Dear SSJ-Forum member,
The Department of East Asian Studies - Japanese Studies at the University of Vienna would like to draw your attention to the upcoming hybrid u:japan lecture:

Chigusa Yamaura (University of Oxford):
"Childcare Provision and the Desire for Motherhood in the Era of a Shrinking Japan"

Date and time: Thursday, April 10, 2025, 18:00~19:30 (CEST, UTC +2h)

Location: Onsite @ Campus of the University of Vienna Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies room JAP 1 (2K-EG-21), University Campus Hof 2.4, Spitalgasse 2, 1090 Vienna, Austria
https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/index.php?id=23548#c646040

Online: Join the lecture via Zoom (no registration necessary):
https://univienna.zoom.us/j/69520691889?pwd=OZnPwu5WtVcHT8ZxX3aTwQ6tPGMxEG.1
Meeting-ID: 695 2069 1889 | Passcode: 884083

Abstract: Shōshi kōreka ('low birth rate and ageing population) is a phrase that has become ubiquitous in the everyday political and social landscape of Japan, acting as a shorthand for a whole range of anxieties and concerns. Much political, public and academic attention has been devoted to analysing the causes and possible solutions to the shrinking population. This lecture also addresses Japan's demographic crisis. However, rather than offering solutions or exploring the causes, I would like to offer a different approach. In this talk, I will ask how Japan's 'demographic crisis' functions as a cultural discourse, a set of narratives, and a form of governmentality that intersects with and shapes how people within Japanese society navigate their engagement as civil society actors, their sense of Japanese identity, and even their intimate lives and desires. The first part of the talk will address how the discourses of demographic crisis have become a hegemonic cultural narrative. The second part of the talk will focus on a specific issue - childcare provision - to analyse the changing rhetoric, meanings and experiences of working mothers against an evolving social, economic and demographic backdrop. I will show that while the idea of women's liberation was the starting point for expanding childcare provision, it is framed today as the liberation of women's (presumed) desire for motherhood in the context of the demographic crisis. Ultimately, the talk aims to rethink the role of the demographic crisis narrative in contemporary Japanese society.

For more information on the speaker and future events at u:japan, please follow the link below:
https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/

We look forward to your participation!
Christopher Kummer, Florian Purkarthofer, Elisabeth Semmler, Astrid Unger and Ralf Windhab

PS: If you missed a lecture or want to review, head to our recorded lectures section:
https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/records/

u:japan lectures
Department of East Asian Studies / Japanese Studies at the University of Vienna
E-mail: ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at

Kindly sponsored by the Toshiba International Foundation:
https://www.toshibafoundation.com/