About

I am a historian and Professor Emeritus at Osaka University. My research focuses on comparative cultural and intellectual history. I am particularly interested in the movement of people and the transfer of ideas between Japan and Europe.

I grew up in the German Ruhr area, the industrial heartland of West Germany, in the 1950s and '60s. After finishing high school, I studied history, German literature and philosophy at the universities of Düsseldorf and Bonn, respectively. In 1979, I enrolled on a PhD programme at the Historical Institute in Düsseldorf. At the same time, I joined the Max Weber Research Institute, where I worked on a new edition of Max Weber's political writings under the guidance of Wolfgang J. Mommsen. In 1986, I finished my dissertation on conservatism and counter-revolution in Germany in 1848/49 and the editorial work on Vol. 16 of the “Max Weber-Gesamtausgabe” (both published in 1988).

Inspired by the similarities between German and Japanese history in the 19th and 20th centuries and encouraged by the success of the new edition of Max Weber's Complete Works in Japan, I shifted my focus to modern Japan. With the support of the Humboldt Foundation and the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), I moved to Rikkyō University in Tokyo in 1989. Despite my lack of language skills at the time, I started a new research project on the reception of Max Weber in 20th-century Japan, working with Prof. Sumiya Kazuhiko as my mentor. From 1991 to 1992, I continued working on this subject at St Antony's College, Oxford. Back in Germany, it took me a further four years to complete the manuscript, which formed the basis of my Habilitation in 1996 (published in 1998). So much for the easy part of my academic career!

Then came the 'Wanderjahre' (‘years of travel’), during which I lectured or conducted research projects on modern history and social thought at various universities in my home country and abroad. From 1996 to 2002 I held short-term appointments at Charles University in Prague, Hagen Open University, Bielefeld University, the University of Vienna among others. In 2002, I was appointed Professor of Comparative Cultural and Intellectual History at Osaka University (Graduate School of Human Sciences), where I taught for almost 17 years.

After I retired from my position at Osaka University I suspended most of my memberships in academic societies, however, I continue to be a member of the following academic associations: Rekishigaku Kenkyūkai (歴史学研究会, since 2016), European Association of Japanese Studies (EAJS, since 2003), Gesellschaft für Japanforschung (GfJ, since 1996) and Vereinigung für Sozialwissenschaftliche Japanforschung (VSJF, since its foundation in 1988).

Since 2012 I have served as co-editor of “Neue Fischer Weltgeschichte” (Fischer, Frankfurt/M., Germany). https://www.fischerverlage.de/buch/reihe/neue-fischer-weltgeschichte

I also sit on the advisory board of the book series “Japan in Ostasien/ Japan in East Asia” (Nomos, Baden-Baden, Germany).