Institutions are the foundations of our society. They help to coordinate individual actions and they are also needed to integrate various social, economic and political subsystems. But institutions cannot not be fully understood by their functional contribution alone. There is also an important normative part. It is too often forgotten, that institutions have normative foundations. In the face of current challenges like the digital transformation, the avance of AI, climate change and new geopolitical power relations, the normative qualities of our social institutions are being challenged with far reaching consequences for social cohesion.

Professor Udo Di Fabio, former judge of the German Federal Constitutional Court, has recently published two books on the foundations of modern society, combining historical, legal and sociological perspectives. He will present his main arguments in a keynote adress. His ideas will by commented on by Japanese and German scholars before the general discussion is opened to the floor.

Even though the first publications of Natsume Sōseki’s (1867–1916) works were illustrated and had visual elements, the research on Sōseki focuses mostly just on the text. Nevertheless, Sōseki’s entire oeuvre shows from the beginning to the end a deep but shifting image-text relation that has to be introduced and placed into the historical context, taking the artists (Natori Shunsen, Noda Kyūho, Asai Chū, Hashiguchi Goyō, Nakamura Fusetsu, and Tsuda Seifū), publication type (newspaper, book, pocketbook) and genre into consideration. This approach can thereby identify a network of artists and intellectuals, as well as places and visual ideas.

My presentation aims to give an overview of the material and the illustrations, while also analyzing particular image and text examples, thereby giving Sōseki also a visual standing in the discourse about Modernity and the Fin de Siècle.

Speaker:
Kevin Schumacher, University of Munich / DIJ

The notion «mobility regimes» is helpful in order to study the differential regulations of mobilities. It allows us answering the question of unequal power relations that structure the different modes of mobilities, some being encouraged and others forbidden, regulated, criminalised. It inserts itself in the domain of « legal geography » on the one hand, and, on the other, in the « spatial turn » of legal studies. From a contemporary geographical perspective, the geographicity of law is at stake. My lecture will evolve around three elements. First, I will present legal geography as a missing link in theoretical geography. Then, the concept of mobility regime is developed as a regulation that articulates multiple scales and domains. Finally, the example of the 2018 Berlin mobility law is employed to show how law operates a «mobilities turn». The detailed analysis is based on the hypothesis of a radical change in the politics of mobilities allowing for new modes of inhabiting the city.
This seminar is meant to bring a perspective on tourism, mobility and migration policies at a global level, and it will thus try to draw lessons for Japan, a country that is bound to receive more foreign visitors and foreign workers in the near future.

Speaker:
Mathis Stock, University of Lausanne

The rise of populist politicians has significantly influenced political communication and public discourse around the world. In the light of the ongoing mediatization of politics, populist politicians have been found to manage new media as alternative platforms for political communication particularly effectively.

The study combines quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the reception of right-wing populist communication in the Japanese blog scene using the digital analysis tool TopicExplorer. Besides introducing this tool, the presentation will show how digital methods such as topic modeling can be used to determine relevant discourses and narratives in a Japanese blog corpus regarding the topic of migration.

Speaker:
Katharina Dalko, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg

2019年はノーベル文学賞受賞作家、川端康成（1899-1972）の生誕120年に当たります。

国際文化会館、ドイツ日本研究所、日仏会館の各図書室では、川端康成の著作の翻訳書や研究書を展示します。この機会に、英語版、ドイツ語版、フランス語版の資料をぜひご覧ください。

Today’s working environment is heavily driven by dynamic digitalization, but leadership is more than just a digital investment. It requires leaders to build and foster meaningful relationships, understand and implement new technologies, as well as build a meaningful culture of innovation.

The workshop offers a glimpse into our research with case studies from our global partners and assists participants in exchanging experiences and innovative ideas on their personal leadership behavior. Prof. Dr. Sabine Remdisch will talk about digital leadership and the new skillset of the future leader. Christian Otto will give an in-depth look into the importance success factors of integrating new technologies into leadership.

Speakers:
Sabine Remdisch, Leuphana University, Lüneburg
Christian Otto, Leuphana University, Lüneburg

With around 1.5 million foreign workers and over a million permanent and long-term foreign residents, Japan is experiencing unprecedented levels of immigration. In 2019 three new residence statuses were added to the Immigration Control Act. Furthermore, the government promises to foster social integration by strengthening Japanese language education and providing public services in multiple languages. But access to non-temporary or even permanent resident is highly selective.

Focusing on the recent additions to Japan’s immigration control legislation, Naoto Higuchi identifies a shift from a preferential treatment of foreigners based on “blood ties” to a neoliberal model based on meritocracy. The new residence categories “Specified Skills 1 & 2” enable immigration authorities to select migrants and determine their rights and length of stay based on performance, gauged by language ability and skill acquisition. In contrast, the newly prepared visa status for fourth-generation Nikkeijin looks — at first glance — like a continuation of immigration based on ethnic selection criteria. Yet, the government changed its policy to exclude Nikkeijin from social integration by limiting their stay to maximum five-years, and the road to permanent residence is becoming increasingly based on meritocratic selection criteria. The new movements raise interesting puzzles for exploring the future of migration to Japan.

Speakers:
Naoto Higuchi, Tokushima University
Kristin Surak, University of London

The spread of information on developmental disorders, mainly Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD, as well as changes in disability employment legislation have led to an increased number of diagnoses and a heightened interest in the subject of employment for individuals on the spectrum both in Japan and in the international context. Little research exists, however, on the perspective of employees on the spectrum, their actual employment situation, the opportunities and hurdles they face, and their coping strategies.

Japanese companies and employment facilities use the designation of disability to create employment structures that often differ from general employment structures in regards to work content, remuneration, or career opportunities. Based on preliminary findings from six months of participant observation in privately organized gathering spaces for persons with developmental disabilities and qualitative interviews with the participants in those spaces, this study reveals how individuals on the spectrum make use of the employment structures provided for them, or eschew them to find different ways of employment.