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KYOTO (Kyodo) -- Kyoto University and a royal institute in Bhutan will launch a joint project in January to research Buddhism in the Himalayan country.

The project will study the religion, its history and temples, and its influence on Bhutanese society, Seiji Kumagai, a Kyoto University assistant professor of Buddhism, said in announcing the plan Thursday.

"We will be able to learn a lot from the idea of not sticking merely to technology and the economy. Bhutan is so advanced in taking a positive view of patience. We would like to dig into their thought objectively," Kumagai said.

Kumagai said the project will aim to study how Bhutanese Buddhism's philosophy of satisfaction by having little desire may be applied to other societies, particularly in the fields of mind and the environment.

Buddhism in Bhutan provides a basis for the gross national happiness gauge used in the country.

Bhutan has been within the sphere of Tibetan Buddhism since the seventh century and the Drukpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism is its state religion, according to Kumagai.

Research into the history of Buddhism in Bhutan from the 12th to early 19th centuries has so far been relatively thorough.

Interest in Bhutan has risen in Japan since Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema visited Japan in November and traveled to areas affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.