EHESC Books

EHESC Books (文化科学高等研究院出版局, Bunka Kagaku Kōtō Kenkyūin Shuppankyoku) is the publishing division of the Institute for Cultural Science, a Japanese research institute founded in 1990 and led by General Director Tetsuji Yamamoto. The institute conducts transdisciplinary research that crosses conventional academic boundaries, with internationally oriented programs in cultural capital studies, research on the de-substantialization of society, urban studies, place and environment studies, and hospitality studies. EHESC Books exists to publish the results of that research. The press is known for its critical stance toward what it describes as the commercialism of contemporary publishing. Since 2006 it has pursued a model of researcher-led publishing, treating books not as commodity production but as the formation of cultural capital — a concept it frames as a 'capital economy.' This approach experiments with the economic possibilities of on-demand printing and small-batch production. Among the works issued under this program are Tetsuji Yamamoto's 'Philosophy of Politics, Politics of Philosophy,' Kyoji Kusumoto's 'On the Essence of Design,' and Takaki Yoshimoto's 'Theory of Psychic Phenomena' (a collector's edition comprising introduction and main text). In February 2021 the press launched 'Chino Shinsho' (知の新書), a monthly paperback-style series that continues to appear each month. Its periodical output also includes 'ISLA' (three issues, produced with the cooperation of Tobishima Corporation), the quarterly 'iichiko' — supervised by Shuya Kawakita and edited by Tetsuji Yamamoto since 1986 — and the annual 'Cultural Capital Studies' (文化資本研究), published since 2018. The institute's wider ecosystem includes recorded public lectures by researchers, distributed as 'web intelligence university,' as well as the Cultural Capital Society (文化資本学会), established in 2018, and the General Incorporated Foundation Japan International Advanced Academic Conference (一般財団法人 日本国際高等学術会議), established in 2019. Members and collaborators associated with the institute's work include Kenji Fukui, Junichi Takahashi, Ryuzo Uchida, Masafumi Yano, Kazuo Matsushita, Sadakazu Fujii, Makoto Asari, Takehiro Kanaya, Luc Boltanski, Maurice Godelier, Edward Andrew, Roger Chartier, Paul Rabinow, John Urry, and Alfredo López Austin. EHESC Books therefore occupies a distinctive niche: a small, academically driven Japanese publisher tied to a single research institute, oriented toward international and transdisciplinary scholarship, and deliberately organized around non-commercial, researcher-controlled production.

EHESC Books is the publishing division of the Institute for Cultural Science (文化科学高等研究院), a Japanese research body founded in 1990 and directed by Tetsuji Yamamoto as General Director. The institute was established to carry out transdisciplinary research that goes beyond specialized fields, with internationally conducted programs in cultural capital studies, research on the de-substantialization of society, urban studies, place and environment studies, and hospitality studies. The publishing division was created to issue the results of this research. The institute's membership and collaborators span Japanese and international scholars, including Kenji Fukui, Junichi Takahashi, Ryuzo Uchida, Masafumi Yano, Kazuo Matsushita, Sadakazu Fujii, Makoto Asari, Takehiro Kanaya, Luc Boltanski, Maurice Godelier, Edward Andrew, Roger Chartier, Paul Rabinow, John Urry, and Alfredo López Austin. In terms of periodicals, the press produced 'ISLA' (three issues) with the cooperation of Tobishima Corporation, and from 1986 it has produced and published the quarterly 'iichiko,' supervised by Shuya Kawakita and edited by Tetsuji Yamamoto. The annual 'Cultural Capital Studies' (文化資本研究) has been published since 2018. A defining turn came in 2006, when — motivated by a critical awareness that the contemporary publishing situation had fallen into commercialism — the press began a publishing enterprise run by researchers themselves. Framing this as the production and formation of cultural capital rather than commodity production (a 'capital economy'), it took on the challenge of the economic possibilities of cultural production through on-demand publishing and small-batch production. Works issued under this program include Tetsuji Yamamoto's 'Philosophy of Politics, Politics of Philosophy,' Kyoji Kusumoto's 'On the Essence of Design,' and Takaki Yoshimoto's 'Theory of Psychic Phenomena' (collector's edition: introduction plus main text). From February 2021, the press began publishing 'Chino Shinsho' (知の新書) on a monthly basis. Beyond publishing, the institute distributes recorded public lectures by researchers as 'web intelligence university,' established the Cultural Capital Society (文化資本学会) in 2018, and established the General Incorporated Foundation Japan International Advanced Academic Conference (一般財団法人 日本国際高等学術会議) in 2019, continuing to advance research production activities.

• 2021

  'Chino Shinsho' monthly series launched in February.

• 2019

  General Incorporated Foundation Japan International Advanced Academic Conference established.

• 2018

  Annual 'Cultural Capital Studies' begins publication; Cultural Capital Society established.

• 2006

  Press begins researcher-led publishing, experimenting with on-demand and small-batch cultural production.

• 1990

  Institute for Cultural Science founded; Tetsuji Yamamoto serves as General Director.

• 1986

  Quarterly 'iichiko,' supervised by Shuya Kawakita and edited by Tetsuji Yamamoto, begins production and publication.

A non-commercial, researcher-led academic publisher producing cultural capital rather than commodity books, tied to a transdisciplinary research institute.

• Philosophy of Politics, Politics of Philosophy

• On the Essence of Design

• Theory of Psychic Phenomena (collector's edition: introduction + main text)

• Chino Shinsho (monthly series)

• ISLA (3 issues)

• Quarterly iichiko

• Cultural Capital Studies (annual)

1. 1EHESC Books official websiteehescbook.com
2. 2EHESC Books on Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3文化科学高等研究院出版局 - Wikipedia (Japanese)ja.wikipedia.org