"In the field People and Deer Share to Live"

"In the field People and Deer Share to Live who seeks the frontier"

Tojo, Yoshinori
(Department of Regional Studies, School of Cultural and Social Studies)

We spoke with Yoshinori Tojo, a third-year doctoral candidate at the Department of Regional Studies based in the National Museum of Ethnology (Minpaku). Mr. Tojo studies the relationships between man and wild animals from the anthropological point of view. We interviewed him about his research work, and the perspectives he has gained from his experiences.

Q: How did you get to know about the Department of Regional Studies, and what made you enroll in SOKENDAI?

A: When I was a master's candidate, I was not able to make up my mind how and where I wanted to continue my research. At that time, the theme of my research was not focused, and I did not have vision for how I should continue my research. I was in a history seminar, but my research used both anthropological and historical research methods. I was considering changing seminars when an older student I knew from a conference introduced me to my current advisor. This was how I learned of the Department of Regional Studies. Later, I talked to the advisor directly, and he acknowledged the research I had in mind at that time. So I decided to enroll in SOKENDAI.

Q：How different is your research experience at SOKENDAI and Minpaku from that of your previous universities?？

A：The difference from my previous universities is that SOKENDAI and Minpaku offer opportunities to meet people, as well as financial support and backup for students' projects. SOKENDAI offers various lectures and workshops in the forms of student seminars, academic exchange forums and SOKENDAI lectures. Minpaku also organizes various collaborative research opportunities such as international symposia. Through these opportunities, I can interact and exchange opinions with researchers in various fields. Being able to interact with researchers and graduate students in different fields, whom you normally do not meet at seminars and conferences, gives you wider perspectives as a researcher.
Also, SOKENDAI has a system in which it supports students' financial expenses for projects it has approved. I took advantage of this system for my project: "Industry-Academia-Community Collaborative Environmental Education Project: Coexistence of Man and Deer, Learning from Nara's Deer Conservation Activities," which received approval. This project will involve workshops and seminars held in collaboration with local communities. On these occasions, I will introduce the research results and findings of anthropology, folklore, sociology and environmental studies, and try to inform more people of the problems with which the efforts to conserve Nara's deer are currently faced. I am currently busy preparing for this.

While SOKENDAI's research environment includes these aspects, it tends to have less intimate relationships among students compared to conventional graduate schools. At the base institution, you are mostly communicating with professors and staff members, and it feels more like workplace communication, with more formal communication opportunities than before. On the other hand, I don't have as many occasions to exchange straightforward opinions with other students compared to where I was previously. But naturally, it is not like we don't get along, and we do go out for drinks occasionally. So there is nothing to worry about.

Q: Please tell us about the details of your study.

A： I study, from anthropological perspectives, methods of rescuing animals and techniques of hunting that are required to realize the coexistence of man and animals.

When I was little, I didn't like to interact with animals. When I went to Nara Park for the first time with my family, deer much larger than I was then approached me as I had 'deer crackers', and that frightened me. Since then, I was afraid of any animals. But that experience affected my research later on. In the history classes in my undergraduate course, I learned, through diaries of nobles and documents of temples and shrines, that deer had lived in Nara for a long time, since the Heian period. Partly because of my childhood incident, I became interested in how people had dealt with deer, and lived with them sharing the same space. In my undergraduate course, I studied the history of the relationships of man and chickens, and then in my master's course, those of man and the deer of Nara Park.
I am currently doing research in Hokkaido as well, in addition to Nara. In Nara, I am working with the conservation groups for deer, and in Hokkaido, with hunters. In my research, I mainly look into the ways of using tools and methods of capturing animals. In order to collect necessary data for my research, I accompany the actual conservation fieldwork or hunting outings, and observe their work on the ground. By helping them, I learn what their work consists of. (This method of research, in which the researcher goes into the field and participates in the activities concerned in order to observe more completely, is called 'participant observation'.) Later, I visit them to ask questions about what I did not understand in the field. Also, based on the records from this fieldwork as well as on public documents and magazine articles, etc., I conduct analyses from the following perspectives: how they use tools, utilizing the skills they acquired through the work, and how they cooperate with team members in fieldwork to conduct rescues and captures. I also look into how they pass on the skills they have acquired over the course of time, as well as the techniques of rescuing and capturing animals. Furthermore, I study how these skills and techniques of dealing with animals are perceived in the local communities, and how they have been regarded in modern societies. By looking at the relationship between man and animals from this perspective, I hope to develop the knowledge to deal with wild animals in various environments, and to make suggestions on wildlife conservation and management policies; I also hope to gain ideas and insights on the relationship between man and animals from the human science point of view.

Q：What kind of work do you hope to do in the future?

A：After obtaining my Ph.D, I would like to have work where I can utilize the expertise developed through my experiences, such as in research or educational support. Through various SOKENDAI projects, I have experienced being a workshop facilitator and a group work organizer. In particular, I have learned how to assemble and to organize groups of people. I would like to use these skills in local volunteer groups or NPO organizations. Also, since I have a teaching license, teaching is one of the alternatives.

Q：Please give some advice to those who intend to pursue doctoral courses.

A：I hope that they learn from their mistakes, big or small. I have made many mistakes myself. For instance, I did something that was aggravating for people at the fieldwork, but I did not notice until someone told me. At that time, I was so upset, and couldn't stop thinking about my mistake. But that kind of experience and reflecting on it can make you grow.
Also, our daily research work is not only about research, experiments and writing papers, but also about paperwork to manage the budgets, creating organizations, and controlling them.
Take on the challenge of not only the daily research activities but also of other things, and learn from failures. Reflecting on and learning from failures, and making every effort for the next challenge, will be good experience for your future career.

- After the Interview -

I conducted this interview while participating in a student planning workshop Mr. Tojo had organized. In the workshop, I saw his organizational skills. I felt that he had gained abilities through various challenges and failures which he had overcome. To eager students like Mr. Tojo, SOKENDAI offers ample support, not only in their research but also in financial aspects as well. In other words, it provides opportunities to take on challenges or to fail. If you would like to pursue your master's course in such an environment, choose SOKENDAI for your future study.

Profile

Tojo, Yoshinori

Status: Department of Regional Studies, School of Cultural and Social Studies
Special Field: Anthropology, Folklore

Graduated from the Department of History, Faculty of Letters of Toyo University in 2007. Completed master's course in the Department of Cultural Coexistence in the Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies at Kyoto University in 2010. Since April 2010, enrolled in the Regional Studies doctoral course in the School of Cultural and Social Studies at the Graduate University for Advanced Studies. A member of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science since April, 2013 (DC2).