Scope of Northern Studies　　　Takashi Irimoto

　The aims of northern studies are twofold: 1) to support research on the diverse northern cultures of Eurasia, Japan and North America; and 2) to promote human understanding through international exchanges. Against this background, the goal of related work should be not only to clarify the characteristics of northern culture, but also to provide answers to both the anthropological issue of what human beings are and the question of what they ought to be. Although the field is based on the study of northern regions, its scope in fact encompasses universal issues common to all people.
　The human evolutionary processes of advancement into northern regions as well as adaptation and proliferation helped to develop the physiques, minds and cultures of modern man. In this context, we can better understand ourselves by engaging in studies of northern culture. The affinity people feel with northern regions may stem from memories of the related challenges mankind has faced throughout history. Imparting lessons learned from the past in northern regions toward a brighter future for humanity is also part of the mission of northern studies.
　By way of example, the term “snow damage” is often heard in modern parlance. The extraordinarily heavy snowfall and avalanches seen today have profound effects on people’s lives and daily existence in society, causing some people to believe snow is a negative thing and that measures should be taken to eliminate it. However, northern people have lived with snow for tens of thousands of years, building snow houses in winter, transporting people and goods on dog sleds, and using melted snow as a source of water. Native Canadians say living in summer is too hot but refreshing in winter, and use dogsledding mode of transport to cross snowfields in temperatures of minus 30 degrees Celsius. The Koryak people, who live as reindeer nomads on the Kamchatka Peninsula, remain on their own in summer, but come together in winter for a reindeer-sled race – a favorite annual event. Rather than seeing snow as a nuisance for the damage it can cause, they capitalize on it as a resource. This is typical of the wisdom to be learned from northern culture.
　Both recognition of the relationships that link humans and nature ,like living in coexistence with the environment in natural surroundings, and the realization of interpersonal relations are characteristics of northern culture. Ecological and social relationships by which groups of people help one another as necessary while remaining independent have helped to develop the egalitarian and reciprocal minds of people living in northern regions. Although considered harsh by some, this way of living in fact fosters richness of spirit and creates a mental perspective indispensable for solving challenges we face today. In relation to the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the recent extraordinarily heavy snowfall, the spirit of mutual assistance has saved people time and time again.
　Even measures to solve short-term challenges should be developed from long-term perspectives based on an understanding of human beings. This is made possible by northern studies – a discipline that promotes the understanding of people and also contributes to their wellbeing.
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