Current Research Projects
Funded by Japan Agency of Science and Technology (JST)
- 2023-2028, Strategic Basic Research Program: "Narrative embodiment: neurocognitive mechanisms and its application to VR intervention techniques” (PI: Sotaro Shimada, Co-PI: Shogo Tanaka, Shu Morioka)
Joint Research Projects
Funded by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
- 2020-2022, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A): “Phenomenology of Alteration of Consciousness” PI: Shigeru Taguchi (Hokkaido University)
- 2017-2021, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A): “Laying the Philosophical Foundation for the Study of Case Studies in Ecological Phenomenology and Building an Archive” PI: Tetsuya Kono (Rikkyo University)
- 2019-2021, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B): “Embodiment and Sociality in Human Services and Therapies: Orality Research of Dialogue Spaces” PI: Kohji Ishihara (The University of Tokyo)
- 2018-2021, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B): “Designing the learning environments based on the eco-psychological approach for students with diverse difficulties” PI: Naohisa Mori (Sapporo Gakuin University)
- 2018-2020, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C): “Facilitating the process of motor learning in sports and art by stimulating brain stem in a non-invasive method” PI: Hiroshi Yamada (Tokai University)
Past Research Projects
Funded by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
2020-2023, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B): “The Embodied Self: From Minimal to Narrative” PI: Shogo Tanaka
[Summary] Over the past two decades, scientific approaches to the concept of the “self” have primarily focused on the idea of the “minimal self,” which is distinguished from the “narrative self.” According to this distinction, the minimal self is grounded in direct, momentary experience and is characterized by a sense of ownership and agency. In contrast, the narrative self comprises various self-narratives extended over time, encompassing one’s past experiences and future aspirations. The aim of this project was to broaden the scientific approach to the self by expanding the focus from the minimal to the narrative self, with an emphasis on embodiment. Over four years of research, we identified three crucial elements in establishing a new theoretical model: (1) Autobiographical memory supported by embodied actions, (2) Understanding narrativity in terms of embodied habits, (3) Integration of first-person and third-person perspectives in memory and narrative
2020-2021, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas: Construction of the face-body studies in transcultural conditions, “The Embodied Self under Transcultural Conditions” PI: Shogo Tanaka
[Summary] This project aimed to critically examine the discourse surrounding the notion of the "Japanese self" in cross-cultural psychology from an embodied perspective. As the planned fieldwork could not be conducted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we carried out an alternative program involving a literature review, with a focus on Taijin Kyofusho, which has traditionally been regarded as a culture-bound syndrome in Japanese psychiatry. Our review revealed that Taijin Kyofusho is not necessarily a culture-bound syndrome, but rather a subtype of social anxiety disorder commonly observed worldwide. In the current global transcultural context, many so-called culture-bound syndromes can be reinterpreted as global psychiatric phenomena.
2015-2019, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B): “Embodied Human Science: Ideas and development” PI: Shogo Tanaka
[Summary] This research project aimed to develop foundational theories for an embodied human science by integrating the paradigm of embodied cognition into phenomenology-based human sciences. During the funding period, our primary focus was on clarifying two key areas: (a) the self as grounded in embodied action, and (b) social cognition as arising from embodied interactions between the self and others. The major findings of this research are presented for a general audience in the single-authored book In Search of the Lived Self (Tanaka, 2017).
2016-2017, Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research: “Embodied Human Science” PI: Shogo Tanaka
[Summary] “Embodied Human Science” is a research project that seeks to propose a new framework for the human sciences grounded in the phenomenology of embodiment. In this joint international research effort, we focused on one of the project’s central issues: the constitution of reflective self-consciousness. To better understand our standard experience of self-reflection, we examined its pathological form in cases of depersonalization, where patients frequently report a sense of detachment from their own bodies. By analyzing a range of first-person accounts of the symptom, our findings suggest that depersonalization represents an abnormal mode of self-reflection—one that lacks the tacit sense of "mineness" typically embedded in bodily experience. This detached sense of self appears to stem primarily from a disruption in the feeling of body ownership.
2015-2017, Grant-in-Aid for challenging Exploratory Research: “Developing a theoretical model for self-awareness and social understanding based on qualitative research of perspective-exchange experiences” PI: Shogo Tanaka
[Summary] This project aims to propose a theoretical model of self-consciousness and social understanding based on qualitative research into the “perspective-conversion experience.” In this experimental setup, participants view their own bodies from an external perspective using a video camera and head-mounted display (HMD). Analysis of interview data from eight participants suggests that the perspective-conversion experience can divide self-awareness into two components: (a) the self identified with the external visual perspective, and (b) the self grounded in somatosensory perception. While it is common in daily life to imagine oneself from another person’s viewpoint, directly perceiving one’s own body from an external perspective may induce a spatial split and/or extension of the self.
2012-2014, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C): “A phenomenological and experimental study on the embodied knowledge in the intersubjective domain” PI: Shogo Tanaka
[Summary] This research project aims to shed light on the nature of social understanding as it emerges through embodied interactions between individuals. In contemporary psychological science, it is commonly assumed that we understand others' mental states by inferring them through a "theory of mind." However, our research suggests that the most fundamental form of social understanding arises from the direct perception of others’ intentions through their actions, and from responding to those actions in turn. These embodied interactions between self and other create implicit social contexts, which form the foundation for more explicit understanding achieved through verbal communication. In this sense, intersubjectivity originates in the dynamic interplay between one’s own body and that of the other.
2009-2011, Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B): “Developing a theoretical framework for embodied knowledge within the Life-world” PI: Shogo Tanaka
[Summary] Embodied knowledge refers to a form of knowing in which the body intuitively understands how to act (e.g., touch typing). It is not limited to motor skills but encompasses a wide range of human experiences situated within the Lifeworld. This research project aimed to develop a comprehensive theoretical framework for understanding embodied knowledge through a phenomenological methodology. To achieve this, we provided detailed descriptions of the three major aspects of the body schema: bodily movements, spatial behaviors, and bodily interactions. Through these in-depth phenomenological analyses, we clarified the process by which the body itself becomes the ‘knowing subject.’
