Events and Activities
New book publication ‘Literature after Fukushima’ co-edited by Barbara Geilhorn
The new publication Literature After Fukushima. From Marginalized Voices to Nuclear Futurity (Routledge 2023), co-edited by Linda Flores and DIJ’s Barbara Geilhorn, examines how aesthetic representation contributes to a critical understanding of the 3.11 triple disaster – the Great East Japan earthquake, tsunami, and meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011. Based on key works from the 3.11 literature, the book explores how the disaster reframed discourses in trauma studies, eco-criticism, regional identity, food safety, civil society, and beyond. Literature after Fukushima is the first English-language book to provide an in-depth analysis of a wide range of representative literature on post-3.11 and its social ramifications. The ten contributors include Barbara Geilhorn (“Between Trauma Processing, Emotional Healing, and Nuclear Criticism— Documentary Theater Responding to the Fukushima Disaster”) and DIJ alumna Kristina Iwata-Weickgenannt (“Voice and Voicelessness: Reading Vernaculars in Post-3.11 Literature”). The book is an outcome of Barbara’s research project Arts and Literature after Fukushima. An interview with Barbara on this new publication can be found here (in German)
New journal article introduces research on relation between political activism and well-being
How is political participation in rural Japan linked to the activists’ well-being? In “Being active and sharing happy moments: exploring the relationship of political participation and subjective well-being” (Asian Anthropology, online first) DIJ political scientist Sebastian Polak-Rottmann provides insights into his doctoral dissertation, a qualitative study of the relationship between subjective well-being and political participation in Japan’s Aso region. His study uses an iterative qualitative research design that identifies six dimensions of how to link the two phenomena. In Japanese regions characterized by demographic decline and aging, well-being is interpreted primarily as a relational phenomenon whose meaning unfolds against the backdrop of a specifically rural context. However, his research shows that it is also situated in the everyday lives of the interviewees and connected to the enjoyment of other people. Sebastian’s doctoral dissertation is available full-text in open access (in German) here
Special issue of Contemporary Japan on Tokyo Olympics 2020
We are pleased to announce the publication of a Special Issue of Contemporary Japan (vol. 35, no. 1) on “Tokyo Olympics 2020: Between Dream and Contention”, guest edited by David Chiavacci and Iris Wieczorek. The issue features an interdisciplinary collection of seven articles covering the success/failure of the Olympics for various stakeholders, urban development strategies, media narratives, online political discourses, the anti-Olympic movement, Olympic reality and fantasy in the anime Akira, and a theoretical critique of capitalist realism, as well as two commentaries critiquing the costs and corruption of the Games and Japan’s treatment of migrants in the name of Olympic preparations. Rounding out the issue, our book review section covers English and Japanese language publications from the fields of history, policy studies, and anthropology. Please see the full issue here
Workshop on discursive and material dimensions of the digital transformation
Based on perspectives from and on Japan, this workshop brings together 20 scholars to discuss connecting approaches and analytical concepts in digital transformation. Discursive and material dimensions of the digital transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan will explore visions, practices, and narratives in politics, research and development, and science fiction related to robots, artificial intelligence, and algorithms (day 1); the use of data and the development of data infrastructures with regard to their socio-cultural, economic, and historical situation (day 2). On the final day, the results of the previous days are compiled and related from a transdisciplinary perspective to think about possibilities of employing them productively. The workshop will draw on approaches from media and cultural studies, anthropology, the history of science, and science and technology studies. It takes place 11-13 September online, at Sophia University (keynotes), and in Shimokitazawa. Details and registration here
DIJ researchers and alumni at EAJS conference
Six DIJ researchers and more than twenty DIJ alumni will present their latest research at this year’s tri-annual conference of the European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS). Paper presenters include Franz Waldenberger and Markus Heckel (Economics, Business and Political Economies section), Nora Kottmann (Anthropology and Sociologies section), Torsten Weber (History section), Sebastian Polak-Rottmann (Urban, Regional and Environmental Studies section), and Sarah Pützer (Modern Literatures section). The conference takes place at Ghent University from August 17-20, 2023. Programme and details here.
Online lecture by David Malitz on ‘Siam in the Japanocentric World Order’
Upon invitation by the Hamburger Gesellschaft für Thaiistik (Hamburg Society for Thai Studies), DIJ senior research fellow David M. Malitz will give an online presentation on 10 August to discuss Siam in the Japanocentric World Order. His presentation will focus on the former Japanese village of Ayutthaya, now a well-known and popular tourist attraction, and the relations between the Courts of Ayutthaya and Edo in the early 17th century. The muban yipun, as it is known in Thai, was one of the most important Japanese settlements in early modern Southeast Asia. As such, it has received considerable scholarly attention in the early 20th century. David’s talk will first provide a summary of the settlement’s overall history. It will then offer a reinterpretation of the official relations between the kings of Ayutthaya and the early Tokugawa shoguns based on the literature on Tokugawa foreign relations. Details and Zoom link here
DIJ Forum on Japan’s Strategic Partnerships in South East Asia
As Great Power competition in the Indo-Pacific accelerates, South East Asia has emerged as an arena in which strategic rivalries are played out. As part of its more proactive international diplomacy in recent years, Tokyo has sought to strengthen relations with both ASEAN and a number of individual member states through the “Strategic Partnership” mechanism. It has also worked to build support for its vision of a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” in tandem with the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific and anticipates the official announcement of a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” to commemorate 50 years of diplomatic engagement. This hybrid DIJ Forum on 25 July examines the objectives and activities of these Strategic Partnerships, and assesses their future prospects, to offer insights into how Japan seeks to navigate Great Power competition in South East Asia. Details and registration here
Thomas Wilkins, University of Sydney/DIJ Tokyo
Takashi Terada, Doshisha University
DIJ co-organizes ‘Japan-China Relations, 2001-2022’ book talk
The nature of Japan-China relations has shifted from “friendship” to “coexistence” during the five decades since the normalization of diplomatic relations in 1972. The newly published book Japan-China Relations, 2001-2022 (日中関係 2001-2022, University of Tokyo Press, 2023) collects seventeen chapters analyzing two decades of Japan-China relations since 2001 from different angles including politics, diplomacy, economy, and society. The online book talk “Japan-China Relations 2001-2022” on 5 July 2023 features the editors Takahara Akio (Graduate School of Law and Politics, University of Tokyo), Sonoda Shigeto (Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo), Marukawa Tomoo (Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo), and Kawashima Shin (Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo). Peter Gries (Manchester China Institute, University of Manchester) and DIJ principal researcher Torsten Weber will serve as discussants. The event is organized by the Global Asian Studies Initiative at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia and co-organized by the DIJ and the Manchester China Institute. Registration here
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DIJ researcher Carolin Fleischer-Heininger will give a presentation on 'Transgression as Emancipation: Redefining Disability in Hanchibakku (2023) by Ichikawa Saō' at the 12th Alter Conference 'Disability Research for the Real World' on July 5 @KU_Leuven https://alterconf2024.sciencesconf.org/
Check out the summer edition of our #DIJNewsletter for recent & forthcoming publications @DolfNeuhaus @SpodenCelia, new team & board members @gabriele_vogt, upcoming & past events @DWIH_Tokyo, our new knowledge lab @HaraldKuemmerle, alumni news & more https://www.dijtokyo.org/publication/dij-newsletter-76-summer-2024/
Join our next #DIJStudyGroup on July 17 with Fumiya Uchikoshi @ufsoc who will present on 'Imagined Futures in Gendered Educational Trajectories: Adolescents’ Expectations and Uncertainty in Japanese Selective High Schools'. Online & in-person at the DIJ https://www.dijtokyo.org/event/the-role-of-imagined-futures-in-gendered-educational-trajectories-adolescents-expectations-and-uncertainty-in-japanese-selective-high-schools/
Awards, books, articles, events, job opening: Don't miss the next issue of our #DIJNewsletter incl. latest updates on our institute and its research activities. Subscribe now to receive the summer issue hot off the press in your inbox later this week http://dij.tokyo/newsletter
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Contemporary Japan
current issue Vol. 36, No.1
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