VSJF Annual Conference 'Sustainability in Japan'

Organized by

Harald Conrad Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU)

Barbara Holthus German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ Tokyo)

Axel Klein Institute of East Asian Studies (IN-EAST), University Duisburg-Essen

The Conference

Making human activity on Earth sustainable is currently the greatest challenge of mankind. Ever since the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, the topic has gained world-wide popularity, but what sustainability means, how it can be achieved, how it is politically negotiated, and which actors are involved differs widely across the world. The purpose of this conference was to gain a better understanding of how issues of sustainability are understood, framed and pursued by different actors in Japan. Focusing on economic, societal, and political perspectives, the VSJF 2024 conference not only encouraged more social science research and teaching related to sustainability issues in Japan, but also interrogated more widely what sustainability means for the academic profession.

Friday, November 15, 2024

13:30      Registration

14:00 – 14:30   Welcome and Opening

Harald Conrad Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU)

Axel Klein University Duisburg-Essen

Barbara Holthus German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ Tokyo)

14:30 – 16:00   Introductory Address

Putting corporate social responsibility in context: A comparative perspective on Japan
Gregory Jackson Free University Berlin

16:00 – 16:30      Coffee Break

16:30 – 18:30   Panel 1: Business & Economic Perspectives

Chair: Harald Conrad Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU)

Would you like to pay for your greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions? Japan’s voluntary approach to carbon pricing
Franz Waldenberger German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ Tokyo)

Who has the power to shape the discourse? An analysis of institutional change in the Japanese sustainable finance sector
Ramona Rosalewski Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU)

Smart, sustainable, profitable? Imaginaries of sustainability in Japanese tech corporations’ metaverse initiatives
Nicole Mueller German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ Tokyo)

18:45 – 21:00      Welcome Dinner

Saturday, November 16, 2024

9:00 – 10:30   Keynote Lecture

The twisted paths of sustainability: Problems and dilemmas of socio-ecological change

Sighard Neckel Universität Hamburg

10:30 – 11:00      Coffee Break

11:00 – 13:00   Panel 2: Sustainability and Society

Chair: Barbara Holthus German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ Tokyo)

Beyond growth: Rethinking Japan’s path to environmental sustainability
Komatsu Hikaru On-the-Slope, Kyoto (ONLINE)

The people as drivers of Japan’s green transformation? Dynamics in pro-environmental attitudes and behavior from 1993 to 2020
Carola Hommerich Sophia University, Tokyo

Joanna Kitsnik Sophia University, Tokyo

Redefining rural life: Discussing sustainability in Japan’s countryside in times of population decline

Sebastian Polak-Rottmann German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ Tokyo)

13:00 – 14:30      Lunch

14:30 – 16:30   VSJF-Fachgruppen / VSJF Section Meetings

16:30 – 17:00      Coffee Break

17:00 – 19:00   General Meeting of the VSJF

Sunday, November 17, 2024

09:30 – 10:30   Panel 3: Sustainability at Osaka 2025

Chair: Axel Klein University Duisburg-Essen

The German Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan – a sustainable manifesto

Christopher Hecker German Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan

Everything everywhere all at once: Chasing SDG themes at the 2025 Osaka Kansai Expo

Isaac Gagné German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ Tokyo)

10:30 – 11:00      Coffee Break

11:00 – 12:30   Panel 4: Political Perspectives

Chair: Axel Klein University Duisburg-Essen

Decarbonizing Japan: The prospect of Its green transformation (GX) policy
Ohta Hiroshi Waseda University, Tokyo (ONLINE)

Crowdfunding for sustainability? The intersection between the “hometown tax” program and community-level self-governance in rural Japan
Hanno Jentzsch University of Vienna

12:30 – 13:00   Concluding Remarks