DIJ director Franz Waldenberger and deputy director Barbara Holthus have each contributed one chapter to the German-language publication Japan. Ein Land im Umbruch (“Japan. A country in transition”), recently published by Bebra Verlag Berlin. The book’s 17 chapters look at Japan’s past, present, and future to explain the country’s struggle with the challenges of an ageing society, geopolitical conflicts, and the consequences of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Franz’ chapter “Armer Staat, reiches Land. Japans Staatsverschuldung” (Poor state, rich country. Japan’s national debt) explains why Japan’s record debts is a solution rather than problem. Barbara’s chapter “Covid-Olympia 2020/2021. Japans Wunsch nach Neuerfindung” (Covid Olympics 2020/2021. Japan’s desire for reinvention) studies in how far the Tokyo Olympics have contributed to more sustainability, diversity, and inclusion in Japanese society. The book is co-edited by DIJ alumna Verena Blechinger-Talcott (FU Berlin), David Chiavacci (Zurich), and Wolfgang Schwentker (Osaka). Details here

The autumn issue of our DIJ Newsletter provides up-to-date insights into our research and publication activities, recent and upcoming events, news from the institute, a new article in our Catchword series (kokusō), updates on our outreach activities, and DIJ alumni news. 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.

How have societies in East and Southeast Asia reacted to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? This open access collection of essays provides preliminary answers from Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and ASEAN. Focusing on press and social media, they reveal that the responses to the war are heterogeneous and may not always agree with the foreign policy stances by the respective governments. The essays are published as Working Paper No. 135 in the East Asian Studies series (Institute of East Asian Studies, University of Duisburg-Essen), edited by DIJ’s David M. Malitz and Surachanee Sriyai (Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok). David’s own paper (“Strong Public Support for the Japanese Responses to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine”) outlines the Japanese government’s economic sanctions, delivery of equipment to Ukraine, and acceptance of Ukrainian refugees. Against the background of the strained Japanese-Russian relations, it explains why the public in Japan has been supportive of Ukraine and of these responses by the government.