About

The Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA) is a joint research center attached to the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. It conducts research activities in Asia and Africa under the following three missions.

  • Conducting collaborative research projects
  • Processing, editing, and disseminating data on the languages and cultures of Asia and Africa
  • Training junior scholars through joint research, workshops, and seminars

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Pickup

Events

Transformations and Diversity of Staple Foods: Linking Japan, Southeast Asia, and Africa through Comparison

Monthly Photos

Feb 2026 : The Goat Wears the Horns: A Folktale from Northern Myanmar

News

Introducing New Staff Vol.88 : Qin XU

Latest News

2026.02.17Awarded Prizes

“The Oxford Guide to the Bantu Languages” is selected as a Honorable Mention recipient of the Dartmouth Medal 2026

2026.02.16Essays

Introducing New Staff Vol.88 : Qin XU

2026.02.03News

Assistant Professor Shirabe Ogata and colleagues have released their co-authored book, “Practices Around the Arts: Where Sensibilities Meet Institutions.”

2026.02.02Essays

Monthly Photos Feb 2026 : The Goat Wears the Horns: A Folktale from Northern Myanmar

2026.01.29Awarded Prizes

Professor Hidemitsu Kuroki has received the 15th (2025) Japan Consortium for Area Studies Award (Research Planning Award).

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Events

  • Workshop/ Seminar/ Symposium

Date:2026/02/19(Thu) 15:00-16:30 Venue:Online／304 : Multimedia Conference Room, ILCAA

ILCAA Forum (Academic talk by Prof. Florence Muhanguzi Kyoheirwe)

  • Joint Research Projects

Date:2026/02/19(Thu) 16:00-18:30 Venue:Online／301 : Seminar Room, ILCAA

“Everyday Forms of Ethnicity and Religiosity in Kurdistan: Comparative Inquiries into Social Organization of Cultural Difference and Crossborder Interaction in Iran, Iraq, and Turkey”, the 4th meeting AY2025

  • TUFiSCo
  • J-Peaks
  • Public Lectures
  • Workshop/ Seminar/ Symposium

Date:2026/02/21(Sat) 14:00-16:30 Venue:Online／303 : Large Conference Room, ILCAA

Transformations and Diversity of Staple Foods: Linking Japan, Southeast Asia, and Africa through Comparison

  • TUFiSCo
  • Public Lectures
  • Workshop/ Seminar/ Symposium

Date:2026/03/01(Sun) 10:00-17:00 Venue:Large Conference Room (#E401), Graduate School of Intercultural Studies 4th fl., Kobe University

Hands-on Play-acting Workshop "Dress! Dance! Create! Travel the World in Kobe! Chikyu Tankentai 2026:　Let's transform with Balinese masks!

  • IRC
  • TUFiSCo
  • Public Lectures
  • Workshop/ Seminar/ Symposium

Date:2026/03/04(Wed) 14:00-15:00 Venue:Online／304 : Multimedia Conference Room, ILCAA

Presentation on the information resource created by the IRC projects (2nd meeting in 2025)

  • Workshop/ Seminar/ Symposium

Date:2026/03/07(Sat) 14:00-17:30
2026/03/08(Sun) 10:30-17:00 Venue:Online／303 : Large Conference Room, ILCAA

15th Ottoman Documents Seminar

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Core Projects

言語学
Describing and documenting language dynamics in Asia and Africa: Toward a deeper understanding of the languages and cultures of people living in Asia and Africa
人類学
Anthropological Explorations into Sociality: Transcultural Situations and Mechanisms of Tolerance/Intolerance
歴史学・地域研究
Field Archiving of "Memory": Understanding the Dynamics of Symbiotic Societies Connected by Islam

Pickup Publications

2026.01.31

Kachin Folktale no.151~193Keita Kurabe, Kachin Orature Project、Shawanang

2025.12.05

Śāntideva’s Bodhicaryāvatāra in Tangut Translation Volume 2Kirill Solonin, Shintaro Arakawa

2025.11.01

Navader al-VaqayeʿAhmad Danesh Bukharaʾi (auth.), Mohammad Karim Eshragh, Touraj Atabaki (eds.)

2025.10.17

The 2nd Symposium on “Overcoming social division and achieving diversity through embodiment.” Ikuya Tokoro (ed.)

2025.07.10

Toda DictionaryPeri Bhaskararao (author); Masato Kobayashi (ed.)

2025.06.30

Pupulu In Daek Klapa: Two Folktales from BolokYanti, Dominikus Tauk, Asako Shiohara (eds.)

Latest Publications

Research Projects

ILCAA Joint Research Projects, conducted by the staff members of the Institute and external researchers, constitute the core of research activities at ILCAA as an international research center.

Joint Research Group is a new framework launched in 2019 to foster incipient research projects based on new creative ideas.

In order to conduct research on the languages and cultures of Asia and Africa, the staff of ILCAA apply for various external funds, such as Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) and other research grants by private organizations.

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