ILCAA Joint Research Project

The Origin of "Sharing": Aspects of Coexistence in Humans and Nonhuman Primates (jrp000287)

About the Project

Project term: April, 2023–March, 2026

Human beings share various things and activities; we observe “sharing,” which varies with culture and society. The society of nonhuman primates also shows an early sign of “sharing.” Considering the generation and formation of “sharing” as an epoch-making event in the evolutionary history of human society, this project conducts interdisciplinary research on its origin in anthropology and primatology. The project investigates cases of “sharing” among human beings and nonhuman primates to examine (1) the process through which “sharing” has accelerated coexistence with others and generated gregariousness and (2) the contribution that it has made to the evolution of sociality.

Members

Coordinator

• Kaori KAWAI

Joint Researchers

• Jun BABA
• Miki IKOMA
• Yuji IWATA
• Tatsuro KAWAZOE
• Koji KITAMURA
• Kazumi NATSUHARA
• Mari NISHIKAWA
• Masaki SHIMADA
• Tomoyuki TAJIMA
• Taro YAMAUCHI
• Juichi YAMAGIWA
• Koichiro ZAMMA

Outputs

Meetings

The 8th meeting ：Report (Japanese)

• Date/Time: Sat 10 May 2025 13:30–18:30
• Venue: 304
• Language: Japanese

• 1. Mari NISHIKAWA (ILCAA Joint Researcher, What humans/animals share through playThe University of Human Environments)

  “Sharing through cases of juvenile Japanese macaque immigration”

  2. Juichi YAMAGIWA (ILCAA Joint Researcher, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature)

  “The evolution of sharing and the future of human society”

The 7th meeting ：Report (Japanese)

• Date/Time: Sat 8 Mar 2025 13:30–18:30
• Venue: 304
• Language: Japanese

• 1. Masaki SHIMADA (ILCAA Joint Researcher, Teikyo University of Science)

  “What humans/animals share through play”

The 6th meeting ：Report (Japanese)

• Date/Time: Sat 21 Dec 2024 13:30–18:30
• Venue: 306
• Language: Japanese

• 1. Koichiro ZAMMA (ILCAA Joint Researcher, Nagano College of Nursing)

  “What value is shared?”

  2. Jun BABA (ILCAA Joint Researcher, Wako University)

  “Time of sharing: rethinking reciprocity through mutual assistance groups（Gikundi）in Meru, Kenya.”

The 5th meeting ：Report (Japanese)

• Date/Time: Sun 17 Nov 2024 13:30–18:30
• Venue: 306
• Language: Japanese

• 1. Miki IKOMA (ILCAA Joint Researcher, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)

  “Reconsidering Reciprocity: A Case Study of Farmer–Laborer Relations in Tea Picking in Myanmar”

  2. Tatsuro KAWAZOE (ILCAA Joint Researcher, Research Institute for SATOMON/ILCAA)

  “Sharing membership: a case study on the process of immigration into groups in Japanese macaques”

The 4th meeting ：Report (Japanese)

• Date/Time: Sat 22 Jun 2024 13:30–18:30
• Venue: 304
• Language: Japanese

• 1. Tomoyuki TAJIMA (Osaka University)

  Rethinking the Forms of Food Sharing in Primates, Including Humans

  2. Taro YAMAUCHI (Hokkaido University)

  Sanitation as “Regeneration”: From Disposal of “Bads” to Sharing of “Lives”

The 3rd meeting ：Report (Japanese)

• Date/Time: Sat 9 Mar 2024 13:30–18:30
• Venue: 306
• Language: Japanese

• 1. Yuji IWATA (Ashinaga Foundation)

  “Inquiry about asymmetricity of sharing”

  2. Kazumi NATSUHARA (Toho University)

  ““Caring” and “Sharing” (tentative)”

The 2nd meeting ：Report (Japanese)

• Date/Time: Sat 23 Dec 2023 13:30–18:30
• Venue: 306
• Language: Japanese

• 1. Koji KITAMURA (Professor Emeritus at Okayama University)

  “Contrasting understandings of interactions including gift in the societies where the reciprocity of gift is normative or not.”

  2. Kaori KAWAI (ILCAA)

  “What is 'sharing' and are hostile interactions over livestock among East African pastoralists 'sharing'?”

The 1st meeting ：Report (Japanese)

• Date/Time: Sat 29 Jul 2023 13:30–18:30
• Venue: 304, Online meeting
• Language: Japanese

• 1. Kaori KAWAI (ILCAA)

  “Introduction”

  2. All members

  “Self-introductions”

  3. Tomoyuki TAJIMA (Osaka University)

  “Concept of “sharing” in Primatology”

  4. Jun BABA (Wako University)

  “Concept of “sharing” in Anthropology”

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