This review essay speaks to the crisis of Area Studies, offering a view from the field in the form of a review of Tsugaru Gaku (Tsugaru Studies) as a specific Area Studies research case. After presenting an overview of the work of social science researchers working in Japan, both foreign and Japanese, the essay turns to major questions articulated in the literature of Area Studies regarding the purpose, character and future of Area Studies. By reviewing the multi-dimensional and combinative implications in the process and dissemination of his own social science research work together with consideration of the work of Japanese social scientists conducting research in rural Japan and publishing in Japanese, the author positions such ‘domestic,’ place-based sociological and anthropological research as a vital contribution to the future of Area Studies. Capitalizing on social scientific research that can contribute to Area Studies research requires a view of the ‘plasticity of research.’ Further, recognition of the ‘hybridity of the Area Studies researcher,’ both as the trained Area Studies specialist as well as a ‘domestic social science researcher’ capable of theory, methodology and analysis, as well as dissemination of Area Studies research originating in a specific place and in a specific language, is vital to the future of Area Studies research.

中文翻译：

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津轻学作为区域研究：研究可塑性和研究人员混合

这篇评论文章谈到了区域研究的危机，以对津轻学（津轻研究）作为特定区域研究研究案例的评论的形式提供了该领域的观点。在概述了在日本工作的外国和日本社会科学研究人员的工作之后，本文转向了地区研究文献中关于地区研究的目的、特征和未来的主要问题。作者通过回顾自己的社会科学研究工作在过程和传播过程中的多维度和组合性影响，并考虑到日本社会科学家在日本农村进行研究并用日语发表的工作，将这种“国内、' 以地方为基础的社会学和人类学研究作为对区域研究未来的重要贡献。利用可以为区域研究做出贡献的社会科学研究需要有“研究的可塑性”的观点。此外，承认“区域研究研究人员的混合性”，既是训练有素的区域研究专家，又是能够进行理论、方法论和分析的“国内社会科学研究人员”，以及传播起源于区域研究的区域研究研究特定地点和特定语言对区域研究的未来至关重要。