Shiba Ryotaro Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 6 (2002) award
Masaaki Sugiyama
すぎやま まさあき
Sugiyama Masaaki
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1952-03-01 （Numazu, Shizuoka, Japan）
- Died
- 2019-12-24 age 67
- Nationality
- Japan
- Languages
- Japanese
Career
- Occupations
- Historian, University professor
- Active Years
- 1974-2017
- Affiliations
- Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University, Kyoto Women's University, Faculty of Letters / Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shizuoka Prefectural Numazu Higashi High School | — | — | — | — | Japan |
| Kyoto University | Faculty of Letters | Faculty of Letters | 学士（文学） | — | Japan |
| Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University | Graduate School of Letters | Graduate School of Letters | 博士課程単位取得退学 | — | Japan |
| Kyoto University | Graduate School of Letters | Graduate School of Letters | 博士（文学） | — | Japan |
Shizuoka Prefectural Numazu Higashi High School
Country:
Japan
Kyoto University
Faculty of Letters
/ Faculty of Letters
Degree:
学士（文学）
Year of Graduation:
1974
Country:
Japan
Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University
Graduate School of Letters
/ Graduate School of Letters
Degree:
博士課程単位取得退学
Year of Graduation:
1979
Country:
Japan
Withdrew from the doctoral program after obtaining credits in 1979; later awarded a Doctor of Letters by Kyoto University in 2006.
Kyoto University
Graduate School of Letters
/ Graduate School of Letters
Degree:
博士（文学）
Year of Graduation:
2006
Country:
Japan
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Suntory Academic Award | Kublai's Challenge: The Road to a Mongol Maritime Empire | 思想・歴史部門 | Suntory Foundation | 受賞 |
| 2003 | Shiba Ryotaro Prize | — | — | Shiba Ryotaro Memorial Foundation | 受賞 |
| 2006 | Medal with Purple Ribbon | — | — | Japanese government | 受章 |
| 2007 | Japan Academy Prize | The Mongol Empire and the Great Yuan State | — | The Japan Academy | 受賞 |
Suntory Academic Award
1995
Work:
Kublai's Challenge: The Road to a Mongol Maritime Empire
Category:
思想・歴史部門
Organization:
Suntory Foundation
Result:
受賞
Shiba Ryotaro Prize
2003
Organization:
Shiba Ryotaro Memorial Foundation
Result:
受賞
Medal with Purple Ribbon
2006
Organization:
Japanese government
Result:
受章
Japan Academy Prize
2007
Work:
The Mongol Empire and the Great Yuan State
Organization:
The Japan Academy
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
The World of Great Mongolia: A Vast Empire of Land and Sea
1992 History / GeneralAn accessible overview for general readers of the Mongol Empire's land- and sea-spanning structures of rule and their impact.
Mongol Empire historyEurasian historyEmpires and maritime connections
Adaptations
- [TV documentary] NHK Special: The Great Mongols (1992)
Translations
- Traditional Chinese translation 'Damo: The World History of Nomads' (2011)
Kublai's Challenge: The Road to a Mongol Maritime Empire
1995 History / ResearchDiscusses Kublai Khan's era and the significance of maritime expansion, exploring Mongol maritime policy and its global historical implications.
Kublai KhanMaritime expansionEurasian exchanges
Rise and Fall of the Mongol Empire (Vol. 1) — Age of Military Expansion
1996 History / General historyDetailed analysis of the Mongol Empire's period of military expansion (Volume 1).
Military historyNomadic statesStructures of rule
Rise and Fall of the Mongol Empire (Vol. 2) — Age of World Governance
1996 History / General historyVolume 2 discussing Mongol governance and its global reach.
History of governanceInternational exchangeEurasian integration
Yelü Chucai and His Age
1996 Biography / ResearchExamines the life of Yelü Chucai and his era, presenting a critical perspective on conventional evaluations.
BiographyLiao/Jin/Yuan periodsIndividual history and politics
World History Seen from Nomads
1997 History / GeneralReinterprets world history from the nomadic perspective, offering a view that transcends ethnicities and borders for general readers.
NomadsComparative historyBorders and exchange
Translations
- Traditional Chinese translation 'Damo: The World History of Nomads' (2011)
The Mongol Empire and the Great Yuan State
2004 Scholarly researchA scholarly collection of key papers that reexamines the Mongol Empire and the Great Yuan; recipient of the Japan Academy Prize.
Yuan dynasty studiesSource criticismComparative history
The Riding Grassland Conquerors: Liao, Western Xia, Jin and Yuan
2005 History / Lecture collectionA lecture-style history discussing the rise and fall of East Eurasian dynasties from the viewpoint of nomadism and sedentism.
Liao, Western Xia, Jin, YuanEast Eurasian historyNomadism vs. sedentarism
Bibliography
- The World of Great Mongolia: A Vast Empire of Land and Sea (1992)
- Kublai's Challenge: The Road to a Mongol Maritime Empire (1995)
- Rise and Fall of the Mongol Empire (Vol.1) — Age of Military Expansion (1996)
- Rise and Fall of the Mongol Empire (Vol.2) — Age of World Governance (1996)
- Yelü Chucai and His Age (1996)
- World History Seen from Nomads (1997)
- The Mongol Empire and the Great Yuan State (2004)
- The Riding Grassland Conquerors: Liao, Western Xia, Jin and Yuan (2005)
Adaptations
- NHK Special 'The Great Mongols' (TV documentary, 1992)
- Taiga Drama 'Hojo Tokimune' (2001) — historical consultation
Translations by Author
- David Morgan, 'The Mongol Empire' (Japanese translation, co-translator Junko Oshima, 1993)
- Jean-Paul Roux, 'Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire' (supervised edition, 2003)
Translations of Works
- Traditional Chinese translation 'Damo: The World History of Nomads' (translation of 'World History Seen from Nomads', 2011)
- Simplified Chinese translation 'The Riding Grassland Conquerors' (example of translations)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Scholarly yet accessible explanatory style for general readersEmphasis on comparative, multilingual source-based scholarly analysis
- Recurring Motifs
- Contrast between nomadism and sedentarismEurasian connectivity and exchangeReevaluation of the Mongol Empire
Legacy
A leading figure in Mongol history studies in Japan, Sugiyama left significant influence through both scholarly research and accessible works for the general public. His books were translated in China and Taiwan and attracted attention across East Asian academia and publishing.
In Popular Culture
- Contributed to programs such as NHK Special 'The Great Mongols', helping public understanding of Mongol history
- Worked as a historical consultant on the taiga drama 'Hojo Tokimune', bridging historical research and screen depiction
Quotes
-
To grasp the history of the Mongol era, sources in more than twenty languages — with Persian and Chinese as the two main corpora, and including Mongolian, Turkic, Jurchen, Latin, Sanskrit, Japanese, etc. — are involved and must be handled in their original forms.
Source: The Mongol Empire and the Great Yuan State (2004) -
Conventional historiography has been biased toward a European (Western) perspective or a Sinocentric view based on Chinese-language sources, and that alone does not constitute a true 'world history'.
Source: The Mongols Overturn World History (2006)
Trivia
- Professor at Kyoto University's Faculty of Letters; named Professor Emeritus on retirement in 2017
- Provided historical consultation for NHK taiga drama 'Hojo Tokimune' (2001)
- Co-translated David Morgan's 'The Mongol Empire' into Japanese