The head investigator studied manuscripts written by Symeon of Durham, famous historiographer and energetic scribe in the twelfth century, at British Library, Bodleian Library, Glasgow University Library, Library of Durham Cathedral, National Library of Scotland et cetera, to establish the basis for analyzing how nations and societies were perceived in medieval northern Britain. The classical and hardly available work, Durham Cathedral Manuscripts by R. A. B. Mynors, Oxford, 1939, was able to be purchased in this research project, and it proved to be very helpful. The head investigator studied many works including charters, theological and historical writings, and understood that interdisciplinary approach is necessary for the proper comprehension of Symeon's political thought. He also corrected some mistakes in the identification of Symeon's handwritings by M. Gullick. The head investigator also read two papers in the international conferences : 'Nation addresses in English Episcopal Acta' in the International Medieval Congress at Leeds University in 2005, and 'Migration and assimilation seen from the 'nation address'in post-1066 Britain' in the Anglo-Japanese Conference of historians at the Institute of Historical Research of London University, in 2006. They were concerning his original analysis of 'nation addresses' in the charters of post-1066 Britain and highly praised. In them, the Durham cases were highlighted as the suggestive ones for the research of the relationship between the notion about the nations and the existing societies.

As the result of this research, I have made clear about the 'nation addresses', that is, the names of the nations at the end of the 'inscriptio' of the charters. This kind of address appeared soon after the Norman Conquest in the English realm, and afterwards, in the Scottish. Basically it was 'Francis et Anglis', that is, to the French and the English, but it had local variations. It appeared less in the bishops' charters than the kings'. It disappeared in the second half of the twelfth century. Previously I supposed that one reason for the disappearance would be the assimilation of the French and the English, and this would be right. But some exceptional cases like the charters of the bishops of Durham suggest that the spread of the writing format from the 'center' to 'peripheries' is also the key point. I am going to examine that further. I also made clear the outline of the medieval 'realm of Man and the Isles' and power struggles on the Irish sea world, based on the primary sources,. Lastly I considered the arguments on the basic structure of history and the meaning of medieval studies, including my own research, in the modern world.

1. We held six research meetings during these three years and reported the results of research activities, on which we had lively discussions. As a result, we obtained a research paper, Medieval Europe in the Archives: Historical Research and Analytical Procedure of Historical Materials. 2. We joined in the symposium on 'comparative study of medieval documents in Japan and England' at the fourth international forum in Kumamoto University on 2-5 April, 2001, and promoted international academic study exchange. 3. In order to contribute to learned society in Japan, we are preparing to publish a book based on the above mentioned research paper, which is more improved and enlarged than the paper. 4. We are planning to present the results of study at the International Medieval Congress 2002, Leeds University, 8-11 July 2002. The subject titles are as follows, (1)K. Yoshitake, 'Charters and King Richard';(2)H. Arimitsu , 'Charters and Scottish Kings';(3)A. Nakamura, 'Charters and the Nobility';(4)H. Tsurushima, 'Women and Corrody in Twelfth-century Kent';(5)Y. Aral, 'Gentry and their Letters in Yorkshire';(6)S, Morishita, 'Women and their Testaments in Late Medieval Norwich'

Internationalisation of historical research has required Japanese historians of Medieval Europe to get the traditional method as well as the newest one of historical research in European discipline, especially a research based on original documents. We have organised seventeen Japanese scholars to survey the historiography of European Medieval history, methods, disciplines, and how the Japanese can approach the original documents. Sources surveyed were as follow ; chronicles of Melrose and Chronica Magistri Rogeri Houedene, Glanvill and Bracton, Privilegium of German Emperors, writ-charters and pipe rolls of Norman kings, imbreviatura by Venetian notaries, English cartularies, Domesday Book, feet of fines, plea rolls of the court of king's bench, king Edward IV's household books, account rolls of the countess of Leicester, manorial account and court rolls, Flemish municipal accounts, and Elizabethan visitation articles by churchwardens. Through our studies and discussions we have acquired the basic ideas about the medieval studies using original documents, and construct a database about English medieval cartularies which could be open to the public in the form of a floppy disc. Some of our members read a paper at historical conference in Britain and the United States, and published articles in English in the Journal of Medieval History, or Proceedings of the Battle Conference. Although we tried to include almost all the fields of the documents from diplomatiques to narratives, there still remains a lot of historical materials not yet surveyed by us, like those on literature or theology. We plan to survey the sources of those fields next.