The aim of the conference is to foster a discussion on the future of democracy and equality among outstanding scholars from Japan and the German-speaking world. In the face of numerous crises, the future has seemingly become predetermined for many. Building on the roots of democracy as a hopeful and emancipatory project, the three-day conference seeks to encourage both hopeful perspectives and critical reflections on the present. Special attention will be given to bringing together experts from Japanese studies, political science and political theory to leverage the potential of area studies organizations as transnational bridges for intellectual exchange and community building.

The following guiding questions frame the organization and conceptualization of the conference:

– What (in)equalities are characteristic of our current political moment, and what democratic futures are emerging, feasible, or necessary?
– What new boundaries or urgencies for democratic practices arise due to the escalating planetary crisis?

For the latest information about the annual conference, please visit: https://vsjf2025.univie.ac.at.
For questions, please contact Andreas Eder-Ramsauer (andreas.eder-ramsauer@univie.ac.at).

As usual, the VSJF Gender Workshop will begin the afternoon before the conference, on November 6, 2025.

Program*

Friday
7.11.2025

12:00	Registration
13:00-13:30	Welcome
13:30-14:30	Keynote Speech I: Prof. Dr. Uno Shigeki, Tokyo University: tba
14:30-15:00	Coffee Break
15:00-16:30	Panel 1: (Un-)Democratic Futures X Democratic Theory Dr. Veith Selk, TU Darmstadt, “The Crisis of Democratic Theory” Prof. Dr. Yamamoto Kei, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto: tba Prof. Dr. Gabriele Vogt, LMU München: “Aging Democracies, Silent Youth: How Population Aging Impacts Political Participation in Japan and the Asia-Pacific” (with Yosuke Buchmeier) Viktoria Huegel, Ph.D., Universität Wien: “An Appeal to Authority in Authoritarian Times”
16:30-17:00	Coffee Break
17:00-18:30	Panel 2: Futures X Gender Politics Prof. Suzuki Ayaka, University of Tsukuba: “Honorary Men and Neoliberal Femininity in Contemporary Japan” (online) Prof. Shimizu Akiko, Tokyo University: “The Return of the Anti-Gender Movement in Japan” Dr. Karsten Schubert, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin: tba Prof. Dr. Takeda Hiroko, Nagoya University: “The Politics of Life and Death in Japan: —Explorations through the Family-State Nexus”
19:30-22:00	Welcome Dinner (“Heuriger 10er Marie”)

Saturday
8.11.2025

09:00-11:00	VSJF Section Meetings
11:00-11:30	Coffee Break
11:30-13:00	Panel 3: Futures X Economic DisparityProf. Dr. Simon Avenell, Australian National University: “Generationalism in Japan: Leave Them Kids (and Retirees) Alone!” Dr. Shibata Saori, University of Sheffield: “Hampered Digitalisation: Institutional Failure and New Instability in Japan”  Dr. Gabriele Michalitsch, Universität Wien: “From Competitive Entrepreneur to Violent Warrior: Neoliberalism, Authoritarianism, and Militarisation” Prof. Dr. Hanno Jentzsch, Universität Wien: “Civic Self-Governance and the Erosion of Local Democracy in Japan’s Aging Rural Peripheries“
13:00-14:30	Lunch | Peer-Support Panel (DocSchool Section “Global Entanglements”) – Brownbag Lunch: “Career Paths between Area Studies and Disciplines” – Dr. Chris Perkins, Edinburgh University (chief editor, Japan Forum): Publishing for a “Global” Audience – Anna-Maria Stabentheiner, University of Vienna: Anthropology and Area Studies – Andreas Eder-Ramsauer, University of Vienna: Political Studies and Area Studies – tba.
14:30-16:00	Keynote Speech II: Prof. Dr. H. L. T. Quan, Arizona State University: “Become Ungovernable: Democratic Living in the Time of Conversion”
16:00-16:30	Coffee Break
16:30-18:00	General Members’ Meeting of the VSJF

Sunday
9.11.2025

9:30-11:00	Panel 4: Futures X Environmental Politics Prof. Dr. Asuka Jusen, Tohoku University: “Unchanged Melody of the Undemocratic Energy/Climate Policy in Japan” Dr. Florentine Koppenborg, Hochschule für Politik München: tba Dr. Jan Groos, University Kiel: “Envisioning Alternative Governmentality” Prof. Dr. Nakano Yoshihiro, Rikkyo University: “Politics of Suiten: Prolegomena to Cartographic Strategies for Relational Degrowth“
11:00-11:30	Coffee Break
11:30-13:00	Panel 5: Futures X Global Contestation Prof. Dr. Ulrich Brand, Universität Wien: tba Dr. Misato Matsuoka, Teikyo University: “Conservative Knowledge Production and the U.S.-Japan Alliance in the Era of Trump” Prof. Dr. Michal Kolmaš, Metropolitan University Prague: tba Dr. Karin Narita, Sheffield University: “An Outline of a Theory of Civilizationisms: Japanese Conservatism and Civilizational Geopolitics”
13:00-13:30	Concluding Remarks

* The program might undergo minor changes as the conference date nears; please be aware.