u:japan lectures

Season 5 | Autumn-Winter 2022/23 | University of Vienna - Department of East Asian Studies - Japanese Studies


ID Date* Mode** Guest / Lecturer
s05e01 2022-10-06 onsite (en) Thomas Ash
s05e02 2022-10-13 hybrid (en) Chris McMorran
s05e03 2022-10-20 onsite (jp/de) Takuhiro Yamada
s05e04 2022-10-27 hybrid (en) Niccolò Lollini
s05e05 2022-11-03 onsite (jp) Tsuru Tomoyuki
s05e06 2022-11-10 hybrid (en) Tze M. Loo
s05e07 2022-11-17 CANCELED Wir empfehlen als Ersatz den Besuch des Vortrags von Herrn Prof. Christian Göbel zum Thema „Taiwans Kampf gegen politische Korruption“ um 17 Uhr in der Aula am Campus.
s05e08 2022-11-24 hybrid (en) Barbara Holthus
s05e09 2022-12-01 hybrid (en) Yasuko Hassall-Kobayashi
s05e10 2022-12-15 hybrid (en) Anna Wiemann
s05e11 2023-01-12 hybrid (de) Cosima Wagner
s05e12 2023-01-19 hybrid (en) Ivan Rumánek
s05e13 2023-01-26 hybrid (en) Steve R. Entrich

*Date & Time

usually Thursdays from 18:30 to 20:00, LL = Lunch Lectures Thursdays from 12:30 to 14:00

**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 will be recorded and available as view on demand lectures in the recorded lectures section.


Where a Nuclear Meltdown and Sexwork Intersect: Discovering the stories in the film “Boys for Sale”

06.10.2022 18:30 - 20:00

A u:japan lecture film screening & talk by Thomas Ash

| Abstract |

| FILM | 

売買ボーイズ | BOYS FOR SALE
76分/ 日本 JAPAN/ 2017

男の子たちが売るセックスを買うのは・・・?
ウリ専と共に・・・それは、男性にセックスを売る主にストレートの男の子・・・彼らが如何にして雇われたか、その職務や生活状況、彼らの体験が今、明らかとなる。 東京・新宿二丁目を舞台に、売春行為は江戸時代より今日へと続く。

Boys are selling sex in Japan. Who is buying?
In the Tokyo district of Shinjuku 2-chome there are bars that specialize in “Urisen”, young guys who have sex with men. Featuring candid interviews and interspersed with animation detailing the awkward, sweet, and sometimes horrific situations these young sex workers experience, the boys for sale boldly tell their stories of life in the Tokyo underground. This documentary is an illuminating look into a rarely seen world that tantalizingly shows the humanity of sex work.

スタッフ | CREW

製作総指揮 executive producer - トーマス・アッシュ | Thomas Ash
監督/編集 | director/ editor - 板子 Itako
撮影 プロデューサー | DOP  producer - エイドリアン“宇宙人”ストーリー | Adrian Storey aka Uchujin
音楽 music - かざぐるま | Kazaguruma
イラストレーター illustrator - N谷工房 | N Tani Studio
アニメーター animator - 山村ジェレミー (デンバク ファノ デザイン東京) | Jeremy Yamamura Denbak-Fano Design

| TALK |

On topics as varied as the health of children following the Fukushima nuclear disaster („In the Grey Zone“, 2012 and „A2-B-C“, 2013), death and dying („-1287“, 2014 and „Sending Off“, 2019) and the treatment of asylum-seekers in immigration detention („Ushiku“, 2021), the films of Thomas Ash broadly deal with themes of health, medicine and human rights.
   While many of his films share the same quiet and observational style, „Boys for Sale“ (2017) is an outlier in terms of the production visuals and soundtrack, yet Thomas‘s influence is strongly felt, particularly in the depth and flow of the interviews with his subjects.
   In his speech,Thomas will speak about his conscious effort to prevent „Boys for a Sale“ from becoming sensational and exploitative and how his desire to quietly listen led to discoveries mid-interview which would echo back to his earlier work in Fukushima in a way in which he never could have predicted.

| Bio |

Thomas Ash, born in America, earned an MA in Film and Television Production at the University of Bristol, UK (2005) and has lived in Japan for over 20 years. His first feature documentary was ‘the ballad of vicki and jake’ (2006), followed by two feature documentaries about children living in areas of Fukushima contaminated by the 2011 nuclear meltdown, ‘In the Grey Zone‘ (2012) and ‘A2-B-C‘ (2013), and one that dealt with themes surrounding health and medicine in Japan, ‘-1287‘ (2014).
   “Boys for Sale” (2017, dir. Itako), about male sex workers in Tokyo on which Thomas served as Executive Producer, screened in 40 film festivals across the world, receiving six awards for Best Feature Documentary. In 2019, Thomas released two films: “Sending Off” and “The Father’s Love Begotten”. Thomas’s newest documentary “Ushiku” (2021), is about asylum seekers to Japan who are detained at the infamous Ushiku immigration centre (More information on Thomas Ash’s website: www.documentingian.com/).

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s05e01
Thursday 2022-10-06, 18:30~20:00
max. 50 participants (on site)

| Place & Preparations | 

LIVE @ Campus of the University of Vienna
Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies
Seminarraum JAP 1, 2K-EG-21, Ground floor to the left
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2.4 (Campus), 1090 Vienna, Austria

Please bear in mind, that strict Covid19-precautions are enforced, therefore bring and wear a FFP2-mask and comply to university's house rules. Please visit these links for university's special and general information regarding the current restrictions.

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s05/#e01.

Organiser:

Institut für Ostasienwissenschaften - Japanologie

Location:
Seminarraum 1, (EG links)

Ryokan: Mobilizing Hospitality in Rural Japan

13.10.2022 18:30 - 20:00

A hybrid u:japan lecture by Chris McMorran (National University of Singapore).

| Abstract |

Amid the decline of many rural communities in Japan, the hot springs village resort of Kurokawa Onsen is a rare, bright spot. Its two dozen traditional inns, or ryokan, draw hundreds of thousands of tourists a year eager to admire its landscape, experience its hospitality, and soak in its hot springs. As a result, these ryokan have enticed village youth to return home to take over successful family businesses and revive the community. What does it take to produce this family business and one of Japan’s most relaxing spaces?

In this talk, I share the behind-the-scenes work that keeps a ryokan running smoothly, from the everyday tasks of cleaning, serving, and making guests feel at home, to the generational work of producing and training a suitable heir who can carry on the family business. I draw on nearly two decades of research in and around Kurokawa, including a year spent welcoming guests, carrying luggage, scrubbing baths, cleaning rooms, washing dishes, and talking with co-workers and owners about their jobs, relationships, concerns, and aspirations.

I discuss how Kurokawa’s ryokan mobilize hospitality to create a rural escape in contemporary Japan, emphasizing the strictly gendered work found in the ryokan, as well as the generational work of ryokan owners vs. the daily embodied work of their employees. I share the realities of ryokan work—celebrated, messy, ignored, exploitative, and liberating—and introduce the people who keep inns running by making guests feel at home.  

| Bio |

Chris McMorran is Associate Professor of Japanese Studies at the National University of Singapore. He is a cultural geographer of contemporary Japan focusing on the geographies of home across scale, from the body to the nation. He is the author of Ryokan: Mobilizing Hospitality in Rural Japan (University of Hawai’i Press), an ethnography of a Japanese inn, based on twelve months spent scrubbing baths, washing dishes, and making guests feel at home at a hot springs resort. He also has published research on tourism, disasters, gendered labor, area studies, field-based learning, and the evolution of grading. He co-produces the Home on the Dot podcast with NUS students, which explores the meaning of home on the little red dot called Singapore. Chris grew up in a small town in Iowa but has lived outside the U.S. for much of his adult life, including Japan and Singapore, which he calls home. 

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s05e02
Thursday 2022-10-13, 18:30~20:00
max. 50 participants (on site) + max. 300 participants (online) 

| Place & Preparations | 

LIVE @ Campus of the University of Vienna
Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies
Seminarraum JAP 1, 2K-EG-21, Ground floor to the left
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2.4 (Campus), 1090 Vienna, Austria

Please bear in mind, that strict Covid19-precautions are enforced, therefore bring and wear a FFP2-mask and comply to university's house rules. Please visit these links for university's special and general information regarding the current restrictions.

| Plattform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s05/#e02.

Organiser:

Institut für Ostasienwissenschaften - Japanologie

Location:
Seminarraum 1, (Erdgeschoß)

Japanische Gartenkunst: Ästhetik und Gestaltung

20.10.2022 18:30 - 20:00

Eine japanisch-sprachige u:japan lecture mit Yamada Takuhiro (Gartenbaumeister)

| Abstract |

In diesem Vortrag gibt der Gartenbaumeister Takuhiro YAMADA Einblicke in die Ästhetik der japanischen Gartentradition und ihre verschiedenen Gestaltungen. Sein Familienbetrieb in Kyoto (Hanatoyo Landscape Co., Ltd. / Kyoto) betreut seit Generationen Gärten von wichtigen Kulturerbestätten, wie beispielsweise die Gartenanlagen der kaiserlichen Villa Katsura Rikyu oder des Ryoanji-Tempels.

Anlass seines Besuches in Wien ist die Restaurierung des japanischen Steingartens am Campus (Hof 2) der Universität Wien (s. Workshop „Japanische Gartenkunst hautnah“, 17.-19.10.2022). 

| Informationen zum Workshop |

Bitte um Anmeldung mit Angabe der gewünschten Zeit(en) für die Teilnahme (17.-19.10., 10:00-12:00 / 14:00-16:00) an isabelle.prochaska@univie.ac.at bis 11.10.2022. Nähere Informationen finden Sie hier: https://kalender.univie.ac.at/einzelansicht/?tx_univieevents_pi1[id]=29500.

| Informationen zum japanischen Steingarten |

Der japanische Steingarten im Hof 2 des Campus ist die „Visitenkarte“ des Instituts für Ostasienwissenschaften. Er wurde 1999 anlässlich des 60-Jahre-Jubiläums des Faches Japanologie an der Universität Wien von Prof. Sepp Linhart initiiert, von Eishin Harada (Tokyo) konzipiert und gestiftet und von Hiraaki Kishimoto (Osaka) ausgeführt. Die Steine wurden eigens aus Japan importiert: Der Kies stammt aus Kyoto, die Wellensteine von der Insel Shikoku, die Mikage-Steinkugeln aus Kobe und der Wasserfall-Felsen vom Berg Ikoma bei Nara. In der japanischen Gartenkunst ist der Zaun auch essenzieller Bestandteil: So symbolisiert der Bambuszaun dieses Gartens ein Schiff und verweist auf den Wunsch, Studierende mögen das erworbene Wissen in die Welt weitertragen.

| Sprache |

Die Präsentation ist auf Japanisch und wird ins Deutsche gedolmetscht.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s05e03
Thursday 2022-10-20, 18:30~20:00
max. 50 participants (on site)

| Place & Preparations | 

LIVE @ Campus of the University of Vienna
Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies
Seminarraum JAP 1, 2K-EG-21, Ground floor to the left
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2.4 (Campus), 1090 Vienna, Austria

Please bear in mind, that strict Covid19-precautions are enforced, therefore bring and wear a FFP2-mask and comply to university's house rules. Please visit these links for university's special and general information regarding the current restrictions.

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s05/#e03.

Organiser:

Institut für Ostasienwissenschaften - Japanologie

Location:
Seminarraum 1, (EG links)

Depopulation, property, and land issues: Addressing the akiya mondai in regional Japan

27.10.2022 18:30 - 20:00

A hybrid u:japan lecture by Niccolò Lollini (University of Oxford).

| Abstract |

This talk explores the causes and the consequences of property abandonment in regional Japan, as well as the paradox of new settlers from the city struggling to find land and houses in depopulating rural areas. Property has long been conceptualized as a bundle of rights, a metaphor pointing to the complexity of ownership and the plurality of stakeholders involved. Only by unravelling this bundle is it possible to make sense of Japan’s vacant housing crisis and its paradoxes. Property abandonment is shown to be more than a consequence of depopulation and to largely depend on the institutional and social context surrounding land ownership.  

| Bio |

Niccolò Lollini just completed a doctorate in social anthropology at the University of Oxford. His thesis explores the role of agriculture in the revitalization of regional Japan following the recent rise of pro-rural migration. His research interests include agri-food systems, property issues, and rural forms of organization.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s05e04
Thursday 2022-10-27, 18:30~20:00
max. 50 participants (on site) + max. 300 participants (online) 

| Place & Preparations | 

LIVE @ Campus of the University of Vienna
Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies
Seminarraum JAP 1, 2K-EG-21, Ground floor to the left
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2.4 (Campus), 1090 Vienna, Austria

Please bear in mind, that strict Covid19-precautions are enforced, therefore bring and wear a FFP2-mask and comply to university's house rules. Please visit these links for university's special and general information regarding the current restrictions.

| Plattform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s05/#e04.

Organiser:

Institut für Ostasienwissenschaften - Japanologie

Location:
Seminarraum 1 (Erdgeschoß)

Selbsthilfe, Kooperation und staatliche Hilfe in Takamori-machi - 高森町の自助・共助・公助について

03.11.2022 18:30 - 20:00

Eine japanisch-sprachige u:japan lecture mit Tsuru Tomoyuki (Abgeordneter im Stadtrat von Takamori-machi)

| Abstract |

阿蘇山のカルデラ内に位置する高森町は、地形上、様々な災害の危機に面しています。 安全・安心に暮らすため、自分だけでなく隣近所のひと、集落のひと、行政の職員など、協力しながら過ごしています。
   また、少子高齢化、人口の減少など様々な課題を抱え、町民だけでなく外部からの人材を招いて解決策を検討しています。今回は以下の3点について紹介します。
地域おこし協力隊の活動について(女性だけの歌劇団・観光推進機構)
集落支援員の活動について(高齢者支援・集落の活性化)
自然災害の避難訓練について 

Takamori liegt in der Caldera des Aso-Vulkans und sieht sich aufgrund seiner topographischen Lage einer Vielzahl von Katastrophen gegenübergestellt. Um in Sicherheit leben zu können, ist eine Kooperation von den Bewohner*innen mit ihrer Nachbarschaft, der Siedlung, aber auch der Verwaltung unerlässlich. Zudem werden zunehmend Anstrengungen unternommen, vor dem Hintergrund der demographischen Herausforderungen auch Personen von außerhalb der Region einzuladen, sich in Takamori niederzulassen. Dieser Vortrag möchte Einblicke in das Leben in Takamori aus der Perspektive eines Lokalpolitikers geben und konzentriert sich dabei auf die folgenden Aspekte:
1) Vorstellung der Aktivitäten der Chiiki Okoshi Kyōryokutai (z.B. Die Frauenband oder Möglichkeiten der Förderung des Fremdenverkehrs).
2) Vorstellung der Aktivitäten der Shūraku Shien-in (Mitarbeiter*innen zur Unterstützung des Wohnorts), insbesondere Maßnahmen zur Unterstützung der älteren Bevölkerung sowie zur Revitalisierung der Gemeinde.
3) Vorstellung des Katastrophentrainings 

bei Naturkatastrophen.

| Bio |

津留智幸 [つる ともゆき]
1965年生まれ(57歳)、高校卒業後、農業を継承 (コメ・花栽培)、1991年 結婚 (3人の娘)、2019年高森町議会議員に初当選(現在1期目)
    議員の仕事:  年4回の定例会・臨時議会に出席しての審議、行政のチェック・アドバイス、住民からの要望・意見の伝達、先進地視察

Tsuru Tomoyuki (Lokalpolitiker)
geboren 1965, ist Landwirt (Reisanbau und Blumenzucht) und seit 2019 Abgeordneter im Stadtrat von Takamori-machi. 
   In dieser Funktion nimmt er an regelmäßigen Ratssitzungen teil, kontrolliert bzw. berät die lokale Politik und sammelt Meinungen der Bevölkerung. .

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s05e05
Thursday 2022-11-03, 18:30~20:00
max. 50 participants (on site)

| Place & Preparations | 

LIVE @ Campus of the University of Vienna
Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies
Seminarraum JAP 1, 2K-EG-21, Ground floor to the left
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2.4 (Campus), 1090 Vienna, Austria

Please bear in mind, that strict Covid19-precautions are enforced, therefore bring and wear a FFP2-mask and comply to university's house rules. Please visit these links for university's special and general information regarding the current restrictions.

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s05/#e05.

Organiser:

Institut für Ostasienwissenschaften - Japanologie

Photograph by Endo Hiroshi (https://www.endhrs.com)

Shurijō in 2022: The Politics of Cultural Heritage on the 50th Anniversary of Okinawa’s Reversion

10.11.2022 18:30 - 20:00

A hybrid u:japan lecture by Tze M. Loo (University of Richmond).

| Abstract |

Fifty years after Okinawa’s reversion to Japan, the presence of U.S. military bases in the islands remains a source of deep friction between the prefecture and the central government in Tokyo. Okinawans’ repeated opposition to base construction at Henoko and Tokyo’s insistence on the base’s completion despite that popular opposition has come to encapsulate and symbolize that friction. The fact that construction crawls forward despite Okinawa’s attempts to stop it lays bare the profound asymmetry of power that endures between periphery and center.
   In contrast to the prefecture’s limited range of options in the base issue, this talk considers Okinawa’s deployment of its cultural heritage as a sphere of action from which a different picture of the prefecture emerges. Specifically, it shows how current plans to rebuild Shurijō – castle of the Ryukyuan court and putative symbol of Okinawan culture – following a devastating fire in 2019 suggest that the prefecture is strategically fashioning a more assertive self that gives it an ability to bend mainland agendas to better suit its purposes. This assertiveness impacts the castle’s rebuilding project, but also has the potential to contribute to the current prefectural leadership’s willingness to take a stronger position vis-à-vis Tokyo to safeguard Okinawa’s interests.

| Bio |

Tze M. Loo is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Richmond and is the author of Heritage Politics: Shuri Castle and Okinawa’s Incorporation into Modern Japan, 1879-2000 (Lanham: Lexington, 2014). Her current book project examines the transformations to Okinawa’s ritual landscapes that accompanied Okinawa’s incorporation into the modern Japanese nation state.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s05e06
Thursday 2022-11-10, 18:30~20:00
max. 50 participants (on site) + max. 300 participants (online) 

| Place & Preparations | 

LIVE @ Campus of the University of Vienna
Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies
Seminarraum JAP 1, 2K-EG-21, Ground floor to the left
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2.4 (Campus), 1090 Vienna, Austria

Please bear in mind, that strict Covid19-precautions are enforced, therefore bring and wear a FFP2-mask and comply to university's house rules. Please visit these links for university's special and general information regarding the current restrictions.

| Plattform & Link |

... and STREAMED online
https://univienna.zoom.us/j/66875509568?pwd=SEhBNlRVNjAyeG8xWE1Cd3VSZnFFdz09
Meeting-ID: 668 7550 9568 | PW: 379057

Instructions and Netiquette (in English and German)
How to join a lecture via Zoom Meeting (in English)
Frequently Asked Questions (in English)

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s05/#e06.

Organiser:

Institut für Ostasienwissenschaften - Japanologie

Location:
Seminarraum 1 (Erdgeschoß)

Furry Companions: Pets in Contemporary Japan

24.11.2022 18:30 - 20:00

A hybrid u:japan lecture by Barbara Holthus (German Institute for Japanese Studies Tokyo).

| Abstract |

The accelerated interest in pets in especially urban Japan has not started with the pandemic but certainly has been intensified by it. For more than two years, as anti-Covid measures, Japanese had been told to engage in physical distancing and “self-restraint”. This has led to many people spending extended periods of time at home while less time with family and friends. In response, pets as “substitute” family members often helped to fill the void in human-human interaction. While the U.S. and some European countries reported near-empty animal shelters in the early phase of the pandemic due to a sudden spike in people adopting an animal, Japanese animal shelters saw less of that – as Japanese remain more inclined to “shop” a new family member at a pet shop than adopt a shelter animal.
   The growing popularity of pets, together with the accompanying normative, social, and legal changes regarding pet ownership within Japanese society are the focus of this presentation. Data comes from interviews with pet owners, pet-business owners, shelter organizations and their volunteers, from participant observation at pet-related public events, in pet shops and pet cafes, as well as from the analysis of publications by the Ministry of the Environment, the National Police Agency, but also from sources such as Instagram, YouTube, as well as manga and TV dorama. This presentation tries to highlight the embeddedness and changing role of pets in Japanese society.
 

| Bio |

Barbara Holthus, PhD in Sociology, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa, is deputy director at the German Institute for Japanese Studies in Tokyo. Her research is on Japanese families, demographic change, happiness and wellbeing, the Tokyo Olympics, and social movements. Currently she is writing a book on pets in Japan.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s05e08
Thursday 2022-11-24, 18:30~20:00
max. 50 participants (on site) + max. 300 participants (online) 

| Place & Preparations | 

LIVE @ Campus of the University of Vienna
Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies
Seminarraum JAP 1, 2K-EG-21, Ground floor to the left
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2.4 (Campus), 1090 Vienna, Austria

Please bear in mind, that strict Covid19-precautions are enforced, therefore bring and wear a FFP2-mask and comply to university's house rules. Please visit these links for university's special and general information regarding the current restrictions.

| Plattform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s05/#e08.

Organiser:

Institut für Ostasienwissenschaften - Japanologie

Location:
Seminarraum 1 (Erdgeschoß)

Transpacific Visions: Connected Histories of the Pacific across North and South

01.12.2022 18:30

A hybrid u:japan lecture by Yasuko Hassall Kobayashi (Ritsumeikan University).

| Abstract |

This seminar talk is about the book Transpacific Visions: Connected Histories of the Pacific across North and South, published in 2021. While transatlantic history has been much investigated, its counterpart, transpacific history, has only recently attracted scholarly interest. In addition, the focus of transpacific history has been predominantly northern Hemisphere-centric connections, basically US-Asian connections: i.e., those between a hegemonic western country and Asian countries -- either as colonies, trust territories or independent countries (e.g., Hoskins & Nguyen 2014). However, there is more to be explained in the transpacific space beyond such a Northern Hemisphere-centric perspective.
   This book argues that transpacific history cannot be comprehended without including “vertical” connections; namely, those between the southern hemisphere and the northern hemisphere. It explores such connections by uncovering small histories of ordinary people’s attempts at événements which they undertake by means of uneven, unlevel, and multidirectional mobilities. In this way, this book goes beyond the usual notion of transpacific history as a matter of Northern Hemisphere-centric connections and enables us to imagine the transpacific space as a more dynamic and multi-faceted world of human mobilities and connections. By exploring cases whose actors include soldiers, missionaries, colonial administrators, journalists, essayists, and artists, the book highlights the significance of "vertical" perspectives in understanding complex histories of the region.

| Bio |

Yasuko Hassall Kobayashi is Associate Professor at the College of Global Liberal Arts, Ritsumeikan University, Japan. She also holds the position of Assistant Executive Director, Division of Global Planning and Partnerships, Ritsumeikan University; and is an Honorary Associate Professor at the School of Culture, History and Language, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, the Australian National University. Her main research interest lies in transnational migration and mobilities occurring within the Asia and Pacific region, and in social histories of transnational migration and mobilities. Her two recent books are: (1) (in English, co-edited)  Transpacific Visions Connected Histories of the Pacific across North and South (2021, Lexington Books), and (2) (in Japanese, co-authored) A World History of Trade and Transportation (2021, Seizando-Shoten Publishing). 

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s05e09
Thursday 2022-12-01, 18:30~20:00
max. 50 participants (on site) + max. 300 participants (online) 

| Place & Preparations | 

LIVE @ Campus of the University of Vienna
Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies
Seminarraum JAP 1, 2K-EG-21, Ground floor to the left
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2.4 (Campus), 1090 Vienna, Austria

Please bear in mind, that strict Covid19-precautions are enforced, therefore bring and wear a FFP2-mask and comply to university's house rules. Please visit these links for university's special and general information regarding the current restrictions.

| Plattform & Link |

... and STREAMED online
https://univienna.zoom.us/j/61018815667?pwd=eVlVL05ISjBMUjBva0ZWTUo0RmN2Zz09 
Meeting-ID: 610 1881 5667 | PW: 062872

Instructions and Netiquette (in English and German)
How to join a lecture via Zoom Meeting (in English)
Frequently Asked Questions (in English)

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s05/#e09.

How to live with a nuclear disaster on one’s farmland: A longitudinal narrative approach to Fukushima Farmers’ life experiences

15.12.2022 18:30 - 20:00

A hybrid u:japan lecture by Anna Wiemann (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München).

| Abstract |

Almost twelve years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the little town of Ōkuma located at the coastline of Fukushima prefecture in Northeastern Japan. Researchers today observe a trivialization of the Fukushima disaster queuing in a long line of previous nuclear disasters worldwide (e.g. Bensaude-Vincent et al 2022). Yet, Fukushima Daiichi continues to emit radioactivity and people living in contaminated areas need to create and recreate their life narratives to deal with the consequences of the ongoing, invisible disaster (Creighton 2015).

Within disaster research, there is significant consensus that disaster should be primarily defined socially, in terms of sudden occasions when a “fundamental disruption in the social system (of whatever size) […] renders ineffective whatever patterns of social intercourse prevail” (Perry 2018: 14). Still, there are differing views on the role of the hazard agent in disaster definition, including phenomena as broad as earthquake, tsunami, flooding, environmental contamination, climate change, health threats, war etc. I take the view that within a particular social system, patterns of disruption and vulnerability are implicitly shaped by the characteristics of the hazard agent. As such, disasters are unique and often related to social change. On a micro-level, disaster survivors need to incorporate disruptive experiences into their life stories, creating personal and social disaster memory narratives. According to the founder of the concept of social memory, Maurice Halbwachs, individual and social memory are inextricably linked to each other as individual memory narratives refer to established social frames. Thus, the act of remembering and the communicative sharing of experiences of the past enfold their meaning in the present and are linked to a wished-for future. 

Against this background, I analyze qualitative interviews with farmers in Fukushima prefecture. I question how this group of people whose livelihoods depend on a contaminated environment understand the disaster and what kind of meaning they attach to it for their lives over the course of the past decade. I also explore possible social frames referred to by the farmers at the point in time when the interviews took place.

| Bio |

Anna Wiemann is Assistant Professor at the Japan-Center at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany. She is the author of Networks and Mobilization Processes: The Case of the Japanese Anti-Nuclear Movement after Fukushima (2018, München: Iudicium). Her research interests include social movements and civil society, social networks, and collective memory. She has published several peer-reviewed articles on social movements after 3.11 and currently conducts a research project on “collective memory and disaster”.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s05e10
Thursday 2022-12-15, 18:30~20:00
max. 50 participants (on site) + max. 300 participants (online) 

| Place & Preparations | 

LIVE @ Campus of the University of Vienna
Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies
Seminarraum JAP 1, 2K-EG-21, Ground floor to the left
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2.4 (Campus), 1090 Vienna, Austria

Please bear in mind, that strict Covid19-precautions are enforced, therefore bring and wear a FFP2-mask and comply to university's house rules. Please visit these links for university's special and general information regarding the current restrictions.

| Plattform & Link |

... and STREAMED online
https://univienna.zoom.us/j/67331840705?pwd=MWhESmR4QTIxbWY3WTk4RDdCVVB2QT09 
Meeting-ID: 673 3184 0705 | PW: 081845

Instructions and Netiquette (in English and German)
How to join a lecture via Zoom Meeting (in English)
Frequently Asked Questions (in English)

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s05/#e10.

Organiser:

Institut für Ostasienwissenschaften - Japanologie

Location:
Seminarraum 1 (Erdgeschoß)

Feldforschung zum Thema Pflegerobotik in Japan: Praxisbericht aus der Sicht einer Forschungsbibliothekarin

12.01.2023

A hybrid u:japan lecture by Cosima Wagner (Freie Universität Berlin, Universitätsbibliothek).

| Abstract |

Seit Beginn der 2000er Jahre ist die Förderung der Entwicklung von Service-Robotern für das Alltagsleben in den Fokus staatlicher Planungen in Japan gerückt. Der demographische Wandel mache eine Roboter-gestützte Mechanisierung des Alltagslebens allgemein und der Pflege im besonderen unabdingbar, aufgrund eines positiven Images von Robotern seien diese der japanischen Bevölkerung leicht vermittelbar, ein prosperierender neuer Markt für Pflegeroboter habe das Potential, sich zu einer wichtigen Zukunftsindustrie zu entwickeln – lauten häufig genannte Argumente. 

Der Vortrag kontrastiert die staatlichen Pflegerobotik-„technology push“-Strategien mit den Ergebnissen einer Feldstudie vom Januar 2020 (Leitung: Prof. Dr. Patrick Grüneberg, Universität Kanazawa, Japan), in der die Referentin mit einem interdisziplinären Forschungsteam bei (potentiellen) Nutzer*innen von Pflegerobotik-Technologie nachgefragt und „genba kara no koe“ (Stimmen von vor Ort) im Krankenhaus, Pflegeheim, Pflegegeräte-Sanitätshaus eingefangen hat. Aus der Sicht einer Forschungsbibliothekarin werden dabei auch methodische Fragen der interdisziplinären Projektzusammenarbeit sowie des Forschungsdatenmanagements in den Blick genommen.

| Bio |

Dr. Cosima Wagner: Studium der Japanologie und Geschichte in Marbug, Kyōto und an der Freien Universität Berlin. 2008 Promotion an der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt im Fach Japanologie mit einer Dissertation zu „Robotopia Nipponica – Recherchen zur Akzeptanz von Robotern in Japan“ (erschienen bei Tectum/Nomos 2013).  Seit 2014 gemeinsam mit Dr. Susanne Brucksch (Teikyo University, Japan) Technikstudien-Initiative in der Japanologie und Gründung einer Fachgruppe „Technik“ in der Vereinigung für Sozialwissenschaftliche Japanforschung (VSJF) e.V.
2017-2019 Fernmaster-Studiengang Bibliotheks- & Informationswissenschaften und Bibliotheksreferendariat an der Universitätsbibliothek der Freien Universität Berlin; 2019 Masterarbeit zu „Digitale Transformation und Forschungsinfrastrukturen“ mit Fokus auf Ostasienwissenschaften.
Seit 2019 Forschungsbibliothekarin für Ostasienwissenschaften mit einem besonderen Schwerpunkt auf den Themen Digital Humanities, Forschungsdatenmanagement und Open Scholarship an der Universitätsbibliothek der Freien Universität Berlin.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s05e11
Thursday 2022-01-12, 18:30~20:00
max. 50 participants (on site) + max. 300 participants (online) 

| Place & Preparations | 

LIVE @ Campus of the University of Vienna
Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies
Seminarraum JAP 1, 2K-EG-21, Ground floor to the left
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2.4 (Campus), 1090 Vienna, Austria

Please bear in mind, that strict Covid19-precautions are enforced, therefore bring and wear a FFP2-mask and comply to university's house rules. Please visit these links for university's special and general information regarding the current restrictions.

| Plattform & Link |

... and STREAMED online
https://univienna.zoom.us/j/67271657386?pwd=TXdBZG5nVmR4UWIzMWc4a1A5aEpBdz09
Meeting-ID: 672 7165 7386 | PW: 549081

Instructions and Netiquette (in English and German)
How to join a lecture via Zoom Meeting (in English)
Frequently Asked Questions (in English)

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s05/#e11.

Nō from Anthropological Perspective - Zeami vs present, tradition vs practice -

19.01.2023 18:30 - 20:00

A hybrid u:japan lecture by Ivan Rumánek (Masaryk University).

| Abstract |

The theoretical introduction, the drama, including its farce companion kyōgen, is analysed from the broader anthropoligical perspective. Its various aspects are characterised according to biological, social, cultural and linguistic anthropology.
   The second part focuses on embodiment and performativity as observed in amateur training and in the practice of using the mask.  

| Bio |

Ivan Rumánek is a Japanologist and linguist coming from Slovakia. He deals predominantly with premodern Japan, classical literature of the Heian period, and classical Japanese theatre. His translation publications include poetry, prose and drama. His research output includes his major Slovak monograph Japanese Noh Drama – an Evolving Genre (2010) and other studies on the evolution of classical theatre (Nō Sumidagawa and jōruri Futago Sumidagawa: genesis of a story and of a genre, 2017) and prehistory of the Japanese language (Where did the principal Japanese Ama tsu kami (“celestial deities”) come from? – an analysis of the Nihon Shoki with ethnic and etymological Japanese-Okinawan-Ainu implications, 2021 and On some parallels in the verbal systems of Manchu-Tungusic and Old Japanese, with possible genealogical implications, 2016).
   He has done research at Slovak Academy of Sciences (Bratislava), Hōsei University (Tokyo), Waseda University (Tokyo) and University of London. He has been lecturing for Masaryk University (Brno, Moravia) since 2010.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s05e12
Thursday 2022-01-19, 18:30~20:00
max. 50 participants (on site) + max. 300 participants (online) 

| Place & Preparations | 

LIVE @ Campus of the University of Vienna
Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies
Seminarraum JAP 1, 2K-EG-21, Ground floor to the left
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2.4 (Campus), 1090 Vienna, Austria

Please bear in mind, that strict Covid19-precautions are enforced, therefore bring and wear a FFP2-mask and comply to university's house rules. Please visit these links for university's special and general information regarding the current restrictions.

| Plattform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s05/#e12.

Organiser:

Institut für Ostasienwissenschaften - Japanologie

Location:
Seminarraum 1 (EG), Tür 2.4

The role of institutional contexts for social inequalities in study abroad intent and participation – Evidence from Japan

26.01.2023 18:30 - 20:00

A hybrid u:japan lecture by Steve R. Entrich (University of Potsdam).

 

| Abstract |

The expansion of international student mobility (ISM) has become a central issue in educational policy. Governments around the world have implemented programs to internationalize higher education and promote ISM among future workers. However, existing research amply demonstrates that students’ socioeconomic status (SES) strongly influences study abroad intent and participation. Students whose parents have a higher education degree, abundant financial resources and/or high occupational status (higher-SES students) are generally more likely to (intend to) study abroad than lower-SES students.
   Previous research explained this pattern as the result of individual choices related either to SES-specific endowment with economic, social and cultural capital or cost-benefit assessments and probabilities of successfully completing stays abroad. Only recently have scholars directed their attention to the role of institutional contexts for students’ (SES-specific) chances of studying abroad. While this research did not empirically examine the relevance of actual ISM opportunity structures for (SES-specific) SA intent and participation, it remains unclear whether opportunity structures installed to foster ISM benefit all students, help reduce socioeconomic inequality, or exacerbate it.
   We address this research gap focusing on Japan. We intend to narrow the outlined research gaps by integrating context effects into a framework that combines rational choice theory (RCT) and the life course perspective (LCP). We test the resulting hypotheses using a multi-level approach (MLA). MLA allows us to determine the relative importance of SES and other individual factors relative to contextual factors, and thus to assess the importance of ISM opportunity structures for SA intent and participation, and corresponding social inequalities. Unlike earlier studies, we examine the effects of ISM opportunity structures at the university level on SA intent and participation under control of various individual-level factors. Using a nationwide and largely unexploited dataset from Japan, which we supplement with university-level data, we address the politically charged question about the role of universities’ ISM opportunity structures for (social inequalities in) SA intent and participation: Has Japan’s recent push towards internationalization of higher education created more opportunities for social distinction of the affluent, resulting in increasing horizontal inequalities, or rather narrowed corresponding SES gaps?

| Bio |

Steve R. Entrich is interim Professor for Inclusion and Organizational Development at the Department of Education, the University of Potsdam, Germany. His research focuses on comparative, social science and empirical-quantitative educational research as well as educational policy analyzes on Japan, Germany, the USA and in international comparison with special emphasis on social inequality. Recent research examines implications of transnational, supplementary, and inclusive education in Japan and in cross-national comparison. 

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s05e13
Thursday 2022-01-26, 18:30~20:00
max. 50 participants (on site) + max. 300 participants (online) 

| Place & Preparations | 

LIVE @ Campus of the University of Vienna
Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies
Seminarraum JAP 1, 2K-EG-21, Ground floor to the left
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2.4 (Campus), 1090 Vienna, Austria

Please bear in mind, that strict Covid19-precautions are enforced, therefore bring and wear a FFP2-mask and comply to university's house rules. Please visit these links for university's special and general information regarding the current restrictions.

| Plattform & Link |

| Further Questions? |

Please contact ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at or visit https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/s05/#e13.

Organiser:

Institut für Ostasienwissenschaften - Japanologie

Location:
Seminarraum 1 (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.


Season Preview
(August 2022)

Die u:japan lectures gehen in die fünfte Saison. Nach vier erfolgreichen Semestern, in denen die Vortragsreihe ein Fixpunkt für alle nationalen und internationalen Japan-Interessierten geworden ist, wurden wir sogar für den International Award der univie awards 2022 nominiert .

Leider ist Japan für Reisende, Studierende und Forschende immer noch geschlossen, weshalb die digitalen und hybriden u:japan lectures eine der wenigen Möglichkeiten sind, um ein österreichisches Publikum mit aktuellen japanischen Wissenschaftler*innen zu vernetzen und europäischen  Wissenschaftler*innen mit Japanbezug ein internationales Auftreten zu ermöglichen. Deshalb wird die Japanologie (Institut für Ostasienwissenschaften) auch im Wintersemester 2022/23 die hybride Vortragsreihe u:japan lectures im Rahmen von Campus Aktuell anbieten. Immer donnerstags referieren dann wieder Expert*innen zu aktuellen Themen aus Gesellschaft und Kultur Japans für ein lokales Publikum vor Ort und eine interessierte (Online-) Zuhörerschaft weltweit.

Beginnen wird die fünfte Saison am 6. Oktober 2022 mit unserem Gast Ian Thomas Ash, dem bekannte und mehrfach ausgezeichneten Dokumentarfilmer, der in und über Japan arbeitet und so wichtige Themen der gegenwertigen japanischen Gesellschaft einer breiteren Öffentlichkeit näherbringt.

Mehr Informationen zu den bisherigen u:japan lectures, inklusive einer Liste aller abgehaltenen Vorträge und der Zuseher*innenzahlen finden Sie hier: https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/about/

Eine Möglichkeit die recorded u:japan lectures nachzusehen oder für den Unterricht zu verwenden hier: https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/records