Over the past three decades, Japanese media productions, especially manga, have primarily been examined with regard to hegemonic images of ‘femininity’ and as indicators of social change. Only few studies have focused on media constructions of ‘masculinity’. In this talk, Ralf Windhab presents preliminary findings of his doctoral dissertation, which analyzes various Japanese manga that depict male characters as protagonists engaging in unpaid household chores. These portrayals contradict the prevailing image of men as the breadwinners of the family and women as the ones responsible for the household.  The research presented shows that some male characters are portrayed as weak or partially feminine in accordance with stereotypes and clichés, while others are portrayed as overly masculine. The actual household chores depicted and their frequency, as well as the different motives for the men to participate in household chores, will also be discussed. Details and registration here

The ideologies associated with fatherhood in Japan are changing rapidly in tandem with shifting beliefs about family relationships and work-life balance. While many Japanese fathers aspire to be strong presences in their children’s lives, these men often cannot locate in their own emotionally distant fathers any role models for paternal involvement. What does it mean to be a father in contemporary Japan? How does one learn more about child care, especially when the overwhelming amount of parenting information targets mothers? Can fathers find inspiration outside their families, such as by forming supportive relationships with other parents? This talk will explore how some Japanese fathers are pursuing answers to these questions. It draws upon more than two years of ethnographic fieldwork among parenting-focused groups in the Greater Tokyo Area, and considers what these answers might mean for families, the communities in which they live, and wider society. Details and registration here

This talk explores a series of deportations of Taiwanese dissidents from Japan that occurred between 1967 and 1968. The four individuals in question faced the threat of death penalty in Taiwan for political crimes. The presentation demonstrates that these deportations, along with the resistance they sparked, had a profound and lasting impact on both Taiwan and Japan. They played a crucial role in the failure of the Japanese government’s attempts to toughen immigration laws, led to a series of court rulings that eventually established a de facto right to asylum in Japan by 1971, and resulted in the founding of Amnesty International Japan. These events also triggered an ideological shift within the Taiwanese independence movement and led to its ongoing entanglement with the international human rights movement. Details and registration here