TSUDA, Koji

[Term of ILCAA] from 2010 to 2012

Assistant Professor

Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa,
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
3-11-1 Asahi-cho, Fuchu-shi,
Tokyo, 183-8534, Japan

Email: tsuda[at]aa.tufs.ac.jp

Personal Homepage:

Research interests: Social study of ethnic Chinese in Insular Southeast Asia (especially in Indonesia)

Studying the process in which “Chineseness” appears in modern Indonesian society.

Ethnic Chinese in Indonesia had been the victims of repressive policies for more than 30 years. Since the changing order in 1998, they have gradually become freer to express their “Chineseness,” but what kind of “Chineseness” are they claiming?

“Chinese” are often seen as splendid actors who move within the global network, but “to be Chinese” is more than that—it is constructed, experienced, and claimed in many ways.

For more than 10 years, I have studied how “Chineseness” is defined and expressed in the daily lives of those who are recognized as “Chinese” in a small port town of northern Java, by paying close attention to the background and context. These days, what “Chineseness” means is gradually but significantly changing as the political and social situation of Indonesia changes and as the presence of China grows greater.

Recently, I have visited as many Chinese temples as possible throughout Indonesia. Through interviews and material studies, I’m trying to investigate how practices of the faith of ethnic Chinese are changing in relation to the Indonesian national context and its religious policy. In addition, by widening the perspective to Southeast Asia and other areas, I’m aiming to reconsider the idea of “Chineseness” by focusing on their religious practices.

Research Projects:

• ILCAA Joint Research Project “Studies on “Chinese” as Multiple Imaginations and Dynamic Realities ” (coordinator)
• ILCAA Joint Research Project “Multi-disciplinary Study on Islam and Cultural Diversity inSoutheast Asia”

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