In October and November of 2025, doctoral student Ming-Feng WU of the Research Training Group GRK 2833 “East Asian Futures” conducted fieldwork stays in Taiwan and Japan, coinciding with the Research Training Group’s workshop series in the region.

During his fieldwork in Taiwan from October to November, Mr. WU conducted research on conceptions of the future in modern Chinese Buddhism. He visited the Fu Ssu-nien Library and the Kwang-ting I Library at Academia Sinica to collect materials. On October 29, he gave a presentation, titled “Contested Awakening: Buddhist Concepts in Modern China’s Reform Discourse”, at a workshop on “How Buddhist Studies Became an Academic Discipline in Modern East Asia?”, held at the National Chengchi University. Furthermore, he attended the 6th Chung-Hwa International Conference on Buddhism, organised by the Chung-Hwa Institute for Buddhist Studies, which took place in Taipei from October 30 to November 1.

Following his presentation at National Taiwan Normal University as part of the Group’s workshop series, Mr. WU moved on to work in Japan, where in November, conducted research on Sino-Japanese Buddhist interactions in the early 20th century. He visited the National Diet Library (NDL) to collect primary source materials and the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Tokyo, where he received guidance from Professor Satoko FUJIWARA and exchanged ideas with fellow doctoral students.