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Interdisciplinary Japanese Studies On Site
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DIJ Newsletter 63
Spring 2021
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Welcome to our Spring 2021 issue!
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As the global pandemic continues, our institute remains closed to the public and we continue to conduct our research and events online. In this newsletter you will find a selection of our recent events, publications, and outreach activities. These include a conference in cooperation with the VSJF and JDZB on the 10th anniversary of 3.11, conference presentations and publications by our researchers, media interviews as well as a new addition to our DIJ YouTube channel: DIJ alumnus Axel Klein's documentary on election campaigns in Japan, by now a popular teaching tool. We hope you will enjoy exploring this new edition of the DIJ Newsletter. If you haven't done so yet, you can subscribe to receive it directly to your inbox. We also welcome your feedback via email to newsletter@dijtokyo.org
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Research News – Neues aus der Forschung – 研究活動ニュース
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Conference poster © AAS
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DIJ Researchers at AAS Conference
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Sonja Ganseforth and Nora Kottmann presented papers on their current research projects at this year’s virtual AAS annual conference. Sonja’s paper “The Political Ecology of Japanese Coastal Fisheries Reform” draws on her research project Fishing Communities between Growth and Demise. Nora gave her paper “Negotiating Belonging: German Expatriates in Southern Tokyo” in the panel ‘Managing Migration in Japan: Short-term Labour, Tourists, and International Students’. Most presentations are available as on-demand videos via the AAS website.
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Screenshot © DIJ
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Special Website 'DIJ Research on 3.11'
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Contributing to the understanding of the social, economic, and political effects of the ‘triple disaster’, the DIJ has been undertaking research related to the consequences of 3.11 for almost ten years. On the occasion of this year's anniversary, we have put together a collection of recent publications and activities by the institute and its researchers on the lasting impact of 3.11 on different aspects of Japanese society. More
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Upcoming Event – Kommende Veranstaltung – 今後のイベント
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Conference poster © DHI Moskau
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'Knowledge Unbound' Online Conference
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The DIJ will host the online conference 'Climate Change, Energy, and Sustainability in the Pacific Region. Knowledge, Policies, and Transfers (1970s–Present)' from April 19 to 22. It seeks to explore the historical development of attitudes towards climate change and environmental degradation. The conference is part of the Max Weber Foundation’s collaborative research project 'Knowledge Unbound', funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. More
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Past Event – Vergangene Veranstaltung – 最近のイベント
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Presentation slide © Isaac Gagné
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VSJF Annual Conference on 3.11
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The conference 'Continuity and Change 10 years after 3.11', organized by the German Association for Social Science Research on Japan (VSJF), discussed the lasting impact of the triple disaster on Japan. It was co-hosted by the Japanese-German Center Berlin (JDZB) and the DIJ. Our Principal Researcher Isaac Gagné presented his research on “Haunting Memories of 3.11 and the Heaviness of Trauma in Post-Disaster Miyagi”. More
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New Publications – Gerade erschienen – 新刊
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Cover © Taylor&Francis
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New Issue of Contemporary Japan
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The latest issue of Contemporary Japan is now available online and in print. Articles in CJ 33(1) cover Nikkei Brazilian migrants in Japan and their use of online platforms to stay connected, war memories and Japanese citizens’ views toward the self-defense forces, English language education and national identity, and the nuclear power debate in Japanese newspapers, 1973–2014. Also in this issue: a review article of Kanamori Osamu and three book reviews.
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Cover © Iudicium Verlag
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New DIJ Miscellanea: Double Debt Disaster
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Double Debt Disaster: Law, Policy, and Social Justice in the wake of Japan's 2011 Tsunami by Julius Weitzdörfer and S.J. Beard is the latest volume published in our DIJ Miscellanea series. It offers a detailed examination of obstacles to recovery from catastrophes caused by the concurrence of pre-disaster obligations with post-disaster capital needs and the destruction of collateral assets. It proposes that policymakers take sustainable steps to avoid socioeconomic disasters. As all volumes in this series, it is open access.
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Chart from Working Paper © Markus Heckel
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Working Paper on BOJ's Monetary Policy
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A new working paper, co-authored by Senior Research Fellow Markus Heckel and Kiyohiko G. Nishimura (GRIPS/CARF, University of Tokyo) examines the unconventional monetary policies of the Bank of Japan from 2002 to 2019. Unconventional Monetary Policy through Open Market Operations: A Principal Component Analysis is a result of Markus’ research project Economic Discourses of Monetary Policy – The Case of the Bank of Japan. The CARF working paper is available open access.
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Cover © DIJ
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Survey Report Gender & Social Movements
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In her latest DIJ Working Paper, Deputy Director Barbara Holthus introduces the findings of a large-scale survey on social movements in post-3.11 Japan. It was conducted in 2017 with close to 80,000 participants in the larger Tokyo metropolitan area. Questions focus on understanding who was sympathetic to the 3.11 movement, who was mobilized, and who participated in the protests. Gendered social movements in post-3.11 Japan: A survey report draws on Barbara’s ongoing research project Social movements and gender in post-3.11 Japan and is available open access.
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Recent publications by DIJ researchers include the following journal articles, book chapters, contributions to research blogs, and book reviews:
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- Isaac Gagné, "The Changing Meanings of Comparisons for Sociocultural Anthropology”, TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research, 29 January 2021.
- Barbara Geilhorn, “Genjitsu wo henyō saseru fikushon. Okada Toshiki no engeki kara kore kara no nihon shakai wo yomitoku” [Fiction that transforms reality: understanding the future of Japanese society through the plays of Toshiki Okada], Sekai bungaku toshite no ‘shinsaigo bungaku’ [‘Post-disaster literature’ as world literature], eds. Kimura Saeko & Anne Bayard-Sakai, Akashi Shoten 2021, 97-118.
- Nora Kottmann (with Laura Dales), “Solo-camping and solo-hotpots: Rethinking practices and perceptions of singlehood in Japan in COVID-time”, Singlehood Studies blog, 26 January 2021.
- Nora Kottmann (with Laura Dales), “Looking to capture practices of intimacy in times of social distancing: Mixed-methods research on singles in Japan”, CRFR blog, 3 February 2021.
- Torsten Weber, "Finding China's 'Asia' in Japanese Asianism", Translating the Occupation. The Japanese Invasion of China, 1931–45, eds. Jonathan Henshaw, Craig A. Smith, Norman Smith, University of British Columbia Press 2021, 209-222.
- Yufei Zhou, "Review of Tatiana Linkhoeva. Revolution Goes East. Imperial Japan and Soviet Communism. Cornell University Press 2020", International Review of Social History 66 (1), 2021, 144-147.
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Forthcoming Publication – Erscheint in Kürze – 近刊
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Cover © PalgraveMacmillan
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Edited Volume on Health and Technology
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Humans and Devices in Medical Contexts. Case Studies from Japan is forthcoming in Palgrave Macmillan's Health, Technology and Society series. Through its case studies the edited volume shows how the making and application of medical technologies must be considered as a co-constitutive process of social and technical factors in the field of human-machine relations in the medical context. The book is edited by DIJ Principal Researcher Susanne Brucksch and Kaori Sasaki (Sapporo Medical University). It is expected to be published in mid-June 2021.
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DIJ in the Media – In den Medien – メディアで知るDIJ
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Screenshot © Frankfurter Rundschau
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DIJ Expertise in International Media
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DIJ News – Aus dem DIJ – 研究所ニュース
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Virtual advisory board meeting © DIJ
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Virtual Advisory Board Meeting
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For the second year in a row, the meeting of the DIJ's advisory board was held virtually in March. Chaired by DIJ alumna Verena Blechinger-Talcott (FU Berlin), the board members and guests discussed the Director's report on the institute's activities during the past year. Preceding this meeting, the board members were able to exchange ideas with current DIJ researchers in virtual breakout sessions. The board includes three new members: David Chiavacci (University of Zurich), Sabine Frühstück (UC Santa Barbara), and Dominic Sachsenmaier (Göttingen University).
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Vienna cooperation meeting © DIJ
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Vienna Cooperation Meeting
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In February, researchers from the DIJ and its cooperation partner at the University of Vienna met online to discuss options of doing research on Japan during the pandemic. Barbara Holthus, Sonja Ganseforth, and Nora Kottmann gave advice on research companies, costs, sampling strategies, questionnaires, and incentives. Wolfram Manzenreiter and doctoral students Florian Purkarthofer, Dennis Askitis, and Stefan Hundsdorfer attended the meeting. It was part of the cooperation between the DIJ and Japanese Studies at the University of Vienna.
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Library News – Aus der Bibliothek – 図書室ニュース
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3.11 book display at DIJ Library © DIJ
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Joint 3.11 Book Exhibition
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To mark the anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the libraries at the International House of Japan, the Maison franco-japonaise, and the DIJ presented publications related to the earthquake and its aftermath in English, German, and French. The joint book exhibition was open to the public through March 31, but the exhibition at the DIJ remains open until April 30. A list of available books and articles at the DIJ library is available for download.
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Alumni News – Unsere Ehemaligen – アルムナイニュース
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Screenshot © DIJ
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First DIJ Alumni Shinnenkai
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At the end of January, more than 50 former and current DIJ employees met for the first Alumni Shinnenkai - the traditional first social gathering of the new year. Moved to virtual space, the event had the advantage that alumni from all over the world could attend. Deputy Director Barbara Holthus moderated the meeting, guided the alumni through the institute via video, and presented DIJ highlights from 2020. The unanimous opinion of those present: even after the pandemic, there should be virtual alumni meetings again.
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Screenshot © DIJ
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New on YouTube: Election Documentary
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Pictures at an Election is a 68-minute documentary by DIJ alumnus Axel Klein (Duisburg-Essen University). It shows Japan’s electoral machinery in full steam and focuses on the question of how Japanese candidates try to appeal to voters. Filmed in 2007, it has not lost any of its currency and relevance as it depicts different strategies and techniques, and presents a lively picture of political culture in Japan. It is now available for free on the DIJ’s YouTube channel and features Japan's Olympic minister Marukawa Tamayo in her first election campaign.
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If you are a DIJ alumna or alumnus and have recently published a book or have any other news to share with us, please contact newsletter@dijtokyo.org
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Read for you – Für Sie gelesen – 書評
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Screenshot © Max Weber Stiftung
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Special Issue on Max Weber in Japan
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Max Weber’s popularity in Japan remains unbroken. To mark the 100th anniversary of his death, the prestigious intellectual journal Gendai Shisō (現代思想) published a special issue (12/2020) dedicated to his works and intellectual influence. Our Senior Research Fellow and historian Yufei Zhou wrote a detailed review introducing the individual contributions.
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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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Tokyo Olympics Research on Twitter
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Will they be cancelled or not? Who will be admitted to the event sites? And what is the latest Olympic scandal? For up-to-date information on all aspects of the Tokyo Olympics, including updates on the DIJ’s special research project on Tokyo 2020, follow @dij_tokyo2020 on Twitter. The account is run by Deputy Director Barbara Holthus who is also the main editor of the open access publication Japan through the lens of the Tokyo Olympics (Routledge 2020).
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