“Kirishitan Bunko”bibliography and a virtual library of the Kirishitan Bunko Library rare book collection (Laures Kirishitan Bunko Rare Book Database and Virtual Library).HistoryThe Institute of Grief Care was established as Japan’s ■rst institute dealing with this subject in April 2009 in Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture, in April 2010 it becomes an institution of Sophia University. The Institute’s activities include professional training for grief care counselors. The Institute’s activities began following a major accident on the Fukuchiyama rail line. The activities of the institute have been supported by a grant from the JR WEST Relief Foundation, and from 2014, the Institute receives the contribution from other support groups.Activities•Research in Grief Care and Spiritual Care •Professional training course for Grief Care practitioners •Public Lecture series ( 2series a year) •Activities commissioned by local governments •Publications, including Grief Care a journal of the instituteAbout the JournalMonumenta Nipponica is one of the leading Japan studies journals in the world. In the ■rst quarter of 2023, alone, people in over 120 countries accessed Monumenta Nipponica ’s peer-reviewed articles and book reviews more than 48,000 times. The journal was founded in 1938 by Sophia economics professor Johannes B. Kraus, S.J. (1892–1946), and it continues to be a vibrant forum for the exchange of ideas. The journal welcomes contributions representing diverse disciplinary perspectives in the humanities and dealing with all periods, from ancient to modern times, and also maintains its commitment to providing a platform for translations of Japanese literary and historical sources and texts. For an in-depth history of MN, see Monumenta Nipponica: Eighty Years and Counting , available as a PDF on the MN website.ActivitiesPublished twice a year, Monumenta Nipponica carries original scholarly contributions on Japanese history, literature, art, religion, thought, and society, as well as translations of important Japanese literary texts and historical sources. Each issue carries three articles and as many as twenty authoritative reviews of recent books on Japan. From volume 60 (2005), the journal has been available online through Project MUSE. All back issues are available online, with a ■veyear moving wall, through JSTOR. The journal is indexed by EBSCO, Arts and Humanities Citation Index, CNKI Scholar, ERIH PLUS, Index to the Study of Religions Online, and Scopus.MissionThe Sophia Asia Center for Research and Human Development deals with (nearby) areas in Asia, and there, by forging bonds of amity with local people it conducts activities as the Sophia Mission (activities of international service). The institute has been serving in Cambodia, and it has been involved in tasks that do not ignore people in distress. By displaying as its axiom of global service the fact that the conservation and restoration of Angkor Wat should be carried out by the Cambodians for the Cambodians, the institute has since 1991 created a curriculum at the site of the monuments, and for the past 33 years it has been involved in human resource development at the site.Activities1）The Hub of our Human Resource Development: We went to Cambodia in the midst of the civil war and in 1996 we have established a center focusing on research and human resource development at the site, which happened to be the only such center in Japan. We then involved ourselves in the development of human resources among the local people, and assisted the Cambodians in reclaiming their courage and hope. We have conducted each summer training sessions for students of the faculties of Archaeology and Architecture of the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, at the site of the Banteay Kdei monument and the Western Causeway of Angkor Wat. As of now 18 students have acquired degrees at our university’s graduate school (with 11 obtaining master’s degrees and 7 obtaining doctoral degrees).2）The Hub of our International Exchange Activities with Countries of Asia: Every year in summer ‘Tree Shade’ lectures are held as a student exchange activity between Japan and Cambodia, and our ‘Mekong Cultural Heritage Project Related to 5 Nations of Southeast Asia’ of 2014, began anew in 2017 as a ‘Project for Exchanges Concerning Focal Points, with reference to the Cultural Heritage in the 10 nations of ASEAN.’ Here we convened experts associated with the conservation and restoration of cultural heritage from the 10 nations of ASEAN, and organized workshops to discuss the preservation and renovation of their cultural assets.3）Exchanges with the Local People at the site of the Monuments: From 2011, we established the ‘Sophia Angkor Center for Cultural Heritage Education’ at the site of the Banteay Kdei monument. At this facility, every year in summer, site excursions, visits, and slide projections of cultural heritage are conducted for the elementary and middle school students of the vicinity, in order to enable them to get familiar with the Angkor Wat ruins.MissionThe Institute of Bioethics (SUIBE) was established in April 2010 based on the Sophia University philosophy, namely“Christian humanism”and“human dignity.”SUIBE is to develop and deepen research on bioethics, integrating the academic ■elds of the human sciences, social sciences and natural sciences.The study of bioethics was started in the U.S.A. The ■eld developed in response to the rapid development of advanced medical technology and has now come to focus on problems in research on the human embryo, human substances, and genome biology. However, bioethics also includes the study of more fundamental ethical concerns related to the meaning of human life. SUIBE considers not only the problems of medical science research and medical ethics, such issues as mental health, reproductive technology, terminal care, and organ transplants, but also medical welfare issues such as access to health care, protection and care of children, the aged, and the disabled.ActivitiesSUIBE holds a public symposium several times a year, and sponsors research meetings for its members, and works with Japanese and international partners to publish research results and to make those results available to the general public, and to o■er advice for policy makers.MissionThe institute was established on October 1, 2009 as one of the centennial projects of Sophia University, and in commemoration of the outstanding achievements of Dr.Jun-ichi Nishizawa. The institute will lead research in related ■elds of semiconductor electronics, basic electronics, and basic physical properties and thereby ful■ll its mission of contributing to the academic and cultural development in Japan.ActivitiesThe Semiconductor Research Institute aims to develop innovative next-generation semiconductor technologies that can contribute to the construction of a sustainable society, mainly through the activity of semiconductor researchers in the Faculty of Science and Technology of Sophia University. Currently, utilizing various semiconductor processing equipment installed in a clean room, the Institute is collaborating with two timed research divisions of the Nanotechnology Research Center (Director: Associate Professor Rie Togashi) on a joint research project with a company, "Research on Laser Devices with Nanocolumns," and the Photonics Research Center (Director: Prof. Akihiko Kikuchi) on the JST CREST program "Topological State Creation and Novel Property Development Based on Arti■cial Graphene".The c enter also plays a role as a joint research c enter to e stablish an e ■cient research collaboration between semiconductor researchers at Sophia University and other universities.Kirishitan Bunko LibraryInstitute of Grief CareMonumenta NipponicaSophia Asia Centerfor Research andHuman DevelopmentSophia UniversityInstitute of BioethicsSemiconductor ResearchInstituteAffiliated Research Organizations