Topics: Culture and Urbanism
Science and Technology
Regional focus: Asia and the Pacific
Europe
Origin: Japan
Fellowship: Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow

Ken’ichi Mishima served at the University of Osaka as Chair Holder for Modern Philosophy and Comparative Studies of Civilization. Since receiving his Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts from the University of Tokyo, he has spent years in Tokyo, Tubingen, Bonn, Osaka, and Heidelberg as a scholar and professor. In the academic year 1994/1995, he was a fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin.

Ken’ichi Mishima has published many books and essays about German philosophers. His research interests particularly lie in Friedrich Nietzsche, Walter Benjamin, and important members of the Frankfurt School. Another focus of his academic research is modernization theory.

His current research project focuses on the discussions about "multiple modernities". Partly influenced by postcolonial theory, he has explored aspects of "entangled modernities“, an idea originally coined by Shalini Randeria.

In 1987, Ken’ichi Mishima was awarded with the Philipp Franz von Siebold Prize by the Bundespräsident Richard von Weizsäcker for his contributions to German-Japanese intellectual exchange. In 2001, he received the Eugen-und-Ilse-Seibold-Prize, which is awarded to Japanese and German scientists for their outstanding contribution to enhancing mutual understanding. 

Last update: 2017