The Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies (ASAFAS) of Kyoto University was established in April 1998 as the first institution in Japan for specialist training in area studies. Based on the fruits of area studies at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, (established in 1965), and the Center for African Area Studies (established in 1986), the graduate school was established originally with two research divisions: the Division of Southeast Asian Area Studies and the Division of African Area Studies. In 2009, a third one, the Division of Global Area Studies, was established to focus on Islamic World Studies and South Asian/Indian Ocean Studies, with global problems in view, resulting in the present three-division system.

The uniqueness of ASAFAS is that it aims to train researchers in area studies and professionals specialized in Asian and African areas, who own an in-depth understanding of the "distinctiveness of each area" and are capable of understanding an area from a holistic and international perspective. To achieve this educational goal, ASAFAS adopts the following system: (1) the graduate school carries out education concerning comprehensive area studies as a five-year continuous doctoral course; (2) it offers a flexible and interdisciplinary curriculum; and (3) it aims to enrich integrated area studies based on fieldwork.

Cooperation with the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Center for Integrated Area Studies, and Institute for Research in Humanities

Researchers from the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Center for Integrated Area Studies, and Institute for Research in Humanities conduct seminars and lectures at the Department of Integrated Area Studies of the Division of Southeast Asian Area Studies and the Department of Sustainable Humanosphere and Department of South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies of the Division of the Global Area Studies, and also serve as thesis advisors.

In order to support fieldwork which holds great importance in ASAFAS, we are carrying out various programs. At present we are carrying out the following programs and in these programs students are not only conducting fieldwork but also receiving local language training and training to become specialists on area issues:

Today, in the 21st century, it is necessary to have deep understanding concerning not only the culture and linguistic area, ethnic groups, and nation states, but also the "area" that are related to them but at a different level. "Area" is a place where the ecology, society, and history cross each other. The accumulation of "knowledge" concerning "area" is considered to play a very important role for "symbiotic coexistence of the earth, area, and human beings." Based on such an understanding, ASAFAS attaches great importance to the integrated area studies and education concerning Asian and African areas.

Many of the problems surrounding the present areas and the world are a complex of combined problems with diverse factors involved, which are difficult to be managed, and difficult to cope with by applying social sciences and natural sciences separately. ASAFAS builds an educational system to understand complexes of problems in the Asian and African area from an interdisciplinary viewpoint. Based on that, ASAFAS trains persons who could shed lights on the holistic picture of complexes of problems from a comprehensive viewpoint and grope for an approach toward practical solutions toward the problems.

In order to understand the peculiarity and diversity of an area, study of the local language and a long-term fieldwork are essential. Contemporary understanding of the people and ecology of the area through fieldwork is vitally important for discovering complexes of problems of the area and thinking about ways to cope with them. ASAFAS promotes an education system based on such fieldwork and aims to train persons with independent spirits who have long-term experience in areas in Asia and Africa equipped with understanding of the actual situation and needs of the area.

The efforts to address problems in an area should not be limited to that area. They should be deepened through international communication and scholarly exchange going beyond the area in question. For that purpose, it is necessary to provide practical language training and build an educational system using various forms of electronic media. ASAFAS aims to train people who could propagate intellectual information in international fora by encouraging them to learn those skills.