DIJ social scientist Celia Spoden will present her latest research on „Cybernetic avatars and the vision of an inclusive society“ at the Japanese-German conference Artificial Intelligence and the Human: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Science and Fiction (May 11-13). In her presentation, Celia focuses on the avatar technology OriHime which aims to counteract people’s loneliness and create new forms of social participation. Celia analyses how technologies such as the OriHime can make physical limitations less significant in cyber-physical spaces. In her paper she examines the cultural backgrounds as well as the social and ethical implications of this new technology. The conference takes place in Berlin and is jointly organised by the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, the Japanese-German Center Berlin, and Waseda University.

In 1868, the name of Edo was changed to „Tokyo Prefecture“. From which perspectives has Tokyo been viewed and researched abroad since then? In this special exhibition, the libraries of the International House of Japan, the Maison franco-japonaise and the DIJ are displaying books about the city, its past and present in English, French, and German. The joint book exhibition is open to the public from March 1 to March 31 (DIJ only: until April 28). For more information, please contact the respective library. Details and a list of books and articles at the DIJ library are available for download here.

DIJ researchers Susanne Brucksch and Harald Kümmerle as well as DIJ alumna Katharina Dalko will give talks at the conference „Digital Technologies in the COVID-19 Pandemic“ (14-18 March), organized by Ruhr University Bochum. On March 15, Harald will give his paper „Contextualizing Data Practices in Japan during Covid-19 Pandemic: Local and Global Entanglements“ and Susanne will give a keynote on „The Locale of Japan. Approaches to the Social Study of (Digital) Health Technologies „. On the closing day, former DIJ PhD student Katharina Dalko (University Halle-Wittenberg) will give a presentation on methods to integrate patients into participatory technology development. Details and the full programme can be accessed here. Susanne will also give a talk on “Telehealth-Networks in Japan” at the workshop „Digital Transformation in East Asia. Impacts on Economy and Society II” (18-19 March), organized by the University of Bonn. At the same conference, DIJ alumni Volker Elis and Felix Spremberg (both University of Tübingen) will give papers on ideological implications of the information society in Japan and Japanese political discourse on digitalisation, respectively. Details and programme here 

In the „Moonshot Research and Development Program“ launched in 2020, the Japanese Council for Science, Technology and Innovation formulated the goal of a society in which people will be free of physical, cognitive, spatial, and temporal limitations by 2050. Elderly or physically impaired people and people with obligations such as caring for children are to be enabled to function in the labour market, regardless of restrictions due to space and time or physical and mental abilities. For this purpose, so-called cybernetic avatars and a cloud-based infrastructure are to be developed. In her talk, DIJ social scientist Celia Spoden will discuss the Government’s vision of this future society where cyberspace and the physical world are to be merged into a perfectly connected, highly efficient, and inclusive society. She will also explore what these new technologies mean for living together. Celia’s online talk is part of the OAG’s lecture series and will take place on Wednesday, March 16 online in German. Details

Registration is now open for the 16th meeting of the German-Japanese Society for Social Sciences (GJSSS), held online on March, 2nd-4th, 2022, on the theme of „Sustainable Societies“. Its seven sessions will address the transition to sustainable living approaches; sustainability in the contexts of education, social systems, policy, and finance; SDGs in public communications. The virtual conference is jointly organised by former DIJ senior research fellow Carola Hommerich (Sophia University) and Masato Kimura (Toyo University). It is co-sponsored by the DIJ and Sophia University. Registration is possible via the registration form on the GJSSS website by February 20th (Sunday). Conference participation is free, but registration is mandatory. Details and Zoom information will be sent out to registered participants after February 20th.

How is the underperformance of Japan’s economy during the past two decades related to corporate governance? Upon invitation by the Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro (IUPERJ), DIJ director Franz Waldenberger discussed this question within the IUPERJ’s Comparative Political Economy Webinar Series: Asia 2020/2022. In his talk, Franz outlined Japan’s recent corporate governance reforms and explained their limited influence on the performance of Japan’s economy. By Japan’s ‚performance puzzle‘, he refers to the country’s relatively low GDP per capita despite its excellent resource conditions. In his analysis, Franz demonstrated that institutionalized in-house careers which worked well during Japan’s economic and technological catch-up period now obstruct resource allocation at the company, industry, and international levels. In conclusion, he suggested that corporate governance reforms will only be successful if they contribute to the establishment of market based careers for higher ranked managers. The full talk, including comments by Yasushi Ueki (IDE-JETRO), can be viewed on YouTube.

One week before Christmas Eve, DIJ historian Yufei Zhou will give a presentation on „The ‚Reactionary Modernist‘ and His Transnational Legacy: Werner Sombart and Japan“ at the 7th German-Asian Study Day in Literary Studies and the Humanities. The online Study Day on December 17th is organised by the Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies at FU Berlin and the Mori Ōgai Memorial Center (HU Berlin). One day earlier, DIJ principal researcher Susanne Brucksch will participate as discussant in a panel on social innovation among helpers and the helped at the conference „Care-led innovation: The case of elderly care in France and Japan“. The one-day event on December 16th is organised by the France-Japan Foundation of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS). On the same day, DIJ senior research fellow David M. Malitz will give a paper on „The First Visit of a Head of State: King Prajadhipok’s Visit to Japan in 1931“ as part of a panel on Japanese-Thai relations at the 7th Biennial International e-Conference of JSA-ASEAN.