J

he history of academic research abroad dates from the imperialist era to the present. The initial exploratory element has faded, and academic and organized surveys have become the mainstream. Many surveys have been conducted with the cooperation of local researchers, but on the part of local researchers, experience has been accumulated that goes beyond mere cooperation. This has led to work beyond merely examining the training of researchers and the nature of collaborative research to reconsidering the nature of geography as a comprehensive science and the methodologies and frameworks for that purpose. In this session, we would like to examine the path to reconsidering regional geography through 1) reports on the history of area studies and fieldwork methodologies, 2) reports on repositioning individual subdivided studies as geographical studies, and 3) reports on involvement in overseas academic surveys by local researchers.