New Name for the Center for Buddhist Studies
1 June 2013
Photo: M. Zimmermann
On July 11, 2013, the Center for Buddhist Studies was officially renamed the Numata Center for Buddhist Studies. The Center will now bear the name of Rev. Toshihide Numata, President of the Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai (仏教伝道協会) in Tokyo, Japan. The Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai (BDK) aims at promoting Buddhism and encouraging research and teaching in the field of Buddhist Studies worldwide. It already supports numerous visiting chairs for Buddhist Studies in Europe and North America. With the BDK’s support of the new Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, the Center will be able to strengthen its programs in terms of promoting research on Buddhism in the past and present; fostering dialogue among scholars, practitioners and representatives of Buddhist organizations; and presenting research on Buddhism to a wider audience. The increased support of the BDK reflects the position of the University of Hamburg and the Asien-Afrika-Institut, where the Numata Center is located, as one of the world’s foremost institutions dedicated to the research and study of Buddhism.
To celebrate the inauguration of the new center, the Asien-Afrika-Institut welcomed several representatives of the BDK, the Director of the Eko House of Japanese Culture in Düsseldorf, among other guests. Representatives from the University of Hamburg thanked Rev. Toshihide Numata and the BDK for their long-term support of Buddhist Studies at the university. Tatsuhiko Ichihara, the Cultural Attacheé for Japan, was also present to give a welcoming address on behalf of the consulate.Following his speech, Rev. Toshihide Numata, together with the university’s Vice President, Holger Fischer, unveiled a plaque to commemorate the opening of the new center. Several internationally renowned scholars of Buddhist Studies from Japan, the USA, and Europe were also on hand to share their thoughts on Buddhist Studies in Germany.
- from left to right: M. Zimmermann, H. Fischer, T.
Numata, J. Quenzer, L. Schmithausen, S. Katsura