Japan and Italy have many things in common. Both are rich, industrialised countries with a long cultural tradition that is held in high esteem worldwide. People in both countries enjoy a longer life than almost anywhere else in the world. For both countries, the processes of ageing and population shrinkage are challenges with diverse social, economic, and political facets. But Japan and Italy also differ in many respects, e.g. in social conventions, etiquette, work ethics and everyday behaviour. These similarities and differences make a comparison attractive. Former DIJ director Florian Coulmas has recorded his observations, insights, and experiences during a semester he spent at the University of Venice Ca’ Foscari in the new publication Venezianische Wahrheiten. Japanische Lektionen in der Stadt Marco Polos (in German). The booklet is published as volume 20 in the DIJ Miscellanea series and available for download here.

The journal Journalism Studies has published a new article by our PhD fellow Yosuke Buchmeier on agenda-cutting as a neglected media phenomenon. While agenda-setting has developed into one of the leading concepts in communication studies, “agenda-cutting” – a media phenomenon that can be observed when a relevant issue is de-emphasized, entirely omitted or removed from a news agenda – has so far remained a theoretical blind spot. Based on observations from Japan, Yosuke’s paper “Towards a Conceptualization and Operationalization of Agenda-Cutting: A Research Agenda for a Neglected Media Phenomenon” proposes agenda-cutting as a result of media’s anticipatory obedience and self-censorship. It argues that the non-reflected, tacit assumption of agenda-cutting as a by-concept to agenda-setting represents one cause for its theoretical neglect. This paper aims to initiate a scholarly debate by establishing conceptual common ground and proposing a research direction for what the author considers an unduly neglected media phenomenon. Available open access here

“The book on the history of (dog) culture is situated in the crosshairs of culture, history, modernity, society, and animals, and therefore makes for a rare and eye-opening account of the times. […] Skabelund does a great job showing how the construction of human races and animal breeds are interrelated and interwoven.” Barbara Holthus‘ book review of Aaron Herald Skabelund’s Empire of dogs. Canines, Japan, and the making of the modern imperial world (Cornell University Press, 2019) has just been published online first in Contemporary Japan. Details

DIJ deputy director Barbara Holthus has co-authored with Naoto Higuchi (Waseda University) a chapter on the gender gap in social movement participation. Their chapter “Demo sanka ni meguru jendā gyappu” (in Japanese) is based on a survey conducted among close to 80.000 Japanese on their social movement sympathies, mobilization and participation patterns, as well as their environmental concerns, personal values, and political views. It shows that participation, concerns, and views are significantly gendered. This large-scale data set allows to give statistical proof and support to many of the previous existing studies, which to the most part until now had been qualitative in nature. The chapter is part of a volume on post-3.11 social movements, co-edited by Naoto Higuchi and Mitsuru Matsutani, and published by Chikumashobo (Tokyo 2020). Details (in Japanese)