Poster Downroad

5^th Public Lecture of the Nanzan University, Anthropological Institute 2020-2021

Asian Ethnology Series No. 3

Book talk--Urban Migrants in Rural Japan: Between Agency and Anomie in a Post-growth Society

Date and Time: February 22, 2021 17:00-18:30 Japan Standard Time

Format: Zoom webinar

Lecturer: Susanne Klien, Hokkaido University

Respondent: Gordon Mathews, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Host: Benjamin Dorman, Nanzan University, Anthropological Institute

Program：

17:00-17:05　Introduction (Benjamin Dorman)

17:05-17:50　Lecture (Susanne Klien)

17:50-18:10　Comment/Response (Gordon Mathews)

18:10-18:30　Q&A

Abstract:

Rural areas have generally been associated with stagnation, depopulation and lack of perspectives. Yet Susanne Klien in her book, published by SUNY Press in 2020, aims to radically rethink the stereotype image of countryside in Japan and beyond. Drawing on nine years of multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork across the country, she argues that the Lehman Shock in 2008, the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 and increasingly harsh conditions of the job market have set the path for a new role of rural areas as experimental grounds for innovative projects.

In her talk, Klien will focus on three themes that feature in the book. She will introduce selected narratives by urban newcomers to show the paradox between aspiration to a better work-life-balance and the reality of persistent overwork and (self-)exploitation. She will also present life in rural Japan through the lens of female settlers and examine how they negotiate their daily lives between self-determination and structural constraints.

Last, she will reflect on the benefits of longitudinal fieldwork and the insights she obtained through follow-up interviews with her interlocutors.

More details about the book:

http://www.sunypress.edu/p-6846-urban-migrants-in-rural-japan.aspx

Report

70 people in total participated in this webinar, which generated a large number of questions, many of which could not be answered due to time constraints. Watch the video below:

In the link to the Asian Ethnology Podcast below, Susanne Klien responds directly to some of the questions that were not answered in the webinar: