DIJ Newsletter 60 | December 2019 Interdisciplinary Japanese Studies On Site

Big Data Big Data and the Future of Knowledge Production

Everybody is talking about data as the strategic resource of the digital age. Many consider data to be the new oil: the raw materi- al an economy cannot do without. The large platform companies – GAFA in the USA and BATX in China1 – own the “oil wells”. The stream of data is created by their core business and they can afford to hire the best programmers to generate knowledge and thus more profit, power and influence. The implications for our econo- mic, political and societal sys- tems can hardly be imagined.

The fundamental questions raised by big data and artificial intelligence do not only concern the regulation of data usage. At the core, it is about the future of knowledge pro- duction. Where and how will the knowledge, which is relevant for the development of our society, be pro- The current expansion of publicly accessible rese- duced in the future? In this context, the future role of arch data infrastructures (RDI) points in this direction. the humanities and social sciences (HSS) as produ- With the National Institute of Informatics, has cers of knowledge is also being questioned. To what a central institution that serves as a hub for nation- extent can HSS contribute to a better understanding wide collected research data. In , the sup- and governance of the digital transformation? To port of national RDI, which recently gained momen- what extent can HSS benefit from big data and algo- tum, seems to rather take the form of a network of rithms? How important will HSS theories be in the decentralized data archives. future for interpreting social relations and social change? These questions were discussed during a In the end, “vertical specialization” could solve the two-day workshop at the DIJ in September 2019 dilemma of the increasing horizontal division of labor jointly organized with the Nippon Institute for Rese- across and within HSS disciplines as pointed out be arch Advancement (NIRA) and the German Research Friedrich A. Hayek. Like other productive activities, and Innovation Forum (DWIH) .2 research in HSS underlies tendencies of differentiati- on and specialization. However, this hardly does jus- The use of big data and artificial intelligence in HSS tice to the complexity of socio-economic interde- requires close cooperation with programmers, which pendencies and the dynamics of economic and so- is not always an easy task due to different conceptu- cietal change. A vertical division of labor would allow al frameworks and research interests. The risk that for broader, trans-disciplinary research. — H.K. & F.W. HSS will become dominated by data scientists ap- pears to be low. Concepts, models and theories of HSS will need to be adjusted, but they will remain relevant. A new “vertical” division of labor between HSS scholars that work theoretically and conceptual- 1 GAFA stands for Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. BATX stands for Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and Xiaomi. ly and experts that specialize on gathering and pro- 2 https://dij.tokyo/digital-transformation-workshop. The workshop was follo- cessing data could be a possible, more promising wed by a conference on citizen science in the HSS: future scenario. https://dij.tokyo/citizen-science-conference.

German Institute for Japanese Studies, Tokyo Newsletter 60｜December 2019 Studying Japan ponsibility, language, and ethics: How to conduct research in a transparent Methods in times of and ethical manner in order to produce transnationalization reliable and comparable research re- and technological sults. In the diverse panel discussions, several innovation key issues were emphasized repeatedly, revealing their great importance for the In July 2019, an interdisciplinary field, such as the need for flexibility to group of Japan scholars gathered at deal with unexpected changes of plans the international conference Studying during the research process. Also, the Japan: The impact of transnationa- mutual dependence between resear- lization and technological innovation chers and their interview partners came Participants at the on methods, fieldwork and research up in multiple discussions, highlighting international conference ethics at the Freie Universität Berlin how related vulnerabilities are a crucial Studying Japan in July 2019 in order to discuss how to make me- at Freie Universität Berlin point to consider. Lastly, especially in thods in Japanese studies more ac- research on Japan, giving back to inter- cessible and transparent. Their fin- view partners who are unable to read dings? When doing research, be re- the publication, as well as language liable, flexible, and pragmatic! barriers in general are noteworthy chal- lenges. Cornelia Reiher (FU Berlin) and Nora Kottmann (DIJ) had organized two Surprisingly, the importance of being exciting days filled with five panels that open about one’s own struggles in or- encompassed the whole research pro- der to become and stay relatable for the cess from finding a research topic to reader was stressed by established presenting the results. The 27 speakers scholars on multiple occasions. Another from Europe, , the USA, Japan, topic was the impact of new technolo- and Singapore comprised academics gies on researchers’ lives: How, for ex- from graduate students to well-esta- ample, do you deal with “the field site blished experts who discussed metho- coming to your home”? dological opportunities and challenges in social science research on Japan The insights of the international confe- against the backdrop of transnational rence will be worked into the methods entanglements, new technological de- handbook Studying Japan which Nora velopments, and new ethical challen- Kottmann and Cornelia Reiher are cur- ges. Here, special focus was put on key rently editing. Stay tuned! — I.S. & M.U. issues like positionality, reflexivity, res-

ICAS Conference in Leiden Western mainstream media tend to exo- ticize Japan, often mixing stories of (No) Sex in the City? sexlessness with "perverted" sexuality. On the other hand, Japanese media Mainstream media claims a growing reporting is situated in the broader dis- disinterest in sexuality in contem- course on demographic change and porary Japan. A panel at the ICAS fertility decline, igniting a national panic. conference in Leiden in July 2019 questioned that. Research conclu- Overall, sexuality in media discourse des: There is no need to panic! remains extraordinarily limited and trap- ped between an assumed sex/non-sex In a new cooperative project between dichotomy. Yet the project findings Meiji University and the DIJ, sociolo- point to significant variations in definiti- gists Maki Hirayama, Barbara Holthus, ons, meaning of, stories on, and emoti- Alice Pacher, Nora Nora Kottmann, and Alice Pacher work Kottmann, Barbara Holthus ons about sexuality. There are some, on issues of sexuality and social change and Maki Hirayama at the but not drastic changes regarding se- ICAS conference in Leiden in Japan. They employ a variety of em- xual relationships. The team argues: pirical data: content analysis of discour- Japan, with its cultural specifics, fits ses in women’s magazines, qualitative into a general, global trend. — B.H. & N.K. interviews on sexual spaces and "sex- less marriages", and secondary analysis of interviews and quantitative survey data.

German Institute for Japanese Studies, Tokyo Newsletter 60｜December 2019 New Cultural Studies Project ding figure in the Japanese culture world chose this remote hot spring town to Theater and Society in realize his visions for theater and to de- the Japanese Regions velop the place into a Mecca for theater enthusiasts. His troupe Seinendan an- A new cultural studies project at the nounced that it would to relocate from DIJ analyzes how pressing issues of Tokyo to Kinosaki in 2020. Hirata wants Japanese society are represented and to cooperate with local people, create negotiated in regional theatre produc- works addressing central issues of con- tions. temporary Japan, and trigger public de- bate. The Kinosaki International Arts Socially and politically engaged art is not Center illustrates the potentials of the a new phenomenon in Japan. Especially arts to enhance the attractiveness of in the aftermath of the Fukushima triple peripheral areas. disaster, many artists claimed that the catastrophe has given renewed purpose In Okayama Prefecture, Naoki Sugawara to their work. The Japanese regions as employs methods of improvisational thea- sites for innovative cultural production ter to facilitate communication between are gaining attention. The pronounced caregivers and people living with demen- focus on the capital’s cultural scene is tia. Recent concepts of elderly care stress about to change. the importance of this relationship. The actor and trained caregiver travels nati- Barbara Geilhorn onwide to give workshops. The growing In the project “Theater and Society in the is a Senior Research Fellow at the Japanese Regions” Barbara Geilhorn number of media reports reflects the con- siderable public interest in his work. DIJ, researching Japanese analyzes how pressing issues of Japa- Cultural Studies and Theater nese society are represented and nego- On July 27, a one-day workshop at the and Performance Studies. tiated in regional theatre productions. [email protected] Her research is based on recent con- DIJ discussed recent themes and issu- cepts of theater and performance as a es in contemporary Japanese theater space for social debate. What topics and and dance. DIJ researcher Barbara issues are addressed and how are they Geilhorn invited international scholars to realized? What can the arts do to help reconsider regional theater, theater and coping with social issues? And what community, the role of the avantgarde about their role for the revitalization of and contemporary challenges. The regional areas? event was the first to focus on today’s vibrant theater scene. To provide a plat- In 2014 Oriza Hirata founded the Kino- form to further develop this underexplo- saki International Arts Center. The lea- red field of research was a central ob- jective of the workshop.

Autism and ADHD For people on the autism spectrum wi- thout intellectual disability, this kind of On the Other Side of work does not challenge them enough. Diagnosis If they can, many choose to work wi- thout disclosing their autism or ADHD, I have held interviews with 25 per- often until burnout. Recovery periods of sons on the autism spectrum and one or two years speckle the CV of visited several companies to study most of my interviewees – but they still their disability work programs for my prefer overworking themselves to the PhD research. alternative of being forced into disability work. For intellectually disabled persons, eit- her one of the big companies hires you “The moment they find out I am disab- straight from school into their subsidia- led, my income is going to drop to the Charlotte Schäfer bottom and I can forget my career”, I ry, or you end up in a disability work- is a PhD Student at the DIJ. Her hear in almost every interview. shop. The tasks are always similar: data research is focused on Autism input, cleaning, gardening, and the like. in Japanese Employment. People find relief by meeting peers in Companies and workshops receive [email protected] heavy public subsidies and have little the vibrant self-help scene in Tokyo. interest in making a profit with their Those third spaces beyond work and disability work programs; it is all part of private life provide information exchan- their Corporate Social Responsibility. ge and encouragement for people who feel isolated from mainstream society. German Institute for Japanese Studies, Tokyo Newsletter 60｜December 2019 Publications Statistic German Institute for Global Liquidity Glut – The Development of the Japanese Studies Monetary Base in Europe, Japan and the US

The money creation by the Bank of Japan (BoJ) triples and quadruples the efforts of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the US Fe- deral Reserve (FED). Most of the money was used to buy Japanese Government Bonds held by commercial banks. However, due to lack of credit demand, Japanese Contemporary Japan 31(2) banks were not able to pass the money on to the private Taylor & Francis, 2019 sector. Instead, they put it into their deposit accounts at the BoJ. — F.W., M.H., R.L. ISSN: 1869-2729 Catchword - はちまるごまる問題 Kamesaka, Akiko; Waldenberger, Franz (eds.) The 8-0-5-0-problem

Since the turn of the century Japan is facing the problem of hikikomori – young people who have withdrawn from society. Causes were investigated, countermeasures devi- sed. In addition, the situation has been regularly documented in surveys conducted by the cabinet office. In 2018 the age limit for respondents was raised for the first time from 39 to 64 years. It shows: The number of hikikomori is not only increasing, hikikomori and their parents are ageing and still isolated! Hikikomori around 50, who live together with their parents around 80, are now being called “8-0-5-0-problem”. — N.K.

Staff News Governance, Risk and was working as Senior Research Fellow at the Financial Impact of Mega Steffen Heinrich DIJ from September 2014 until August 2019. As a political scien- Disasters tist, his research was focused on the politics of minimum wages, Springer, 2019 the political implications of employment diversification, and the ISBN: 978-981-13-9005-0 role of regulation in social policy in comparative perspective. Sin- ce September 2019 Steffen Heinrich is working at the FU Berlin.

Info [email protected] The DIJ Newsletter is published both in German and in English and is also available for download as a full-text Sven Eichelberg was working as librarian from December 2015 version from our website. until November 2019 at the DIJ. In addition to his responsibilites at the library he was also part of the IT department and in charge For a printed copy, please of the relaunch and maintenance of the institute’s website as well contact: [email protected] as for the DIJ‘s social media channels.

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Picture Credits: Page 1 {Big Data Graphic} German Institute for Japanese Studies. Page 2 {Participants of the conference Studying Japan} German Institute for Japanese Studies, {ICAS Conference in Leiden} Barbara Holthus. Seite 4 {Steffen Heinrich} Steffen Heinrich {Sven Eichelberg} Sven Eichelberg. Author Key: B.H. - Barbara Holthus; F.W. - Franz Waldenberger; H.K. - Harald Kümmerle; I.S. - Isabell Schreiber; M.U. - Marie Ulrich; M.H. - Markus Heckel; N.K. - Nora Kottmann; R.L. - Raphael Lambertz

www. dijtokyo.org Publisher: Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien (DIJ). Person responsible according to the German Press Law: Franz Waldenberger. Editor: Sven Eichelberg (CvD). @dij_tokyo Address: DIJ Tokyo, Jochi Kioizaka Bldg. 2F, 7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0094, Japan Tel.: +81 (0)3 3222-5077 — Fax: +81 (0)3 3222-5420 German Institute for Japanese Studies, Tokyo Newsletter 60｜December 2019