Few bicultural institutions can boast as long and rich a history as Tokyo’s Maison franco-japonaise (MFJ), which celebrated its centenary on December 14. The MFJ is a research center designed to bring about a better mutual understanding between Japan and France, and a space for scientific exchange, where many leading figures from the French intellectual world have been invited to present their work at conferences with simultaneous Japanese interpretation.
“In the current context marked by the English language’s cultural dominance, I believe it is essential to nurture cooperation and scientific dialogue in French and Japanese to offer a non-Anglo-Saxon vision of globalization,” said Thomas Garcin, the director of the MFJ’s Institute for Research on Japan and a specialist in contemporary Japanese literature, particularly Yukio Mishima (1925-1970).
From the Western-style wooden house with a small tower and garden provided by a Japanese patron when it was founded in 1924, the MFJ moved to Ochanomizu (the equivalent of Paris’ Latin Quarter), then to the residential district of Ebisu, where it is now housed in an imposing glass and concrete building. Boasting a rich library and lecture hall, it welcomes four French humanities and social sciences researchers working on Japan for two- to four-year residencies. For decades, most of the men and women who matter – or mattered – in the field of Japanese studies in France have stayed at the MFJ at some point.
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