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Japan's Possible Futures - Sponsored by the Social Science Research Council
Thu, March 31, 7:30 to 9:30pm, Washington State Convention Center, Floor: 2nd Floor, Room 213Session Submission Type: Roundtable Session
Abstract
AAS proposal
The purpose of this proposal for a roundtable is fourfold: introduce research on Japan’s possible futures, look beyond the disasters of 2011 at new developments in the years ahead, serve as a book launch for Japan: The Precarious Future, and enable the contributors to interact with an audience of scholars and students in a Q & A discussion.
The edited volume is scheduled for publication by New York University Press in December 2015. The AAS conference is the first (and probably only) opportunity for five of the authors to make a joint presentation of their work.
The theme of the roundtable is the near-term outlook for Japan as seen by eighteen scholars (five will attend) and the scope is broad. The essays range from grim demographic constraints, employment patterns, and the rivalry between China and Japan to the legacy of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. Some authors see gloom (but not doom) while others foresee a successful muddling through. The consensus is summed up in the book’s title: a precarious future.
Each discussant will address an aspect of Japan’s future based on her/his chapter in the book. Ayako Kano will discuss gender issues. Saori Katada will discuss Abenomics and financial revival. Lawence Repeta will discuss the controversy over Japan’s constitution. William Siembieda will discuss post-Fukushima preparation for mega-disasters. Masaru Yarime will discuss the transformation of science and technology to meet social challenges.
This is a committed effort to present multidisciplinary social science research at the AAS conference. Two discussants will travel from Japan and at least two have never attended an AAS event. The roundtable will offer new voices on a new topic.
Researchers in Japan are showing greater interest in the country’s future. Two public symposia in Tokyo this year have looked at where Japan will be circa 2030. Each was narrow in scope, basically limited to one discipline. This roundtable will demonstrate the benefits of a wider focus.