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Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien

Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien

Wir sind ein deutsches Forschungsinstitut mit Sitz in Tokyo. Unsere Forschung befasst sich mit dem modernen Japan im globalen Kontext.

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Veranstaltungen und Aktivitäten

Andere
7. April 2025

Celia Spoden receives AJJ Mark Bookman Prize

© Jonathan Webb

DIJ social scientist Celia Spoden was awarded the Mark Bookman Prize by the Anthropology of Japan in Japan (AJJ) association for her presentation  „Avatar Robots as an Alter Ego: New Opportunities for Work or Technological Fixes?“ at the joint Japan Anthropology Workshop (JAWS)/AJJ conference in Kobe. Drawing on fieldwork in Tokyo’s DAWN Avatar Robot Café and on interviews with people with disabilities who remotely control an avatar robot from their homes and serve the guests in the cafe, Celia’s paper explores her interlocutor’s motivations and experiences working through the avatar, their perceptions of social participation, work, and disability, and how these perceptions have changed using the avatar. It shows how the avatar robots open up new opportunities for social participation, lead to a feeling of independence and belonging, and challenge common understandings of “disability.” The prize is named after the late Mark Bookman, who was an emerging scholar and a leading authority on disability issues in Japan, and is designed to boost the career of a gifted young scholar researching people with disabilities or other minority groups in Japan.

Event Series
Events
2. Juli 2025

Hybrid DIJ Study Group on Japanese Private International Law

When evaluating cases involving legal relationships between private individuals with cross-border elements Japanese courts determine which jurisdiction’s law shall be applied to the legal relationship using a set of rules called “Private International Law”. Based on the “Savignian approach” to Private International Law, Japan strives to apply the law that it considers most closely connected to the specific legal relationship. In this context, the so-called Public Policy clause provides a crucial safeguard. If the application of foreign law results in a violation of “public policy and good morals,” this clause enables Japanese judges to exclude the foreign law from application. This presentation will analyze the doctrinal development and practical application of the Public Policy clause, illustrating under which circumstances and conditions Japanese courts invoke it. Details and registration here

Speaker: Jan Felix von Alten, University of Frankfurt / DIJ Tokyo
Events
25. Juni 2025

Book talk by Dolf Neuhaus on Japanese Colonial Rule in Korea

© Campus

DIJ historian Dolf-Alexander Neuhaus will introduce his book Jenseits von Nation und Imperium. Interaktionen koreanischer Studierender und japanischer Protestanten (1880–1923) [Beyond nation and empire. Interactions between Korean students and Japanese Protestants, 1880-1923] at the next AREA Ruhr Book Talk on 25 June 2025, 10-11h CEST (in German). Drawing on a wide range of Japanese and Korean sources, the book examines how students and intellectuals discussed Japanese colonial rule in Korea and the ‘Korean question’ and how their exchange of ideas influenced Japanese and Korean perceptions of empire, nation, and East Asia. The book is published by Campus in the Global History series. Details and registration here

Event Series
Events
20. Juni 2025

International Workshop on the Aging Challenge in Europe and Japan

Economies in Europe and Asia are facing a “slow crisis” with a dual demographic shift: their population is expected to start contracting by 2050; the proportion of older adults is expected to surpass 30% by the same date. Japan is at the forefront of this change, having experienced already a decade of population decline while the share of the elderly is projected to reach 40%.  Particularly challenging is the situation of the “oldest old” who are losing autonomy. The French-Japanese INNOVCARE consortium has introduced “care-led innovation” as a novel approach to reconcile social needs and technological dynamics. The one-day workshop Addressing the Aging Challenge in Europe and Japan – Insights from the INNOVCARE Project , organised by the European Institute of Sophia University, the EHESS, and the DIJ, brings together fifteen international scholars to discuss different perspectives on the aging challenge in Japan. The afternoon part of the workshop will be interpreted into Japanese and is open to the public. Details here

Event Series
Events
19. Juni 2025

Online Study Group on Mediation of Deaf and Hearing Sign Language Interpreters in Japan

Sign language interpreting plays a crucial role in ensuring effective communication between Deaf and hearing individuals, particularly in highly specialized settings such as court hearings and psychotherapy sessions. However, interpreting in these fields presents unique challenges, as it requires not only linguistic skills but also the ability to navigate cultural nuances, emotional contexts, and diverse communication needs. This research project examines the practices of Deaf and hearing sign language interpreters in Japan, focusing on how they handle demands, interpret nuances, and adapt their interpreting strategies to individual Deaf sign language users. Key areas of investigation include the strategies employed by interpreters in the courtroom, psychotherapy sessions, conferences, and media, and how these strategies vary according to context and audience, as well as their adaptation to the linguistically and culturally diverse needs of Deaf sign language users. This presentation will outline the research project and offer a critical overview of the research methodology employed in the study. Details and registration here

Speaker: Junko Lévay, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Events
11. Juni 2025

DIJ researchers co-organise symposium ‚Loneliness as a Social Phenomenon‘

DIJ researchers Carolin Fleischer-Heininger and Celia Spoden will present their research related to loneliness and social isolation at the international symposium Loneliness as a Social Phenomenon: Cross-Cultural Approaches to a Human Condition. The symposium examines loneliness as a social phenomenon that has increased as a result of social transformations and structural changes. It brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars and practitioners to explore loneliness and social isolation. To investigate both conditions, it takes a holistic and cross-cultural approach, and explores themes that connect theoretical understandings with practical application. Participants will share their expertise on the ambivalent role of digital technologies; civil-society measures to foster social inclusion; literary representations of loneliness; and the ethical implications of social fragmentation. In addition to academic presentations, the symposium includes an ethnographic film screening, a workshop, and a field trip to a local project addressing loneliness. The symposium takes place in Hanover from June 11 to 13 and is part of the theme week “(Tackling) Loneliness”, sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation. Details here

Publikationen
3. April 2025

DIJ Newsletter Spring 2025

The spring issue of our DIJ Newsletter features updates on our research, publications, and events as well as news from the Institute, our team, and our outreach activities. 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 our Newsletters directly to your inbox. The full issues and subscription form are available here.

Publikationen
25. März 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.

Nächste Veranstaltungen

18. Oktober 2025
  • DIJ-UTCP Kaffeekränzchen
    15:30 ~ 17:30

    „Philosophie-Jause“, 4. Session

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    Contemporary Japan
    Aktuelle Ausgabe Vol. 37, Nr. 1
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    Wegbeschreibung

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    Jochi Kioizaka Bldg. 2F
    7-1 Kioicho Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
    102-0094 Japan
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    +81 (0)3 3222-5077
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    DIJ-ARI Asian Infrastructures Research Partnership