Three months have passed since the earthquake and tsunami struck northeastern Japan. Our thoughts continue to go to all who are contributing towards the rebuilding efforts and helping towards easing the suffering caused by this terrible disaster. At the Sainsbury Institute, we are continuing with our mission to promote the deeper understanding of Japanese arts and cultures in the UK and Europe. At the same time, we are proactively considering how best to fulfill our commitment to the recovery and reconstruction taking place in Japan, paying particular attention to the arts, culture and heritage.
It is now eleven years since the establishment of the Sainsbury Institute. We are extremely grateful for the generous support we have received up to this point. This support has been crucial in helping the Sainsbury Institute to reach our current level of achievement, enabling research projects and resulting publications, building effective research networks in Japanese arts and cultures in Japan, Europe and North America, helping to facilitate the research and opportunities for younger scholars in the field and building up of a greater public profile and understanding for Japanese arts and cultures in Europe. We offer our sincere gratitude to all of our friends who have supported us to date.
We would like to take this opportunity to explain some changes in the senior management of the Institute approved by the Institute’s Management Board on 28 June 2011. Dr Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere, Founder of the Institute and Director since its establishment in 1999 will, as Research Director, continue to be centrally involved in the research directions and projects of the Institute. Mizutori Mami joins the staff as Executive Director, with responsibility for the overall operations of the Institute. From 2005 to 2008, Ms Mizutori served as Minister for Cultural Affairs at the Embassy of Japan in the UK. Working with the Institute and other partners, she led many projects promoting Japanese culture in the UK. Dr Simon Kaner, until now Assistant Director, takes up a new half-time secondment as Director of the new Centre for Japanese Studies at the University of East Anglia. At the Institute, he will now become Head of the newly established Centre for Archaeology and Heritage, further developing the archaeology and heritage strands of the Institute’s research. Dr Kaner, together with Ms Mizutori who has also been appointed as Special Adviser to the University of East Anglia for Japanese Studies, will foster the relationship between the new Centre for Japanese Studies of UEA and the Institute.
The Institute continues to rely on the invaluable guidance of our Management Board, chaired by Professor Edward Acton, Vice-Chancellor of the University of East Anglia, and our senior advisors in Japan, Professor Kawai Masatomo, Professor Kobayashi Tadashi, and Professor Kobayashi Tatsuo. We are grateful for all of your continued support as the Sainsbury Institute moves forward in an integrated fashion, continuing to build on the strengths of the first decade and adapting to the challenges of the second decade.
Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere
Research Director
Mizutori Mami
Executive Director
Simon Kaner
Head, Centre for Archaeology and Heritage