DIJ researchers Isaac Gagné and Celia Spoden will attend this year’s annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) in Toronto to present their latest research. Both will give presentations in the panel “Beyond ‘Lonely Death’: Communication and Engagement in Japan’s Aging Society” on November 17. Drawing from fieldwork in a hamlet in Nagano and the displaced district of Yuriage in Miyagi, Isaac’s paper (“Social Welfare of and for the Community: Neighborhoods, Networks, and Volunteerism in Aging Japan”) will discuss the roles of community-based social welfare services in aging suburban and rural communities. In her paper (“Cyber-Physical Spaces in Japan: Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities Through Avatar-Work”), Celia will present her fieldwork in an avatar café, where home-bound people remotely control robots and serve the guests. Drawing on interviews with the avatar pilots, she will explore their perception of social participation, work, and disability.