Heian JINGū in 1895.
Detail of Kawai Senrō’s Daiyonkai naikoku kangyō hakurankai oyobi Heian jingū daigokuden no zu. Personal collection.
Contact Information
Office: East Zone B-506
vgoethem@lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp
Ellen Van Goethem is Associate Professor of Japanese History and History of Ideas. She holds a Ph.D. in Oriental Languages and Cultures from Ghent University (2005). After having taught at Ghent University (1999–2006) and Hosei University (2008–2011), she joined Kyushu University in 2011 to establish the IMAP in Japanese Humanities together with historian Jeff Kurashige and linguist Carey Benom and served as the program’s chair and co-chair until her sabbatical in 2018–2019. In 2015, she co-founded the Journal of Asian Humanities at Kyushu University (JAH-Q); the first volume was published in March 2016.
Van Goethem specializes in the history and archaeology of the Asuka, Nara, and early Heian periods. Her primary focus is on Kanmu Tennō (r. 781–806), on the layout of Japan’s ancient capital cities (kyūto), and on inscribed wooden tablets (mokkan). She has also published on site divination (geomancy, fengshui, shijin sōō) in premodern East Asia and on the influence of fengshui thought on contemporary Japanese architecture. Her current research, an institutional and social history of Heian Jingū, builds upon her earlier work. In this project, she investigates issues related to the reconstruction of long-lost buildings, the deification of emperors, the presence of Chinese cosmological symbolism in Shinto shrines, and changes in perceptions of Heian Jingū since its founding in the late nineteenth century.
Van Goethem teaches courses in premodern Japanese history, archaeology, material culture, religious practices and beliefs; research methods and digital humanities; and East-West encounters. She is currently one of ten trainees in the 4th round of Kyushu University's SENTAN-Q Diversity and Super Global Training Program for Female and Young Faculty (https://sentan-q.kyushu-u.ac.jp/en/trainee/)
Publications
Monograph
Nagaoka, Japan’s Forgotten Capital (Brill Academic Publishers, 2008).
Articles and Chapters (select)
(forthcoming, 2022) 宮都の敷地選定と風水 [The Site Selection Process of Chinese-style Capitals and Fengshui], in Nihon no tojō to higashi ajia 日本の都城と東アジア [Japanese Cities and East Asia] (Hanoi: Vietnam National University/Japan Foundation).
‘Animated City: Life Force, Guardians, and Contemporary Architecture in Kyoto,’ in Fabio Rambelli, ed. Spirits and Animism in Contemporary Japan: The Invisible Empire (Bloomsbury, 2019), 81–94.
‘Heian Jingū: Monument or Shintō Shrine?,’ Journal of Religion in Japan 7:1 (2018): 1–26.
‘Of Trees and Beasts: Site Selection in Premodern East Asia,’ Journal of Asian Humanities at Kyushu University (JAH-Q) 1 (2016): 1–7.
‘Interroger le paysage: À la recherche des quatre divinités protégeant les capitales japonaises de style chinois,’ in Benoit Jacquet, Philippe Bonnin and Masatsugu Nishida, eds., Dispositifs et notions de la spatialité japonaise (Presses Polytechniques Universitaires Romandes, 2014), 81–100.
‘The Four Directional Animals in East Asia: A Comparative Analysis,’ in Florian Reiter, ed., Feng Shui (Kan Yu) and Architecture (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2011), 201–16.
Recent Invited Lectures and Conference Papers
‘Imitation, Deification, and Identity: Heian Jingū’s Many Facades’ (Tohoku University, December 2019)
海外の研究者から見た日本古代史の魅力 (Kumamoto, November 2019)
‘Reconstructing a Palace and Building a Shrine: Emperor, Nation, and Imperial Cult’ (ICAS 11, July 2019)
‘The Others Within: Architecture, Activism, and Advertising at Heian Jingū’ (UCSB, February 2019)
‘Monument, Shrine, Power Spot: Heian Jingū’s Multi-Layered Signification’ (Columbia University, November 2018)
‘From Scale Model to Shrine: The Creation of Heian Jingū’ (UCLA, March 2017)
Grants (select)
Reiterations of the Past: Reconstructions, Practices, and Places (AY2019–2021), 世界トップレベル研究者招へいプログラム「Progress 100」戦略的パートナーシップ構築型 [Kyushu University’s World Premier International Researcher Invitation Program (Progress 100), Strategic Partnership Acceleration Grant]
Throughout history, “the past” has continuously been reconstructed from the point of view of “the present” and, especially in modern times, people have shown great interest in intentionally engaging with the past in a variety of contexts and through myriad means. This Strategic Partnership investigates objects, practices, and places that exemplify these interactions with the past in the present. Our starting point is the fact that current views of the past are not merely a simple recreation of the past in forms that are either tangible (buildings, prints, literary works, etc.) or intangible (rituals, ceremonies, space, etc.); instead, they require an active negotiation with the past that is never straightforward or uncomplicated. Through this collaborative project, we explore these complex negotiations (be they social, political, global, regional, communal, etc.) both within and outside Japan.
Kyushu U. IMAP/IDOC & Ghent U. Japanese Studies/BOCULT Network (AY2020), Kyushu University SHARE-Q (Strategic Hub Area for top-global Research and Education) Webinar 100 grant
Heian Jingu: The Creation of a New Shrine (AY2017–2019), QR プログラムつばさプロジェクト [Kyushu University Jump Research Program, Tsubasa Project], collaborators: Yuki Katō (Kyushu University) and Alice Tseng (Boston University)
Site Divination Practices in Premodern East Asia (AY2015–2019), 日本学術振興会科学研究費補助金 (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research) 若手研究A (Grant for Young Researchers A), grant no. 15H05376
日本古代・中世の敷地選定 [Site Selection in Ancient and Medieval Japan] (AY2011–2014), 日本学術振興会科学研究費補助金 (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research) 若手研究A (Grant for Young Researchers A), grant no. 23682001
Fellowships (select)
Visiting Fellow, East Asia Center, University of California, Santa Barbara (2018–2019)
Japan Foundation Japanese Studies Fellowship, Ritsumeikan University (2007–2008)
Canon Foundation in Europe Fellowship, Ritsumeikan University (2006–2007)
Translations (select, all with Thomas Daniell)
Igarashi Taro and Yamazaki Ryo, Architecture since 3.11: New Relationships between Society and Architects, Gakugei Shuppansha, 2014.
Rem Koolhaas, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, and Kayoko Ota, eds. Project Japan: Metabolism Talks, Taschen America, 2011.
Kaya Oku,The Architecture of Gerrit Th. Rietveld, Toto Shuppan, 2009.
Tadao Ando, Tadao Ando, 4 vols., Toto Shuppan, 2007–2010.
Keiichiro Sako and Hironori Matsubara, Realize: Emerging from China to the World 立脚中国展開世界, Gallery Ma, 2007.
Honeycomb Tube Architecture, Japan Architect, 2007.
Current PhD Students
Alexander Evans, “Assembling Dazaifu: Society, Politics, and Space in a Gate-Front Town during the Bakumatsu Period”
Takuro Kikkawa, “The History of Budō (武道): Its Ethical, Religious, Intellectual and Aesthetic Evaluation in Transition”
Jacob Ritari, “英傑 Eiketsu: The Making of Bakumatsu Heroes”
Courses Taught (select)
Japan: A History to 1600
Religious Practices and Beliefs in Ancient Japan
State and Authority in Ancient Japan
History and Archaeology of Tōdaiji Temple
Experiencing Kyushu History and Culture in Situ
From Jōmon to Heian: (Why) Does It Matter Today?
World History since the 13th Century
Links
https://kyushu-u.pure.elsevier.com/en/persons/ellen-van-goethem
http://hyoka.ofc.kyushu-u.ac.jp/search/details/K004007/e
https://www.kyushu-u.ac.jp/ja/university/professor/vangoethem.html