Maria Grazia Petrucci

Instructor, Coquitlam College

 

Dr. Petrucci obtained the Japan Foundation fellowship for 9 months in 2010/2011 and carried out research on Japanese pirate networks in the 16th and 17th centuries. She was based out of Kyushu University in Fukuoka City.

The fellowship did help me greatly as I found documents that have been not so much studied and no foreigner had ever considered, hence I was able to write my dissertation using such documents. My research was on the effect of the silver trade on the piratical clans of Kyushu, and there I was able to obtain primary sources that I would not have been able to obtain within Canada. It had a great impact as that was my first time studying and researching in Japan. I have learnt a great deal from my experience as a scholar and about Japanese society and scholarship.

I was lucky to be chosen by the Japan Foundation to accomplish my research, and I hope the Japan Foundation will continue to expand its border and allow more researcher to go to Japan for academic purposes.

Dr. Petrucci has published several articles on piracy in Japan. She is now working on two books and may return to Japan in the near future for further research. 

I have several good memories of Japan and of my colleagues at Kyushu University and the people I met during my research trips to various archives (deep appreciation for the Oita City Sage Archives and personnel). I also remember fondly the meetings of our Kyushu University Manuscript Librarian, who would gather us students and researchers at lunch to help us with various research topics. It was not only a social meeting but a gathering to learn and discuss various events, publications and sources in a very informal but effective way. Besides my research trips in Southern Japan there was a great invite to participate in a 3-day workshop in Matsuyama, Shikoku, Matsuyama. We visited the archipelago and islands of the Kutsuna clan of pirates under the guidance of Professor YAMAUCHI Yuzuru and others. I have fond memories and hope to return to Japan to accomplish more research for my future manuscripts.