Events and Activities
Celia Spoden presents research on avatar robots at international symposium in Kyoto
DIJ researcher Celia Spoden will present latest results from her research project Cyber-physical spaces and avatar technologies: new opportunities for an inclusive society? at the International Symposium ‘Participation (Un)plugged: Exploring Dignity and Disability through Human-Robot Interaction’ at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto on May 19. Her paper “An alter ego in the classroom: Potential and limitations of avatar robots for hospitalized children or children with disabilities” is one of four presentations at the symposium that will explore how the digital space — where people, objects, and information intersect — can reshape notions of ‘personhood’ and ‘dignity’. Participation is possible online and onsite. Details and registration here
Call for Papers: Workshop ‘Imagined Futures in Japan and Beyond’
The DIJ, in collaboration with the German Centre for Research and Innovation (DWIH) Tokyo, is hosting an interdisciplinary workshop delving into both fictional and nonfictional portrayals of Japan’s technological future. We will juxtapose these visions with those from other cultures and analyze them through the lens of “narrative” and “sociotechnical imaginary” theoretical frameworks. Scholars whose research aligns with the thematic scope of our workshop are invited to send their abstracts for their planned presentations via E-Mail to mueller@dijtokyo.org by June 15, 2024. We welcome paper proposals by scholars from different career stages (including PhD students) and from a variety of cultural and disciplinary backgrounds. Participants who are accepted for the workshop will be notified by July 5, 2024. Before submitting your abstract, please see the full Call for Papers here
‘The Ends of War’: onsite DIJ Forum on Modernity and World War II
Looking back upon the extra-long twentieth-century that begins in the latter half of the nineteenth century and that continues today, it has become increasingly clear that “freedom” is not necessarily the antithesis of oppression and domination. Instead, “freedom” has too often been the condition for the workings of power. One of the most obvious examples in modern Japan is the Japanese empire’s promise to free those in the Asia-Pacific from the bonds of Euro-American colonialism and racism. This relation between the promise of freedom and new oppressions has been a recurring theme in modern history throughout the world. This talk grapples with this question through the example of Japanese history, including during the Second World War, while discussing the complicity of freedom with the oppressions that have accompanied nationalism, imperialism, colonialism, the “emperor system,” and various forms of social discrimination. This DIJ Forum (onsite only) is the first event in the Max Weber Foundation event series ‘The Ends of War’, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two. Details and registration here
Hybrid Study Group on Post-Bubble Housing Insecurity in Tokyo
Before the speculative bubble in Japan’s real estate market burst in the early 1990s, real estate prices in Tokyo skyrocketed without wage growth at all levels of society keeping pace. When the crisis hit, the city experienced unprecedented levels of homelessness. In response, labor and housing markets were subjected to neoliberal restructuring. But what created greater housing insecurity in other parts of the world seemed to have the opposite effect in Tokyo – the number of officially recorded rough sleepers dropped significantly. How could this be? Based on a reevaluation of Japanese literature, an analysis of government, industry, and business reports, and backed up by in-depth interviews conducted with both entrepreneurs and residents, this presentation will outline four case studies of fragile housing to examine the regulation of homelessness as an expression of Japanese capitalism in crisis. Details and registration here
Hybrid Study Group on Japanese photography in Manchuria
From 1932 to 1945, professional Japanese photographers, civilians, and soldiers took many pictures in Manchuria and North China. After the official commencement of the war with China in 1937 they began to contribute to the ‘National Reportage Movement’. Japanese authorities employed photographic propaganda to justify the Japanese government’s and Imperial Army’s activities on the continent. However, Japanese soldiers and civilians also used the camera to document and produce memories of their daily lives and experiences in China. This talk aims to bring forward new perspectives on photographic practices and on visually over- or underrepresented aspects of the Japanese occupation of Manchuria and North China. It introduces examples of private photo albums by soldiers stationed in Manchuria and discusses their creation as processes of selecting and ordering images. Drawing on visual anthropology and media history, the presentation will show connections between “imperial” and “patriotic” photography, and between vernacular and formal photographic repertoires. Details and registration here
Online Study Group on Japanese housewives’ post-war anti-pollution movement
“Give us Our Blue Skies Back!” is the catchphrase under which nearly 7,000 women in Tobata (Kitakyushu) mobilised against emissions from local industries. Most of the activists were ordinary housewives with little formal education and without political experience. Yet, these housewives executed one of the earliest, longest, and most sophisticated anti-pollution movements in Japan’s postwar history, spanning from 1950 to 1969. Engaging in a new way of writing the history of environmental movements, this research shifts the focus from men to women, from highly educated elites to ordinary citizens, from Tokyoites to people in the Japanese periphery, and from the presumed heyday of environmental movements, the 1970s and 1980s, to the 1950s and 1960. It thereby contributes to a new understanding of the democratisation of Japan, gender roles in post-war society, the rise of ecological consciousness and the democratisation of science through ‘citizen scientists’. Details and registration here
DIJ researchers at ‘Popular Cultures of Digitalization’ workshop
DIJ researchers Carolin Fleischer-Heininger and Celia Spoden will present their latest research results at the international workshop “Popular Cultures of Digitalization” on April 12 and 13. Carolin will present her paper “Cripping digitalization in Ichikawa Saō’s Hanchibakku (2023)” in the first panel on Transhumanism on Friday. On Saturday, Celia will give her paper “Realizing the Japanese Government’s Robot Strategy in the (non-)fictional World: The Avatar Robot Café Dawn Ver.β and the Anime ‘Time of Eve'” in the last panel on Techno-Orientalism. The workshop is organized by DIJ alumni Robert Horres, Volker Elis, and Felix Spremberg at the University of Tübingen’s Department of Japanese Studies.
Hybrid Study Group on Japanese Environmental Attitudes
The role of institutional and governmental policies in combating climate change is crucial, yet their success hinges on public compliance and support. The willingness of people to modify their individual habits directly impacts the effectiveness of climate protection measures. Using survey data from the International Social Survey Programme Environment module for Japan between the years 1993 and 2020, this presentation discusses how the perception and reaction to environmental issues and climate change has evolved. The analysis centres on pro-environmental attitudes, willingness to make sacrifices to protect the environment, environmental self-efficacy, and beliefs in external solutions to the climate crisis. The presentation aims to shed light on the intricate relationship between individual attitudes, societal trends, and policy effectiveness in the context of climate change, ultimately providing insights that could guide future strategies for fostering a more environmentally sustainable society in Japan. Details and registration here