An interview with
Yasuhiko Nagano
Position & Affiliation: Professor emeritus at the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, and the Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Hayama
Date: December 11, 2020 in Osaka, Japan
Interviewed by: Ai Nishida and Kazushi Iwao
Cite this archive
Oral History of Tibetan Studies. (2021, December 2). An interview with Yasuhiko Nagano. Retrieved 15 October 2024, from https://oralhistory.iats.info/interviews/yasuhiko-nagano/.
“An interview with Yasuhiko Nagano.” Oral History of Tibetan Studies, 2 Dec. 2021, https://oralhistory.iats.info/interviews/yasuhiko-nagano/.
Oral History of Tibetan Studies. 2021. An interview with Yasuhiko Nagano. [online], Available at: https://oralhistory.iats.info/interviews/yasuhiko-nagano/ [Accessed 15 October 2024]
Oral History of Tibetan Studies. “An interview with Yasuhiko Nagano.” 2021, December 2. https://oralhistory.iats.info/interviews/yasuhiko-nagano/.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Oral History of Tibetan Studies project.
Timestamps:
- 0:00 Intro
- 0:40 Childhood and early education
- 2:30 Enrolment at University of Tokyo and interest in linguistics
- 5:07 Specialization in Tibetan religion & language
- 6:56 Meeting Prof. Kitamura Hajime and further interest in Tibetan studies
- 10:57 Fieldwork in India among Tibetan refugee communities
- 11:42 Why did Prof. Hori recommend you to study Tibetan religion?
- 12:50 Working at the Tōyō Bunko (Oriental Library) in Tokyo
- 15:59 Joining the graduate program in linguistics at UC Berkeley
- 19:14 You met Sonam Gyatso (Hiroshi Sonami) at UC Berkeley, what impression did you get of him?
- 20:03 Where and when did you first encounter the Gyalrong language?
- 21:06 You finished the PhD in UC Berkley and then returned to Japan?
- 22:55 Participation in a fieldwork project to describe Tibetan dialects spoken in the upper Gandaki valley, Nepal
- 25:37 Reflection on major achievements in his career
- 28:41 Preference for the Conference on Tibetan Linguistics over IATS
- 29:46 Who were your superiors in your career? Can you say something about them?
- 30:30 What impression did you have of them, e.g. of Prof. Matisoff?
- 33:20 Prof. Yamaguchi was probably different in his teaching approach?
- 34:13 How were the classes with Prof. Yamaguchi?
- 35:27 How were the Tibetan grammar classes?
- 36:26 When did you meet Samten Karmay?
- 39:22 How long did Heather and Samten Karmay stay during their first visit?
- 41:18 When did you first join the Japanese Association of Tibetan Studies?
- 44:50 How did the atmosphere at the Japanese Association of Tibetan Studies at its annual meeting change?
- 45:49 What do you think about the situation of Tibetan Studies in Japan?
- 46:34 Is there any public/official department for Tibetan Studies in Japan?
- 47:59 Were you the first teacher of Tibetan at Osaka University?
- 49:08 How do you think about the future of Tibetan Studies in Japan?
- 1:56:01 Was it different making exhibitions for audiences in Europe and in America?
Additional info
Academic Qualifications:
B.A. Tokyo Univ. of Foreign Studies 1969
M.A. Univ. of Tokyo 1971
M.A. Univ. of California, Berkeley 1978
Ph.D. Univ. of California, Berkeley 1983
Geographical Areas of Interest:
Tibeto-Burman area.
Ethnic Groups:
Tibetan, Gyarong
Discipline:
Historical linguistics, lexical semantics
Publications (Bon Studies Series):
- 2010
- Bon brgya dge legs lhun grub rgya mtsho, Shin’ichi Tsumagari, Musashi Tachikawa and Yasuhiko Nagano(eds.)Bon Studies 13 : Bonpo Thangkas from Rebkong. (Senri Ethnological Reports 95). National Museum of Ethnology
- 2010
- Guillaume Jacques and Chen Zhen Yasuhiko Nagano(eds.) Gyalrong Studies 1 : Une version rgyalrong de l’epopee de Gesar (Senri Ethnological Reports 93). National Museum of Ethnology
- 2009
- (With Ngagdbang Tshul Krims) Bon Studies 12: A Lexicon of the rGyalrong bTsanlha Dialect. In M. Prins and Y. Nagano (eds.) Senri Ethnological Reports 79. National Museum of Ethnology.
- 2008
- Bon Studies 11: A Lexicon of Zhangzhung and Bonpo Terms. In Y. Nagano and Samten G Karmay (eds.) Senri Ethnological Reports 76. National Museum of Ethnology.
- 2006
- Bon Studies 10: Bonpo Thangkas from Khyungpo. In Tenpa Yungdrung, P. Kvaerne, M. Tachikawa and Y. Nagano (eds.) Senri Ethnological Reports 60. National Museum of Ethnology.
- 2003
- Bon Studies 8: A Catalogue of the Bon Kanjur. In D. Martin (General editor), P. Kvaerne (Project coordinator), and Y. Nagano (Series editor) (eds.) Senri Ethnolgical Reports 40. National Museum of Ethnology.
- 2003
- Bon Studies 7: A Survey of Bonpo Monasteries and Temples in Tibet and the Himalaya. In Samten G. Karmay, and Y. Nagano (eds.) Senri Ethnolgical Reports 38. National Museum of Ethnology.
- 2002
- Bon Studies 6: The Call of the Blue Cukoo. In Samuten G. Karmay and Y. Nagano (eds.) Senri Ethnolgical Reports 32. National Museum of Ethnology.
- 2001
- Bon Studies 5: A Catalogue of the New Collection of Bonpo Katen Texts–indices. In Samten G. Karmay and Y. Nagano (eds.) Senri Ethnolgical Reports 25. (With CD-ROM). National Museum of Ethnology.
- 2001
- Bon Studies 4: A Catalogue of the New Collection of Bonpo Katen Texts. In Samten G. Karmay and Y. Nagano (eds.) Senri Ethnolgical Reports 24. National Museum of Ethnology.
- 2001
- Bon Studies 3: New Research on Zhangzhung and Related Himalayan Languages. In Y. Nagano and R. J. LaPolla (eds.) Senri Ethnolgical Reports 19. National Museum of Ethnology.
- 2000
- Bon Studies 2: New Horizons in Bon Studies. In Samten G. Karmay and Y. Nagano (eds.) Senri Ethnolgical Reports 15. National Museum of Ethnology.
- 2000
- Bon Studies 1: Mandalas of the Bon Religion. In Tenzin Namdak, Y. Nagano and M. Tachikawa (eds.) Senri Ethnolgical Reports 12. National Museum of Ethnology
Publications:
- 2003
- Cogtse Gyarong. The Sino-Tibetan Languages, pp.469–489. London: Routledge.
- 2003
- Preliminary Remarks on Gyarong Negation Particles. In D. Bradley et al. (eds.) Language Variation (Pacific Linguistics 555), pp.159–172.
- 2001
- A General Review of the Zhangzhung Studies. In Y. Nishi and Y. Nagano (eds.) Senri Ethnolgical Reports 19: 1–30. National Museum of Ethnology.
- 2001
- Preliminary Analysis of the Old Zhangzhung Language and Manuscripts. In T. Takeuchi, Y. Nagano and S. Ueda (eds.) Senri Ethnolgical Reports 19: 45–96. National Museum of Ethnology.
- 1998
- Time, Language and Cognition. Senri Ethnological Studies 45, National Museum of Ethnology
- 1998
- Time, Language and Cognition–By Way of Introduction. Senri Ethnological Studies 45. National Museum of Ethnology.
- 1997
- A Morphological Index of Classical Tibetan. Seishido.(-1998)
- 1995
- New Horizons in Tibeto-Burman Morphosyntax. In Y. Nishi, J. A. Matisoff, and Y. Nagano (eds.) Senri Ethnological Studies 41. National Museum of Ethnology.
- 1995
- Functions of Written Tibetan Instrumental Particle, ‑kyis, Revisited. In Y. Nishi, J. A. Matisoff and Y. Nagano (eds.) New Horizons in Tibeto-Burman Morphosyntax (Senri Ethnological Studies 41), pp.133–141. National Museum of Ethnology.
- 1994
- Current Issues in Sino-Tibetan Linguistics–Proceedings of the 26th International Conference of Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics. [1086ps. ] In H. Kitamura, T. Nishida and Y. Nagano (eds.) Current issues in Sino-Tibetan Linguistics. Osaka: 26th ICSTLL Organizing Committee. National Museum of Ethnology.
- 1993
- From Vedic Altar to Village Shrine. In Y. Nagano and Y. Ikari (eds.) Senri Ethnological Studies 36. National Musum of Ethnology.
- 1993
- A Perspective on India’s Composite Culture. In Y. Nagano and Y. Ikari (eds.) From Vedic Altar to Village Shrine (Senri Ethnological Studies 36), pp.1–4. National Museum of Ethnology.
- 1988
- M. Tachikawa and Y. Nagano (eds.) A Catalogue of the United States Library of Congress Collection of Tibetan Literature in Microfische (In collaboration with Shunzo Onoda and Fujio Taniguchi). International Institute for Buddhist Studies.
- 1987
- Some Ergative Phenomena in Tibeto-Burman. Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko 45: 53–74.
- 1986
- A Checklist of Newari Ergativity. Monumenta Serindica 15: 167–185. Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
- 1986
- Anthropological and Linguistic Studies of the Kathmandu Valley and the Gandaki Area in Nepal. In H. Ishii, M. Tachikawa, S. Nakazawa, Y. Nagano, and M. Hoshi (eds.) Monumenta Serindica 15. Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
- 1985
- Preliminary Notes on gLo-skad (Mustang Tibetan). In G.Thurgood et al. (eds.) Linguistics of the Sino-Tibetan Area, pp.451–462. Australian National University.
- 1984
- A Manang Glossary. Monumenta Serindica 12: 203–234. Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
- 1984
- A Historical Study of the rGyarong Verb System. Seishido.
- 1983
- A Historical Study of gLo Tibetan. Bulletin of the National Museum of Ethnology (7)–(3): 472–513.
Presentations:
- 1999
- “On Zhangzhung Studies–General Review and a Perspective.” Monbukagakushou International Symposium International Area Study Conference. Osaka.
- 1999
- “Current Issues on Bon Studies.” Monbukagakushou International Symposium International Area Study Conference, Osaka.
- 1998
- “Ergative Phenomena in Modern Tibetan.” International Seminor of Tibetology, Beijing.
- 1996
- “Ergativity in Tibetan.” International Conference of Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics in Leiden.
