Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien nav lang search
日本語EnglishDeutsch
Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien

German Institute for Japanese Studies

Research focused on modern Japan, in global and regional perspectives. Located in one of the important economic and political hubs of East Asia, Tokyo.

Learn More

Events and Activities

Publications
March 25, 2025

New issue of Contemporary Japan published

The new issue of Contemporary Japan includes research articles on new forms of labor market dualization in the platform economy (Deborah Giustini), an analysis of Murakami Ryu’s Popular Hits of the Showa Era from the perspective of precarity (Barbara Greene), a discussion of media discourses of the peaceful use of nuclear power in the early postwar period (Jincao Wang), an analysis of Japanese identity construction through railway technology (Taku Tamaki), narratives of multiculturalism and community-building among Nikkei in the city of Toyota (Scott Ma and Mariana Alonso Ishihara), and an assessment of political rhetoric, public contest outcomes, and populism in 21st century Japanese politics (Petter Lindgren). The book review section covers publications on Jesuit enterprise in Japan in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, on the impact of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on psychological science, on East-West encounters in Japanese art, and on the history of the Japanese business community in Düsseldorf.

Publications
March 12, 2025

Blindness as disability: New book chapter by Carolin Fleischer-Heininger analyses novel by Gunji Nanae

© EB-Verlag

DIJ researcher Carolin Fleischer-Heininger‘s latest publication “Perspektiven auf Blindheit in Beruna no shippo (1996) von Gunji Nanae” studies the discussion of blindness as a disability in Gunji’s autobiographical novel Beruna no shippo. A close reading, taking into account theories from Disability Studies, shows that the novel is aimed at a general public that promotes guide dogs. At the same time, the novel portrays blindness – in particular with regard to mobility and motherhood – as a difference and as a deficit. Carolin’s analysis is preceded by an introductory section on the author, the novel, and the context in which it was written and received. It also includes comments on blindness as a disability in Japan and in Japanese literature as well as a review of related research. Her chapter was published in Formationsprozesse japanischer Literatur: Selbstreflexionen, Metafiktion und die Relevanz des Mediums (EB-Verlag 2025), edited by Lisette Gebhardt and Christian Chappelow. 

Other
March 18, 2025

Franz Waldenberger and Barbara Holthus in German radio feature on poverty in Japan

Weak Yen and high inflation: as a consequence, poverty is spreading in Japan, a country previously known as ‘middle class society’. For the radio feature “Armut in Japan: Wenig Akzeptanz, wenig Hilfe”, Deutschlandfunk Kultur interviewed DIJ director Franz Waldenberger and deputy director Barbara Holthus about the causes of poverty in Japan and countermeasures taken by society and politics. Elderly people, children, and single mothers are particularly vulnerable to slip below the poverty line. According to Holthus, one reason is the lack of social security for people working part-time. However, poverty is not a major issue in Japanese politics, Waldenberger explains. “Because there is little pressure from the population on the government, poverty is not much discussed in the public and not a priority for Prime Minister Ishiba’s government”. The radio feature (in German), part of Deutschlandfunk’s Weltzeit series, is available here.

Publications

Open access article co-authored by Sébastien Lechevalier studies impact of digitalization on job satisfaction

A new open access paper, co-authored by DIJ’s Sébastien Lechevalier and Malo Mofakhami analyses the diverse effects of the first wave of digitalization on job satisfaction through a comparison between Japan and France. The study neither finds substantial differences between the two countries regarding the impact of digital use on work organization practices nor a direct effect of digital use on job satisfaction. However, digital use is correlated to some work organization practices, such as autonomy, flexibility, and learning, through which it has positive mediated effects. The major source of the digital divide, in terms of satisfaction, is, in both countries, related to the perceived absence of digital skills by some workers. “Assessing job satisfaction in the era of digital transformation: a comparative study of the first wave of tasks digitalization in Japan and France” is published online first in the European Business Review (Springer). 

Publications
January 17, 2025

Book chapter by Carolin Fleischer-Heininger studies literary visions of the future

© Springer

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.

Event Series
Events
March 30, 2025

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

Event Series
Events
March 26, 2025

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

Speaker: Florian Grosser, University of Vienna/DIJ Tokyo
Event Series
Events
March 17, 2025

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

Speakers: 
Yuval Noah Harari
Kaori Hayashi, University of Tokyo
Arisa Ema, Tokyo College

Upcoming Events

22/04/2025
  • DIJ Forum
    18:00 ~ 20:00

    The German and Japanese Economies Maneuvering in Uncharted Waters

DIJ Mailing List

Please subscribe below to stay informed about our research activities, events, and publications:

    Choose Subscription:

    = required field

    DIJ Brochure

    Please see the DIJ Brochure for more information about our institute (04/2025)


    follow on Bluesky Follow us on Bluesky

     

    Call for Submissions

    Contemporary Japan
    current issue Vol. 37, No. 1
    Contemporary Japan is open year-round for rolling submissions, with accepted publications published immediately online. Please see the instructions for submission here.

    DIJ Monograph Series

    Our monograph series is Open Access Open Access after a one-year embargo period. Downloads are available on our
    → monographs pages
    .

    Access

    DIJ Tokyo
    Jochi Kioizaka Bldg. 2F
    7-1 Kioicho Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
    102-0094 Japan
    Where to find us

    +81 (0)3 3222-5077
    +81 (0)3 3222-5420
    dijtokyo@dijtokyo.org

     


     

    DIJ-ARI Asian Infrastructures Research Partnership