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Interdisciplinary Japanese Studies On Site
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DIJ Newsletter 78
Winter 2024/25
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Welcome to the Winter 2024/25 issue!
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A very busy and productive year 2024 is drawing to a close. Our researchers published three single-authored books and more than fifty book chapters, journal articles, and outreach essays. Together with our partners, we organised or co-organised more than thirty academic events, including DIJ Forum and DIJ Study Group sessions, international workshops and conferences in Japan and abroad. We would like to thank you for your continuous support of our activities and hope you will join us again in 2025 as guests and participants in our workshops, conferences, and study groups; as readers of our academic publications; and as followers of our outreach and social media activities.
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In this year's final DIJ Newsletter we introduce new team members, new publications, look back at recent events, bid farewell to a long-serving team member, and update you on our Alumni activities.
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We hope you will enjoy exploring this edition of the DIJ Newsletter. If you haven't yet done so, you can subscribe to receive it directly to your inbox here. We also welcome your feedback and email address updates via email.
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From all of us at the DIJ, we wish you a pleasant holiday season, a merry Christmas, and a good start of 2025 ー the Year of the Snake!
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Research News ・Neues aus der Forschung ・研究活動ニュース
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Screenshot Innovcare Website
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New Research Project: Care-led Innovation
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Sébastien Lechevalier's research project 'Care-led innovation: the case of eldercare in France, Germany, and Japan' studies how limitations in technologies that support the autonomy of older adults (robotics, AI, digital technologies) can be overcome by a better synthesis of social and individual needs on the one hand and technological contributions on the other hand. The project aims to define and implement a process of innovation led by care with the following goals: securing the person's environment; ensuring their mobility; slowing down/compensating for the loss of their cognitive abilities; and preserving and enhancing social ties.
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Photo © DIJ
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DIJ Visits Community Care Centre
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In December, a DIJ delegation led by director Franz Waldenberger visited the Houyukai Shirokanenomori, an integrative, community-based care centre. As Japan's innovative response to the challenges of a ‘super aged’ society, such centres exist for every 20.000 to 30.000 inhabitants throughout Japan. They work on behalf of the municipalities and provide comprehensive counseling. The delegation was joined by Axel Börsch-Supan, director at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy. An edited volume on elderly care in Japanese communities is available open access as Alterung und Pflege als kommunale Aufgabe. Deutsche und Japanische Ansätze und Erfahrungen (Springer 2022).
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Recent journal articles, book chapters, and outreach articles by DIJ researchers:
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- Carolin Fleischer-Heininger, "Behinderungen in der japanischen Gegenwartsliteratur". MWS Themenportal (7 November 2024).
- Nicole M. Mueller, "Thomas Mann bei Mishima Yukio, Kita Morio und Tsuji Kunio: Verehrungspathos und Neuverortung als Vorbedingungen einer produktiven kulturüberschreitenden Rezeption". In: A. Jaspers & M. Schönbächler (Eds.), Thomas Mann produktiv rezipiert. Zum Fortleben von Werk und Autor. Brill Fink.107–130.
- Dolf-Alexander Neuhaus, "Korea and the League of Nations: from Versailles to the Manchurian Crisis, 1919–1933". In: A. Almada e Santos & Y. Santos (Eds.), The League of Nations Experience: Overlapping Readings. Walter de Gruyter. 67–94.
- Sebastian Polak-Rottmann (and Antonia Miserka), “Happiness as a by-product – the impact of civic engagement on women’s well-being in rural Japan”. Japan Forum, online first (3 October 2024)
- Franz Waldenberger, "Prevailing Differences in the US, German and Japanese Corporate Governance". Mita Business Review, 67/3, 187–200.
- Torsten Weber, "Review of Viren Murthy. Pan-Asianism and the Legacy of the Chinese Revolution". The American Historical Review, Volume 129, Issue 4, 1783–1784.
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DIJ News ・Aus dem DIJ・研究所ニュース
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Job ad © MWS
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Job Opening: DIJ Director
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Franz Waldenberger's term of office as Director ends on 30 September 2026. The Max Weber Foundation invites applications for the position of the Director to head the German Institute for Japanese Studies in Tokyo, with the position starting on 1 October 2026. The term of office is five years; a one-time reappointment is possible. The Institute's mission is to conduct academic research on modern Japan and on German-Japanese relations using methods from the humanities, social sciences, and economics. In addition to promoting research, the DIJ also pursues the mission of the Max Weber Foundation to promote mutual understanding between Germany and Japan. Application deadline: 10 January 2025.
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Photo © DIJ
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DIJ Welcomes Visiting Research Fellow
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In November, Sébastien Lechevalier joined the DIJ as a Visiting Research Fellow. An economist and professor at EHESS (School of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences, Paris), he specializes in the study of Asian economies with a focus on Japan and on the relations between technologies and societies. He is the principal investigator of the multi-institutional research project “Care-led innovation: the case of eldercare in France and in Japan”, funded by the French government. At the DIJ, he will expand this research to include comparative aspects on Germany. You can learn more about Sébastien and his research in this exclusive DIJ interview.
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Photo © DIJ
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New Administrative Staff Mayumi Uesugi
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In November, Mayumi Uesugi has become part of our secretary team as Nami Nishioka's successor. Mayumi studied German language and literature at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. After graduating, she worked mainly as a freelance German-Japanese interpreter and translator, both in Germany and in Japan. Before joining the DIJ, she worked for the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan as a translator and research assistant.
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Photo © DIJ
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New PhD Student at the DIJ
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In October, Jenny Willett (University of Cologne) started her PhD fellowship at the DIJ to undertake research into the folklore of the Japanese cat. Building on her MA Studies at Eberhard-Karls University of Tübingen where she focused on demonic cats in Japanese folklore, she aims at understanding the strong connection of cats with the aspect of death, especially of the so-called cat yōkai in the Edo period. At the DIJ, Jenny collects and analyses hitherto unidentified sources related to her research project.
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Photo © DIJ
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Introducing Our Intern Tom Dittrich
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Since October, Tom Dittrich has been supporting our team as an intern. Tom is currently a trainee at the Deutsche Bundesbank. After completing a Master degree in Finance (Goethe Business School, Frankfurt), he has been working in the field of banking supervision, focusing on foreign institutions from the Asia-Pacific region. At the DIJ, he also conducts research on the regulatory framework for Green Bonds between Japan and Europe. If you are interested in joining our team as an intern, please see our guidelines here (in German). We look forward to your application!
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Photo © DIJ
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Goodbye to DIJ Secretary Nami Nishioka
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After more than thirteen years at the DIJ, Nami Nishioka has reached the retirement age and will leave the DIJ at the end of this year. We bid farewell to her at our Christmas party during which she received the traditional DIJ farewell album, flowers, and presents to keep the DIJ fondly in her memory. During her time at the DIJ, she particularly enjoyed working with many foreign people interested in Japan. Before joining our institute, Nami Nishioka had worked in several German companies in Japan, including Illies until 2011. In her post-DIJ life she will start teaching Japanese to young people next year. The photo shows Nami Nishioka with DIJ director Franz Waldenberger.
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Past Events ・Vergangene Veranstaltungen・最近のイベント
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Photo © DIJ
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Photo © DIJ
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Imagined Futures in Japan and Beyond
In October, the DIJ in collaboration with the German Centre for Research and Innovation (DWIH) Tokyo hosted the workshop 'Imagined Futures in Japan & Beyond'. Twenty-five international scholars and practitioners from Japan’s tech industry discussed visions of emerging technologies, of their environmental and societal impact, and of Japan as a 'futuristic' nation through the lens of 'narrative' and 'sociotechnical imaginary' theoretical frameworks. The workshop opened with a DIJ Forum with keynotes by Fritz Breithaupt (Indiana University Bloomington) and Hirotaka Osawa (Keio University). Photos and a report of the workshop are available on our event website. A video of the opening keynotes can be accessed on the DIJ's YouTube channel.
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Alumni News ・Unsere Ehemaligen ・DIJ 同窓会
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Book covers © publishers
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New Book Publications by DIJ Alumni
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Photo © DIJ
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DIJ Alumni Meetings in Berlin and Tokyo
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During this year's VSJF conference in Berlin, twenty-five DIJ alumni and current staff members met to exchange and reminisce about DIJ memories. Participants included former research fellows, former PhD students, and a former librarian. Together they covered 32 of the institute's 36 years of history. In mid-December, another Alumni meeting was held in Tokyo, the first of a new DIJ Stammtisch, a regular get-together of the DIJ's former and current staff. For more details, please contact Barbara Holthus.
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If you are part of the growing group of DIJ alumni and have recently published a book or have any other news to share with us, please contact us via email.
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Social Media ・Soziale Medien・ソーシャルメディア
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Screenshot © DIJ
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DIJ on LinkedIn Surpasses 1000 Followers
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In March 2025, the next issue of the DIJ Newsletter will provide you with updates from our institute again. If you don't want to wait until spring, we invite you to join our currently 1029 followers of the DIJ's social media account on LinkedIn. This way you will be the first to receive announcements of upcoming events, new publications, other activities of our institute and its researchers, job and fellowship advertisements. Follow us here!
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