NB: This is an updated program!

Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies: Wakai Project Temple University Japan Campus ____________________________________________

EMERGENT FORMS OF ENGAGEMENT AND
ACTIVISM IN JAPAN:
POLITICS, CULTURES AND TECHNOLOGIES

This conference brings together an international, multi-disciplinary group of scholars seeking to document and understand emergent forms of political activism, social engagement and cultural resistance among youth in Japan.
>From street politics to new forms of socialities,
from creative representation to active resistance, our goal is to develop a critical language that captures the range of alternatives to what was once considered "political." Through the heritage of post-war student and citizens’
movements, popular culture shifts during 1970‚ affluence, and post-bubble recessionary disenfranchisement, we will explore these alternative currents right into our post-3.11 moment.

Dates June 11th, 2011 (13:00 – 18:00
June 12th, 2011 (13:00 – 19:00)

Venue TUJ Azabu Hall, room 212
http://www.tuj.ac.jp/about/access/azabu.html

Conference Webpage
http://www.tuj.ac.jp/events/2011/0611.html

Organizers
Kyle Cleveland, Temple University Japan
David H. Slater, Sophia University
Love Kindstrand, Sophia University

Admission
1,000 yen (Sat & Sun inclusive) /
Student: Free with student ID

Language: English & Japanese
Simultaneous translation is not available.

Open to all / RSVP not required

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Saturday, June 11

Opening Remarks: David H. Slater, Sophia University Emergent Politics in Japan Today

13.00-15.00: ART, CREATIVITY,
REPRESENTATIONS RESISTANCE

Tomiko Yoda
Literature and Media Studies, Harvard University Between Pop and Radical: Feminism and Media Culture in Early 70s Japan

Sharon Hayashi
and Media Studies, York University
>From Exploitation to Playful Exploits

Patrick W. Galbraith
Studies, University of Tokyo
Train Man, Radiowave Man, Underground Man:
Revisiting the Politics of Pleasure after the Akihabara Incident

Discussants:
Anne Allison, Duke University and
Yoshitaka Môri, Tokyo University of the Arts

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15.30-18.00:
CURRENTS AND CULTURES OF ACTIVISM

Yoshitaka Môri
Tokyo University of the Arts (Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku) Reconsidering Cultural-Political Movements in Japan the Age of “Freeter”

Higuchi Takuro,
Social Movement Studies
A Prehistory of the Alter globalisation Movement in
Japan:
Subterranean Autonomous Networks Since the ‘90s

Robin O’Day,
Cultural Anthropology, University of British Columbia Union is Hope: The Role of Networks and Digital Media in Organizing Japan’s Young Irregular Workers

Love Kindstrand,
Cultural Anthropology, Sophia University Tactical Currents, Spatial Framings: the Movement Against Nike-ification of Miyashita Park and Beyond

Discussants:
Steinhoff, University of Hawaii and
Dai Nomiya, Sophia University

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18:00: “GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION” DEMONSTRATION June 11 is a global day of action organized by the Japanese movement nuclear power. After the final panel on Saturday we will leave together for a gathering held in central Shinjuku.
Anyone interested in attending is more
than welcome to join.
More details are available at http://nonukes.jp

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Sunday, June 12

13.00-16.30: TRAJECTORIES OF ALTERNATIVE POLITICS

Ikuo J. Gonoï,
Political Theory, Rikkyo University
The World's End: The Cognitive Turn from “Sekai” to “Shakai”

Patricia Steinhoff,
Sociology, University of Hawaii
Transforming Invisible Civil Society into Alternative Politics

Mizukoshi Shin,
Media Studies, University of Tokyo
Communal Storytellings in A Regimented Society:
Critical Media Practice on People’s Media Literacy and Expression

Anne Allison, Cultural Anthropology, Duke University Stopping Death and Organizing Around Life:
a Politics of Survival

Shibuya Nozomu, Cultural Sociology, Chiba University Radioactive Contamination and the Common

Discussants:
Tomiko Yoda, Harvard University and
Sharon Hayashi, York University

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17.00-18.00: ROUND TABLE:

POST-3.11 FUTURE DIRECTIONS
FOR SCHOLARSHIP AND ACTIVISM

Since the Tohoku earthquake on March 11, Japan has seen a renewed sense of national and political crisis, and an intensification of nationalistic narratives. Perhaps more importantly, there has been a reawakened political subjectivity that goes beyond existing anti-capitalist or anti-nuclear alternatives, which suggests a broader and more lasting repoliticization of everyday life.
Demonstrations in Tokyo have been some of the largest since the Anpo era, but this is only one aspect of a
post-3.11 critique of key institutions at the heart of the Japan, Inc. power structure. In this round-table discussion our presenters will attempt to make sense of the events since 3.11, and explore their implications for our own scholarship.

Chair: Kyle Cleveland, Temple University Japan

18.00: RECEPTION (light food and drinks will be
served) Hosted by TEMPLE UNIVERSITY JAPAN: Wakai Project

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PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS ON HOMEPAGE
http://www.tuj.ac.jp/events/2011/0611.html
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Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies: Wakai Project

Produced by the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies’ WAKAI PROJECT at Temple University, Japan Campus. WAKAI provides a forum for students to interact with cultural innovators, advance serious discussion about social issues and problems facing young people, and impact social policy and debates concerning the status of youth in Japan. The network of universities and organizations that WAKAI draws on provides academic grounding to popular culture issues, and empowers students to integrate their academic and social lives.

Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies:
WAKAI PROJECT
Temple University, Japan Campus
Project Director:
Kyle Cleveland Email: kyle.cleveland@temple.edu Tel.
03-5441-9800 / Mobile. 090-4606-9779
Information: Email: tujicas@temple.edu

--
David H. Slater, Ph.D.
Faculty of Liberal Arts
Sophia University, Tokyo