Monsoon Project

Interdisciplinary Research on the Records of the Portuguese Indian State, Jesuit letters and the VOC and EIC Archives

Duration: April 2019-March 2022

About Monsoon Project:

Monsoon Project offers a unique platform for historical inquiry of the archives of European establishments which expanded their activities over maritime Asia in the early modern period, including the Portuguese State of India (Estado da Índia), the Society of Jesuits (Sosietatis Iesu), the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, or VOC), and the East India Company (EIC), among others.

Scholars become more and more convinced that these European records form a treasure-trove of detailed information on the history of multi-layered interactions between Europe and countries surrounding the Indian Ocean and the China Seas. However, there remains a lack of an overall framework to compare and analyse the features of particular archives. This lack causes serious fragmentation and oversimplification of our understanding of such a shared past. The Monsoon Project undertakes an interdisciplinary and innovative approach to this much-neglected inter-archival aspect of global encounters.

The Historiographical Institute houses ｎa large collection of European sources on Japan in microfilm and digital images. These sources include many documents from the records of the Portuguese Indian State, Jesuit letters, and the VOC and EIC archives. As a starting point the Monsoon Project seeks to explore various dimensions of the historical archives by stimulating discussion between scholars in different disciplines.

By inviting both young researchers and foreign archival experts the project also aims to build a sustainable international network for inter-archival cooperation and heritage studies that ensures further availability and accessibility of the resources.

Members:

Matsukata Fuyuko (HI)
Daito Norifumi (HI)
Mizukami Takane (HI)
Oka Mihoko (HI)
Okamoto Makoto (HI)

Hashimoto Takehisa
Isabel Tanaka-van Daalen
Kawanishi Takao
Kure Katsutoshi
Mashita Hiroyuki
Nakajima Yoshiaki
Nakasuna Akinori
Nabemoto Yoshinori
Nozawa Joji
Okubo Takeharu