- Seminars and Symposiums
Toyo Bunko 100th Anniversary Lecture Series, No. 9:
Asian Regions in the Toyo Bunko & Development Organizations: From Historical Research to Contemporary Policy Focal Points
2026/02/12
14:30–16:30
| Date and Time | 2026/02/12 14:30–16:30 |
|---|---|
| Title | 『Toyo Bunko 100th Anniversary Lecture Series, No. 9: Asian Regions in the Toyo Bunko & Development Organizations: From Historical Research to Contemporary Policy Focal Points』 |
| Lecturer | R. Bin Wong (Distinguished Research Professor, UCLA) |
| Entrance Fee | Free |
| Venue | Toyo Bunko (2F lecture room)/Online |
| Moderator | Linda Grove (Research Fellow, Toyo Bunko) |
| Language | English |
| Abstract | The Toyo Bunko’s contributions to historical research looms large in the studies of Asian history. Between projects organized by Toyo Bunko Research Departments and access provided to both domestic and international scholars pursuing their own studies, Toyo Bunko has supported historical research on East Asia, Inner Asia, Indian & Southeast Asia, and West Asia for more than a century. Development organizations addressing Asian regions began to be established after WW II with Asia-based development organizations being established in later decades, including the Asian Development Bank (1966) organized by Japanese leadership and China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (2016). This presentation examines the Asian regions studied at Toyo Bunko and the Asian regions that are addressed by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the United Nations Sustainable Development (UN SDG), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Are there overlaps, parallels, or connections between research at Tokyo Bunko and development organizations? How might our understandings of the past and the future contribute to our knowledge of the present? |
| Speaker Bio | R. Bin Wong, Distinguished Research Professor, UCLA. Before moving to UCLA in 2004 to be the founding Director (2004–2016) of the UCLA Asia Institute, Bin Wong served as Director of the Center for Asian Studies at UC Irvine where he was Chancellor’s Professor of History and Economics. He has also been a visiting professor and researcher at institutions in mainland China, France, Japan, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Wong’s own research has examined Chinese patterns of political, economic and social change, especially since eighteenth century, both within Asian regional contexts and compared with more familiar European patterns. His most recent books are a volume co-edited with Masayuki Tanimoto. Public Goods Provision in the Early Modern Economy: Comparative Perspectives from Japan, China, and Europe (University of California Press. 2019) and 鑑往知來：中國與全球歷史變遷的模式與社會理論 (Understanding the Past and Pursuing the Future: Patterns of Chinese and Global Historical Changes and Social Theory) (National Chiao-tung University Press. 2019). Wong has also written or co-authored more than a hundred articles published in published in Chinese, English, French, German and Japanese journals that reach diverse audiences within and beyond academia. Since his retirement from UCLA in June 2023 he has been teaching in the fall semester of a graduate program on political economy at the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science. |
| Application | Please fill out the form below, indicating whether you wish to attend on-site or online. We will send you the necessary information for participation to your registered e-mail address. |
