Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Wolfram Manzenreiter

Department of East Asian Studies

Spitalgasse 2
1090 Wien
Room: 2K-O1-10

T: +43-1-4277-43806

wolfram.manzenreiter@univie.ac.at

I am Professor of Japanese Studies and Head of the Department of East Asian Studies. As self-trained social anthropologist, I am specialised on exploring culture and society of contemporary Japan. I have been interested in processes of cultural globalization long before the term gained currency. Most of my research has been concerned with aspects of sports, emotions, work and migration in a globalising world. I have authored several books and numerous articles and book chapters on sport, mega-events, transnationalism and social issues in contemporary society. My research also extends into the larger East Asian Region, the transnational networks of the Japanese Diaspora, and most recently into the rural periphery of Japan where I have been conducting fieldwork with students, colleagues and scholars from Japan.

Wolfram Manzenreiter
University of Vienna
Department of East Asian Studies
Spitalgasse 2/2.4
1090 Vienna
Austria
Email: wolfram.manzenreiter@univie.ac.at

Consultation hours: Wednesday, 5-6pm, during the term

Administrative duties

Deputy Head of Department

Director Japan Research Unit

Research interests

happiness and well-being in Japan
rural Japan
sociology of sport and the body
globalisation
gambling and betting studies
Japanese overseas communities in Latin America
migration and diaspora studies
anthropology of emotions and the senses

Profile

I am Professor of Japanese Studies and Vice Head of the Department of East Asian Studies. As a self-trained social anthropologist, my research focusses on the study of contemporary culture and society. I have been interested in processes of cultural globalization long before the term gained currency. Most of my research has been concerned with aspects of sports, emotions, work and migration in a globalising world. I have authored several books and numerous articles and book chapters on sport, mega-events, transnationalism and social issues in contemporary society. My research also extends into the larger East Asian Region, the transnational networks of the Japanese Diaspora, and most recently into the rural periphery of Japan where I have been conducting fieldwork with students, colleagues and scholars from Japan.

Current research projects

Happiness and wellbeing in rural Japan

Aso 2.0

Recent publications

Book cover back of a female stretching in front of paddy field

Wave design in Olympic colors Aso Shrine in 1969

Manzenreiter, W. (2025). Well-being in rural Japan. Manuscript submitted for publication. In S. Klien, & P. Hansen (Eds.), Handbook of rural Japan. Amsterdam University Press.

Manzenreiter, W., & Debnar, M. (2025). Why do you want to study in East Asia?. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Manzenreiter, W. (2024). You’ll never walk alone? The meaning of social relations and belonging for happiness in rural Japan. Paper presented at Aso 2.0 and beyond: Reflections on a decade of rural well-being research in Japan. Conferenc, Wien, Austria.

Manzenreiter, W. (2024). Espectáculos esportivos, uniformidades e a busca para a identitade no japao moderno tardio. In M. Mota Pereira (Ed.), Mantos sagrados: futebol, camisas, história, cultura, marketing, política e sociedade (pp. 103-126). Editora Inovar . https://doi.org/10.36926/editorainovar-978-65-5388-193-8

Manzenreiter, W. (Accepted/In press). Kate Sylvester, Women and martial art in Japan. London/New York: Routledge 2022. Contemporary Japan: journal of the German Institute for Japanese Studies Tokyo.

Manzenreiter, W. (2024). “Who is doing what and how when modelling digital twin DEIs in Japan? Review article to Costatini et al., Developing inclusive community platforms: a catalyst for DEI community. Open Research Europe.

Manzenreiter, W. (2024). Women and martial art in Japan: by Kate Sylvester, London/New York, Routledge, 2022, 185 pp., £39.99 (Hardback), ISBN 978-1-032-18783-9. Contemporary Japan: journal of the German Institute for Japanese Studies Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2024.2396219

Manzenreiter, W. (Accepted/In press). Dennis J. Frost, More than medals: A history of the Paralympics and disabled sports in Japan. Monumenta Nipponica, 378-383.

Manzenreiter, W. (2022). Nana Okura Gagné, Reworking Japan: Changing men at work and play under neoliberalism. Unpublished.

Manzenreiter, W. (2022). Vorwort. In Woran Revitalisierung scheitert: Eine Analyse der Initiative "Zen" der Stadt Aso (Vol. 49, pp. 7-11). Institut für Ostasienwissenschaften / Japanologie.

Holthus, B., & Manzenreiter, W. (2021). A board-game approach to studying the multidimensionality of life satisfaction. In Researching happiness: Qualitative, biographical and critical perspectives (pp. 199-217). Bristol University Press.

Manzenreiter, W., & Holthus, B. (2021). Place, belonging and the meaning of happiness. In Rethinking locality in Japan (pp. 69-84). Routledge.

Manzenreiter, W. (2021). Rita Németh, Kyūdō im Wandel: Das japanische Bogenschießen von 1900 bis heute. Anthropos, 116, 518-520.

Manzenreiter, W. (2021). William W. Kelly, The sportsworld of the Hanshin Tigers: Professional baseball in modern Japan. Social Science Japan Journal, 24(2), 449-452.

Manzenreiter, W. (2020). Baseball/softball: One more homer for Japan. In B. Holthus, I. Gagné, W. Manzenreiter, & F. Waldenberger (Eds.), Japan through the Lens of the Tokyo Olympics (pp. 59). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003033905-15

Manzenreiter, W. (2020). Climbing: New sport on the block. In B. Holthus, I. Gagné, W. Manzenreiter, & F. Waldenberger (Eds.), Japan through the Lens of the Tokyo Olympics (pp. 25). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003033905-6

Manzenreiter, W. (2020). Karate: Bowing to the Olympics in style. In B. Holthus, I. Gagné, W. Manzenreiter, & F. Waldenberger (Eds.), Japan through the Lens of the Tokyo Olympics (pp. 32). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003033905-8

Manzenreiter, W. (2020). Olympic education: How Tokyo 2020 shapes body and mind in Japan. In B. Holthus, I. Gagné, W. Manzenreiter, & F. Waldenberger (Eds.), Japan through the Lens of the Tokyo Olympics (pp. 97-102). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003033905-25

Manzenreiter, W. (2020). Olympics and the media. In B. Holthus, I. Gagné, W. Manzenreiter, & F. Waldenberger (Eds.), Japan through the Lens of the Tokyo Olympics (pp. 8-11). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003033905-2

Manzenreiter, W. (2020). Skateboarding: “F*** the Olympics”. In B. Holthus, I. Gagné, W. Manzenreiter, & F. Waldenberger (Eds.), Japan through the Lens of the Tokyo Olympics (pp. 12). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003033905-3