Report on the Dispatch to Belgium:
Participation in the International Conference “Transmission and learning”
Akira Takada
Professor
Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies
Kyoto University
From November 16 to November 22, 2025, I visited Liège, Belgium, to participate in the international conference “Transmission and learning: How do children engage in ritualized daily practices and rituals?” This interdisciplinary conference aimed to examine the processes and experiences of knowledge and skill transmission between children and adults, and among children themselves, without a priori assumptions about children’s limitations, with a particular focus on ritualistic contexts. I have been involved in this international conference from the planning stage as a member of the Scientific Committee. The University of Liège, which hosted the conference, has conducted outstanding research in the anthropology of childhood and human-environment relations, making it a key partner for this project in that regard as well.
I had a presentation titled “Playful Imitation of Ritualistic Activities among the Children of !Xun in North-Central Namibia” in the panel session “To Play and to Construct Social Life”, and discussed how religious rituals and the lifestyle habits of pastoralists are reorganized across generations in relation to socialization among post-hunter-gatherer peoples (Photo 1). Other presentations in this panel session included one examining the wisdom of popular political resistance through toys for children in Uruguay during periods of intense political oppression, and another discussing how children participate in attempts to reconstruct ritualistic life among indigenous peoples in Mexico. These presentations stimulated lively discussion on the relationship between ritual, play, and socialization, a topic of high interest to myself. Furthermore, these presentations dealt with cases from Latin America, which I had visited just prior (visiting Guatemala in early November of the same year), making them particularly interesting and engaging in that regard as well.
Before and after the international conference, I exchanged views on recent research findings and interests with key organizers who are also longtime research colleagues, Dr. Élodie Razy of the University of Liège, and Dr. Charles Édouard de Suremain of the French National Institute for Research in Sustainable Development (IRD), as well as with Ms. Marie Montenair, a graduate student of Dr. Razy researching the developmental relationship between children and the environment. These discussions resonated deeply with the interests of this project, which explores children’s future-making from an ecological perspective, making them highly meaningful. The city of Liège itself can be dating back to Roman times. Its streets, lined with cobblestones and dotted with Christian churches built and rebuilt across various eras, offered a profound reminder of European history, making the visit truly enriching (Photo 2).
Although the stay was brief, it proved fulfilling through active presentation of research findings and scholarly exchange. I extend my gratitude to all the institutions and individuals who made this possible.