A new article by David M. Malitz investigates Japanese cultural and political influences in the Kingdom of Siam, renamed Thailand in 1939. Early exchanges in the late 16th and early 17th centuries saw the consumption of Japanese products in the Southeast Asian kingdom as status symbols. Japanese swords in particular were cherished and have become dynastic heirlooms since then. From the late 19th century onward, Imperial Japan was seen as a role model of successful modernization in Bangkok and Japanese advisors and instructors were hired by the court. Critics of the absolute monarchy meanwhile stressed that Imperial Japan had become a great power as a constitutional monarchy. „Royal and Imperial Connections: Japanese Influence at the Court of Bangkok and on the Siamese/Thai Monarchy“ was published in Japanese Studies Around the World 2022 (eds. Ayako Kusonoki/Hiromi Matsugi, Nichibunken 2023) and is available open access. The article is an outcome of David’s research project Japanese-Thai Relations: Past, Present, and Future.

The spring issue of our DIJ Newsletter provides up-to-date insights into our research and publication activities, looks back to recent DIJ events, introduces new researchers, and gives updates on our outreach as well as on DIJ alumni activities. We hope you will enjoy exploring this new edition of the DIJ Newsletter. If you haven’t done so yet, you can subscribe to receive our Newsletters directly to your inbox. The full issues and subscription form are available here.

DIJ economist Markus Heckel has co-authored the discussion paper Assessing Unconventional Monetary Policy in Japan Using Market Operation-based Monetary Policy Indices which was published in the RIETI Discussion Paper series in November 2022. Together with his co-authors Tomoo Inoue (Seikei University), Kiyohiko G. Nishimura (Graduate Institute for Policy Studies), and Tatsuyoshi Okimoto (Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry, RIETI), Markus analyzes the effectiveness of unconventional monetary policy (UMP) from 2002 to 2019. Their study quantifies the effect of UMP carried out by open market operations on the macroeconomy in Japan based on four market operation-based monetary policy indices. The results indicate that there were three distinctive regimes with different policy impacts and that UMP carried out using market operations was the most effective in the second regime (mid-2008 to mid-2016). The discussion paper is freely available for download here

The latest volume of the open-access Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia investigates Shinzo Abe’s legacy for the future of Japanese-Southeast Asian relations. It was guest edited by DIJ historian David M. Malitz who also contributed the article „Japanese-Thai Relations through Two Coups: Back to Business“. In it, David traces the positive development of Japanese-Thai relations under Abe’s government (2006-07, 2012-20) during times of political instability in Thailand. The special issue also contains articles on Shinzo Abe’s military legacy for Indonesia (Bima Prawira Utama), Philippine-Japan relations (Karl Ian Cheng Chua), Japan-Singapore relations (Kei Koga), and Vietnam-Japan relations (Hoang Minh Hang). All articles can be accessed freely via the journal’s website here

The winter issue of our DIJ Newsletter provides up-to-date insights into our research and publication activities, looks back to recent DIJ events, introduces new staff, and gives updates on our outreach as well as on DIJ alumni actvities. We hope you will enjoy exploring this new edition of the DIJ Newsletter. If you haven’t done so yet, you can subscribe to receive our Newsletters directly to your inbox. The full issues and subscription form are available here.

The newest edition of Contemporary Japan (vol. 34, no. 2)  features a special section on „Continuity and Change 10 Years after 3.11: Processes and Dynamics in State-Society Relations“, guest edited by Anna Wiemann, Florentine Koppenborg and Tobias Weiss; an invited commentary by Norio Okada (Tottori University), who provides a fascinating reflection on his 30 years of fieldwork in so-called „depopulated areas“; and the English translation of the 2022 VSJF Prize Paper by Isabel Fassbender. Rounding out the issue, the book review section covers English and German language publications in the fields of education, family, history, religious studies, and black studies. Please see the full issue here

The contributions to the open-access anthology Alterung und Pflege als kommunale Aufgabe: Deutsche und japanische Ansätze und Erfahrungen (in German) describe and analyse the challenges and strategies of ageing and elderly care in Japanese and German communities from a multidisciplinary perspective. Themes include legal frameworks, civil society engagement, caregiver shortages, technology concepts for caregiving, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the situation of elderly citizens and those in need of care. The comparison of the approaches and experiences of both countries broadens the options for actions and can provide impulses for a reorientation of existing strategies. The book is co-edited by DIJ director Franz Waldenberger, Hiroko Kudo (Chuo University), Tomoo Matsuda (Mitsubishi Research Institute), and Gerhard Naegele (TU Dortmund). It is an outcome of the project Ageing and Elderly Care in German and Japanese Communities whose results were recently presented at an international conference in Tokyo (Details). A Japanese version of the book is currently being prepared.

Singles (unmarried individuals) are a growing part of the Japanese population that has not received much attention in the context of the COVID pandemic. A new article by DIJ social scientist Nora Kottmann and Laura Dales (University of Western Australia) addresses the ways in which the pandemic and its associated interventions affect singles’ personal relationships and practices of intimacy as well as perceptions of singlehood and ‘solo activities’. Based on exploratory analyses of data from an online survey conducted in early 2021 , „Doing Intimacy in Pandemic Times: Findings of a Large-Scale Survey Among Singles in Japan“  (Social Science Japan Journal, online first) shows that changes of practices of intimacy throughout the pandemic are less dramatic than anticipated. Nevertheless, changes are highly gendered and seem to support media and public discourse on how individuals are coping with the pandemic: an increase in social isolation, distress, acceptance of being single, and ‘solo activities’.