| Abstract |

In Japan wie anderenorts sind körperliche, sensorische, seelische und intellektuelle Behinderungen immer schon Gegenstand der Literatur. Und in jüngerer Zeit rücken sie sowohl im öffentlichen Leben als auch in literarischen und (populär-)kulturellen Artefakten Japans vermehrt in den Fokus – nicht zuletzt durch aktivistisches Engagement, neue gesetzliche Regelungen, gesellschaftliche Debatten und internationale Großereignisse. Gleichwohl wurden sie von Literaturwissenschaft und -kritik lange Zeit kaum wahrgenommen und thematisiert. 

Ausgehend von diesem Befund, den David Bolt (2017) in Anlehnung an Jacques Derrida als eine Form der „hauntology“ beschreibt – insofern Behinderung weder geleugnet noch anerkannt wird –, untersuche ich anhand exemplarischer Werklektüren die Tragfähigkeit von Behinderung als Gegenstand, theoretischem Zugang und methodischer Perspektive der literaturwissenschaftlichen Japanforschung. Unter Einbezug der jeweiligen zeitgenössischen (literaturweltlichen) Kontexte und intersektionaler Verschränkungen entwerfe ich eine kurze Genealogie der Repräsentationen von Behinderungen in der japanischen Literatur. 

So diskutiere ich etwa, inwiefern literarische Repräsentationen von Behinderung während der 1990er Jahre noch überwiegend von einer medizinisch-defizitorientierten Perspektive geprägt waren, die sich an den vornehmlich von Nichtbetroffenen formulierten Metanarrativen von Behinderung ausrichtete. Ich argumentiere, dass neuere literarische Werke Behinderung nicht nur darstellen oder narrativ funktionalisieren, sondern ihre soziokulturelle Gemachtheit analysieren und damit zu einer Neubestimmung von Behinderung beitragen. In meinem Vortrag möchte ich aufzeigen, wie sich Behinderung als kreatives Potenzial für die Literatur und ihre Analyse fruchtbar machen lässt und wie dadurch die zugrunde liegenden Mechanismen, Hierarchien und Normannahmen sichtbar werden.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s11e14
Thursday 2026-01-29, 18:00~19:30 (CET, UTC +1h)

| Place | 

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s11/#e14.

| Abstract |

The countries of Austria and Japan have a rich history of appreciating the aesthetic qualities of their natural environments. It can thus be deduced that the probability of these two nations protecting their natural environment and finding nature-based solutions to problems of modern life in cities is high. Despite the potential endorsement of this perspective by marketing and tourism agencies, the prevailing reality often exhibits significant discrepancies. Human nature frequently stands in opposition to the requirements of nature, culminating in the implementation of greening strategies that, at best, serve as mere disguises rather than authentic solutions.

In this presentation, a critical perspective on nature-based solutions in the cities of Vienna and Tokyo will provide an empirical basis for a broader discussion about green gentrification, local climate action and sustainable urban development. This contribution will inform the ongoing social and environmental discussion of how we can create sustainable urban areas for a better future. 

The present study utilises extensive fieldwork data, integrating it with extant quantitative findings to demonstrate that we can derive insights from both successful and unsuccessful projects and examples in Tokyo and Vienna. This approach is informed by the notion that human nature and human needs are inherently universal. In order to be considered a suitable location for human habitation, a city must be ecologically sustainable. Consequently, there is a necessity to prioritise the pursuit of nature-based solutions.

| Bio |

Florian Purkarthofer is a researcher at the Department of East Asian Studies, Faculty of Philological and Cultural Studies, University of Vienna, Austria and interested in urban studies, hetero-/utopias as critique, and research on sensation and perception in contemporary societies. He is currently working on a project on urban space in Tokyo as a nexus of conflicting individual perceptions and social constructions, by employing experimental methods from multisensory anthropology. Further projects aim at delving into human and non-human co-creation of urban spaces and the social life of digital sensations.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lunch lecture | s11e01
Thursday 2025-10-09, 10:00~11:30

| Place | 

| Platform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s11/#e01.

| Abstract |

The content of school education in Japan is determined by the Courses of Study issued by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology. Sexuality education is not a distinct subject in Japan, but it is incorporated into various subjects, including science, home economics, and health and physical education. However, the Course of Study for physical education in middle schools in Japan includes a regulation known as the “restriction clause,” which states, “From the perspective that maturation begins during puberty that enables pregnancy and childbirth, the subject of fertilization and pregnancy shall be addressed, but the progression of pregnancy shall not be addressed.” This restriction prevents students from receiving scientifically accurate sexuality education, and even today, teaching about “sexual intercourse” is still suppressed in elementary and middle schools.

Our research group has been conducting nationwide surveys since 1974 to understand the actual state of sexual behavior and attitudes among adolescents. This survey was initially commissioned by the Prime Minister’s Office at that time, due to concerns that sexual behavior was becoming increasingly disorganized as Japan experienced rapid economic growth and improved living standards. Since then, researchers have run surveys every six years, with the latest survey completed in 2023. To date, more than 100,000 people have participated, providing valuable insights into shifts in sexual behavior and attitudes across various generations.

In this presentation, we will examine trends in the sexual behavior of adolescents in Japan and issues in sexuality education through the analysis of nationwide survey data. Specifically, we will discuss recent changes in sexuality education in schools, which have been criticized as “passive,” and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sexual behavior of adolescents.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s11e02
Thursday 2025-10-16, 18:00~19:30

| Place | 

| Platform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s11/#e02.

| Abstract |

Does language impact social issues such as poverty, poor health, or wellbeing? Across the world, Indigenous language speakers are shifting from their ancestral languages to dominant regional or national languages. Originally, this language shift was seen as progress and successful integration into mainstream society, but abandoning ancestral languages is now viewed differently. The focus has shifted onto the utilities and advantages of maintaining, revitalizing, or reclaiming ancestral languages. In line with this epistemological shift, the study of language endangerment and wellbeing has emerged as a new subfield in sociolinguistics.

Research across various societies has identified key factors influencing wellbeing, such as health, education, housing, job satisfaction, and leisure. Until recently, language choices and practices were not included in this framework. My presentation is divided into three sections: first, I briefly review current research on language and wellbeing; second, I discuss how the suppression of ancestral languages has harmed the Ainu and Ryukyuans; and third, I explore whether maintaining Ainu and Ryukyuan languages correlates with higher wellbeing. To investigate this, I conducted two quantitative surveys in Amami and Okinawa. I analyze the link between Ryukyuan language proficiency and wellbeing measures (Subjective Happiness Scale, Cantril’s Ladder, Satisfaction with Life Scale), considering identity, social capital, and decolonization of the mind as moderating factors.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s11e03
Thursday 2025-10-23, 18:00~19:30

| Place | 

| Platform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s11/#e03.

| Abstract |

The labour shortages experienced by Japan due to societal aging are a harbinger of challenges soon to face nations throughout the developed world. Immigration has long been considered one of the fastest ways to counter this problem, but Japanese governments have been notoriously cautious about adopting this strategy. This volume is the first to examine migration in Japan from the view of sustainable society and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including ‘Good Health and Wellbeing’, ‘Decent Work’, and ‘Reduced Inequalities’. While migrants are frequently rendered policy tools or policy problems, the chapters contribute important empirical and historical insights into the human face of migration. The book addresses a broad range of issues, including migrants’ diverse contribution to urban society, minority aging, caregiving, and hate speech. How do Vietnamese villagers secure employment in Japan, and why do some disappear? Can the circular migration of Southeast Asian nurses under EPA agreements be sustained? With many of these groups and issues having rarely been addressed in English-language scholarship thus far, this book offers an invaluable bridge between scholars based in Japan and around the world. The voices, analyses and recommendations offered here will be of interest to scholars, policymakers, and third-sector actors supporting migrants.

In this talk, I give an overview of the key contributions from each chapter before focusing in on Chapter 6, which is about online ‘hate speech’. This chapter calls for attending to Japan’s unique techno-social context when studying this phenomenon, and for the centring of racism within this. With renewed academic and media attention to ‘anti-foreigner’ sentiment in the wake of Sanseito’s recent electoral breakthrough, now is an important moment to consider carefully the direction of scholarship on online hate and the implications of this for equality and social justice for migrants and ethnic minority groups in Japan.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s11e04
Thursday 2025-10-30, 18:00~19:30

| Place | 

| Platform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s11/#e04.

| Abstract |

Amid the rapid diversification of contemporary urban Japan, new ways of understanding how people live together are becoming essential. Approaching Tokyo through the combined lenses of superdiversity and intersectionality offers a pathway into this emerging complexity. Drawing on the monograph Spatial Diversity in the Global City: Transnational Tokyo (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024), this talk reframes the city as a constellation of overlapping mobilities, identities, and spatial practices that exceed conventional narratives of homogeneity in the context of urban (super-)diversity.

Superdiversity, rather than referring only to an increase in migrant numbers or countries of origin, captures the diversification within migrant populations themselves. It highlights the growing complexity of individual characteristics—such as gender, language, ethnicity, and religion—as well as migration-related dimensions including legal status, migration type, and the channels through which people move. This expanded understanding provides a lens for recognizing the multilayered heterogeneity emerging across Tokyo’s urban landscape.

However, while superdiversity has often been invoked as a celebratory concept associated with conviviality and multicultural encounters, this talk moves a step further by examining how superdiversity and intersectionality intersect conceptually and spatially within specific contexts. This reveals not only sites of encounter but also the uneven power relations, institutional structures, and socio-spatial dynamics that shape everyday urban life.

By approaching superdiversity through an intersectional spatial lens, the talk uncovers how differences are simultaneously produced, negotiated, and contested in Tokyo’s neighborhoods. It shows that superdiversity in global cities is not merely a demographic trend but a lived, relational condition embedded in urban space. Taken together, superdiversity and intersectionality offer a nuanced framework for understanding how urban coexistence is being reconfigured within Tokyo and across the wider network of global cities.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s11e08
Thursday 2025-11-27, 18:00~19:30 (CET, UTC +1h)

| Place | 

| Platform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s11/#e08.

| Abstract |

War, defeat, and the collapse of empire in 1945 touched every aspect of postwar Japanese society, profoundly shaping how the Japanese would reconstruct national identity and reengage with the peoples of Asia. While “America” offered a vision of re-genesis after cataclysmic ruin, “Asia” exposed the trauma of perpetration and the torment of ethnic responsibility. Obscured in the shadows of a resurgent postwar Japan lurked a postimperial specter whose haunting presence both complicated and confounded the spiritual rehabilitation of the nation.

In this presentation Simon Avenell will discuss his book, Asia and Postwar Japan: Deimperialization, Civic Activism, and National Identity (Harvard Asia Center, 2022). The book examines processes of deimperialization in Japan from 1945 until the early twenty-first century. It focuses on the thought and activism of progressive activists and intellectuals as they struggled to overcome rigid preconceptions about “Asia,” as they grappled with the implications of postimperial responsibility, and as they forged new regional solidarities and Asian imaginaries. The book aims to reveal the critical importance of Asia in postwar Japanese thought, activism, and politics―Asia as a symbolic geography, Asia as a space for grassroots engagement, and ultimately, Asia as an aporia of identity and the source of a new politics of hope.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s11e05
Thursday 2025-11-06, 18:00~19:30

| Place | 

| Platform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s11/#e05.

| Abstract |

Studies of state governance have long excluded the family from their scope due to the conventional liberal understanding of the public-private divide. Feminist critiques, particularly those in the field of Feminist Political Economy, have challenged this view by highlighting that families play a vital role in reproducing a national economy and a nation-state by maintaining the current workforce/citizens and replenishing the future one. As Melinda Cooper has discussed, the spread of neoliberal financial capitalism, which emphasises individualisation as a normative value and operates transnationally, has not fundamentally transformed the functioning and understanding of the family as the backbone of everyday stability, happiness, and well-being. Or rather, according to Wendy Brown, its significance as a safe haven in the competitive socio-economic environment has been strengthened. In this way, the sound biological, economic, and socio-political reproduction based on gender roles within the family remains part of the state governance system, which maintains and further develops nation-states and national economies.

The trajectory of Japan’s governance system since the mid-19th century presents an intriguing case study for examining the political functions the family has played. By referring to the concept of governmentality, which operates through two distinct types of power—biopolitics and necropolitics — the lecture aims to illuminate the ways in which the family is situated within the modern and neoliberalized governance system in Japan, being mobilised for the governing of the nation-state and national economy. This enables us to grasp the crucial importance of gender when studying the Japanese governance system.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s11e06
Thursday 2025-11-13, 18:00~19:30

| Place | 

| Platform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s11/#e06.

| Abstract |

Nach dem Aufkommen der Psychiatrie, Neurologie und Hirnforschung in Japan im späten 19. und frühen 20. Jahrhundert verbreitete sich dieses neue Wissen rasch über das Netzwerk der japanischen Universitäten. Es griff auch auf das besetzte Korea über, wo es an der neu gegründeten Kaiserlichen Universität Keijō weiteren Aufschwung erlangte. Allerdings war die Medizin kein neutrales Wissensgebiet, sondern wurde auch als Mittel zur rassistischen Agitation innerhalb der kolonialen Machtverhältnisse eingesetzt. So beschuldigte der japanische Anatomieprofessor Kubo Takeshi im Jahr 1921 koreanische Studenten, aus seiner Schädelkollektion gestohlen zu haben, ohne dafür Beweise vorzulegen. Seine Anschuldigung basierte ausschließlich auf der Überzeugung, dass ihre „rassische Konstitution“ minderwertig und daher anfälliger für kriminelle Handlungen sei. Der sogenannte „Kubo-Vorfall” ist als aufsehenerregendes Beispiel für wissenschaftlich getarnte Diskriminierung in die Geschichte eingegangen. Hoi-eun Kim (2013) zeigte, dass sich rassistische Darstellungen in der Anatomie nicht nur in den Handlungen japanischer Wissenschaftler manifestierten, sondern sich auch in den Reaktionen koreanischer Wissenschaftler, Journalisten und Studenten verinnerlicht hatten.

Der Vortrag soll die Aufmerksamkeit dann auf eine weitere, subtilere Geschichte mit rassistischen Motiven in der Medizin lenken. Das Durchdringen des äußerlichen Erscheinungsbildes von Menschen bis hin zum im Kopf verborgenen Gehirn bot neue Möglichkeiten, „rassische“ Hierarchien innerhalb eines sich wandelnden Kolonialregimes aufrechtzuerhalten. Und zwar in einem Regime, das seine Macht zunehmend durch Assimilation statt durch Differenzierung festigte. Die historische Episode ist erneut mit dem Namen Kubo verbunden. Diesmal handelt es sich jedoch nicht um den Anatomen, sondern um den Neurologen Kubo Kiyoji.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s11e07
Thursday 2025-11-20, 18:00~19:30

| Place | 

| Platform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s11/#e07.

| Abstract |

At the center of this paper are the countless textiles depicting modern war scenes that have been produced in Japan beginning with the 1894-95 Sino-Japanese war and continuing during the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05 to the Shōwa period. Between 1931 and 1942 textiles depicting modern war technology, tanks, airplanes and (happy looking boy) soldiers were sold to the Japanese mass market. Most of these war motif textiles were everyday clothes worn by all age groups and genders; they were cut in the Japanese style (e.g. kimono or haori jackets) and (probably less frequently) Western styles. These garments are part of a larger world of war themed material culture; this paper locates them at the conjuncture of (social) aesthetics, fashion, commercial interests and politics.

In Western scholarship, these textiles are best known as “propaganda kimonos”; however, this name obscures many aspects and foregrounds visual appearances over the actual practices of embodiment related to these objects. Textiles not only serve to display the designs but shelter and affect their wearers in many more complex ways. For example, the war motif textiles facilitated a bodily experience of the (changing) national identity during war times. The Japanese cut made their wearers feel comfortable. At the same time, as the patterns often included maps, globes and even images of tourism, these textiles operated as a sensory medium through which their owners literally could feel their place in the world from the comforts of home. As another example, the war themed textiles worn by children were a way to express the role of women in the war effort and also could serve as a quasi “magical” protection of the beloved kids.

In addition, it can be argued that the symbolic depiction of strength on the textiles constitutes a way of dealing with fears about the war instead of showing unwavering support. By facilitating the actual embodiment of different meanings the textiles contributed to the agency of their owners. Ambiguous (and sometimes even contradictory) practices show how material culture is an integral part of social aesthetics through which war is normalized and included in everyday life.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s11e09
Thursday 2025-12-04, 18:00~19:30 (CET, UTC +1h)

| Place | 

| Platform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s11/#e09.

| Abstract |

This presentation will examine how Japanese emotions are shaped in its cultural context, focusing on amae, anxiety, pride, and embarrassment, through the theoretical frameworks of Cultural Psychology and Psychological Constructionism.

To show that emotions could be different between cultures, as a good example, the Japanese emotion, amae will be shortly discussed at the beginning. According to Doi (2007), amae refers to an implicit expectation of indulgent acceptance within relationships. It contrasts with American norms of independence where amae often remains unrecognized. This difference reveals that emotional concepts are culturally constructed.

Why do people experience particular emotions differently between cultures? To explain this point, the presentation will introduce Cultural Psychology and Psychological Constructionism. Cultural Psychology claims that culture shapes people’s psychological process including their cognition and emotion. Psychological Constructionism suggests that emotions are not innate biological entities, but socially/culturally constructed through language.

As for more examples to show that emotions could be different between cultures, the presentation will discuss the studies on anxiety, pride and embarrassment in Japanese culture. A study on Japanese students reveals that returnees, who have lived in western cultures and internalized independent self-construals, tend to report lower state anxiety in face-to-face conversations than non-returnee students (Sasaki, 2023).

Finally, the presentation will discuss a cross-cultural study on pride and embarrassment between Japanese and Americans (Lewis et al., 2010). It reveals that American children tend to express pride more frequently than Japanese children who often exhibit embarrassment even upon success instead. It suggests early internalization of modesty and group-oriented self-concepts. In the U.S., pride is viewed positively and promotes self-esteem. The presentation discusses that these differences in their emotional experiences tend to shape different communication styles between two cultures; Japanese are likely to minimize personal success, whereas Americans are likely to talk openly about their achievements.

In conclusion, the Japanese emotional landscape illustrates how culture constructs emotional experiences and communication patterns. Within the frameworks of Cultural Psychology and Psychological Constructionism, these findings highlight that emotions are culturally emergent phenomena rather than universal psychological entities.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s11e10
Thursday 2025-12-12, 18:00~19:30 (CET, UTC +1h)

| Place | 

| Platform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s11/#e10.

| Abstract |

Als Reaktion auf die Klimakrise, mit der die Menschheit konfrontiert ist, versprach im Jahr 2020 der damalige japanische Premierminister der Welt offiziell, bis 2050 „Carbon Neutral (Net-Zero)“ zu erreichen. Im folgenden Jahr änderte das Parlament einstimmig das Gesetz zur Verhinderung der globalen Erwärmung und verankerte dieses Ziel gesetzlich.

Im Mittelpunkt der Politik zur Erreichung der CO₂-Neutralität steht „GX“, eine Abkürzung für Green Transformation. Diese Politik sieht Investitionen in die Dekarbonisierung in Höhe von insgesamt 150 Billionen Yen (ca. 900 Milliarden Euro) über einen Zeitraum von zehn Jahren vor, an denen sowohl der öffentliche als auch der private Sektor in allen Wirtschafts- und Industriezweigen beteiligt sind. Dieser Investitionsbetrag entspricht 2,6 % des jährlichen BIP. Der Grundplan der Regierung für den Strommix sieht vor, dass erneuerbare Energien im Jahr 2030 einen Anteil von 36 bis 38 % und im Jahr 2040 einen Anteil von 40 bis 50 % ausmachen sollen, während der Anteil der Kernenergie (trotz der Erfahrungen mit einem schweren Unfall) bei etwa 20 % liegen soll.

Wie ist die Klima- und Energiepolitik Japans im Kontext der globalen Bemühungen zur Verhinderung der Klimakrise zu bewerten? Wir werden die Stärken und Schwächen der japanischen Politik im Lichte der Green-New-Deal-Politikvorschläge, die um 2020 in Europa und den Vereinigten Staaten Aufmerksamkeit erregten, und der Ergebnisse des Berichts „Net Zero by 2050“ (2021) der Internationalen Energieagentur (IEA) untersuchen. Die Energiewende erfordert politische Entscheidungen, und es ist notwendig, dass politische Parteien, deren Grundpolitik der Ausstieg aus der Kernenergie und die Dekarbonisierung ist, an die Macht kommen (oder dass die Regierung solche Grundpolitiken übernimmt und fördert). Wie wahrscheinlich ist dies jedoch derzeit? Wir werden dies anhand der Zusammensetzung der Sitze im Parlament, der Zustimmungswerte der politischen Parteien und der öffentlichen Meinung klären.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s11e11
Thursday 2026-01-08, 18:00~19:30 (CET, UTC +1h)

| Place | 

| Platform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s11/#e11.

| Abstract |

Examining some of the ways color operates in anime allows for an exploration of place production in anime as it mediates Japan in a global context. Specific strategies of utilizing color to depict place will be revealed through a comparison of two anime: Bakemonogatari and Non Non Biyori. Employing large blocks of segmented solid colors, the former anime tends toward the production of what Marc Augé calls “non-places,” but ones that do not exist in the real world; the latter tends toward a painterly pastoral image, producing the impression of a locality in Japan through a textured merging of various colors. Both can be read as depicting places engaged with globalization in distinct ways. Bakemonogatari echoes the tensions of the breakdown of classically considered localities, presenting non-places of “passing through” (like airports) prevalent in contemporary globalization. Based on disparate parts of rural areas of Japan (but with some backgrounds painted in Vietnam), Non Non Biyori presents the sense of a local place, but one of hybridity and interlinking of dispersed places to produce that locality.

Through the specific strategies of coloration, both tendencies—segmented solid colors and non-place, and painterly pastoral imagery and place—are never fully subsumed by the other and appear in varying degrees in these and other anime. Such methods of analysis open a means to explore mediation, hybridity, and the various forms they may take to better navigate notions of place in relation to Japan and beyond.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s11e12
Thursday 2026-01-15, 18:00~19:30 (CET, UTC +1h)

| Place | 

| Platform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s11/#e12.

| Abstract |

Wars often reshape economic structures through the destruction of physical capital and institutional change, yet less is known about how the loss of human capital affects postwar economic development. During the Second World War, Japan lost approximately two million soldiers, the vast majority of whom were young males. This constituted a sizable shock to the gender composition of local labor markets, as these losses amounted to nearly 10 percent of the working-age male population.

The Japanese Imperial Army adopted a hometown regiment system, under which military regiments were organized at the prefectural level, meaning that soldiers within the same regiment came from the same prefecture. U.S. counterattacks in the Pacific Islands—where most Japanese military deaths occurred—resulted in large differences in casualty rates across regiments. Consequently, wartime losses were highly uneven across prefectures. These institutional features generated substantial and persistent geographic variation in postwar gender ratios.

Exploiting changes in gender ratios across cohorts and prefectures, this study examines how the permanent loss of young males influenced postwar industrial structure. On the one hand, local economies may adjust to gender imbalances by reallocating labor toward sectors that rely more heavily on female workers. On the other hand, market forces such as technological adaptation and internal migration may act as restoring mechanisms, offsetting the initial shock over time. To assess these competing forces, we use newly digitized Population Census data covering the period from 1920 to 1980.

Our empirical results indicate that prefectures experiencing larger declines in the male population saw a reduction in the employment share of manufacturing, accompanied by increases in agriculture and services. Quantitatively, however, these effects were modest and largely dissipated within approximately 15 years after the war. This pattern suggests that changes in gender composition slowed the process of industrialization in the short run, but did not permanently alter the long-run industrial structure.

We further examine implications for women’s employment. Female labor supply increased significantly in response to male losses, and the share of female workers rose across all sectors. These findings are consistent with adjustments in production technology or factor intensity to accommodate a relatively more abundant labor factor. In contrast to the effects on industrial structure, we find that these changes persisted at least into the 1980s.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s11e13
Thursday 2026-01-22, 18:00~19:30 (CET, UTC +1h)

| Place | 

| Platform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s11/#e13.