SEMARANG – Japanese Language and Culture Study Program of Faculty of Humanities Diponegoro University (UNDIP), held an online public lecture by presenting a professor from Chuo University Tokyo Japan, Prof. Hisanori Kato. The presence of Kato-San, who studies sociology and philosophy and is known as a researcher who understands Indonesia, is expected to be able to open students understanding of actual Indonesian-Japanese relations.
The Head of Japanese Language and Culture Study Program, Faculty of Humanities UNDIP, Budi Mulyadi, S.Pd., M.Hum., revealed that aside from his expertise, Prof. Hisanori’s understanding of Indonesia and Japan is very much needed as a provision for students to explore Japanese culture and language. “Due to pandemic conditions, we will conduct public lectures online,” said Budi Mulyadi, on Wednesday (7/4/2021).
According to Budi, the understanding of Indonesian culture is not only obtained through research conducted, but also based on real experiences. Prof. Hisanaro lived for ten years in Indonesia and taught at a well-known university in Jakarta. He has also lived for a long time in the United States, Australia and the Philippines. “His combination of expertise and real experience is very helpful to open students’ horizons,” he added.
While in Indonesia, Hisanaro is known to have conducted research on Islam in Indonesia. Thus he had directly interviewed Gus Dur and Abu Bakar Ba’asyir. The results of his research are contained in a book written and published by Kompas. Some of titles of the books he wrote were “Islam in the Eyes of the Japanese: Ulil, Gusdur to Basyir; Miss Indonesia, Religion and civilization.”
In the two-hour public lecture, Hisanori Kato explained the results of his research while in Indonesia, about Islam in the life of Indonesian society. “Prof. Hisonari also compared it with the condition of religion in Japan. There is a very significant difference regarding the perspective of Indonesian society and Japanese society towards religion,” he explained.
Several excerpts from Hisanori Kato’s public lecture concluded that Islam is not a religion of violence, there is diversity in Islam, since Islam takes care of social problems and strengthens social capital.
This online public lecture event on March 27th 2021 is attended by approximately 250 students of Japanese Language and Culture Study Program, as well as several lecturers of Faculty of Humanities UNDIP. The lecture atmosphere is lively and interactive, especially since Hisanori is fluent in Indonesian. Indeed, the context is Japanese Language and Culture Studies, so this public lecture held as an effort to build a strong understanding of Japanese culture, as well as Japanese perspective on Indonesian culture.
Translated by: Titis (Public Relations)
