Events and Activities
Hybrid DIJ Study Group on Death and the Cat in Japanese Folklore

As in many cultures, the imagery of the cat in Japan is highly ambiguous: it is marked both as protective kami and ferocious yôkai that haunts the house and kills its owners to take on their shape. But Japan’s felines are also viewed as necromancers, soul stealers, body snatchers. This presentation will take a closer look at the cat’s strong association with death through the lens of the Kasha, a former Buddhist demon that took on the shape of a supernatural cat during the late 17th/early 18th century. Together with the well-known story complex of the “Neko danka” (Cat Parishioner) the motif of the body-snatching Kasha will serve as an example of how cats appear in the popular culture of the Edo period as a representation of Japanese folklore. Details and registration here
Hybrid DIJ Forum on German and Japanese Economies
A rapidly ageing population, global warming, digitalization and AI, heightened geopolitical risks and a U.S.-induced tariff war – entering 2025, the German and Japanese economies confront an increasingly challenging as well as uncertain economic environment. How do they confront the fundamental domestic and international challenges? What possible scenarios do they envisage? These and related questions will be addressed by two leading economic scholars, Monika Schnitzer (German Council of Economic Experts) and Noriyuki Yanagawa (Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy). Their input statements will be followed by comments from two Japanese corporate leaders, Osamu Mogi (Kikkoman Corporation) and Makoto Shiono (Industrial Growth Platform) before the floor will be opened to questions from the general audience. The event will be held in English, admission is free. It is co-organised with Japan Association of Corporate Executives and will be followed by a small reception. Details and registration here
Noriyuki Yanagawa, Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy
Book chapter by Carolin Fleischer-Heininger studies literary visions of the future

A new book chapter by DIJ researcher Carolin Fleischer-Heininger analyses the novel ‘Chiryō-tō’ (Therapy Station, 1990) by the Japanese Nobel Prize laureate Ōe Kenzaburō with regard to its two contrasting visions of the future. The first shows a technology-based, exclusive society of the ‘chosen’, the second an inclusive community of ‘failures’. Using the depiction of intellectual disability – particularly through the character of Hikari – the novel criticises destructive narratives of progress and creates a vision of a more humane society. The text is interpreted as a time-critical commentary on Japan’s affinity for technology and as a plea for more inclusion. Carolin’s chapter “Zwischen destruktivem Fortschritt und inklusiver Menschengerechtigkeit: Zukunftsentwürfe als Zeitkritik und Kompass in Chiryō-tō von Ōe Kenzaburō (1935–2023)” is published in the volume Regenerative Zukünfte und künstliche Intelligenz: SDG-Forschung, Konzepte, Lösungsansätze zur Nachhaltigkeit (SpringerVS 2024), co-edited by Kai Gondlach, Birgit Brinkmann, Mark Brinkmann, and Julia Plath.
Deutschsprachiges Kaffeekränzchen „Philosophie-Jause“
Die Jause geht weiter! In Frankreich ist das café philosophique eine Veranstaltung zum Philosophieren, an der jede Person teilnehmen kann. Auch in Japan gibt es bereits ähnliche Programme auf dem Land. The University of Tokyo Center for Philosophy (UTCP) und das Deutsche Institut für Japanstudien (DIJ) organisieren nun gemeinsam ein philosophisches Café auch in Tokyo, allerdings mit einer kleinen Besonderheit: Wir möchten deutschsprachigen Personen die Möglichkeit des Austauschs bieten und daher das Café auf Deutsch abhalten. Das Organisationsteam (Yukiko Kuwayama, UTCP und Sebastian Polak-Rottmann, DIJ) freut sich, Sie einzuladen, gemeinsam in entspannter Atmosphäre über ein Thema zu diskutieren. Fachliche Vorkenntnisse benötigen Sie nicht. Das Diskussionsthema entscheiden wir gemeinsam vor Ort. Bei Interesse melden Sie sich bitte bis zum 28. März an. Weitere Informationen hier
Hybrid DIJ Study Group on the lived experiences of multilinguals in Japan
Japan is experiencing a growing influx of international migrants. These individuals establish new social connections in both their private and professional lives, which often involves learning Japanese. However, Japanese is just one resource within a broader, multilingual repertoire. This presentation explores the lived experiences of multilingual individuals in Japan, focusing on two spheres that typically require distinct sets of communicative competences: romantic relationships and workplaces. Drawing on data from narrative interviews, our speaker will demonstrate how multilinguals rationalize their interactional partners’ behavior and attribute intentional states to them to make sense of their experiences and their implications for perceptions of language competence. He will argue that competence should be understood as an intersubjective capability that emerges in interactions between individuals, across time and spaces, and institutional contexts, all while being intertwined with emotional expressions. Details and registration here
Roundtable discussion with Yuval Noah Harari on education and science in the digital age
Today, digital networks provide us with an abundance of information. We invest more than ever in education and science. Despite these achievements our mental, socio-economic and political conditions have not improved. They seem to be even deteriorating. Why? What is going wrong? What can we do better? What can the first information revolution 600 years ago teach us? Two leading Japanese scholars in the field of media and AI governance will discuss these questions with Yuval Noah Harari, the world-famous thinker and best-selling author, who explores the risks and opportunities of the information age in his new book Nexus. The event will be held in English with Japanese interpretation, admission is free. It is co-organised by the DIJ, Tokyo College, and Kawade Shobo Shinsha on the occasion of the publication of the Japanese version of Yuval Noah Harari’s book Nexus. Please note that this event is fully booked. Details here
Kaori Hayashi, University of Tokyo
Arisa Ema, Tokyo College
Online DIJ Study Group on Generative AI and the Question of Authorship
Whether in Japan or elsewhere, the creation of books has never been an individual endeavor. The AI boom following the public release of ChatGPT in November 2022 sparked debates on the ethical use of generative tools and copyright issues. At the same time, however, it also prompted a reconsideration of the inherent fluidity of authorship as a concept in both arts and literature. This presentation examines how authorship is negotiated in contemporary Japanese literature in the context of AI. Focusing on several case studies it argues that each of them demonstrates how the notion of who (and what) can be an “author” has been gradually expanding over the past decades. Details and registration here
German Embassy and DFG Delegations visit the DIJ
In January, delegations from the German Embassy in Tokyo (photo) and from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) – German Research Foundation visited the DIJ. Headed by Ambassador Petra Sigmund, the German Embassy delegation, including Timotheus Felder-Roussety (Social Counselor) and Oliver Pieper (Head of the Research and Technology Division), visited our institute to learn about our research and outreach activities. After the presentation of our current research projects, we had an exciting discussion about the changing significance of Japan in the region, the role of China, Prime Minister Ishiba’s political agenda, digital transformation, and imaginations of the future. We also had a very fruitful exchange with the delegation from the DFG, including director Ingrid G. Krüßmann, Johanna Kowol-Santen, Aiko Sato, Saiki Hase, Gerrit Schlepper and Raoul Wagner. It was agreed to further intensify our scientific exchange and cooperation.