Dear list members,

Please find below the details of the next conference of the German Association for Social Science Research on Japan (VSJF). The full program and the abstracts can be downloaded here:

https://www.dijtokyo.org/event/vsjf-annual-conference-sustainability-in-japan/

VSJF Annual Conference 2024
SUSTAINABILITY IN JAPAN

November 15 - 17, 2024 (Friday - Sunday)

Japanese-German Center Berlin (JDZB)
Saargemünder Str. 2, 14195 Berlin

 

(Registration and payment of conference fees until 31 October 2024: further details below)

The Conference:

Making human activity on Earth sustainable is currently the greatest challenge of mankind. Ever since the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, the topic has gained world-wide popularity, but what sustainability means, how it can be achieved, how it is politically negotiated, and which actors are involved differs widely across the world. The purpose of this conference is to gain a better understanding of how issues of sustainability are understood, framed and pursued by different actors in Japan. Focusing on economic, societal, and political perspectives, we hope not only to encourage more social science research and teaching related to sustainability issues in Japan, but also to interrogate more widely what sustainability means for the academic profession.

Organized by:

Harald Conrad - Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU)
Barbara Holthus - German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ Tokyo)
Axel Klein - Institute of East Asian Studies (IN-EAST), University Duisburg-Essen

Supported by:

Department of Modern Japanese Studies, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU)
German Association for Social Science Research on Japan (VSJF)
German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ Tokyo)
Gesellschaft von Freunden und Förderern der Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
Institute of East Asian Studies (IN-EAST), University Duisburg-Essen
Japanese-German Center Berlin (JDZB)

--> Friday, November 15, 2024

13:30 Registration

14:00 - 14:30 Welcome and Opening

14:30 - 16:00 Introductory Address
"Putting corporate social responsibility in context: A comparative perspective on Japan" [Gregory Jackson - Free University Berlin]

16:00 - 16:30 Coffee Break

16:30 - 18:30 Panel 1: Business & Economic Perspectives [Chair: Harald Conrad - Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU)]

"Would you like to pay for your greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions? Japan's voluntary approach to carbon pricing" [Franz Waldenberger - German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ Tokyo)]

"Who has the power to shape the discourse? An analysis of institutional change in the Japanese sustainable finance sector" [Ramona Rosalewski - Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU)]

"Smart, sustainable, profitable? Imaginaries of sustainability in Japanese tech corporations' metaverse initiatives" [Nicole Mueller - German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ Tokyo)]

18:45 - 21:00 Welcome Dinner


--> Saturday, November 16, 2024

9:00 - 10:30 Keynote Lecture
"The twisted paths of sustainability: Problems and dilemmas of socio-ecological change" [Sighard Neckel - Universität Hamburg]

10:30 - 11:00 Coffee Break

11:00 - 13:00 Panel 2: Sustainability and Society [Chair: Barbara Holthus - German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ Tokyo)]

"Beyond growth: Rethinking Japan's path to environmental sustainability" [Komatsu Hikaru - On-the-Slope, Kyoto (ONLINE)]

"The people as drivers of Japan's green transformation? Dynamics in pro-environmental attitudes and behavior from 1993 to 2020" [Carola Hommerich - Sophia University, Tokyo & Joanna Kitsnik - Sophia University, Tokyo]

"Redefining rural life: Discussing sustainability in Japan's countryside in times of population decline" [Sebastian Polak-Rottmann - German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ Tokyo)]

13:00 - 14:30 Lunch

14:30 - 16:30 VSJF-Fachgruppen / VSJF Section Meetings *The sections "Education" and "Technology" already meet Friday morning (ONLINE ONLY)

16:30 - 17:00 Coffee Break

17:00 - 19:00 General Meeting of the VSJF


--> Sunday, November 17, 2024

09:30 - 10:30: Panel 3: Sustainability at Osaka 2025 [Chair: Axel Klein - University Duisburg-Essen]

"Everything everywhere all at once: Chasing SDG themes at the 2025 Osaka Kansai Expo"

[Isaac Gagné - German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ Tokyo)]

 

"The German Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan - a sustainable manifesto"
[Christopher Hecker German Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan]

10:30 - 11:00 Coffee Break

11:00 - 12:30 Panel 4: Political Perspectives [Chair: Axel Klein - University Duisburg-Essen]

"Decarbonizing Japan: The prospect of its green transformation (GX) policy" [Ohta Hiroshi - Waseda University, Tokyo (ONLINE)]

"Crowdfunding for sustainability? The intersection between the "hometown tax" program and community-level self-governance in rural Japan" [Hanno Jentzsch - University of Vienna]

12:30 - 13:00 Concluding Remarks

 

Harald Conrad - Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU)
Axel Klein - University Duisburg-Essen
Barbara Holthus - German Institute for Japanese Studies, DIJ

 

VSJF-Genderworkshop

 

The VSJF-Genderworkshop, which takes place in conjunction with the annual conference, will run in the afternoon of 14 November and in the morning of 15 November 2024 at the same venue. The workshop will be co-organised by Andrea Germer, Ami Kobayashi (Heinrich Heine University) and Kerstin Fooken (University of Hamburg). The workshop program will be circulated via J-Studien. Participation in the workshop is free of charge. Those interested in attending should register with ami.kobayashi@hhu.de or kerstin.fooken@uni-hamburg.de

 

 

Registration and Payment Details for the Annual Conference

 

Participation in the annual conference requires prior registration AND the payment of the conference fees until 31 October 2024.

 

Please register your attendance with Ms Viola Schürmanns at viola.schuermanns@hhu.de

 

For the payment of the conference fees, we offer bank transfer or Paypal. As payments via Paypal are associated with additional costs, which have to be borne by VSJF, we strongly encourage bank transfers.

 

Conference fee categories:

 

Fully-funded professor & VSJF-member: 240,- Euro

Fully-funded professor & non-VSJF-member: 250,- Euro

Non-fully-funded-attendee & VSJF-member: 140,- Euro

Non-fully-funded-attendee & non-VSJF-member: 150,- Euro

Students (BA, MA, PhD): 50,- Euro

 

Attendance/participation in VSJF-Fachgruppen / VSJF Section Meetings ONLY: 20,- Euro

 

Bank Account: Berliner Sparkasse

IBAN: DE84 1005 0000 0610 0079 71

BIC: BELADEBEXXX

Stichwort: "YOUR NAME & VSJF Conference 2024"

 

Paypal Account: paypal.me/vsjfev

What's this for: "YOUR NAME & VSJF Conference 2024"

 

With best wishes,

 

Harald Conrad

-- Prof. Dr. Harald Conrad Chair of Modern Japanese Studies II Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf Institut für Modernes Japan Universitätsstr. 1 40225 Düsseldorf Germany Tel: ++49(0)211-81-11693 Fax: ++49(0)211-81-14714