Haruka Kikuta

Education:

2009 Ph.D., Arts and Sciences (Cultural Anthropology), University of Tokyo
2001 M.A., Arts and Sciences (Cultural Anthropology), University of Tokyo
1999 B.A., Arts, and Sciences (Cultural Anthropology), University of Tokyo

Field of Study:

I have been engaged in cultural anthropological studies in Uzbekistan since 2002, and my first research subject was modern Islamic belief practices in Uzbekistan. Through long-term fieldwork in the field, I discovered that masters of some occupations retain their deep respects for Islamic patron saints (pirs), despite the rapid changes to the industrial and social structures during the Soviet era. I found that pirs have retained their traditional function of maintaining solidarity among masters, and the veneration of pirs has led to the retention of high ethics and skill levels among masters. The fieldwork also clarified that some masters found contemporary and new significance from the veneration of pirs.
My next research subject will be the social influence of labor migrants from Uzbekistan and remittances they send to their homeland. Since the latter half of the 2000s, as the Uzbek migration to Russia, the Middle East, and elsewhere rapidly increased. Uzbekistan overcame the economic hardships faced at independence and capitalist lifestyles began to penetrate rapidly not only in urban cities but also in rural villages. As a result, various social changes have occurred. Among them, I focus on changes in gender, the local communities called mahallas, and life-cycle rituals such as circumcision and wedding ceremonies. I also analyze the influence of mobile phones on Muslim family relations.

Recent Publications (Selected):

Monographs:

Veneration of Saints in Uzbekistan: Post-Soviet Islam in a Pottery Town. Tokyo: Fukyosya, 2013. (in Japanese)

Journal Articles and Book Chapters:

“Venerating the Pir: Patron Saints of Muslim Ceramists in Uzbekistan.” Central Asian Survey, 36(2), pp. 195–211, 2017.
“Remittances, Rituals and Reconsidering Women's Norms in Mahallas: Emigrant Labour and Its Social Effects in Ferghana Valley.” Central Asian Survey, 35(1), pp. 91–104, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2115/64772
“Veneration of Patron Saints among Muslim Craftsmen in Uzbekistan Today: Balancing between Rationalization and Mystery.” Bunkajinruigaku, Japanese Journal of Cultural Anthropology, 77(3), pp. 361–381, 2013.
“Ruh or Spirits of the Deceased as Mediators in Islamic Belief : The Case of a Town in Uzbekistan.” ACTA SLAVICA IAPONICA 30, pp. 63–78,2011. http://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/publictn/acta/30/04KIKUTA.pdf
“A Master Is Greater than a Father: Rearrangements of Traditions among Muslim Artisans in Soviet and Post-Soviet Uzbekistan.” In: Donald. C. Wood, ed., Economic Development, Integration, and Morality in Asia and the Americas (Research in Economic Anthropology 29). UK: JAI Press, Emerald, pp. 89–122, 2009.

Invited Lectures (Selected):

“Social Change Brought by Labor Migrants from Central Asia: Focusing on Mobile Phones and the Consciousness of Youth.” Tsukuba Global Science Week, Tsukuba, Japan (21 September 2018)
“Four Types of Migrants from Uzbekistan to Russia: Specifying Sources of ‘Otherness’” SRC/IREEES　Joint Symposium, Sapporo, Japan (30 January 2017)

Courses Taught:

- Society and Culture of Slavic-Eurasian societies
- Human and Culture
- Introduction to Sociology
- Society and Family

Grants and Fellowships:

- Cultural History of PaleoAsia (Co-investigator, Scientific Research on Innovative Areas, MEXT Grant-in-Aid Project, 2016–2020)
- ‘Glocalization’ and Change of Gender in Central Asia by Labour Migrants (JSPS Grants-in-Aid for Young Scientists (Startup), 2015–2017)
- Social Change and Women’s Lives in Modern Central Asia (JSPS Grants-in-Aid for RPD Research Fellow, 2011-2014)
- Anthropological Study on the Role of Saints and Sanctity over Islam and Order in Uzbekistan (JSPS Grants-in-Aid for PD Research Fellow, 2007-2011, including 1 year of childcare leave)
- Islam in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan: An Anthropological Approach (JSPS Grants-in-Aid for DC Research Fellow, 2001–2004)

Professional Service:

- Staff of Secretariat at the Japan Association for Central Asian Studies (2017–present)
- Peer Reviewer at the National Center of Science and Technology Evaluation (NCSTE) in Kazakhstan (2018–present)