Kō Nakata

Kō Nakata
中田 考
Born1960 (age 65–66)
Okayama Prefecture, Japan
Other namesHasan
Occupations
  • Islamic scholar
  • author
Academic background
Alma mater

Kō Nakata (Japanese: 中田 考, Hepburn: Nakata Kō; born 1960) is a Japanese Islamic scholar and author. He has written and translated dozens of books related to Islam and Islamic studies, as well as a light novel and manga.

Biography

Early life and academic career

Nakata was born in Okayama Prefecture in 1960 and raised in Ashiya and Nishinomiya, both in Hyōgo Prefecture.[1] He attended Nada Junior and Senior High School.[2] Nakata said of his time at school: "I simply didn't like studying that much, so all I did was wrestle, shogi, and read novels ... I hated school, so I skipped a lot, and I still have dreams about not getting enough attendance and failing. But looking back now, Nada didn't have any school rules, so it was really free."[2] He inspired Kō Nagata, the main character of his Nada classmate Hideki Wada's novel Nada Monogatari.[2]

After briefly attending the Waseda University Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Nakata transferred to the University of Tokyo Faculty of Letters the next year.[3] He graduated from that university and, after finishing master studies at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Humanities, got a PhD from Cairo University.[4][5] He later worked abroad in research, obtaining Embassy of Japan in Saudi Arabia (1992–1994) and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Cairo Research Center (1997–1998).[4] He later returned to Japan, becoming a professor at the Doshisha University Faculty of Theology from 2003 to 2011.[4]

Writing and media career

Nakata became interested in Islamic studies while at the University of Tokyo,[6] and he converted to Islam in 1983.[5] He has written and translated dozens of books related to Islam and Islamic studies.[7] Hiromi Shimada called him "Japan's most renowned Islamic scholar".[8] Maki Tahara remarked that "in Japan's small Islamic studies industry, Nakata and [Akari] Iiyama are both on the fringes, albeit in different directions".[9] He has also frequented the media as a commentator on Islamic subjects.[10] Fumio Miyata of Real Sound called him "well-versed in Islamic society".[2]

Nakata wrote a light novel called Ore no Imōto ga Karifu na wake ga nai! (俺の妹がカリフなわけがない!), illustrated by Manaru Tenkawa.[5] Its title was inspired by Oreimo.[11] Originally sold as a doujinshi at Comiket, it was published by Shobunsha on 14 July 2020.[10] Yuuki Honda of Kai-You called it an "unparalleled and unprecedented" light novel, citing its focus on the concept of the caliph.[10] He and Tenkawa had previously co-authored a manga called Hasan Nakata Kō no Manga de Wakaru Islam Nyūmon (ハサン中田考のマンガでわかるイスラーム入門).[5]

Islamic State connections

In March 2013, Nakata started visiting areas controlled by the Islamic State (IS), where he often contacted IS commanders.[12] At one point, an IS commander asked him to hire a journalist and a lawyer as part of a planned trial for Haruna Yukawa, before airstrikes by the United States made it impossible to reach any hostages.[13] On 22 January 2015, he and Kōsuke Tsuneoka, a journalist also suspected of having ties to the Islamic State, held a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, where he made an Arabic-language plea asking IS to meet with him regarding the hostage situation of Yukawa and Kenji Goto while keeping the two alive for 72 hours, criticized the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' handling of the response to the hostage situation, and proposed providing humanitarian aid to refugees located in Islamic State-controlled territory instead of paying the ransom the Islamic State demanded for both hostages.[13][14]

In October 2014, a Hokkaido University student placed under questioning by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Public Security Bureau informed them that Nakata had attempted to recruit him to IS.[12] Another man had also contacted Nakata and planned to travel to Syria in August 2014, but failed due to dissuasion from his family.[15] On 2 July 2019, the PSB charged Nakata and several others, including Tsuneoka and the student, for "preparing and conspiring to commit private war"; this was the first time such charges were made in Japan.[16][17] On 22 July, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office dropped charges against them, including Nakata.[18]

Personal life

Nakata's Islamic name is Hasan.[5] He also runs a recycling shop in Toshima.[19][20]

References

  1. ^ Nakata 2015, p. 97.
  2. ^ a b c d Miyata, Fumio (20 January 2020). "受験の神様・和田秀樹 × イスラム法学者・中田考が語る、"変わり者"だった灘高時代 「灘は校則もなかったし、本当に自由だった」". Real Sound (in Japanese). Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  3. ^ Nakata 2015, pp. 101–102.
  4. ^ a b c "中田考先生御講演会". www.a103.net (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  5. ^ a b c d e "俺の妹がカリフなわけがない！". Shobunsha (in Japanese). 14 July 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  6. ^ Miyata, Fumio (20 January 2020). "受験の神様・和田秀樹 × イスラム法学者・中田考が語る、"変わり者"だった灘高時代 「灘は校則もなかったし、本当に自由だった」". Real Sound (in Japanese). Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  7. ^ "CiNii Books 著者 - 中田, 考". ci.nii.ac.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  8. ^ "「みんなちがって、みんなダメ」中田考著｜宗教で読み解く現代社会". Nikkan Gendai (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  9. ^ "タイトルと裏腹な内容にのぞくイスラーム研究者"業界"分布図 | レビュー". Book Bang (in Japanese). Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  10. ^ a b c "『俺の妹がカリフなわけがない！』イスラーム×ラノベ、前代未聞の組み合わせ". Kai-You (in Japanese). 14 July 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  11. ^ Nakata, Kō (2020). 俺の妹がカリフなわけがない！. Shobunsha. p. 378. ISBN 9784794971869.
  12. ^ a b Yamanishi, Atsushi; Narusawa, Kaigo (9 October 2014). "元教授「イスラム国司令官に連絡」　北大生の渡航計画". Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 22 September 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  13. ^ a b "「イスラム国」に人道支援を～中田元教授が会見～". Jiji Press (in Japanese). Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  14. ^ Saitō, Nobuya (22 January 2014). "72時間は短すぎる". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 23 January 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
  15. ^ "イスラム国　シリアで関係者に接触予定、北大生　元大学教授の紹介で". Yomiuri Shimbun. 9 October 2014. p. 37.
  16. ^ "中田元教授や常岡氏ら書類送検　ＩＳ参加へシリア入り準備した疑い　警視庁". Sankei News (in Japanese). 3 July 2019. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  17. ^ "私戦予備・陰謀容疑５人書類送検　元北大生ら、ＩＳ参加へ渡航準備". Tokyo Shimbun (in Japanese). 3 July 2019. Archived from the original on 3 July 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  18. ^ "「イスラム国」参加準備、元北大生ら５人不起訴　東京地検". Sankei News (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 3 August 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  19. ^ "イスラム法学者・中田考氏の古物店や自宅を家宅捜索　警視庁　記録なく商品売買". Sankei News (in Japanese). 31 October 2016. Archived from the original on 1 November 2016.
  20. ^ "古物営業法違反でリサイクル店役員を書類送検　イスラム学者・中田考さん経営参加". Sankei News (in Japanese). 6 December 2016. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016.
  • Nakata, Kō (2015). 私はなぜイスラーム教徒になったのか. 太田出版. ISBN 9784778314460.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
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