Contemporary Research Trends in Early Twentieth-Century Japan-Tibet Relations

This article provides an overview of the current state of the academic research on Japan-Tibet relations and the Japanese involvement in Tibet in the early twentieth century, from both Western and Japanese academic perspectives. The first half highlights the development of the Japanese religious, academic, and political interests in Tibet and Tibeto-Mongolian Buddhist regions during this period. The latter half focuses on the history of the studies in these fields within Japanese and international academia. Post–World War II research on the history of Japan-Tibet relations was initiated by the American scholar Paul Hyer. However, many Japanese scholars did not pay attention to this topic partly due to its controversial nature stemming from the wartime collaboration between Japanese specialists of Tibet and Japanese imperial policies. The article further examines the recent resurgence and development of Japanese academic research on this topic, as well as how domestic and international research trends affected each other. The article then proposes further avenues of research in this field

Asian studies · Buddhism · International relations · Japanese studies · Politics · Chinese history and philosophy · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Japanese History and Culture