Explore Iranica

JAPAN AND ITS RELATIONS WITH IRAN. i. Introduction ii. Diplomatic and commercial relations with Iran iii. Japanese travelers to Persia iv. Iranians in Japan v. Archeological missions to Persia vi. Iranian studies in Japan, pre-Islamic period vii. Iranian studies in Japan, Islamic period viii. Safavid studies in Japan ix. Centers…

JAPAN i. INTRODUCTION The seventh-eighth century Japanese annals depict an early ruler (tennō “emperor”) of Yamato, centered in the area of modern Nara Prefecture, as he hears for the first time about the rich land to the west—meaning Korea; the revelation comes from a god speaking through the king’s wife…

JAPAN ii. DIPLOMATIC AND COMMERCIAL RELATIONS WITH IRAN Qajar period, 1796-1925. Although it is not clear when Iran initiated diplomatic contact with Japan, it is believed to have been in 1873, when Nāṣer-al-Din Shah, on his first trip to Europe, met Naonobu Sameshima of Satsuma, who was the then Japanese…

JAPAN iii. JAPANESE TRAVELERS TO PERSIA In Japan the Edo Shogunate (1603-1867) forbade any visits or trade with foreigners other than those from China and the Netherlands. According to the decree of 1635, the Japanese were barred from traveling abroad and, according to the decree of 1639, the Portuguese were…

JAPAN iv. IRANIANS IN JAPAN Japanese society is often said to be closed to foreigners, and yet in 2005 the number of foreign residents in Japan reached two million people (1.6 percent of the total population of the country). Among the foreigners in Japan, Iranians total about 5,000 people, constituting…

JAPAN ix. CENTERS FOR PERSIAN STUDIES IN JAPAN University courses. Formal undergraduate and graduate programs of Persian studies in Japan are offered at Osaka University School of Foreign Studies (Ōsaka Daigaku Gaikokugo Gakubū) and Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (Tōkyō Gaikokugo Daigaku). Osaka University School of Foreign Studies continues the…

JAPAN v. ARCHEOLOGICAL MISSIONS TO PERSIA After World War II Japanese archeologists could not continue their work on sites in Korea and China, and their expertise became available for research in the Middle East and Persia. Japanese excavations, in some contrast to European and North American practices, would all be…

JAPAN vi. IRANIAN STUDIES IN JAPAN, PRE-ISLAMIC PERIOD Scholarly interest in ancient Iran in Japan developed from the early 20th century on, suffered a setback with the advent of World War II, but re-emerged stronger than before from the 1950s on, when archeological research and excavation surpassed philology as the…

JAPAN viii. SAFAVID STUDIES IN JAPAN Among Japanese scholars interested in Iran, the ratio of historians who conduct research on pre-modern Iran is relatively higher than that in Europe and North America. This seems to be due to the fact that, while in Europe and North America researchers interested in…

JAPAN xi. COLLECTIONS OF PERSIAN ART IN JAPAN Persian works of art in Japanese collections may be classified roughly into two categories: artifacts brought to Japan through China and the Korean peninsula in ancient, medieval, and early modern times, and those purchased in art markets since the 19th century. The…

JAPAN xii. TRANSLATIONS OF PERSIAN WORKS INTO JAPANESE Japanese scholars in the late 19th century began to embark on Oriental studies outside the traditional fields (out of fashion after the Meiji Restoration of 1868) of Chinese literature and Confucian learning. Some were attracted to Persia, initially by its literary heritage….

JAPAN xiii. TRANSLATIONS OF JAPANESE WORKS INTO PERSIAN Translation into Persian of works written in French, English, and other European languages began in Nāṣer-al-Din Shah’s reign (1848-96). The Government Translation Bureau (Dār-al-tarjama-ye ḵāṣṣa-ye dawlati) under Moḥammad-Ḥasan Khan Eʿtemād-al-Salṭana engaged in translating diverse historical, geographical, and literary works. Perhaps some of…

JĀRČI, a public crier, announcer or herald, derived from the Mongol jar (proclamation, announcement) and certainly also related to the Turkish yar as in yarliḡ (Mo. jarlig), meaning decree or order (Doerfer, pp. 277-78; see also explicitly in Naṭanzi, pp. 310, 322: jār farmudan). The term jār is first encountered…