u:japan lectures

Season 8 | Spring 2024 | University of Vienna - Department of East Asian Studies - Japanese Studies


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A hybrid u:japan lecture by Alice Pacher (Meiji University, Japan).

ID Date* Mode** Guest / Lecturer
s08e01 2024-03-07 hybrid (de) Wolfgang Herbert
s08e02 2024-03-14 hybrid (de) Timo Thelen
s08e03 2024-03-21 hybrid (en) Alice Pacher
s08e04 2024-04-11 hybrid (de) Mizuuchi Akemi
s08e05 2024-04-18 hybrid (en) Sarah Pützer
s08e06 2024-04-25 hybrid (en) Karin Narita
s08e07 2024-05-02 hybrid (en) Martin Nordeborg
s08e08 2024-05-16 hybrid (en) Megha Wadhwa
s08e09 2024-05-23 hybrid (en) Jaqueline Berndt
s08e10 2024-06-06 hybrid (en) Harald Conrad
s08e11 2024-06-13 hybrid (en) Ilse Lenz
s08e12 2024-06-20 hybrid (en) Jennifer Miller

*Date & Time

Thursdays from 18:00 to 19:30

**Mode & Language

onsite = Seminarraum 1 @ Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies (University of Veinna Campus, Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2.4, 1090 Vienna)
online = via Zoom (no registration necessary)
hybrid = onsite and live stream via Zoom

en = English, jp = Japanese, de =German

Records

Only lecture conducted in online or hybrid mode, marked with an R, will be recorded and available as view on demand lectures in the recorded lectures section.

"I am too tired to have sex": A case study of sexless relationships in contemporary Japan

21.03.2024 18:00 - 19:30

A hybrid u:japan lecture by Alice Pacher (Meiji University, Japan).

| Abstract |

In recent years, the phenomenon of sexual inactivity, so called sexlessness among (married) couples has become a central issue in Japan. Psychiatrist Teruo Abe (1991) initially defined ‘sexless couples’ as following: “without any special circumstances, do not engage in consensual sexual intercourse or sexual contact for more than a month, with an even longer period expected”. Previous research indicates a significant increase of sexlessness among married couples, rising from 31.9% in 2004 to 51.9% in 2020 and 64.2% in 2024 (JEX Sex Survey 2020, 2024). The reasons for being in a sexless relationship are multicausal, with common factors including childbirth, overtiredness from work, and the perception of sex as something bothersome. Although sexlessness among (married) couples has been increased in these recent years, there is a lack of research on this topic.

Therefore, this lecture will focus on interview research from the recent publication “(NO) Sex in Japan”. The book examines the causes of sexlessness in Japanese couple relationships, emphasizing: 1) the meaning of sexuality for individuals, 2) the meaning of sexuality within the partnership, 3) how sexual consciousness and behaviors can change through certain life events (e.g., before and after being in a relationship, marriage, and childbirth), as well as their chronological processes, considering past experiences in (sexual) relationships. Overall, this study seeks to obtain a deep understanding of the concepts of sexuality, love, intimacy and relationships both within and beyond Japan.

| Bio |

Alice Pacher is a lecturer at Meiji University, Musashi University and a visiting research scholar at Sigmund Freud University, Vienna. She obtained her Ph.D. degree in sociology from Meiji University in 2020, with a dissertation on the Japanese sexless phenomenon. Her doctoral thesis was published as monographs ‚(No) Sex in Japan‘ (Springer) and ‚Shitaikedo Mendokusai‘ (Koyobosho)

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s08e03
Thursday 2024-03-14, 18:00~19:30

Place & Preparations | 

| Plattform & Link |

univienna.zoom.us/j/65246579549
Meeting ID: 652 4657 9549 | Passcode: 548335

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s08/#e03.

Organiser:

Department of East Asian Studies - Japanese Studies

Location:
Seminarraum 1 (Hof 2, Tür 2.4, EG)

Living with ever-changing currents: Following an ama diving community over one decade

14.03.2024 18:00 - 19:30

A hybrid u:japan lecture by Timo Thelen (Kanazawa University, Japan).

| Abstract |

Japanese ama (professional free-diving women) are well-known from various documentaries and movies, most prominently from James Bond: You Only Live Twice (1967), or also from the NHK Morning Drama Series Amachan (2013). While their popular image as exoticized “pseudo-mermaids” is still spread in the media, ama divers are, in reality, hard-working and often remotely living people from the Japanese countryside, facing themselves with the profound impacts of a modern world and trying to arrange their lives in a steady negotiation of old and new, local and global, human and environment.

This lecture will reflect on Timo Thelen‘s fieldwork on the ama diving community of Hegura Island / Wajima City spanning from 2014 to 2023. During this period, the ama community, on the one hand, struggled with an aging population, unsteady prices for their catches, and declining resources. But, on the other hand, they also experienced attempts of revitalization and support from the regional government and researchers, such as the designation of their fishery practices as immaterial cultural heritage or the establishment of the abalone festival – a commercial event centered on their catches. Yet, even under the inevitable menace of environmental changes caused by the global warming and international crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the ama community always managed to cope with diverse obstacles and preserved their fishery practices in a sustainable manner. The Noto Peninsula Earthquake of New Year’s Day 2024, however, caused a yet incomparable disaster to the community, whose aftermath will affect them for many years to come. Beyond the popular mystifications, this lecture aims to present a more accurate and nuanced portrayal of the ama community, how they experienced substantial changes and how they reacted to them.

| Bio |

Timo Thelen is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of International Studies in Kanazawa University. He has received his PhD in Modern Japan Studies from Dusseldorf University. His research focusses on media, tourism, and rural culture. His monograph Revitalization and Internal Colonialism in Rural Japan was released in the Japan Anthropology Workshop Series at Routledge in 2022.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s08e02
Thursday 2024-03-14, 18:00~19:30

Place & Preparations | 

| Plattform & Link |

univienna.zoom.us/j/64485374691
Meeting ID: 644 8537 4691 | Passcode: 128282

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s08/#e02.

Organiser:

Department of East Asian Studies - Japanese Studies

Location:
Seminarraum 1 (Hof 2, Tür 2.4, EG)

Verlorene und erfundene Traditionen im japanischen Karate-dô

07.03.2024 18:00 - 19:30

A hybrid u:japan lecture by Wolfgang Herbert (Tokushima University, Japan).

| Abstract |

Karate erreichte vor etwa hundert Jahren die japanischen Hauptinseln. Es kam aus Okinawa, wo es seit wohl fünfhundert Jahren als Kunst des Selbstschutzes in hermetischer Weitergabe gepflegt worden war. Die dort autochthone Faustkampfkunst hieß pars pro toto te („Hand“) oder di im lokalem Idiom. Seit dem 18. Jh. erfuhr sie zunehmend starke chinesische Einflüsse, sodass sie fortan als Tôdi („China-Hand“; auch „Karate“ lesbar) bezeichnet wurde. Auf dem Festland (China/Indien) konnten diverse Faustkampfsysteme auf womöglich tausende Jahre Geschichte zurückblicken.

Gesundheitlich-hygienische Methoden der Lenkung innerer Energien, Atemübungen, Visualisationen, Massagemethoden, Heilverfahren, Meditation im Stehen und im Sitzen und mehr waren integrierte Teile der chinesischen Kampfkünste. Sie sind weitgehend auf der Strecke geblieben. In Okinawa lag das pragmatische Augenmerk auf höchstmöglicher Effizienz (= Letalität). Respektive gefährliche Techniken wurden in der Vermittlung nach Japan, nach Einführung von Gruppenunterricht nach militärischem Drill in den Schulen Anfang des 20. Jhs, eliminiert. Dafür wurde Karate in Japan mit dem fiktiven Kodex des bushidô befrachtet, zu einer Zeit, als die Kriegerkaste der bushi abgeschafft und verschwunden war. Auch die Japanisierung und Assimilation an die „alten“ ehrwürdigen martialischen Wegkünste des budô, namentlich Kyudo, Kendo und Judo geschah besonders seit den 1930er Jahren. Mit der internationalen Verbreitung des Karate wurde es dem Zeitgeist der späten 1960er Jahre entsprechend mit dem Zen-Buddhismus in Verbindung gebracht. Mit der extremen Versportlichung (Olympische Disziplin) scheinen Aspekte des traditionellen Budô und der beanspruchte Zen-Geist in den Hintergrund zu treten.

Aufgrund dieser Dynamiken wurden laufend konstitutive Elemente über Bord geworfen oder aus anderen Bereichen dem Karate hinzuaddiert. Heute existieren nicht nur viele verschiedene Stilarten nebeneinander, sondern auch Karate-Formen mit distinktiver Ausrichtung: z.B. Sport, praktische Anwendung, Selbstverteidigung, Fitnessprogram, Kinderunterhaltung oder Budô im Sinne einer Lebensschule und Selbstkultivierung.

Der Referent möchte anhand der historischen Entwicklung auf entbehrliche ideologische Konstrukte, pathologische soziale Strukturen und technisch extreme Vereinseitigungen hinweisen, die das Karate aus Japan in den Westen mitgebracht hat und die dort lange unhinterfragt übernommen wurden. Es gilt auf dem Weg verloren gegangene wertvolle Traditionen zu re-integrieren und unheilsame erfundene Traditionen zu entsorgen. Der Vortrag soll vor allem kritische Reflexion provozieren, die im autoritären Klima japanischer Kampfkünste ein eher kümmerliches Dasein fristet.

| Bio |

Dr. Wolfgang Herbert, Studium der Japanologie (Promotion 1993), Philosophie und Religionswissenschaften an der Universität Wien, Professor für Vergleichende Kulturwissenschaften an der Universität Tokushima, Karate-dô 6. Dan.

Autor des Buches: Von Shaolin bis Shôtôkan. Beiträge zur integralen Praxis des Karate-dô. Distelhausen: schlatt-books 2023

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s08e01
Thursday 2024-03-07, 18:00~19:30

Place & Preparations | 

| Plattform & Link |

univienna.zoom.us/j/62752852955
Meeting ID: 627 5285 2955 | Passcode: 036888

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s08/#e01.

Organiser:

Department of East Asian Studies - Japanese Studies

Location:
Seminarraum 1 (Hof 2, Tür 2.4, EG)

u:japan lectures @ University of Vienna

30.06.2022

Contact & Team

Email & Web & Phone:

Postal Address:

Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2.4 (Campus)
1090 Vienna, Austria

Team:

Wolfram Manzenreiter
Bernhard Leitner
Christopher Kummer
Ralf Windhab
Florian Purkarthofer
Astrid Unger

More information about the u:japan lectures is available here.

**Mode & Language

onsite = Seminarraum 1 @ Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies (University of Veinna Campus, Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2.4, 1090 Vienna)
online = via Zoom (no registration necessary)
hybrid = onsite and live stream via Zoom

en = English, jp = Japanese, de =German

u:japan lectures

Season 7 | Autumn-Winter 2023/24 | University of Vienna - Department of East Asian Studies - Japanese Studies