The Open Research Center for Minamata Studies

Minamata Studies was started and advocated by Dr. Masazumi Harada. He was inspired by Mr. Shouzo Tanaka, a politician and social activist, who called Yanakagaku an academic discipline. He says Yanakagaku is scholarship for the weak, insisting on a hands-on approach. It is against the notions of formal education and the intellectuals that give only knowledge. In 1999 at Kumamoto Gakuen University, the Minamata Studies (Minamatagaku in Japanese) project was established. Since 2002, a series of lectures on Minamata Studies have been held at the Social Welfare department of Kumamoto Gakuen University. In April 2005, the Open Research Center for Minamata Studies in April was opened, followed by the On-site Research Center for Minamata Studies in August 2005. In relation to the University, the department of Social Welfare established social work and environmental design as an academic subject.
This subject includes programs visiting Minamata and seeing the actual status of welfare to aim for an ideal welfare society where mutual support is a key ingredient. In 2005, the Faculty of Social Welfare at Graduate School set up the department of Social Environment and Welfare, and it has required fieldwork linked to the research activities of the Open Research Center for Minamata Studies. It has been recognized as a new model for education at the graduate level. Moreover, the Center started a young researchers’ seminars in 2011, an education program for Kumamoto Gakuen University students as well as researchers of other universities. The seminars can let them reconsider their studies and research through the above fieldwork.
Here, you can see one of three educational programs: Strolling around the Sites to learn on/from the spots according to the spirit of Minamata Studies.