The first stage of the pre-symposium titled “Ethnogenesis of South and Central Asia” was held on June 6-8, 2005 at PaluluPlaza, Kyoto, in co-organization with the Harvard University Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies. The total number of participants was 202, including 69 foreign visitors from 11 countries. The symposium saw a heated discussion among the leading experts of each represented field: linguistics, anthropology, genetics and so on. In his opening address and conclusion speech Director-General of RIHN, prof. Toshitaka Hidaka explained the meaning of the symposium and the reasons for the establishment of RIHN, emphasizing that “The human culture is a double-edged sword […] it is also the very root of the global environmental problems for which no other animals are responsible”. |
