Masoud Taheri’s documentary film on the life and works of Toshihiko Izutsu.

The event is part of the following conference –
Neither Near Nor Far: Encounters and Exchanges between Japan and the Middle East

Convenors:
Laurent Mignon, University of Oxford
Hatsuki Aishima, National Museum of Ethnology

Supported by:
The John Fell Fund, University of Oxford
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI Grant Number 16KT0098
The Middle East Centre, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford
The Center for Modern Middle East Studies, National Museum of Ethnology

About the film:

The Eastern is a documentary film by Iranian director Masoud Taheri which traces the intellectual biography of Toshihiko Izutsu (1914-1993). Izutsu taught Islamic studies and comparative religions at Keio University in Tokyo, McGill in Montreal and the Iranian Institute of Philosophy in Tehran. Taheri visited 21 countries to interview Izutsu’s colleagues and fans in order to understand why this enigmatic Japanese scholar’s approach to Islam attracted so many Iranians and other readers around the world.