In mid-December 2023, we had the honor of hosting the first joint doctoral workshop of Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin) and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich) in the charming location of Lyrik-Kabinett (museum of poetry), just behind the LMU main building. Our two-day workshop was designed to foster academic exchange between junior scholars of Japanese politics at both universities. It created an opportunity to present and discuss ongoing research projects in a “safe space,” surrounded by peers and some more senior scholars of Japanese politics. A total of eleven doctoral candidates and six senior advisors participated in the workshop.
Prof. Dr. Verena Blechinger-Talcott (FU Berlin), Prof. Dr. Steffen Heinrich (FU Berlin), Prof. Mari Miura, Ph.D. (Sophia University), Prof. Koichi Nakano, Ph.D. (Sophia University), Prof. Dr. Gabriele Vogt (LMU Munich), and Dr. Anna Wiemann (LMU Munich) served as senior advisors. On the side of FU Berlin / Graduate School of East Asian Studies (GEAS) five doctoral candidates participated: Lenard Görögh, Nakako Hattori, Erik Isaksson, Elena Korshenko and Shoko Tanaka. From the Japan Center at LMU Munich Jane Khanizadeh, Anne-Sophie L. König, Paul Kramer, Stefanie Schwarte, Anja Sueyoshi and Antonia Vesting joined in.
Participants were thematically paired in sessions of two or three presenters, deliberately mixing up university affiliations to foster the exchange across both universities. Topics that were covered ranged from local political participation and political identity over political representation, foreign policy, value discourses, and new forms of cohabitation. Immediately following their presentations, doctoral candidates first received individual feedback from a designated senior advisor, and subsequently input from the plenum. The final lecture of our workshop was delivered by Prof. Heinrich on the regulatory politics of Japan’s expanding welfare state.
In addition to these presentations and discussions that were conducted during our closed workshop, the two days in the Lyrik-Kabinett also offered several open-to-the public events. These provided additional stimulation to our exchange. During lunch-hours, on both days, we had a chance to engage with panelists in podium debates that addressed pressing topics of German and Japanese politics in comparative perspective. Also, the final night featured a reception on the occasion of a poster exhibition that displayed the results of a joint research and teaching project on memorials and museums as places for civic education. The project was co-conducted in 2022/23 by faculty and students of LMU Munich and Waseda University.
We take away much inspiration and many new acquaintances from this first joint FU / LMU doctoral workshop on Japanese politics. Our heads were steaming after two days of lively discussions and intense feed-back rounds. We count ourselves lucky that there has always been plenty of coffee to recharge our batteries, and (just for a change it seems!) no strikes or bad weather conditions that would have negatively impacted our get-together. See you in Berlin, next time!
Panel 1
Shoko Tanaka (FU Berlin) – Identifying political cleavages among the youth in Japan
Anne-Sophie L. König (LMU Munich) – The impact of the lack of candidates in local assembly elections on Japanese democracy: National efforts and local solutions
Antonia Vesting (LMU Munich) – (Participative?) city planning in times of demographic change: Creating sustainable cities from the bottom up
Senior Advisors: Anna Wiemann, Verena Blechinger-Talcott, Steffen Heinrich
Panel 2
Elena Korshenko (FU Berlin) – Inconsequential and inactive? The legislative role of new and minor parties in Japan.
Stefanie Schwarte (LMU Munich) – Female Political Representation and gender equality policy in Japan
Senior Advisors: Koichi Nakano, Mari Miura
Panel 3
Erik Isaksson (FU Berlin) – Achieving Recognition? “Universal Values” in Japanese Foreign Policy 2006-2020
Anja Sueyoshi (LMU Munich) – Interviews and observation as research methods: The case study of protests in Okinawa against US military bases and the role of the Japanese nation state
Senior Advisors: Gabriele Vogt, Verena Blechinger-Talcott
Panel 4
Nakako Hattori (FU Berlin) – The Concept of Peace and the Prefectural Government: A case of Okinawa since the 1990s
Jane Khanizadeh (LMU Munich) – National Identity Discourses in Japan: Challenging Mono-ethnicity in the 2019 Rugby World Cup
Senior Advisors: Gabriele Vogt, Koichi Nakano
Panel 5
Lenard Görögh (FU Berlin) – Tokyo’s shared house economy – A new way out of housing insecurity?
Paul Kramer (LMU Munich) – Vigilance in Japan’s neighborhoods during the COVID-19 pandemic
Senior Advisors: Mari Miura, Steffen Heinrich
verfasst von Antonia Vesting
