Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien nav lang search
日本語EnglishDeutsch
Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien
Nora Kottmann
-

CV & Publications

CV & Publications Nora Kottmann 

Nora Kottmann

Nora Kottmann
-
Principal Researcher
Social Science
Head of research group 'Methods and Methodologies'
Since September 2018

kottmann@dijtokyo.org

Profile on ORCID

My research centers around the question of how and where individuals relate and belong in the context of changing socio-economic contexts and global processes and developments. It addresses a broad array of topics, including marriage and the family, personal relationships, singlehood, diversification of life styles, diversity, work-life-balance, gender, demographic and social change, transnational and multilocal families/relationships, privileged migration, (im)mobility, as well as methods (qualitative, mixed methods) in social science research.

At the DIJ, I am currently working on three main projects: (1) Relationships ‘beyond‘ marriage and intimate spaces in urban Japan (e.g., romantic relationships, singlehood, friendships, collective/shared housing); (2) The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on unmarried individuals in Japan (with Dr. Laura Dales, The University of Western Australia); (3) (Digital) family practices and practices of belonging of highly mobile, transnational professionals in and from Asia. Since 2020, I am also the head of the research focus ‘Area Studies: Methods and Methodologies’. I am the organizer of the DIJ Method Talks and editor of the handbook Studying Japan (with Dr. Cornelia Reiher; Nomos, 2020).

From 2008–2018, I worked at the HHU Düsseldorf as Research Associate and Lecturer (Institute for Modern Japanese Studies). There, I received my PhD with a sociological study on the meaning of marriage in the context of of the low birth rate and the rapidly aging society (publication: Marriage in Japan; Springer VS, 2016). I taught at several European and Japanese Universities and my work has been published in a number of peer-reviewed journals, including Gender Place & Culture, Social Science Japan Journal, and International Journal of Social Research Methodology. In addition to my specialization in contemporary Japan, I have a profound interest and expertise in South Asia, in particular Nepal and India.

Current DIJ Projects

Relationships in motion: Doing belonging on a global stage

COVID-19 and its effects on singles in Japan:
Personal relationships and practices of intimacy in the time of ‘social distancing’ and ‘self-discipline’

COVID-19: Japan’s handling of a new challenge in international comparison

The Risks and Opportunities of the ‘Hyper-Solo-Society’. (Re)Mapping Intimacy – Spatial Perspectives on Personal Relationships in Contemporary Japan

Completed DIJ Projects

Handbook Project Studying Japan: Research Designs, Fieldwork and Methods

Recent Publications

Kottmann, Nora (2023). "Mit Selbstbeschränkung durch die Pandemie". Kaihō – Mitgliederzeitschrift der Deutsch-Japanischen Gesellschaft in Bayern, 1/2023. LINK
Kottmann, Nora & Dales, Laura (2022). "Doing Intimacy in Pandemic Times: Findings of a Large-scale Survey Among Singles in Japan". Social Science Japan Journal, online first. LINK
Kottmann, Nora, Mithani, Forum & Scherer, Elisabeth (2022). "Screening Love: Relational Practices in Japanese TV Dramas Produced During the COVID-19 Pandemic". The Asia-Pacific Journal - Japan Focus, 20 (14/3) (pp. 1-21). LINK
Kottmann, Nora & Dales, Laura (2021). "Surveying Singles in Japan: Qualitative Reflections on Quantitative Social Research during COVID Time". International Journal of Social Research Methodology. LINK
Kottmann, Nora (2021). "A “Conversation” on Comparisons between Japanese Studies, Contemporary History and Medieval Art History". In: Sidaway, James D. & Waldenberger, Franz (Eds.), Comparing Comparisons (pp. 21-24). Iudicium Verlag GmbH. (DIJ Miscellanea). LINK
Kottmann, Nora (2021). "Living (alone) together in metropolitan Japan: shifting boundaries of dwelling, relating, and belonging". Gender, Place & Culture. A Journal of Feminist Geography, online first (Volume 28, Issue 9 (2021)). LINK
Kottmann, Nora & Dales, Laura (2021). "Solo-camping and solo-hotpots: Rethinking practices and perceptions of singlehood in Japan in COVID- time". The Research Network of Singlehood Studies. LINK
Kottmann, Nora (2021). "‘Doing Family‘ on a Global Stage: German Expatriates in Southern Tokyo.". Recherches Sociologique et Anthropologique (RS&A), 2021/1 (pp. 149-169). LINK
Hommerich, Carola & Kottmann, Nora (2020). "How to combine methods: Miced methods designs". In: Kottmann, Nora & Reiher, Cornelia (Eds.), Studying Japan: Handbook of Research Designs, Fieldwork and Methods (pp. 264-282). Nomos. LINK
Kottmann, Nora & Reiher, Cornelia (2020). "How to interview people: Qualitative interviews". In: Kottmann, Nora & Reiher, Cornelia (Eds.), Studying Japan: Handbook of Research Designs, Fieldwork and Methods (pp. 184-195). Nomos. LINK
Kottmann, Nora & Reiher, Cornelia (2020). "Introduction". In: Kottmann, Nora & Reiher, Cornelia (Eds.), Studying Japan: Handbook of Research Designs, Fieldwork and Methods (pp. 19-28). Nomos. LINK
Kottmann, Nora (July 23, 2020). "A ‘Conversation’ on Comparisons between Japanese Studies, Contemporary History and Medieval Art History". Trafo Blog for Transnational Research. Max Weber Stiftung. LINK
Kottmann, Nora (2020). "Japanese Women on the Move. Working in and (Not) Belonging to Düsseldorf’s Japanese (Food) Community". In: Matta, Raúl, de Suremain, Charles-Édouard & Crenn, Chantal (Eds.), Food Identities at Home and on the Move: Explorations at the Intersection of Food, Belonging and Dwelling (pp. 174-187). Routledge. LINK
Kottmann, Nora (2020). "Games of romance? Tokyo in search of love and Unity in Diversity". In: Holthus, Barbara, Gagné, Isaac, Manzenreiter, Wolfram & Waldenberger, Franz (Eds.), Japan Through the Lens of the Tokyo Olympics Open Access (pp. 89-94). Routledge. LINK
Kottmann, Nora & Reiher, Cornelia (Eds.) (2020). Studying Japan. Handbook of Research Designs, Fieldworks and Methods. Nomos. LINK
Holthus, Barbara & Kottmann, Nora (2019). "(No) sex in the city?". DIJ Newsletter, 60.
Kottmann, Nora (2019). "Japanese-German-Symposium: Work Style Reform and Gender Equality in Japan and Germany – Report". Journal. Netzwerk Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung NRW, 44 (pp. 78-84). LINK
Kottmann, Nora (2019). Dreaming of Being a Chef? The Overseas Mobility of Young Japanese Women and Their Employment in Düsseldorf’s Japanese Foodscapes. DIJ (DIJ Working Papers). LINK
Kottmann, Nora (June 14, 2019). "5 in 10 with Nora Kottmann.". TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research. LINK
Kottmann, Nora (2018). "Verliebt, verlobt, allein. Romantische Beziehungswelten junger Erwachsener in Japan". In: Schad-Seifert, Annette & Kottmann, Nora (Eds.), Japan in der Krise. Soziale Herausforderungen und Bewältigungsstrategien (pp. 99-120). Springer VS. LINK
Kottmann, Nora & Schad-Seifert, Annette (2018). "Einleitung. Japan in der Krise". In: Schad-Seifert, Annette & Kottmann, Nora (Eds.), Japan in der Krise. Soziale Herausforderungen und Bewältigungsstrategien (pp. 7-22). Springer VS. LINK
Schad-Seifert, Annette & Kottmann, Nora (Eds.) (2018). Japan in der Krise. Soziale Herausforderungen und Bewältigungsstrategien. Springer VS. LINK