On November 22, 2023, we conducted an oral history interview with Dr. Jun Murai, a computer scientist who is known as the "father of the Internet in Japan.” The interview mainly focused on the technology and communities that existed during the early days of the Internet.

Interviewer: BAN Ryuichiro (Researcher)

We are pleased to announce that the name of this center has been changed from Historical Archives Research Center to History of Content Industry Archives Research Center, effective November 12, 2024.

We look forward to your continued support.

On June 9, 2025, the Art Research Center (ARC) at Ritsumeikan University signed a Collaboration Agreement for Joint Academic Research with the History of Content Industry Archives Research Center (HARC) of ZEN University.

The signing ceremony took place at Ritsumeikan University's Kinugasa Campus and was attended by Professor Ryo Akama, Director of the ARC, and Professor Koichi Hosoi, Director of the HARC and faculty member of the College of Letters.

Please see the link below for details.(Japanise)
ZEN大学HARCと立命館大学ARCが連携協定を締結
コンテンツ産業のオーラル・ヒストリー、およびコミックマーケット関連資料のデジタルアーカイブ構築で協力

ZEN University's Content Industry History Archive Research Center (HARC) is pleased to announce that it will be cooperating with the Agency for Cultural Affairs' "Nokosu! Ikasu!! Manga, Anime, and Games Exhibition in Tokyo 2025," which will be held at the National Art Center, Tokyo from Saturday, June 14, 2025. HARC researcher Chitoko KOIDE is in charge of the games section of the exhibition.

The purpose of this exhibition is to consider archives in the fields of manga, anime, and games, and it is a traveling exhibition of the "Nokosu! Ikasu!! Manga, Anime, and Games Exhibition" held at the Kyoto International Manga Museum in 2024.

Please see the link below for details.(Japanise)
ZEN大学HARC、文化庁主催 「のこす！いかす！！マンガ・アニメ・ゲーム展 in Tokyo 2025」に協力

The ZEN University Content Industry History Archive Research Center (HARC) and the Ritsumeikan University Art Research Center (ARC) will hold a special lecture, "Learn, Create, Preserve 'Art and Entertainment' - From Tradition to the Present" on Wednesday, July 23, 2025 at 13:00 to commemorate their joint research and academic exchange.

Focusing on "learning," "creating," and "preserving" Japan's expressive cultural resources, Director Koichi Hosoi of ZEN University HARC and Director Ryo Akama of Ritsumeikan University ARC, who have been engaged in digital archive projects for many years, will talk about the importance of archives, the efforts of both centers, themes surrounding copyright in the age of AI, and the outlook for cultural creation for the future. This lecture will be streamed free of charge on YouTube and Niconico Live Broadcast.

☑︎"Digital Archives" is a key area of the government's intellectual property strategy

The Japanese government's Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters formulated and published the "Digital Archive Strategy 2026-2030" in May 2025, and has set the promotion of digital preservation and utilization of Japanese cultural and academic content as one of the government's key strategies. Japan's content culture, including games, animation, and manga, not only has a cultural influence such as improving Japan's international image, but also contributes to economic revitalization, such as attracting foreign tourists to Japan due to content. On the other hand, many of the testimonies of those who have supported it behind the scenes are already being lost. In addition, there are not many objective critiques or research results based on historical facts.

ZEN University HARC was launched as a history project in 2023 prior to the opening of ZEN University. Its mission is to build an archive that widely and deeply collects and preserves primary materials related to the people, things, and events that have shaped the history of the content industry, and to make them available as historical assets for social use such as research, education, and business creation.

Ritsumeikan University ARC has been selected as an international joint research center for digital archives of Japanese cultural resources by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and is building a database containing more than 2.5 million pieces of data on Japanese cultural resources, such as ukiyo-e, classical books, rankings, and maps of Japan and Kyoto. The database is also characterized by being an open database that is accessed by many people, with more than 9 million page views in 2023 and more than 750,000 Japan Search collaborations.

In the joint research, we will promote a project to collect and build a digital archive of video oral histories about people who were active in the fields of media arts content, mainly manga, animation, and games, as well as the fields of IT and internet culture, and a project to build a digital archive of primary materials related to doujinshi creation.

This lecture commemorates the start of this joint research, and will also introduce the significance and interface of the oral histories, which will be made public from the same day.

【Special lecture to commemorate the conclusion of the joint research project: "Learn, create, and preserve 'Art and Entertainment' - from tradition to the present"】

・Date and time: Wednesday, July 23, 2025, 13:00-14:30

・Speakers: Akama Ryo (Director of the ARC Center, Ritsumeikan University), Hosoi Koichi (Director of HARC, ZEN University) *Titles omitted

・Moderator: Gunji Satoshi (Advisor to HARC, ZEN University)

・Organizers: ZEN University Content Industry History Archive Research Center (HARC), Ritsumeikan University Art Research Center (ARC)

・Contents

Akama Ryo "Creating Archives as Art and Entertainment" (tentative)

Hosoi Koichi "Archive Strategy for Art and Entertainment Connecting Cultural Preservation and Creativity"

Panel discussion "Learning, Creating, and Preserving Art and Entertainment"

・Streaming URL
Niconico Live Broadcast：https://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv348097637 

YouTube ：https://www.youtube.com/live/OGohxGBcwf4 

☑︎Also broadcasting a talk event at Genron and a special program in collaboration with Niconico Museum

In addition, prior to the release of the oral history, ZEN University will hold a public lecture entitled "Recording the History of the Content Industry - The Mission and Challenges of ZEN University and HARC" in collaboration with Genron Co., Ltd. on Thursday, July 17th, by HARC founder and advisor to Dwango Co., Ltd., Kawakami Nobuo, and HARC Director Hosoi Koichi. Genron founder and ZEN University Professor Azuma Hiroki will act as moderator and talk about the uniqueness of the Japanese content industry that has become apparent through HARC's efforts and the significance of historicizing it.

In addition, on Monday, July 28th, after the oral history is released, a special program will be broadcast in collaboration with the live broadcast program "Nico Nico Museum," which tours museums and other venues with expert commentary. The oral history archive will be treated as a "museum," and HARC Director Hosoi and Advisor Gunji will guide the museum along with writer and editor Hashimoto Mari and writer and game creator Yamamoto Takamitsu.

【Outline of the Genron Joint Open Lecture "Recording the History of the Content Industry: The Mission and Challenges of ZEN University HARC"】

・Date and time: Thursday, July 17, 2025, starting at 7:00 PM

・Speakers: Hosoi Koichi (Director of ZEN University HARC), Kawakami Nobuo (Advisor to Dwango Co., Ltd.) *Titles omitted

・Moderator: Azuma Hiroki (Founder of Genron, Professor at ZEN University, Critic and Writer)

・Content: Preserving the history of the content industry

The concept of ZEN University and the idea behind HARC

Research concepts and future activities at HARC

・Event details: https://genron-cafe.jp/event/20250717/

*This is a paid event, but the first part will be broadcast for free on YouTube.

【Niconico Museum Special Program Overview】

・Program title: Collecting, archiving, and researching the "testimonies" of key figures in the content industry, including the founder of Shirogumi, which handles the VFX for "Godzilla 1.0," the founder of Enix, and the father of the Japanese Internet [Nico Nico Museum]

・Date and time: Monday, July 28, 2025, 7:00pm-8:30pm

・Cast: Koichi Hosoi (Director of ZEN University HARC), Satoshi Gunji (Advisor to ZEN University HARC), Mari Hashimoto (Writer/Editor), Takamitsu Yamamoto (Writer/Game Creator) *Titles omitted

・Content: An introduction to the oral history archive released by ZEN University HARC, with commentary

・Streaming URL: https://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv348143412

❙ About Ritsumeikan University Art Research Center

Ritsumeikan University Art Research Center (ARC) is a digital public humanities promotion center that digitally archives and "visualizes" Japan's cultural and artistic resources - a center for promoting digital public humanities through art and technology. Since its establishment in 1998, it has been active as a promoter of digital humanities using digital archive technology, and has been selected for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's 21st Century COE Program and Global COE Program. In 2019, it was certified as the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's International Joint Usage and Research Center "International Joint Research Center for Digital Archives of Japanese Cultural Resources" (ARC-iJAC). Currently, it aims to realize digital public humanities that activates intellectual production activities by making the general public able to use its huge data archive.

Moreinformation about Ritsumeikan University Art Research Center▶ https://www.arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/ 

❙ About ZEN University

ZEN University utilizes cutting-edge IT technology to provide everyone with the opportunity to go to university. In ZEN University's only faculty, the Faculty of Intelligent Information and Society, students can learn in a way that is not biased towards a specific academic field, and acquire the literacy necessary to respond to and play an active role in the rapidly changing AI era. For more information, please see the ZEN University website and brochure.

Applications will be accepted for students entering in October 2025 from Wednesday, July 23, 2025. In addition, applications will be accepted for students entering in April 2026 from Tuesday, September 2, 2025. In order to provide a wide range of higher education opportunities to those who are motivated to learn, ZEN University does not conduct academic ability tests in the admission selection process. Selection will be based on reasons for application and short essays.

More information about ZEN University▶ https://zen.ac.jp/ 

Request the latest brochure▶ https://zen.ac.jp/form