The Philosophy of Memory in Japan
Shin Sakuragi (Shibaura Institute of Technology)
Readers of this post likely know that the philosophy of memory is a rapidly growing research field, and its research community is expanding worldwide. James Openshaw, the Chair of the Philosophy of Memory Organization (PhoMO), wrote in his post that the spirit of PhoMO is “to connect philosophers of memory worldwide.” PhOMO started in 2017, but the movement had hardly reached the Japanese philosophical community until very recently. To change this, the Philosophy of Memory Network Japan (PMNJ) was launched last summer. I’m the organizer of PMNJ and would like to introduce the group to the international community of philosophers of memory.
PMNJ shares PhOMO’s core principle: advancing the philosophy of memory. However, a distinguishing characteristic of PMNJ is its academic diversity. The core members of the group come from a wide range of research backgrounds. A virtue of the Japanese philosophy community is its philosophical diversity.
Neither analytic nor continental discussions (still less Eastern philosophy) are dominant in Japan, and collaborations among philosophers from different traditions are fairly common.
PMNJ follows this tradition. Moreover, PMNJ is not strictly a group of philosophers of memory, but a collaborative network of researchers in Japan who are interested in philosophy and memory.
The idea of starting a local research group dedicated to the philosophy of memory in Japan first came to me during a conversation with Yasushi Hirai (Keio University), a prominent figure in Bergson studies. We have collaborated since the first meeting of Remembering: Analytic and Bergsonian Perspectives. The meeting was a groundbreaking attempt to bridge the gap between analytic philosophy of memory and Bergson studies. When organizing the workshop, Yasushi sought a Japanese speaker working in analytic philosophy of memory, and he found only one person: me.
Thus, from its inception, the Japanese community of philosophers of memory has been characterized by diverse philosophical backgrounds. Yasushi and I founded PMNJ to bridge different branches and traditions of philosophy. Through discussions in the preparatory stage of PMNJ, we agreed that applying insights from the philosophy of memory to other fields and integrating perspectives from them would strengthen our project. So, we have sought to engage researchers in other fields across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences through the key concept of the philosophy of memory.
The research backgrounds of PMNJ’s core members are diverse. My background is analytic, focusing primarily on epistemological issues of memory. In the analytic camp, we have Kengo Miyazono (Hokkaido University) and Kunimasa Sato. (Ibaraki University). Kengo is well known for his work in philosophy of psychology and philosophy of memory. Kuni, an analytic epistemologist, explores ethical issues in the field, as well as the philosophy of education. He is best known for his work on epistemic injustice and is one of the Japanese translators of Fricker’s Epistemic Injustice. Kuni has emphasized the importance of exploring the role of memory in epistemic injustice. He brings important ethical and epistemological insights into the philosophy of memory.
Yasushi’s background is in historical research, particularly Bergson and Leibniz studies. His work spans a broad range of topics including the philosophy of time and mind, as well as the metaphysics of memory. Another notable Bergsonian in PMNJ is Hisashi Fujita (Kyoto Institute of Technology), a leading researcher in Berson studies in Japan. Hisashi, while more like a traditional Bergsonian, has been interested in the philosophy of memory, particularly in early-onset dementia. Hisashi has promised to give a talk on the issue at our next meeting, to which I’m looking forward very much.
Two key members of PMNJ, in my personal opinion, are Takahiro Mimura (Chiba Institute of Technology) and my colleague at Shibaura, Natsuko Noda. Takahiro, a researcher in British literature, is well known for his work on Kazuo Ishiguro. He examines memory studies from the perspective of literary studies, bringing fresh insights into our discussions. His role in our group is crucial because one of PMNJ’s initiatives is to bridge the gap between philosophical studies of memory and memory studies in the social sciences. Natsuko, a software engineer specializing in software architecture, has found the philosophy of memory important because it addresses the conceptual questions concerning information sharing. Additionally, as a gender activist, Natsuko has recognized the importance of epistemic injustice in tackling gender inequality issues in her field.
PMNJ actively organizes events to promote research in philosophy of memory in Japan. Before the first official meeting, we hosted a workshop at the annual meeting of the Japanese Association for Philosophy of Science (June 2024) to introduce our field to a broad audience. In the workshop, entitled “Developments of Philosophy of Memory,” I surveyed the contemporary philosophical landscape centered on episodic memory. Yasushi and Kuni presented two fascinating discussions. The title of Yasushi’s talk was “To What Extent Is Bergson a Proponent of Simulationism?”. In that talk, he examined aspects of Bergson’s philosophy in relation to the on-going debates on philosophical simulationism. Kuni’s talk was entitled “The transmission of memory testimony as narrative and testimonial injustice.” In that talk, he discussed epistemological issues on testimonial values of one’s personal experience reports. He emphasized a narrative aspect of the reports, and memory’s crucial role in them.
The first official meeting of PMNJ took place at Shibaura Institute of Technology in Tokyo in September 2024. The meeting was open to general public and attracted an audience with diverse backgrounds. The main theme was collective memory, with three presentations from different perspectives. My talk “Collective Memory and Sharing Episodic Memory” surveyed analytic discussions on collective memory and examined collective ascriptions of episodic-type memory in daily life. Kiichi Inarimori gave the talk entitled “Experimental Philosophy and Philosophy of Memory.” Kiichi, together with Kengo and other international researchers, conducted ex-philosophical experiments on the causal theory of memory. He explained the scheme of their experiments and challenges particularly in formulating vignettes in the experiments.
The highlight of the first meeting, in my view, was Takahiro’s talk, entitled “An Overview of the Cultural Studies’ Approaches to Collective Memory.” He surveyed various different ideas of collective memory in memory studies drawing from Astrid Erll’s Memory and Culture, and carefully examined different approaches to collective memory in social science fields. As an analytic philosopher, I found the ideas of memory in cultural studies refreshingly different from philosophical and psychological concepts of memory.
Through the discussion after Takahiro’s talk, I took notice of the broader scope of philosophical study of memory and realized that a vast field extends beyond the current discussions in analytic philosophy of memory.
The second meeting of 2024-25 was held at Keio University in Tokyo, in March 2025. We had two talks at the meeting. Kiichi’s talk “Experimental Philosophy of Episodic Memory: Is the Causal Theory Intuitive?” was a sequel to his talk at the first meeting. He explained the progress of their experimental philosophy project and the revisions of the vignettes from their previous experiments. The second talk of the day was Yasushi’s “Access to the Past and the Second Person Memory.” He introduced a novel approach to human memory and its developmental basis in his talk. His discussion was profoundly thought-provoking and offered an entirely new perspective on memory classification.
Overall, the two PMNJ meetings in 2024-25 have been a great success. The talks and discussions showcased the rich and diverse landscape of the philosophy of memory in Japan and successfully integrated various perspectives. The successes of the first two meetings strengthened my conviction in PMNJ’s long-term success.
We plan to hold two meetings annually. Information about these events is periodically updated on our website. (An English version is forthcoming.)
We have scheduled two regular meetings for 2025-26 and we hope to meet outside Tokyo at one of the two meetings. Another important event for Japanese philosophers of memory next year is the Eurasian Memory Meeting (EMM). EMM, which is partially organized by some of PMNJ core members, is an international conference on philosophy of memory and its second meeting will take place in Tokyo in spring 2026. These events will promote the growth and recognition of the philosophy of memory in Japan, while also contributing to broader international discussions.
