Kyudai News No27 page 15/28

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Kyudai News No27

14to develop a new definition of sustainability thatincorporates the perspective of the living practices of localpeople, in addition to ecological and economicsustainability.The second is theoretical research into the taking of animallives. Hunting is often criticized on ethical grounds asbeing cruel. However, in exploring coexistence betweenhumans and wildlife, it occurred to me that there was aneed for a theoretical study of history in hunting andjudgments concerning the rights and wrongs thereof.Accordingly, I conducted a study of literature concerningthe history of sport hunting and animal welfare, and aquestionnaire-based survey to examine the rights andwrongs of sport hunting. The results revealed that there is atendency for opinions and views concerning the rights andwrongs of hunting to be divided according to its cruelty andthe economic benefits that it brings, with the dichotomy orvariation in views on the rights and wrongs arising bothsocially and psychologically.In the future, I intend to expand the content of these tworesearch topics further and will continue to pursue myexploration of the formation of coexistent relationshipsbetween humans and wildlife.More specifically, in the case of my empirical research, aswell as continuing and developing the studies that I haveconducted to date in Africa and Hokkaido, I will carry outfieldwork within Fukuoka Prefecture on the theme of therelationship between wildlife and local communities,centering on wildlife resources and their use for tourismpurposes, and regional revitalization, with a particularfocus on the area around the Ito Campus and the Itoshimaregion.To empirically examine what it is to take a wild animal’slife, I myself have become a hunter, with this year markingmy third hunting season. In my theoretical research, I willpursue further ethical studies on the subject of my ownhunting activities. In addition, I will plan and implementjoint research with environmental sociologists andanthropologists in receipt of a JSPS* Grant-in-Aid forScientific Research(known as KAKENHI), undertakingsocial sciences research focused on the contribution ofhunting activities to regional development and theconservation of ecosystems, and the adverse effects thereofon the living practices of local people through anexamination of the potential for positive and negativeeffects as seen in the field, both within Japan and overseas.What is “taking a life”?Accompanied a buffalo hunting Commemorative photo with a wildlife officer of National Park in Africa*JSPS…Japan Society for the Promotion of ScienceFieldwork in AfricaAkito YasudaAssistant Professor,Division for Humanitiesand Social Sciences,Faculty of Arts andScience