I specialize in the history and archaeology of the Asuka, Nara, and early Heian periods. My primary focus is on Kanmu Tennō (r. 781–806), on the layout of Japan’s ancient capital cities (kyūto), and on inscribed wooden tablets (mokkan). I have also published on site divination (geomancy, fengshui, shijin sōō) in premodern East Asia and on the influence of fengshui thought on contemporary Japanese architecture. My current research, an institutional and social history of Heian Jingū, builds upon earlier work. In this project, I investigate issues related to the reconstruction of long-lost buildings, the deification of emperors, the presence of Chinese cosmological symbolism in Shinto shrines, and changes in perceptions of Heian Jingū since its founding in the late nineteenth century.

I teach courses in premodern Japanese history, material culture, and thought; research methods and digital humanities; and East-West encounters.

Ellen Van Goethem is Associate Professor of Japanese History and History of Ideas. She holds a Ph.D. in Oriental Languages and Cultures from Ghent University. After having taught at Ghent University (1999–2006) and Hosei University (2008–2011), she joined Kyushu University in 2011 to establish the IMAP in Japanese Humanities together with historian Jeff Kurashige and linguist Carey Benom and served as the program’s co-chair until her sabbatical in 2018–2019. In 2015, she co-founded the Journal of Asian Humanities at Kyushu University (JAH-Q).

https://www.kyushu-u.ac.jp/ja/university/professor/vangoethem.html