{"id":1033,"date":"2026-03-20T17:34:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T17:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/code\/?p=1033"},"modified":"2026-05-12T10:32:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:32:01","slug":"post-growth-era-japan-globalization-neoliberalism-and-national-identity-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/japanonthemargins.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/03\/20\/post-growth-era-japan-globalization-neoliberalism-and-national-identity-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Post-Growth Era Japan: Globalization, Neoliberalism, and National Identity 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Contributing Lecturers<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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21st-century Japan has faced numerous challenges, including aggressive actions by authoritarian states like Russia, the widening poverty among the “recruitment ice-age” generation, and the rise of nationalism, xenophobia, and hate speech. At the core of these issues lies a misalignment between the various social and cultural systems that fostered prosperity in postwar Japan and the changing circumstances. The lifetime employment practices, and pacifism upheld by the US-Japan alliance that characterized postwar Japanese society have become difficult to maintain amid the declining Japanese economy and the shifting international landscape. Although the normative influence of these systems continues, Japanese society has struggled to establish a new system to supplant the postwar one.<\/div>

Under these circumstances, it is crucial to take a comprehensive view of the problems Japan has faced since the end of its high-growth period and the country’s responses. This lecture series (16 x 2h)\u00a0will examine how Japanese society has attempted (or been compelled) to revamp various social and cultural systems, such as security, employment, labor culture, and religion, following the collapse of the \u201cbubble economy.\u201d It will also explore how these changes have affected people\u2019s lives and consciousness from multidisciplinary perspectives.<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Lectures<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Publications<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Stevie Poppe<\/strong><\/a> (KU Leuven) – The Foreign Gaze as Battleground: Media, Memory, and Disinformation in Contemporary Japan<\/p>

Email: stevie.poppe@kuleuven.be<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Paola Cavaliere<\/strong><\/a> (University of Milan) – An overview of Religion and Politics in Japan Before and After July 8, 2022<\/p>

Email:\u00a0paola.cavaliere@unimi.it<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Cavaliere, Paola (2026, forthcoming). \u201cReligion, gender and social progress: notes from Japan\u201d. In Qudsia Mirza e Susanne Scholz (eds).\u00a0\u00a0Law, Religion, and Social Progress in the Age of COVID-19.\u00a0<\/i>Routledge.\u00a0<\/p>

Cavaliere, Paola e Otani Junko (eds).\u00a0Handbook of Disaster Studies in Japan<\/i>; London: Routledge, ISBN 9789048562275.\u00a0<\/p>

Cavaliere, Paola. (2015).\u00a0Promising practices: Women volunteers in Japanese religious civil society<\/i>, Leiden: EJ Brill Publishers, Social Sciences in Asia no.39, ISBN 9789004282162.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Yutaka Yoshida<\/strong><\/a> (Cardiff University) – The Far-right in Far East: Narratives, Self-Concepts, and \u2018Hot\u2019 Nationalism<\/p>

Email: YoshidaY@cardiff.ac.uk<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Yoshida, Y. and Tozawa, E. 2025. Navigating Public History: In Contestation with Japan\u2019s Historical Revisionism. International Public History, 8(2), 95\u2013101. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1515\/iph-2025-0028<\/a><\/p>

Yoshida, Y. and Demelius, Y. 2025. Seduction of far-right actions: A pathway to an authentic self?. Crime, Media, Culture 21(2), pp. 187-210. (10.1177\/17416590241245380) https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/17416590241245380<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Krist\u00edn Ingvarsdottir<\/strong><\/a> (University of Iceland) – Japan as a Whaling Country: Past and Present and a Comparative Icelandic Perspective<\/p>

Email: kristini@hi.is<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Yuki Asahina<\/strong><\/a> (University of Manchester) – How Precarious is Precarious Japan?: Economic Inequality and Insecurity since the 2000s<\/p>

Email: yuki.asahina@manchester.ac.uk<\/p>

Meritocracy\u2019s Children: How Inequality Leaves Young Adults Angry or Resigned in Seoul and Tokyo. University of California Press. (Forthcoming in March 2027)
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The Digital Rise of the Far Right in Japan. (Co-editor with Dr. Naoto Higuchi) Manchester University Press. Forthcoming in October 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Meritocracy\u2019s Children: How Inequality Leaves Young Adults Angry or Resigned in Seoul and Tokyo. University of California Press. (Forthcoming in March 2027)
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The Digital Rise of the Far Right in Japan. (Co-editor with Dr. Naoto Higuchi) Manchester University Press. Forthcoming in October 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Emi Tozawa<\/a><\/strong> (University of Manchester) – The Negotiation Between Nationalism and Tradition in Post-War Japan from a Public History Perspective<\/p>

Email: emi.tozawa@manchester.ac.uk<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Emi Tozawa, \u2018Can It Be a Gamechanger? Interrogating the Prospects of Decolonization Through Public History in Japan\u2019, International Public History, 7:1: (2024), 45-52.<\/p>

Emi Tozawa, \u2018Shitakara no Paburikku Hisutor\u012b : Igirisu ni okeru Rekishigaku to Hitobito no Cho sen [Public History from Below: The Case of Britain]\u2019, Shis\u014d, 1209 (2025), 133-47.<\/p>

Emi Tozawa, \u2018Visiting and Watching Silence: Popular Uses of Historical Fiction about the Christian Persecution in Seventeenth-century Japan\u2019, in Public History in Japan: Theory and Practice, eds. by Masafumi Yokemoto, Miho Hayashi, Michihiro Okamoto, and Andrew Gordon (Singapore: Springer, 2025), pp.37-51.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Erja Kettunen-Matilainen<\/strong><\/a> (University of Turku) – Inclusion and societal sustainability: Employment support for people with disabilities in Japan<\/p>

Email: erja.kettunen-matilainen@utu.fi<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Shiho Futagami & Erja Kettunen-Matilainen, Employment and Human Resource Development of Disabled People in Japan and Finland: A Comparative Study from the Perspective of Diversity, Inclusion, and Decent Work. In: Andreosso-O’Callaghan, B., Rey, S., Taylor, R. (eds) Sustainable Development in Asia . Contributions to Economics. Springer, Cham. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/978-3-030-94679-1_3<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Eiko Saeki<\/strong> <\/a>(Hosei University) – Patriarchy, Paternalism, and Politics of Reproductive Autonomy: Abortion Rights in Japan from a Global Perspective<\/p>

Email: saeki@hosei.ac.jp<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Christopher Bondy<\/strong><\/a> (International Christian University) – ‘Where Are You From?’: The Reproduction of Buraku Boundaries<\/p>

Email: bondy@icu.ac.jp<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Ayaka L\u00f6schke<\/strong><\/a> (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg) – Japan\u2019s Civil Society Confronting Fukushima\u2019s Enduring Effects<\/p>

She is the principal investigator of the DFG-funded research project Hate Speech and the Japanese Publication Industry, starting in 2026<\/p>

Email: ayaka.loeschke@fau.de<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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11\/2025\u00a0<\/span>Fukushima Legacies: National Advocacy and Mothers Against Radiation<\/i><\/span><\/a>. \u3000<\/span>Wiesbaden: Springer (Open Access, CC BY 4.0) <\/span>– <\/span>(forthcoming monograph)<\/em><\/div>
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Peer-Reviewed Journal Artikel:<\/div>
01\/2026 The \u2018Mitsu Desu Game\u2019 Boom During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Media Dissemination and Support of Social Distancing Policies<\/a>.\u00a0Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus<\/i>, 24, e2, 1\u201313<\/div>
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\u2018Administrative measures against far-right protesters: An example of Japan\u2019s method of conflict resolution\u2019 (2021), which received the ISS\/Oxford Prize for Modern Japanese Studies<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Arnaud Grivaud <\/strong><\/a>(Universit\u00e9 Cit\u00e9 Paris) – From Political Assassination to Political Cause: The Murder of Abe Shinz\u014d and the Rise of Anti-Cult Movements in Japan<\/p>

Email: arnaud.grivaud@u-paris.fr<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Kamila Szczepanska<\/strong><\/a> (University of Turku) – Japan’s Foreign Policy Towards Indo-Pacific<\/p>

Email: kamila.szczepanska@utu.fi<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Y\u014dji Sato (Eurasia Foundation<\/strong><\/a>) – Exploration of the eternal absolute truth – Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Soo-Im Lee<\/strong> (Ryukoku University) – Foreign Workers and Immigration policy: An Comparative Perspective between Japan and the US<\/p>

Email: sooimlee0202@gmail.com<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Lee, Soo im. Ubawareta Zainichi Korian no Nihon Kokuseki: Nihon no Imin Seisaku o Kangaeru (The Stolen Japanese Nationality of Zainichi Koreans: Considering Japan’s Immigration Policy). Tokyo: Akashi Shoten, 2021.\u00a0<\/p>

Lee, Soo im, and Lisa Rogers. Bunka to Sh\u014dtotsu: Tabunka Ky\u014dsei no Tame ni (Culture and Conflict: Changing the World for the Better). Tokyo: Shobunsha, 2014<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Agnese Dionisio<\/strong> (Sophia University) – Unsettled Histories, Unjust Presents: Sexual Violence and Gender Inequality in Japan<\/p>

Email: dionisio.agnese@gmail.com<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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    \n\t\t\t <\/ul>\n <\/div> \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Contributing Lecturers 21st-century Japan has faced numerous challenges, including aggressive actions by authoritarian states like Russia, the widening poverty among the “recruitment ice-age” generation, and the rise of nationalism, xenophobia, and hate speech. At the core of these issues lies a misalignment between the various social and cultural systems that fostered prosperity in postwar Japan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"postBodyCss":"","postBodyMargin":[],"postBodyPadding":[],"postBodyBackground":{"backgroundType":"classic","gradient":""},"footnotes":""},"categories":[241],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lecturers"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/japanonthemargins.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/japanonthemargins.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/japanonthemargins.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/japanonthemargins.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/japanonthemargins.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1033"}],"version-history":[{"count":59,"href":"https:\/\/japanonthemargins.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2132,"href":"https:\/\/japanonthemargins.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033\/revisions\/2132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/japanonthemargins.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/japanonthemargins.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/japanonthemargins.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/japanonthemargins.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}