Presentation by Cornelia Reiher
Title: Japan’s digital countryside (MAGEA Lecture Series)
Date: November 27, 2024
Venue: Freie Universität Berlin, Holzlaube, room 2.2058
PhD Defense Ngo Tu Thanh
Title of Thesis: Adapting National Policies: Intergovernmental Governance and the Comprehensive Strategy for Regional Revitalisation
Date: November 20, 2024
Time: 12:00
Venue: Freie Universität Berlin, Institute of Japanese Studies, room 1.36
Presentation by Cornelia Reiher
Title: Overcoming the concept of a closed rural society: Multiple mobilities of urban-rural migrants in Aso’s neigboring communities
Date: November 1, 2024
Time: 9 am
Venue: University of Vienna, Conference Aso 2.0 and beyond
Study group workshop “Urban-rural migration and rural revitalization”
Date: March 6, 2024
Time: 9 am – 1 pm CET
Format: hybrid
Organizers: Cornelia Reiher and Cecilia Luzi
Venue: Institute for Japanese Studies, Hittorfstraße 18
Schedule
9:00 Welcome
9:10 Project “Urban Rural migration and rural revitalization in Japan”
9:30 “Finding home in rural Japan: Urban-rural migrants in northern Kyūshū”
9:50 Q&A
10:10 Participants’ projects presentations
11:00 Coffee break
11:15 Group discussions
12:15 Final discussion
Workshop “Food Education in rural Japan”
Date: December 21, 2023
Time: 4 pm to 6 pm
Venue: FU Berlin, Holzlaube Room 1.2052
Takako Horita spoke about food education in Taketa, one of our field sites, made miso with the participants and invited them to a miso tasting.
Presentation by Cecilia Luzi
Title: Finding home in rural Japan: urban-rural migrants in Kyūshū
Presenter: Cecilia Luzi
Event: GEAS Homecoming Symposium
Time & Location: Dec 12, 2023 | 13:30
Graduate School Villa, Library
Freie Universität Berlin
Hittorfstr. 18
14195 Berlin
Link: http://www.geas.fu-berlin.de/events/conferences/Homecoming_2023.html
Fachgruppe Stadt- und Regionalforschung @ VSJF annual conference
Venue: Japanese-German Center Berlin (JDZB)
Date: November 4, 2023, 2:00-4:00 pm
Organizer: Cornelia Reiher (FU Berlin)
14:00 Welcome
Cornelia Reiher, FU Berlin
14:10 “Living here is like studying abroad”: the image of Miyakojima as a foreign country amongst Japanese urbanite emigrants
Sarah Clay (FU Berlin)
14:45 Intersectionality in Japanese schools: The experiences and struggles of LGBTQ+ JET teachers in rural Japan
Kazuyoshi Kawasaka (HHU Düsseldorf) and Ami Kobayashi (HHU Düsseldorf and University of Kaiserslautern-Landau)
15:20 Embracing diversity in rural Japan: Exploring mobility patterns and contributions of urban migrants to rural communities in northern Kyūshū
Cecilia Luzi (FU Berlin)
Presentation by Cornelia Reiher @ VSJF annual conference
Title: “(In)visible Newcomers: Migrants in Rural Japan”
Speaker: Cornelia Reiher
Date and Time: November 3, 2023 | 16:00 (Panel: International Migration in Japan)
Venue: JDZB (Japanese-German Center Berlin)
Conference program: https://vsjf.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2023-vsjf-annual-conference-tentative-program.pdf
Presentation by Cecilia Luzi @ VSJF working group meeting “Urban and rural studies”
Title: “Embracing diversity in rural Japan: Mobility patterns and contributions of urban migrants to rural communities in northern Kyūshū”
Speaker: Cecilia Luzi
Date and Time: November 4, 2023 | 14:00 (Working group meeting “Urban and rural studies”)
Venue: JDZB (Japanese-German Center Berlin)
Workshop with Susanne Klien on Urban-rural migration in Japan
Date: August 30, 2023 | 13:00-17:00
Location: Freie Universität Berlin, Institute for Japanese Studies, Hittorfstr. 18, K 18
Presentations by Cornelia Reiher & Frank Tu @ EAJS 2023 Conference at Ghent University
Link: https://eajs.eu/2023-programme/
Cornelia Reiher will explore the possibilities and limitations of participatory planning and democracy in rural Japan from the perspective of self-censorship and social exclusion to find out why residents often prefer not to express their dissatisfaction when they disagree with the local government.
Title: Feeling powerless: silent criticism of local planning in rural Japan
Event: EAJS2023: 17th International Conference of the European Association of Japanese Studies
Panel: Urb_04 Stability despite decline? New perspectives on political discontent and stasis in rural Japan
Date: August 18, 2023 | 11:00-12:30
Frank Tu will examine Japan’s national policy actors’ profiles, attitudes, and perceptions towards rural revitalization. The paper highlights the importance of strong leadership to formulate and implement promising strategies for rural revitalization
Title: Regional revitalization in Japan: profiles, attitudes and perceptions of national policy actors
Event: EAJS2023: 17th International Conference of the European Association of Japanese Studies
Panel: Urb_06 Regional issues and political decision-making
Date: August 18, 2023 | 9:00-10:30
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Fifth Hybrid Joint Study Group @ Kyushu University
On July 7, 2023, Cornelia Reiher, Frank Tu and Cecilia Luzi participate in another joint study group at Kyushu University. Cecilia Luzi will present the results of her research to Professor Oka and her students.
Presenter: Cecilia Luzi
Title: 日本の地方への移住者の道 [Migrants’ paths into rural Japan]
Date and Time: July 7, 2023 | 14:30/7:30
Location: Kyushu University, Ito Campus, Department of Education and Online
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Cornelia Reiher @ Nippon Connection
Cornelia Reiher will present findings from this project at a podium discussion with Sonja Ganseforth and Hanno Jentzsch at the Japanese filmfestival Nippon Connection in Frankfurt (Main).
Title: Zwischen Aussterben und neuer Ländlichkeit: Transformationsprozesse im regionalen Japan
Event: Nippon Connection
Date and Time: June 11, 2023 at 2:30 pm
Venue: Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm (Festivalzentrum) (Studio 1), Waldschmidtstr. 4, Frankfurt am Main
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Presentation by Ngo Tu Thanh (Frank Tu)
Title: Navigating the Complexities of National-Level Rural Revitalization Policies in Japan
Event: UZH-FU Joint PhD Workshop (11-12 May, 2023)
Link: http://www.geas.fu-berlin.de/events/workshops/WS_jointpub_zurich_23.html
Date & time: 12 May, 2023 | 11:15 – 12:00.
Presentation by Frank Tu
Paper: The role of policy advisors in regional development policies: The case of Japan (Panel 4: Political advisers and policymaking)
Event: Joint Sessions of Workshops, Sciences Po Toulouse and Online, European Consortium for Political Research (25-28 April, 2023)
Session: The Adviser Elite. Power and influence in the backrooms of government.
Link: https://ecpr.eu/Events/Event/PanelDetails/12465
Link (abstract): https://ecpr.eu/Events/Event/PaperDetails/67106
Date & time: 26 April, 2023; 11:30 – 12:00.
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Fourth Joint Study Group at Kyushu University
On March 21, 2023, Cornelia Reiher and Cecilia Luzi participated in a joint study group at Kyushu University and presented results from their research to Professor Oka and her students.
Presenter: Cornelia Reiher
Title: 九州の移住定住と地域おこし： オンライン、オフライン、そしてその狭間で
Presenter: Cecilia Luzi
Title: 日本の田舎で自宅を見つける: 移住定住と地域おこし
Date and Time: March 21, 2023, 14:00
Location: Kyushu University, Ito Campus, Department of Education
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Symposium: Urban rural migration in Japan and Europe: Transnational and comparative perspectives
Time: February 2, 2023 – February 3, 2023
Location: JDZB, Saargemünder Str. 2, 14195 Berlin
Registration and program: Urban-Rural Migration in Japan and Europe: Transnational and Comparative Perspectives | Japanisch-Deutsches Zentrum Berlin (jdzb.de)
Rural areas are struggling with economic and demographic problems in many places of the world and are often confronted with the migration of rural populations to urban centers. This is especially true for communities in rural Japan, which have been affected by declining birth rates, aging, and out-migration for decades. In the past decade, however, there has been a sharp increase in both the number of people interested in moving from urban to rural areas in Japan and those who actually relocate. Urban-rural migration of older people yearning for a more relaxed retirement or younger people seeking a more sustainable lifestyle is currently evident in many post-industrial societies. A distinctive feature of Japan is the numerous programs and subsidies initiated by various actors to encourage people to move or return to rural Japan and thereby revitalize local economies and agriculture. Although research on rural areas in Japan assumes that the immigration of educated and creative people has a positive impact on the revitalization of rural communities, there has been little empirical evidence to support this assumption.
This is the starting point of this symposium, which aims to compare empirical results from the DFG project “Urban-rural migration and rural revitalization in Japan” with urban-rural migration outside Japan, while at the same time discussing the role of transnational mobility for domestic urban-rural migration in Japan. From an interdisciplinary perspective and with the involvement of practitioners, the symposium aims to analyze connections between urban-rural migration, (local) revitalization practices and global social, political and economic structures.
Program:
Thursday, February 2 15:00 – Registration 15:30 – 16:00 Opening 15:30 – 15:45 Tokiko Kiyota (Japanese-German Center Berlin) 15:45 – 16:00 Cornelia Reiher (Freie Universität Berlin) 16:00 – 17:00 Keynote Speeches 16:00 – 16:30 Post-Pandemic Developments in Lifestyle Migration: from Back-to-the-Land to Urbanrural? Susanne Klien (Hokkaido University) 16:30 – 17:00 Where are we at with Counterurbanisation in these Post-Covid Times: Rural Renaissance or Recuperation? Keith Halfacree (Swansea University) 17:00 – 17:30 Coffee Break 17:30 – 19:00 Roundtable Discussion: Urban-Rural Migration and Rural Revitalization from a Global Perspective: Challenges for Japan and Europe Chair: Cornelia Reiher (Freie Universität Berlin) Susanne Klien (Hokkaido University) Keith Halfacree (Swansea University) Taichi Goto (Region Works LLC Fukuoka) Annett Steinführer (Thünen Institute of Rural Studies) 19:00 – Reception Friday, February 3 09:00 – Registration 09:30 – 11:00 Session 1: Urban-Rural Migrants’ Experiences and their Contributions to Rural Areas Chair: Cecilia Luzi (Freie Universität Berlin) 09:30 – 09:50 The Best of Both Worlds? Experiences of Urban Migrants in Rural Aso Wolfram Manzenreiter and Antonia Miserka (University of Vienna) 09:50 – 10:10 Mobile Biographies of Urban-Rural Migrants in Rural East Germany: the Case of Nordsachsen District Tim Leibert (Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography) 10:10 – 10:30 Lifestyle Migration and Social Distinction in Rural Peripheries: Lessons from a Study on Alternative Foodscapes in Czechia’s Borderlands Anja Decker (Czech Academy of Science) 10:30 – 11:00 Discussion 11:00 – 11:30 Coffee Break 11:30 – 12:30 Session 2: Project Introduction: Urban-rural Migration and Rural Revitalization in Japan Chair: Lin-Yu Ng (Freie Universität Berlin) 11:30 – 11:45 Urban-Rural Migration and Rural Revitalization in Kyushu: Online, Offline and in Between Cornelia Reiher (Freie Universität Berlin) 11:45 – 12:00 Welcoming Foreign Talent: How a Small Municipality Seeks to Revitalize itself Tu Thanh Ngo (Freie Universität Berlin) 12:00 – 12:15 Finding Home in Rural Japan: Urban-Rural Migrants in Kyushu Cecilia Luzi (Freie Universität Berlin) 12:15 – 12:30 Discussion 12:30 – 14:00 Lunch 14:00 – 15:30 Session 3: Urban-Rural Migration and the State: Policies and Politics Chair: Tu Thanh Ngo (Freie Universität Berlin) 14:00 – 14:20 The Politics of Attracting Residents to Depopulating Municipalities in Japan Ken Hijino (Kyoto University) 14:20 – 14:40 Hamm (Sieg): Into the Future with Creative Solutions Dietmar Henrich (Mayor of Hamm) 14:40 – 15:00 Locals and Newcomers in Remote Rural Areas: Twenty Years of Experimental Research Angel Paniagua Mazorra (Spanish Council for Scientific Research) 15:00 – 15:30 Discussion 15:30 – 16:00 Coffee Break 16:00 – 17:30 Session 4: The Future of Rural Areas and Urban-Rural Migration Chair: Maritchu Durand (Freie Universität Berlin) 16:00 – 16:20 A Framework for a New Creative Tourism-Based Community Development in Japan Tadashi Saito (Yamaguchi Prefectural University) 16:20 – 16:40 Urban-Rural Migration and Rural Futures in Germany Annett Steinführer (Thünen Institute of Rural Studies) 16:40 – 17:00 Opportunities and Challenges in Swedish Rural Areas Susanne Stenbacka (Uppsala University) 17:00 – 17:30 Discussion 17:30 – 18:15 Final Discussion Chair: Cornelia Reiher (Freie Universität Berlin) 18:15 End of symposium
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Talk at FUB with Prof. Ken Hijino
Title: “Multilevel tensions and cleavages in Japanese subnational elections during the pandemic”
Time & Location: Feb 02, 2023 | 12:00-13:30
Graduate School Villa, VC Lecture Room 010/11
Freie Universität Berlin
Hittorfstr. 18 (OLD building)
14195 Berlin
Ken HIJINO is a Professor at the Graduate School of Law at Kyoto University who specializes in party politics and local democracy.
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Urban-rural migration study group – winter term 2022/ 23
January Session: Open discussion forum
For our first study group of 2023, we will have an open discussion forum on internationalization and globalization in rural areas.
Time: January 18, 2023, 10:00 Berlin (online)
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Presentation by Frank Tu: Regional Revitalization in Japan: The roles of Japan’s rural policy actors and policy implications
Presenter: Ngo Tu Thanh (Frank Tu)
GEAS Homecoming Symposium
Time & Location: Dec 08, 2022 | 09:00 AM
Graduate School Villa, VC Lecture Room 010/11
Freie Universität Berlin
Hittorfstr. 18 (OLD building)
14195 Berlin
http://www.geas.fu-berlin.de/events/conferences/Homecoming_2022.html.
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Urban-rural migration study group – winter term 2022/ 23
November Session: Kiyomi Misaki
For our second study group session this winter, Kiyomi Misaki (University of Melbourne) will present her research under the title “Small-scale democracy: The case of Niseko, Japan”.
Title: “Small-scale democracy: The case of Niseko, Japan”
Time: November 19, 2022, 10:00 Berlin (online)
Urban-rural migration study group – winter term 2022/ 23
October Session: Open discussion forum on sustainability
For our first study group session this winter, we will have an open discussion forum on sustainability in rural Japan.
Time: October 19, 2022, 10:00 Berlin (online)
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Third Joint Study Group at Kyushu University
On September 20, 2022, project PI Cornelia Reiher participated in a joint study group and presented results from her online research and her onsite fieldwork plans to Professor Oka and her team at Kyushu University. Professor Oka and two PhD students presented results of their projects on rural revitalization.
Presenter: Cornelia Reiher
Title: 九州の移住者を対象としたオンライン調査についての報告
Date and Time: September 20, 2022, 15:00
Location: Kyushu University, Ito Campus, Department of Education
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Presentation by Maritchu Durand: Renovierung und Umwandlung von verlassenen Häusern im südlichen Japan: Stadt-Land Migration und ländliche Revitalisierung
Speaker: Maritchu Durand
Host: Deutscher Orientalistentag
Date and Time: 12th September, 2022 18:00
Location: Freie Universität Berlin
Programm: https://dot2022.de/en/conference-programme/
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Presentation by Cornelia Reiher @ Japanologentag: Japan aus der Ferne: Feldforschung während der Corona-Pandemie als Autoethnographie
Speaker: Cornelia Reiher
On the occasion of the 18. Japanologentag at the Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf, Cornelia Reiher give a presentation in the anthropology section themed around ‘fieldwork during and after the pandemic – challenges and opportunities, between surveillance and virtual mobility’. Her contribution will focus on fieldwork about rural Japan during the Corona-pandemic.
Date and Time: 25th August, 2022, 09:00 (online)
Place: online
Link: https://www.modernes-japan.hhu.de/japanologentag/sektionen-und-panels
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Urban-rural migration study group – summer term 2022
July Session: Wendy Wuyts
For our last study group session this summer, Wendy Wuyts (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) will present on her research in the years 2018 and 2019 in mountainous villages in Gifu prefecture, sharing insights on the social acceptance of newcomers to the area.
Title: Social acceptance of newcomers in Japanese mountain villages, empirical insights from Higashi-Shirakawa and Shirakawa-Cho
Date and Time: July 12, 2022, 12:00 Berlin
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Panel „Researching Rural Japan in (post)COVID Times” at JAWS conference in Barcelona
Date: July 9, 2022
Place: Casa Convalescència (Barcelona)
Convenor & Chair: Chris McMorran (National University of Singapore)
Presentations:
- Sarah Bijlsma (Freie Universität Berlin) Digital ethnographies of care: Studying Miyakojima in-migration in a more-than-real world
- Cecilia Luzi (Freie Universität Berlin) Online migrants’ lives in rural Japan: How digital methods create new possibilities for life history
- Cornelia Reiher (Freie Universität Berlin) Space and time in a pandemic world: Researching rural Japan online
- Chris McMorran (National University of Singapore) Rural (dis)connections and Covid-19
Conference Website: https://grupsderecerca.uab.cat/gregal/en/content/jaws-conference-barcelona-2022
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Public Lecture: Ryokan – Mobilizing Hospitality in Rural Japan
Speaker: Chris McMorran (NUS)
Date and Time: June 23, 14:00-16:00 (Berlin)
Location: Graduate School of East Asian Studies – Freie Universität Berlin
Link: http://www.geas.fu-berlin.de/events/lectures/22_macmorran.html
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Urban-rural migration study group – summer term 2022
June Session: Open discussion forum on digital connections and digital transformation in rural Japan
For our second study group session of the summer term, due to the very positive response to our new format this summer term, we will continue our open discussion forum for this June meeting. This time, we will discuss digital connections and transformation in rural Japan. We will discuss and share our perspectives on the subject in smaller and then share our findings in a closing plenary session.
Date and Time: June 15th, 2022, 12:00 Berlin
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Second Joint Study Group with Kyushu University
June 14, 2022
On June 14, 2022 our team met again with members of Professor Oka’s research lab at the Department of Education. This time, Professor Reiher, Professor Oka and PhD and MA students from Kyūdai presented their work. Thank you, Oka Sachie, for this inspiring exchange!
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Online lecture: Paysans influenceurs et boulangers blogeurs. Regard ethnographique sur un espace rural numérique
Speaker: Cecilia Luzi
In her lecture in May for the Japarchi annual seminar “landscapes of the back-to-the-land movement and the come back of the land”, Cecilia Luzi will present her findings on her digital ethnographic exploration she conducted in 2021, analyzing digital contents of urban-rural migrants to find out about new way to experience rural life through digital space.
Time: May 27, 09:00-12:00 (France)
Host: Japarchi
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Urban-rural migration study group – summer term 2022
May Session: Open discussion forum on housing in rural areas
For our first study group session of the summer term, we are starting a new format for our monthly meeting: we will discuss housing issues and solutions in rural areas in groups of varying sizes and share our ideas and findings in an open discussion.
Time: May 18th, 12:00 Berlin
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Public Lecture by Cornelia Reiher @ U of Copenhagen: Revitalizing the Countryside – East Asian Approaches
Speakers:
Cornelia Reiher, Freie Universität Berlin
“Can migrants revitalize Japan’s countryside? Governmental promotion of urban-rural migration in Northern Kyushu”
Elena Meyer-Clement, University of Copenhagen
“Who shall revitalize China’s countryside? China’s “Rural Revitalization Strategy” and new trends in governmental regulation of internal migration”
Time and date: May 5th, 2022, 14:00-15:30
Location: University of Copenhagen, South Campus, Karen Blixens Plads 8, 2300 København
Link: https://www.thinkchina.ku.dk/events/revitalizing-the-countryside/
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Joint study group with University of Vienna
Get-together with members from the Aso 2.0 project (https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/en/aso/) to discuss research on rural Kyushu. PhD students from FU Berlin and the University of Vienna present their research and get to know each other to further future collaborations.
Time: April 26 2022, 11:00 – 13:00
Place: Zoom meeting
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Joint Study Group with Kyushu University
On February 25, 2022 our team had the opportunity to present our project to members of Professor Oka’s research lab at the Department of Education. Frank and Cecilia discussed their research with PhD and MA students who work on community education or machizukuri. We hope that we can present our work on site next time, instead of online. Thank you, Oka Sachie, for inviting us!
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Urban-rural migration study group – winter term 2021/2022
February Session: Josko Kozic
For our second study group session of the year, Josko Kozic (Heidelberg University) will give a presentation on his current doctoral research on contemporary Shugendo.
Title: Sacred power-spots and Temple workshops as ways for rural revitalization
Time: February 22, 12:00 Berlin
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Urban-rural migration study group – winter term 2021/2022
January Session: Antonia Miserka
We start the year with a new urban-rural study group session with a presentation by Antonia Miserka (University of Vienna) on her research about urban-rural migrants’ social relationships and subjective well-being.
Title: Urban-rural migrants’ social relationships and subjective well-being – A case study of Nangō valley in Kumamoto, Japan
Time: January 25, 12:00 Berlin
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Online lecture by Cornelia Reiher: Urban Rural Migration and Rural Revitalization in Japan
Speaker: Cornelia Reiher
Time: December 15 (Wednesday), 10-11h (Berlin Time)
Lecture for the Winter Term IN-EAST Research Forum, Universität Duisburg-Essen
Registration: https://uni-due.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5wrfuuupjojHdEsML2qebOU_RvVxLEtd6ID
For more details of the event: https://www.uni-due.de/in-east/events/in-east_research_forum
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Urban-rural migration study group – winter term 2021/2022
November session: Chris McMorran
We continue our urban-rural study group sessions at the end of November 2021 with a presentation by Chris McMorran (National University of Singapore) about his research on ryokan in rural Japan.
Title: Rural Japan’s Last Resort
Time: November 23, 12:00 (Berlin)
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Urban-rural migration study group – winter term 2021/2022
First presentation by Lynn Ng
We start our urban-rural study group sessions at the end of October 2021 with a presentation by Lynn Ng (GEAS) on new residents in post-disaster Fukushima.
Title: Precarity and Hope in Japan: Motivations and Risk Perceptions of New Residents in post-Disaster Fukushima
Time: October 26, 12:00 (Berlin)
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Online lecture: Revitalizing rural Japan through crafts
Speaker: Cornelia Reiher
Time: June 17th, 18:30 – 20:00 (Wien)
Online lecture for the lecture series “u:japan” by the Japanese Studies at University of Vienna
Join the meeting: https://univienna.zoom.us/j/95478695462?pwd=eDJ6OExEUHpVSlNzNUtOK2FyY25rQT09
lecture series website: https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/
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Online lecture by Cornelia Reiher : Zwischen Tradition und Innovation: Lokales Handwerk und ländliche Revitalisierung in Kyūshū
Speaker: Cornelia Reiher
Time: May 20th, 19:00 – 20:30 (Zürich)
Online lecture for the lecture series “Jenseits von Tokyo, das ländliche Japan im Umbruch” at the University Zürich
Online registration for the zoom meeting: https://www.aoi.uzh.ch/de/institut/events/registration.html
Website: https://www.agenda.uzh.ch/record.php?id=47729&reihe=1698
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