——Professor Ishizawa, could you explain how your interest in Angkor Wat began?

ISHIZAWA; It all began in 1960 during my third year at Sophia University, when I joined a tour group to Cambodia led by Prof. Paul Rietsch SJ, as part of our French language training. At that time, the École Française d’Extrême-Orient (French School of the Far East) in Cambodia was responsible for the restoration of Angkor Wat. The splendid sight of the five high towers of Angkor Wat in the morning sun was so breathtaking that it inspired within me a desire to begin research on the history of the Khmer Empire. After graduation I spent about 10 months assisting people at the École Française d’Extrême-Orient who were involved in the restoration work, and over the subsequent years I continued visiting Angkor Wat. However, after the eruption of the civil war in 1970, I was unable to visit Cambodia.

——In 1980, while the civil war still raged, you entered Cambodia in order to conduct an archaeological survey. What made you do that?

ISHIZAWA; Since 1961, there were around 40 Cambodian conservators who had worked along with me on the conservation and restoration work. However during the Pol Pot regime, most of them “disappeared.” They were believed to have been “contaminated,” owing to their familiarity with French, which was a foreign language, and only three of them subsequently returned to Angkor Wat. I received a letter from Pich Keo who happened to be one of the survivors, and who had become the Director-General for the Conservation of the Monuments of Angkor at the Ministry of Information and Culture. He described the forsaken and wretched situation of the Angkor Wat site that had been caused by the civil war, and appealed to me for help. It took five days to get from Vietnam into the city of Siem Reap, which was the gateway city to the Angkor Wat site. Due to the fact of their having been buried hin the jungle many of the monuments had collapsed, and the site was densely overrun by large trees. Angkor Wat is not merely an archeological site. The complex of temples is a source of great pride for the people of the nation. It is a sacred site, since it is considered the home of both Cambodian Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as the home of the worship of the great guardian spirits. Although we sent out a global SOS appeal from Sophia University describing the ruinous state of Angkor Wat we did not receive much of a response, since not many desired to get involved with the puppet regime that then held power in Cambodia. All the same though, I wanted to let the departed conservators know that the situation was being taken care of, so they may rest in peace. We managed to purchase some land to erect a local center for the training of new conservators, so that we could commence building human resources as early as possible.

——In 1996, Sophia University erected an education and research facility of the Sophia Asia Center for Research and Human Development, in Siem Reap, the city near Angkor Wat.

ISHIZAWA; The origins of the Sophia Mission date back to 1979, when Joseph Pittau SJ, then President of Sophia University (who later became an archbishop), started a fund-raising campaign for Indochinese refugees at Shinjuku Station, “Hands of Love for Indochinese Refugees.” Sophia University students traveled as volunteers to the refugee camps, to assist and care for war orphans. The Sophia University students, faculty members, staff and other advocates then launched the Sophia Mission, based on the motto, “For Others, With Others.” Through these efforts of refugee relief, we learned about the source of our humanity.

Besides its role as a training center for the conservation and restoration of the Angkor monuments, the Sophia Asia Center for Research and Human Development has been working on developing human resources, so that Cambodians may conduct their own excavation, restoration and research of their nation (Khmer Studies), by undergoing training for conservation at archeological sites. Through our efforts to conserve the monuments we also learned about the ethnic pride of the Cambodian people, and that is the reason we chose the Western approach to Angkor Wat, which is revered by all Cambodians, as our site for training conservators. This modest contribution by Sophia University toward the preservation of Asian culture has been continuing for 33 years.

Sophia University also launched a special accreditation program, as a step toward assisting Cambodia’s recovery. Out of 18 Cambodian graduate students we invited to Sophia University from 1994 to 2014, seven earned doctoral degrees and 11 earned master’s degrees, before they returned to their own country. Owing to the genocide of intellectuals by Pol Pot, there were no English teachers at the universities of Phnom Penh. The 18 graduate students attended and passed all the English courses offered at Sophia University, and some even went on to write doctoral dissertations of about 500 pages in English. Their enthusiasm and hard work was very impressive. After graduation they all returned to Cambodia to work in various capacities, such as in the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, the National Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem-Reap (APSARA), the Council of Ministers (now the Cabinet of Cambodia), the Ministry of Environment, the Royal University of Phnom Penh, the Royal University of Fine Arts in Cambodia, and elsewhere. Their tuition fees were covered in part by scholarships funded by Jesuit professors, who in the spirit of the Sophia Mission donated most of their university salaries to the scholarship fund.

——It takes time to cultivate human resources.

ISHIZAWA; The conservation and restoration of archaeological sites begins by replacing broken stones with new ones, and this requires Cambodian stonemasons who are skilled in working and building with stone. Takayuki Kosugi, a Japanese master stonemason, volunteered to train stonemasons in Cambodia for eight years. It takes eight to 10 years of training to master the techniques needed to become a full-fledged stonemason. The task of transporting huge sandstone boulders weighing a ton or more from the quarry to the construction site on bamboo rafts, in dense jungle and under the blazing sun in temperatures over 40°C, and then shaping the stones using chisels, is grueling. However, the presence of the great guardian spirits of Angkor Wat inspires the stonemasons, and enables them to work with diligence. Stonemasons constitute a sort of priesthood, and they are believed to accumulate merit through their work. They are highly revered by the local villagers.

The universal philosophy of cooperation of the survey team is, “By Cambodians, for Cambodians.” Although structural mechanics and the latest technologies are deployed for restoration, the traditional Cambodian techniques are still essential and they are respected. The monuments of Angkor Wat feature advanced and unique stone-working techniques that are comparable to those of the Roman Empire. For example, the stone pagoda which is 65 meters high, was erected without the use of any adhesives.

We have worked with the local archaeological site authority, namely APSARA, for over 30 years, on human resource development and on-site practical training in the conservation and restoration of archaeological sites. In March 2006, the environmental conservation project of APSARA even acquired the ISO 14001 certification, through an extramural collaboration program of Sophia University. “ISO 14001” is printed on the admission tickets to the Angkor Wat site.

International cooperation is “human cooperation.” It is built on “trust beyond borders,” overcoming barriers of skin color and language. There was a legacy of knowledge we had to learn from Cambodia, for only then could we talk about the knowledge of Japan. This attitude of respect for local tradition and knowledge enhanced the credibility of the Cambodian conservators who were undergoing training, and in this way the conservation and restoration activities at Angkor surmounted language barriers.

In 2001, during an archaeological training course at the Banteay Kdei site, we were fortunate in unearthing 274 Buddha statues, along with six other statues that were excavated later, for a total of 280 Buddha statues. This remarkable find greatly boosted the confidence of the young Cambodian conservators. The archaeological excavation by locals and our training of restoration experts bolstered the rebuilding of national pride within the hearts and minds of the Cambodians. The Cambodian people were demoralized at the sight of their devastated nation and the fighting that ensued during the civil war, and so Angkor Wat served as a symbol of reconciliation for all Cambodians, enabling the revival of their spirits. With the support of the AEON Corporation, Sophia University constructed the Preah Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum at the Angkor site, and the museum was donated to the Royal Government of Cambodia.

The restoration of the western approach to Angkor Wat, which is 200 meters long, is a project that has taken 33 years of painstaking work, and it is finally slated to be concluded in November of this year. The conclusion ceremony, which is scheduled for Nov. 4, will be presided over by His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni, in ancient Khmer style. Angkor Wat is now cited as a historical case study for the reconstruction of the traditional culture of the entire ASEAN region, and of the search for an ASEAN identity. The search for shared ethnic roots has now commenced.

The Sophia Mission, which originated in 1979 with the refugee relief efforts of Sophia University President Joseph Pittau, has led to the conservation and restoration of the Angkor Archeological Complex, and the training of local experts to continue that work. In so doing it has also made a pioneering cultural contribution to the Asia region, and at the same time has served to reshape the conventional view of Asia in the minds of the Japanese people. We feel very proud to have played a part in the restoration of the Angkor monuments, and the development of local archeological human resources. Our efforts will hopefully serve to stimulate fresh knowledge, inspired by the culture and history of Asia.