The need and necessity of research cooperation

In the summer of 1994 I had the pleasure and privilege of being affiliated to the International Institute of Asian Studies as a guest researcher. The stay in Leiden grew into a rewarding experience. Not that my primary research purpose was fulfilled. On the contrary, I went to Leiden to try to locate some documents related to Fredrik Coyet (1620-1689), a Swede employed by the Dutch East India Company who was the head of the company's trade station on Deshima (Japan) for two brief periods. I was especially looking for a translation into Swedish made in the early 1960's of a diary written by Coyet while he was the head of the trade station. It seemed likely that the translation would be found among the private papers of the Dutch translator which are now kept in an archive in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, this was not the case (since then I have been able to trace the translation to a private archive in Sweden).
Despite the temporary setback in locating the Coyet document, the stay in Leiden proved productive. The Japan Library of Leiden University houses a good Japan collection and materials on European relations with Japan, and I had the opportunity of studying a number of works, particularly on Dutch activities in Japan, which had so far been only bibliographical notes to me. I could also examine some Japanese works giving vital information on Swedish relations with that Far Eastern country.
The time spent in Leiden gave me an opportunity to make myself better informed about what is going on in Dutch research on East Asia. The IIAS has produced a directory giving a comprehensive survey of Dutch researchers on Asia. From the directory, the wide scope and intensity of research being undertaken in Holland is easy to see. Comparing Dutch and Swedish research on East Asia is enlightening. Dutch and Swedish research endeavours differ. While East Asian studies have a venerable past in Leiden, it is a relatively new research field in Sweden. With the exception of some distinguished pioneers such as Bernhard Karlgren, modern research and education on East Asia commenced only after the Second World War. While the main focus of Swedish research is on East Asia, Dutch research is concentrated much more on Southeast Asia. Holland boasts of an impressive group of researchers specializing in scholarly fields where few Swedish scholars are doing research. Dutch research is particularly strong in some core areas of Humanities such as philology, literature, anthropology and religious studies, while for instance in my own field - modern Japanese foreign policy - there are few Dutch scholars.

NIAS/IIAS Cooperation
It is quite obvious that Dutch and Swedish research endeavours complement each other. Intensified research co-operation with the Dutch research community armed with its solid tradition and strong backing from the Dutch government, of which the creation of the IIAS is a good example, would certainly benefit Swedish research on East Asia.
Given the fact that research personnel and resources are, by necessity, limited, research co- operation involving other countries would be beneficial as well. For Japan research, the excellent results produced by co-operative endeavours among scholars are shown graphically by the conferences organized by the European Association for Japanese Studies. Due to the large number of scholars participating in these meeting and the restrictions on financing, the periodicity of the EAJS meetings is not greatly impressive -- meetings are arranged only every three years. More research meetings of lesser scope than the all-embracing EAJS meetings should be arranged involving participation from different countries. Multi-national research groups should be organized. Therefore, the research co-operation that has been initiated between the IIAS and the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (Copenhagen) is most timely. The on-going activities of new initiatives from the European Science Foundation reported in the IIAS Newsletter are also encouraging. And although the problems facing IIAS in its endeavour to encourage research co-operation by compiling a European directory should not be underestimated, the ambition is commendable.

Dr Bert Edström is a senior research fellow at the Center for Pacific Asia Studies,
Stockholm University, Sweden