ABOUT TOKYO CAMII INSTITUTE
History and Philosophy
Tokyo Camii Institute (東京ジャーミイ文書館) was established as a place to research and study Turkiye and Islam cultures and to present the results both domestically and internationally widely. One of the purposes of its establishment is to carry on the spirit of “Matbaa-yi Islâmiye (1930-1938),” the printing house of “Mekteb-i islâmiye (Islamic School)”; located next to “Tōkyō kaikyō Jiin (opened 1938),” the predecessor of Tokyo Camii (opened 2000) and provided Islamic education by issuing various textbooks as well as printing and publishing the Quran in Arabic for the first time in Japan (1935), and contributed to the sharing of knowledge and the development of culture through the support of researchers, and to pass it on to the future.
Activities
The concept of opening the research institute started in 2019 with the opening of “Kitapci,” the bookshop in Tokyo Camii. Its substantial activities began in 2021 with a reading session of classical literature by researchers and student volunteers in Tokyo Camii. The main activities after 2022 are as follows.
(1) Education and enlightenment
・Language class management (Arabic)
・Reading session of classical literature (classical Arabic, Ottoman Turkish)
・Open lectures (monthly lectures by various researchers)
・Translation of various Sunni Islamic classics and translation of research papers of related Studies
・Translators Conference (provisional name)
(2) Research and study
・Management and restoration of cultural materials, collection, and research (preservation of printing block of the Qur’an)
・Support students in writing graduation thesis/master’s thesis/doctoral thesis (support for social research, interview surveys, etc., on Muslim converts in Japan through Tokyo Camii)
(3) Support Researchers
・Management of symposiums, including rental of conference rooms and support for study sessions
・Collaboration and exchange with overseas educational institutions (including study abroad support)