Copyright (c) 2000 by the Slavic Research Center( English / Japanese ) All rights reserved.
Preface
This report represents the outcome
of research undertaken between 1998 and 2000 under the auspices of the
research project, "Interdisciplinary Studies: 'Economic Development and
the Environment' on the Sakhalin Offshore Oil and Gas Fields" sponsored
by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. This
publication is a collection of edited versions of papers presented at
the Slavic Research Center's International Summer Symposium held on
July 21-23, 1999.
Since the trade-off between economic
development and environmental protection in Sakhalin directly impacts
Hokkaido'seconomy and the lives of its citizens, these
issues prompted heated discussions among the symposium's participants.
As
the report's
contents suggest, this symposium was unique
because it brought together scholars from the humanities, as well as
natural and social sciences to conduct holistic examinations of the
topic.
The symposium's interdisciplinary
approach was groundbreaking, attracting a great deal of interest, as
well as providing a new methodology for area studies. It is my hope
that this report will serve to promote future studies using this new
approach.
February, 2000
Takashi Murakami,
Project Leader
Professor, Slavic Research Center