| Abstract |

Japan’s severe population decline is seriously threatening many of the country’s municipalities, particularly those located in peripheral regions that are far from the economic core of the country. All levels of government have hurried to apply strategies aiming at stopping decay and the development of infrastructure is met with high expectations for new prosperity.

The talk focuses on the extension of the Tōhoku Shinkansen north of Morioka to explore outcomes of Japan’s approach to regional (re)vitalisation through large-scale infrastructure projects, highlighting the evidence and challenges that have emerged. The talk will first introduce the socio-economic and territorial impacts of high-speed rail, as well as planning challenges in shrinking cities and peripheral regions. It will then discuss whether the Shinkansen had a positive effect on the shrinking trajectories of Iwate, Ninohe, Hachinohe, Shichinohe, and Aomori—five medium and small-sized cities and towns that were connected to the Shinkansen network between 2002 and 2010. Finally, the talk will present insights from the Japan Foundation-funded project “Revitalizing Shrinking Cities in Japan: A Study on the Socio-Spatial Impact of the Shinkansen in Aomori Prefecture”, which investigated urban landscape transformation around Shinkansen stations. While focusing on the Tōhoku Shinkansen extension as a prominent example, the talk reflects on broader strategies aimed at addressing demographic and economic challenges in regional Japan, highlighting both the opportunities and limitations of such interventions.

| Bio |

Dr Marco Reggiani is an interdisciplinary researcher at the University of Strathclyde. His works address topics of urban and regional (re)vitalisation, peripherality, sustainability, as well as social justice, intersectionality, and inclusive education. Marco was the recipient of a Japan Foundation Fellowship for the “Revitalising Shrinking Cities in Japan” project, which focused on examining the impact of the Shinkansen on urban landscapes and shrinking trajectories of connected cities in Aomori Prefecture. His current research has focused on peripheral and depopulating regions to explore the role played by sustainable paradigms in reimagining the future of shrinking municipalities in rural Japan.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s10e06
Thursday 2025-05-08, 18:00~19:30

| Place | 

| Plattform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s10/#e06.

| Abstract |

The early 1970s saw a significant victory for the radical feminist movement ūman ribu in Japan, which successfully campaigned against a proposed revision of the Eugenics Protection Law (EPL; Yūsei hogohō) that threatened women's reproductive autonomy and expanded state intervention. However, without the leadership of ūman ribu which disbanded in 1977, new groups were needed to mobilise protest. First and foremost was the group that came to be known as SOSHIREN - From My Body, from Women's Bodies (Onna (watashi) no karada kara), founded in 1982, which spearheaded challenges to the intersection of reproductive politics and eugenics in Japan for the next three decades. Its diverse membership underscored a commitment to an intersectional analysis of reproductive rights and bodily autonomy.

This paper examines the pivotal role of ūman ribu and subsequent activism in challenging eugenic policies and advocating for reproductive justice in Japan from the 1970s to the mid-1990s. It analyzes how ūman ribu, sparked by the EPL revision debates, fostered an intersectional critique of state control and the devaluation of disabled lives, and won a key victory in the early 1970s. The paper then explores the continuation of this stance in the post-ūman ribu era, focusing on the emergence of SOSHIREN in 1982 in response to renewed attempts at revision. Building on the feminist critiques of the 1970s, SOSHIREN's diverse membership broadened the focus beyond access to abortion to formulate an inclusive, intersectional, and explicitly anti-eugenic reproductive politics. Through SOSHIREN's activism and the legacy of activist Yonezu Tomoko, this analysis argues that ūman ribu's intersectional ideas provided a crucial foundation for sustained grassroots challenges to eugenics and the dominant valuation of productivity, ultimately shaping reproductive justice activism in Japan until 1996 and involving the negotiation of different activist generations.

| Bio |

Dr. Anna-Viktoria Vittinghoff is a Lecturer in East Asian Studies at the University of Sheffield. Her research focuses on the activism of Yonezu Tomoko, a significant figure in both the Japanese women's liberation (ūman ribu) and disability movements from the 1970s to 1996, as explored in her doctoral work. Her broader research interests include eugenic legacies in postwar Japan and East Asia, and social activism at the intersection of gender and disability.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s10e07
Thursday 2025-05-15, 18:00~19:30

| Place | 

| Plattform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s10/#e07.

| Abstract |

Shōshi kōreika (low birth rate and ageing population) is a phrase that has become ubiquitous in the everyday political and social landscape of Japan, acting as a shorthand for a whole range of anxieties and concerns. Much political, public and academic attention has been devoted to analysing the causes and possible solutions to the shrinking population. This lecture also addresses Japan's demographic crisis. However, rather than offering solutions or exploring the causes, I would like to offer a different approach. In this talk, I will ask how Japan's 'demographic crisis' functions as a cultural discourse, a set of narratives, and a form of governmentality that intersects with and shapes how people within Japanese society navigate their engagement as civil society actors, their sense of Japanese identity, and even their intimate lives and desires. 

The first part of the talk will address how the discourses of demographic crisis have become a hegemonic cultural narrative. The second part of the talk will focus on a specific issue - childcare provision - to analyse the changing rhetoric, meanings and experiences of working mothers against an evolving social, economic and demographic backdrop. I will show that while the idea of women's liberation was the starting point for expanding childcare provision, it is framed today as the liberation of women's (presumed) desire for motherhood in the context of the demographic crisis. Ultimately, the talk aims to rethink the role of the demographic crisis narrative in contemporary Japanese society.

| Bio |

Chigusa Yamaura is sociocultural anthropologist and currently a Departmental Lecturer at the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies, University of Oxford. She is the author of Marriage and Marriageability: The Practices of Matchmaking between Men from Japan and Women from Northeast China (Cornell University Press 2020). Her work addresses a broad array of topics, including gender, marriage, cross-border marriage, family, life course expectations, motherhood, reproduction, childcare, and fertility as well as migration, colonial memory, and transnationalism in East Asia. Her current research examines shifting conceptions of motherhood against the backdrop of demographic change in Japan. Her most recent publications are "The Cultural Politics of Childcare Provision in the Era of a Shrinking Japan" from Critical Asian Studies (2020) and “An Imagined Shrinking Community: Japanese Nationalism and the Chronology of the Future” from Japanese Studies (2024). 

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s10e05
Thursday 2025-04-10, 18:00~19:30

| Place & Preparations | 

| Plattform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s10/#e05.

| Abstract |

When US President George W. Bush declared victory in Iraq in 2007, he addressed the veterans that bringing democracy to the Middle East will be feasible because Americans have already accomplished this before in Japan. In the narration of US-led liberal international order, Japan became the symbol of a successfully rehabilitated former enemy that is now a thriving liberal democracy. Little did Bush know that across the Pacific, while the United States was touting Japan as the success case, the Japanese were using an epithet against one another, that the Japanese people have become "pacifically demented [heiwa boke],"—that is, demented, because of peace brought under Pax Americana.

The epithet is ubiquitous. Explanation as to why one couldn't prevent the assassination of Shinzo Abe is "pacific dementia," youths standing in demonstration declare themselves as "pacifically demented," stump speeches on the street calls for the need to "awaken the Japanese people who have become pacifically demented"—while the phrase does not appear in polite Defense White Papers, the epithet can be found in comic books, in sensational magazine headlines, in heated National Diet Sessions, and in everyday references as a shorthand for the Japanese people's inability to realistically think about war, peace, and security. This raises a question, how does an epithet which pairs peace with dementia—a condition which is negative as it pertains to deterioration of thought—become ubiquitous in a pro-US state such as Japan? The fact that the epithet is always paired, instead of being used as "you are demented,"—calls for a historicized investigation.

In this talk, I argue that attending to this polymorphous epithet can reveal important features of contemporary Japanese politics. I ask what kind of work does the epithet do? How does the epithet work to constitute progressives as out of touch with reality? How has the figure of the "pacifically demented" worked as foil for the realist and the conservatives to normalize their political vision? How is the interpellation, that "you are pacifically demented" paralyzing, but also giving rise to a countering subject?

| Bio |

Hitomi Koyama (Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore) is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University, the Netherlands. She is an international relations theorist working at the intersection of comparative political theory, global intellectual history, and Japanese international political thought. Her first book, "On the Persistence of the Japanese History Problem: Historicism and the International Politics of History" (Routledge, 2018) asks why postwar Japanese society remains caught in an impasse over atonement for its imperialist past. Her most recent publication is "Supposing the moral state: Japan and historical justice under liberal internationalism," International Affairs (2023). She is now currently working on her second monograph on Pacific Dementia, asking what the sudden proliferation of the epithet in post-Cold War Japan says about the reappraisal of Pax Americana in a state where more than eighty percent of the population feels affinity for the United States.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s10e04
Thursday 2025-04-03, 18:00~19:30

| Place | 

| Plattform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s10/#e04.

| Abstract |

Vom 2. September 1914 bis zum 7. November 1914 kämpfte Japan gegen Deutschland um das deutsche Pachtgebiet Tsingtau in Kiautschou auf der Shandong-Halbinsel in China. Auch Österreich war auf Seiten Deutschlands mit Teilen der Besatzung des Stationsschiffs Kaiserin Elisabeth an den Kampfhandlungen beteiligt. Nach der deutschen Kapitulation kamen etwa 5000 Soldaten in japanische Gefangenschaft, viele bis 1920. 

Trotz der kurzen, nur zehnwöchigen Dauer der Kämpfe erschienen hunderte Kriegspropagandabildpostkarten, die die Alliierten einschließlich Japans oder auch nur Japan zum Inhalt hatten. Viele dieser Bilder hatten auch Entsprechungen in deutschen und österreichischen satirischen Zeitschriften. Etwa 6 Millionen Postkarten, meist Bildpostkarten, wurden täglich an die Front bzw. in die Heimat verschickt, so dass die Rolle dieses Bildmediums gar nicht hoch genug eingeschätzt werden kann. 

In meinem Vortrag versuche ich, etwa 400 solcher Bildpostkarten aus meiner eigenen Sammlung, aus Publikationen oder aus dem Internet zu analysieren. Da Deutschland ab 1915 bereits eine Politik der Annäherung an Japan betrieb, wurden ab 1916 abfällige Publikationen und Illustrationen über Japan verboten. 

Auch wenn solcherart deutsche und österreichische Kriegspropagandakarten gegen Japan ein äußerst kurzlebiges Phänomen waren, dürften sie, da sie die bereits in der Bevölkerung vorhandenen antijapanischen Stereotypen bündelten und verstärkten, unser Japan-Bild maßgeblich beeinflusst haben. In diesem Vortrag versuche ich eine statistische Analyse der Inhalte dieser Karten vorzunehmen und die wesentlichen Inhalte dieser antijapanischen Propaganda herauszuarbeiten. Neben den beiden bereits hinlänglich bekannten Stereotypen von Japan als „Affen“ und als „Gelbe Gefahr“ werden auf etlichen Karten die Japaner auch als „Wilde“ und „Unzivilisierte“ gezeichnet, was meiner Meinung zum Teil auf den Hass auf England, dessen Verbündeter Japan seit 1902 war, zurückzuführen ist.    

| Bio |

Sepp LINHART habilitierte sich 1976 mit der Monographie Arbeit, Freizeit und Familie in Japan (Institut für Asienkunde, Hamburg) für das Fach Japanologie an der Universität Wien und war dann ab Februar 1978 bis zu seiner Emeritierung im September 2012 durch 69 Semester ordentlicher Professor für Japanologie. Während dieser Zeit nahm er Gastprofessuren an der University of Washington in Seattle, an der Universität Kyoto, am International Institute for Japanese Studies in Kyoto, an der Universität Tampere, an der Universität Paris VII und an der Momoyama Gakuin Universität in Osaka wahr, von der er auch ein Ehrendoktorat erhielt. Für sein auf Japanisch geschriebenes Buch Ken no bunka-shi (Kulturgeschichte des Ken-Spiels, Verlag Kadokawa, 1998) erhielt er 2005 den Yamagata  Bantō-Preis. Er verfasste acht Monographien und gab 34 Sammelbände heraus. Insgesamt ist er für über 200 wissenschaftliche Aufsätze verantwortlich, die auf Deutsch, Japanisch Englisch, Französisch, Italienisch, Litauisch, Ungarisch und Arabisch erschienen. Er betreute ca. 40 Dissertationen und 160 Magister- und Master-Arbeiten. Sein besonderes Interesse gilt der Erforschung von Arbeit und Freizeit, der Populärkultur und von Karikaturen in Japan vom 19. Jh. bis zur Gegenwart sowie dem Wandel des Japan-Bildes im Westen.  

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s10e03
Thursday 2025-03-27, 18:00~19:30

| Place & Preparations | 

| Plattform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s10/#e03.

| Abstract |

Sanctions are a key diplomatic tool to address international security threats through economic and political restrictions. They are designed to deter aggression, enforce compliance with international norms, and safeguard global stability. As the UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) are binding measures adopted by UN Security Council, the sanctions provided by UNSCRs can take various forms, including trade restrictions, asset freezes, and travel bans, each tailored to curb illicit activities and pressure targeted entities into adherence with international regulations. Japan has been implementing the UNSCRs against North Korea since 2006 in response to its nuclear and missile programs, aligning with broader UN Security Council (UNSC) efforts to limit Pyongyang’s access to resources that could further its military ambitions. As a key player in the enforcement and monitoring of these sanctions, Japan works alongside international partners to ensure their effectiveness while navigating complex regional security dynamics.
This lecture provides an overview of UNSC sanctions on North Korea, analyzing their diplomatic significance and broader implications. It will focus on three key areas: first, the structure and function of UNSC sanctions, including their objectives and enforcement mechanisms; second, their impact on academic exchanges and research collaborations; and finally, recent developments and challenges, such as North Korea’s cyber activities and evolving sanction evasion tactics. By exploring these aspects, the lecture offers insight into Japan’s foreign policy and its role within the global security framework.

| Bio |

Ms TOKU Satoko (徳聡子) is a Japanese diplomat currently serving as the Deputy Chief of Mission (Minister-Counsellor) at the Embassy of Japan in Austria since September 2024. With over three decades of experience in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of Japan, she has served in various roles in foreign policy, international trade, and multilateral diplomacy.
Her international postings include diplomatic assignments in the United Kingdom, Myanmar, Vienna, and Geneva. In the latter two, she represented Japan in major global organizations such as UNHCR, OCHA, and UNODC. In Japan, she held key positions related to international trade negotiations, including the negotiation of investment agreements and FTAs (e.g. the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Japan-EU, Japan-Canada, and RCEP).
Before being assigned to Austria, she was the Director of the United Nations Sanctions Division (2021-2024), overseeing Japan’s approach to global sanctions and international security and was thus involved in the UN Security Council and sanction discussions on North Korea.
Ms. Toku holds a degree from Sophia University in Tokyo as well as Emmanuel College, Cambridge University, and joined the MOFA in 1991.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s10e02
Thursday 2025-03-20, 18:00~19:30

| Place & Preparations | 

| Plattform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s10/#e02.

| Abstract |

Tokugawa Mitsukuni’s religious policies in Mito domain during the 1660s are famous for their radical retrenchment of Buddhist institutions but were also designed to promote a system of one shrine per village. Mitsukuni aimed at a complete separation of Shinto shrines from Buddhism. As such, I regard his measures as a typical case of Domain Shinto (hanyrō shintō 藩領神道).
   Domain Shinto is an umbrella term that subsumes a cluster of religious policies and ideas beginning in the early Edo period that are related to Shinto. It is a terminus ex post that does not exist in any primary source and does not correspond to any of the Shinto schools in early modern Japan. Rather, Domain Shinto describes a set of policies that were based on an amalgamation of ideological thoughts. These include anti-Buddhist ideas, a neo-Confucian morality and historical interpretation, and the ideal of Japan as a divine country (shinkoku 神国) prior to the advent of Buddhism.
   In the case of Mito, Domain Shinto measures included a drastic reduction of Buddhist temples, a severe curtailing of the Hachiman faith (a deity with particularly strong Buddhist connotations) and the strengthening of Shinto shrines and shrine priests. After Mitsukuni stepped down as lord of Mito in 1690, his nephew and successor Tsunaeda adopted his uncle’s views and continued ‘shintoizing’ the domain. In the first half of the nineteenth century, Tokugawa Nariaki renewed Mitsukuni’s and Tsunaeda’s efforts. In contrast to his ancestors, his measures showed a stronger anti-Buddhist aspect and were implemented more aggressively.
   In my talk, I describe the measures by Mitsukuni and his successors Tsunaeda and Nariaki and their impact on the population through a case study of the village of Noguchi in northwestern Mito. I examine changes to the villagers’ religious practice as well as to their networks that were influenced by religious traditions.

| Bio |

Brigitte Pickl-Kolaczia studied Japanese studies at the University of Vienna with a focus on the history of religion. Her research interests include the dynamics and interactions between Buddhism and Shintō. While her master's thesis of 2015 examined the development of a state cult around the imperial family through the restoration of imperial tombs in the 19th century, the focus of her research has since shifted to questions regarding religious practice of Japan's populace during the early modern period. She has recently finished her PhD thesis on religious policies in early modern Mito and the impact of these policies on the domain’s population. She conducted her research for this thesis as part of two projects funded by the Austrian Science Fund at the Institute of the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia at the Austrian Academy of sciences. She is a co-editor of the 2021 volume Religion, Power, and the Rise of Shinto.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s10e01
Thursday 2025-03-13, 18:00~19:30

| Place & Preparations | 

| Plattform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s10/#e01.