Participant Info
- First Name
- Ellen
- Last Name
- Van Goethem
- Country
- Japan
- State
- vgoethem@lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp
- Affiliation
- Kyushu University
- Website URL
- Keywords
- ancient history (6th through early 9th c.), capital cities, inscribed wooden tablets, historical archaeology, reception history, site divination, fengshui, Heian Jingu, reconstruction
- Availability
- 1
- Additional Contact Information
- PhD
- PhD
Personal Info
- Photo
- About Me
My main focus is on the Asuka, Nara, and early Heian periods, particularly on the layout of Chinese-style capital cities, on religious and philosophical thought underpinning the construction of these cities, and on inscribed wooden tablets (mokkan). I have also published on site divination practices in premodern East Asia and on the influence of fengshui thought on contemporary Japanese architecture. My current research centers on Heian Jingu, with a special interest in issues related to the (re-)construction of long-lost buildings, the deification of emperors, and changes in the shrine’s perception over the last century.
- Recent Publications
‘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).
‘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.
‘Asuka-Fujiwara through Foreign Eyes – Research from Abroad,’ in 世界に伝えたい「飛鳥・藤原の魅力」記念講演資料集 (Research Institute for Ancient Japanese Studies, Meiji University and Committee for the Promotion of UNESCO Recognition of the Asuka and Fujiwara Area, 2016), 17–27.
- Media Coverage
- Social Media
- Country Focus
- Japan
- Expertise by Geography
- Japan
- Expertise by Chronology
- Ancient
- Expertise by Topic
- Material Culture, Religion, Urban History
