Tokyo

The Tokyo Centre, Japan

Head: Costantino Moretti
Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient
Tōyō bunko
Honkomagome 2-28-21, Bunkyō-ku
Tôkyô 113-0021, Japan
Tel./Fax : + 81 050-3704-8994
costantino.moretti@efeo.net

Founded in 1994, the EFEO Centre in Tokyo is hosted by the Tōyō bunko (The Oriental Library), the most important library dedicated to Asian studies in Japan and one of the largest of its kind in the world. The two institutions signed an agreement which aims to facilitate academic exchanges, including the exchange of scholarly documentation and publications as well as the organization of joint research programs and seminars.

Besides storage facilities for its collections, the Tōyō bunko includes a reading room, research rooms, a museum and a restaurant. The office of the EFEO Centre is located on the seventh floor of the main building.

Current research programs:

  • Literati networks, monks, and collectors in Edo Japan (1603-1867) 
  • International exchanges in modern East Asia (Japan, China, Korea, Russia) - especially the "discovery" of Buddhism in Western sources (1550-1850)
  • Early modern Japanese art history and aesthetics

The centre is associated with the research team ‘Systems of thought and practices: diffusion, adaptation, exchange'. Researches conducted at the Tōkyō centre focus on Japanese artistic, religious, and intellectual history in the Edo period (1603-1867) and on international exchanges in East Asia and Eurasia during the modern era.

Moreover, the Centre is also in charge of the editorial work of The Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, in cooperation with its editorial board, François Lachaud in Tokyo, Christophe Marquet (Kyoto Centre), Élisabeth Chabanol (Seoul Centre), Luca Gabbiani (Paris).

The EFEO Centre in Tokyo aims to facilitate Franco-Japanese exchanges in the humanities and social sciences. Besides its main association with the Tōyō bunko, collaboration agreements have been concluded with the Institute of Asian Cultures (IAC) at Sophia University, the Centre for Area Studies (CAS) at Keio University, and the Department of Humanities and Sociology at Tôkyô University.

The Centre receives EFEO fellowship holders, graduate students, and visiting scholars for periods of research in Japan. Starting in the fall of 2017, a research seminar will focus on significant works belonging to the Morrison Collection, the main body of Toyo Bunko Library at the time of its official founding, and the object of various commemorative events for its centennial in 2017.

EFEO News
Welcoming delegations to the EFEO 2026-2027
Paris, France, 14 October 2025
The recruitment campaign for delegates to the EFEO for the year 2026-2027 is now open. Applications must be submitted no later than 14 October 2025.

Learn more (in French)
Library
Paris, France, 26 June 2025
The EFEO library in Paris will be closed until 2 p.m. on Tuesday 1 July 20025.

It is open at its usual times, from Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm.

Please make your book reservation requests via the catalogue, and your archive consultation requests via the form on https://archives.efeo.fr/ (bottom left of the home page).

Consult the catalogs and digital tools:
Books and periodicals catalog
- Archives and manuscripts catalog
- Digital heritage library

Please check the EFEO's Facebook page and Twitter account regularly for any updates to the conditions of public access.
Direction of Resources
Paris, France, 26 June 2025

Reporting to the Director General of Administration, , you will be responsible for managing the Resources Department. You will manage the activity of the support functions and implement the public policies in your field, with a view to efficiency and innovation. You will also perform the duties of Prevention Adviser.

Application deadline: 20 July 2025: https://bit.ly/4epSXeT
Lecture
Paris, France, 18 June 2025
On the occasion of the exhibition Angkor Royal Bronzes: Art of the Divine presented at the Guimet - Musée national des arts asiatiques until September 8, of which he is co-curator, Brice Vincent will present "Bronzes royaux d'Angkor, un art du divin: nouveaux regards sur la métallurgie du cuivre dans le Cambodge angkorien". This lecture is organised jointly by the Association des Amis d'Angkor and the EFEO.

At 5.30 p.m. in the Grand Salon of the Maison de l'Asie, subject to availability.
Conference
Paris, France, 12 June 2025
On Thursday 12 and Friday 13 June, Fabienne Jagou, in collaboration with Cameron Warner (University of Aarhus, Denmark) and Nicole Willock (Old Dominion University, USA), is organising a conference entitled ‘Succession in Times of Change in the Tibetan World’ at the Maison de l'Asie.