Department/Division Human and Environmental Studies/Humanity, Society and Thought
Undergraduate School Division of Human Sciences
Other Affiliation
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Message to the prospective students

◆Laboratory of Psychopathology and Psychoanalysis, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies of Kyoto University.
Associate Professor Takuya MATSUMOTO and Program-Specific Associate Professor Nicolas TAJAN.
Our specialized fields are psychopathology, psychoanalysis (especially Lacanian psychoanalysis), history of psychiatry, psychobiography (pathography), and contemporary French theory. We regularly organize Kyoto University International Mental Health Seminar. Details on the lab's website https://psy.h.kyoto-u.ac.jp/index.php/en/seminars/ and facebook https://www.facebook.com/kuimhs/

◆About the entrance exams
For those who wish to study abroad at Kyoto University, please check this website: https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/education-campus/
If you need to learn the basics of the specialized field of our laboratory, we encourage you to first apply as a “research student”.
If you have already studied psychopathology or psychoanalysis professionally at a research institution such as a graduate school and/or already have experience in academic presentation or paper writing, we encourage you to apply to the master’s course or doctor’s course.
Those who have graduated from a university in China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan, and wish to enroll in Kyoto University as a research, master’s or doctoral student, are required to contact the Admissions Assistance Office (AAO) for a preliminary screening before submitting their application documents to the relevant graduate school.

◆Message from N. Tajan
If you want to learn how to diagnose mental disorders (e.g., autism, schizophrenia, depression, PTSD), psychopathology class is the right place for you. Psychopathology is the interdisciplinary study of mental disorders, and my ILAS seminar introduces major disciplines contributing to the field. But wait a second. Why should we always think in terms of “disorders”? Are there other ways to approach human distress? Yes, there are, and one of them has a very specific status between Science and Art: psychoanalysis. My classes are a very rare and unique opportunity to learn from a psychoanalyst, in the academic setting, about Freudian and Lacanian theories and clinics. Students sharing the ideal of an Enlightenment knotting East and West and willing to bring a renewed horizon for the next generations are warmly welcome to attend these classes. For their path to success in the global economy cannot be achieved without a genuine awareness of the burden, and the challenges of mental health issues.
Research areas Psychopathology, Psychoanalysis, History of Psychiatry, History of Psychology, Mental Health, Intellectual History, Medical Anthropology
Keywords Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan, Michel Foucault, Psychopathology, Psychoanalysis
Themes Hikikomori, Trauma, History of Psychiatry and Psychology (France, Japan), Psychoanalytical Theory and Clinics
Major publications - Tajan N., Mental Health and Social Withdrawal in Contemporary Japan: Hikikomori Generation, Routledge: Japan Anthropology Workshop Series, (forthcoming), 2019.
- Tajan N., 世代横断的トラウマとショアの記憶 、田中雅一(編集)、松嶋健 (編集)、 第2巻 17. 『トラウマを共有する』、京都大学学術出版会、2019.
- Tajan N., フランスの心理士の歴史と現状、こころと文化、18(1)28-36, 2019.
- Hamasaki, Y., Tajan N., ひきこもり研究から見える現代日本社会の病理、京都女子大学現代社会研究、20: 37-49, 2018.
- Tajan N., Turquet報告、および精神分析運動におけるLacanの位置、精神医学史研究、22(1): 18-23, 2018
- Delion P., Miwaki Y., Tajan N., 人間の精神医学とは何か、パッキング問題を超えて、こころと文化、17(1)56-63, 2018.
- Tajan N., 現代精神分析的思想における「ディスクールの理論」、 ジャック・ラカン研究、 13: 71-83, 2017.
- Tajan N., Génération Hikikomori, June 2017, Paris, L’Harmattan (Collection Japon)
- Hamasaki Y., Tajan N., Pionnie-Dax N. 2017. Rapport de recherches sur le hikikomori: synthèse des résultats publiés en septembre 2016 par le bureau du cabinet du Japon, L’Information psychiatrique 93 April 2017 (in French).
- Tajan N., Hamasaki Y., Pionnié-Dax N., Hikikomori: The Japanese Cabinet Office’s 2016 Survey of Acute Social Withdrawal, The Asia Pacific journal – Japan Focus, 15(5) 2017 http://apjjf.org/2017/05/Tajan.html
- Tajan N., Traumatic dimensions of hikikomori: A Foucauldian note, Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 27 : 121-122, 2017 doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2017.02.027
- Miwaki Y. and Tajan N., McGill Illness Narratives Interview (MINI), 1st Japanese translation (2014), 2nd Japanese translation (2017) retrieved from http://www.mcgill.ca/tcpsych/research/cmhru/mini
- Tajan N., Japanese Post-modern Social Renouncers: An Exploratory Study of the Narratives of Hikikomori Subjects, Subjectivity 8: 283-304 (September 2015) | doi:10.1057/sub.2015.11
- Tajan N., Social Withdrawal and Psychiatry: A Comprehensive Review of Hikikomori, Neuropsychiatrie de l’Enfance et de l’Adolescence, 63(5) : 324-331, 2015, doi:10.1016/j.neurenf.2015.03.008.
Tajan N., Adolescents’ School Non-Attendance and the Spread of Psychological Counselling in Japan, Asia Pacific Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy: 6(1/2): 58–69, 2015, doi:10.1080/21507686.2015.1029502.
- Tajan N., “Psychiatric, NPOs and Clinical Approaches of Hikikomori”, in Japon Pluriel 10, Philippe Picquier Press, p. 203-210 (in French), 2015.
- Tajan N., La prévention du décrochage scolaire en France, Zinbun, n°44, (in French), 2014.
- Tajan N., フランスの学校心理士制度 in長谷川啓三, 花田里欧子, 佐藤宏平 (編集) 事例で学ぶ生徒指導・進路指導・教育相談 (小学校編). 東京: 遠見書房. 共著 (日本語, 立木康介訳), p. 148, 2014.
- Furuhashi Tadaaki, Tsuda Hitoshi, Ogawa Toyoaki, Suzuki Kunifumi, Shimizu Misako, Teruyama Junko, Horiguchi Sachiko, Shimizu Katsunobu, Sedooka Ayuko, Figueiredo Cristina, Pionnié-Dax Nancy, Tajan Nicolas, Fansten Maïa, Vellut Natacha, Castel Pierre-Henri « État des lieux, points communs et différences entre des jeunes adultes retirants sociaux en France et au Japon (Hikikomori) / Current Situation, Commonalities and Differences Between Socially Withdrawn Young Adults (Hikikomori) in France and Japan, L’Évolution Psychiatrique, 78(2) : 249-266 (in French with English abstract), 2013.
- Figueiredo C., Pionné-Dax N., Tajan N., Vellut N., Singly F. de, Pierrot A., Castel P.-H., Furuhashi T., Tsuda H., Ogawa T., Suzuki K., Shimizu M., Kitanaka J., Teruyama J., Horiguchi S., Shimizu K., Sedooka A., 「ひきこもり」青年の日仏における共通点と相違点について/ Commonalities and differences in “hikikomori” youths in Japan and France, Nagoya Journal of Health, Physical Fitness & Sports, 34(1) : 29-33 (in Japanese with English abstract), 2011.
Professional societies/Research and synergic activities The Japanese Society for Transcultural Psychiatry
Le Pari de Lacan
The Lacan Society of Japan
The Japanese Forum for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
International Mental Health Professionals Japan
Teaching Areas
  • Undergraduate courses 基礎演習: Frontiers in psychopathology(精神病理学のフロンティア)
    Psychoanalysis II
  • Graduate courses (Master's program) Advanced Practical Training in Psychology
  • Graduate courses (Doctor's program)
  • Undergraduate courses open to all departments Psychopathology I-E2
    ILAS Seminar-E2 :Frontiers in Psychopathology
    Psychoanalysis-E2
    Psychoanalysis II-E2
Background In France, where I grew up, I had a clinical practice as a psychologist in hospitals, welfare services, guidance center, and I was trained has a psychoanalyst (2003-2011). Then I researched at Kyoto University Institute for Research in Humanities (2011-2017), Ritsumeikan University (2018), and I am now a Program-Specific Associate Professor at the Faculty of Integrated Human Studies / Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University (2019-).

Send message to Associate Professor TAJAN, Nicolas Pierre by mail









    人間・環境学研究科パンフレット
    日本語