THIRD THURSDAY LECTURE - SAINSBURY INSTITUTE

Kotaro Katsuki (Embassy of Japan in the UK) Kikuko Hirafuji (Kokugakuin University / SOAS Visiting Scholar)

About the Talk

This event features a screening of the ROLES documentary Building Eternity: The Kami–Human Landscape of Izumo Taisha (30 minutes), followed by two invited talks. The film explores a distinctly Japanese idea of “eternity”—not as the avoidance of destruction, but as the continuity of life through cyclical renewal. This worldview resonates strongly with global discussions on sustainability and the SDGs.

Focusing on the 60-year rebuilding cycle (sengū) of Izumo Taisha, the documentary illustrates how finite natural materials, communal collaboration, and intergenerational craftsmanship together give form to an enduring sacred architecture. Through rare interviews with senior priests, including Senge Yoshihiko (Gon-gūji, Izumo Taisha), the film reveals how the interlinking of finite elements—in architecture, ritual, and myth—creates a lived experience of eternity.

Following the screening, two talks will offer interdisciplinary perspectives:

Kotaro Katsuki (Embassy of Japan in the UK)
Will touch upon certain peculiar aspects from the film “Building Eternity” and how it relates to the sustainable development movement and beyond..

Kikuko Hirafuji (Kokugakuin University / SOAS Visiting Scholar)
Will examine how Japanese myths shape architectural thought, offering a comparative reflection on the relationship between myth and built form.

Bringing together religion, architecture, sustainability, and international policy, this event opens a dialogue on how Japanese religious traditions can contribute to global conversations about the environment and the sacred.

Schedule
16:45 – Doors open to the public
17:00 – Screening of the documentary Building Eternity: The Kami–Human Landscape of Izumo Taisha (30 minutes)
17:40 – Break
18:00 – Talks and Q&A session
19:00 – Reception

Online and in-person attendees are welcome to join for just the talks relating to the film if preferred. 

About the Speaker

Kotaro Katsuki is the Minister and Head of Political Section at the Embassy of Japan to the United Kingdom. He has held various managerial positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Headquarters and the Japanese Government covering Sustainable Development Goals implementation and Sustaining Peace efforts among others. His foreign postings prior to the current one in the UK, have been at the Embassy of Japan in the People’s Republic of China, the United States of America, and Sri Lanka. He holds a BA in Law from the University of Tokyo and an MA in Regional Studies East Asia from Harvard University. He has lectured at various universities in Japan and the United States and is a frequent speaker at policy events around the globe.

Kikuko Hirafuji is Professor of Shinto Studies at Kokugakuin University in Tokyo and a Visiting Scholar at SOAS, University of London. She leads the “Japanese Religious Traditions and Values” unit within the University of Tokyo’s ROLES project. She holds a PhD in Japanese literature from Gakushuin University, where her doctoral research focused on comparative Japanese mythology. Her research examines Japanese mythology and religious culture, exploring how myths have been interpreted and reimagined across history, art, and contemporary popular culture. She is also the producer of Building Eternity: The Kami-Human Landscape of Izumo Taisha (2024), a documentary created within the University of Tokyo’s ROLES project.