[URBANTH-L]CFP: Urban Spaces in Japan

[Angela Jancius]

Urban Spaces in Japan: The Social Scientific Study of Japan and the "Spatial
Turn"

The Annual International Conference of the German Association for Social
Science Research on Japan (VSJF) will take place at the
Adam-Stegerwald-Haus in Konigswinter near Bonn from November 18-20, 2005.

This year's topic will be:
Urban Spaces in Japan: The Social Scientific Study of Japan and the
"Spatial Turn"

At a time when the spectacular growth of Japanese cities is coming to a
close, we wish to reflect on the current state of urban spaces in Japan
and their social and cultural dimensions. We thereby build on what has
been termed a "spatial turn", a growing interest in the social
constitution of space within the social sciences. Papers will approach
this topic from a large variety of disciplinary backgrounds, ranging
from economy and geography over social history and anthropology to
literature and media studies. The conference will be held in English,
and guests are welcome to register (until October 14). Major airports
Frankfurt and Cologne/Bonn are within easy reach. For program details,
abstracts, registration, and travel to Konigswinter, see:
http://www.vsjf.net/html/english.htm

For any further questions, please contact the convenors:
Christoph Brumann

Institut fuer Voelkerkunde, Universitaet zu Koeln, 50923 Koeln, Germany
christoph.brumann at uni-koeln.de
Evelyn Schulz

Department fuer Asienstudien, Japan-Zentrum, Oettingenstr. 67, 80538
Muenchen, Germany
Evelyn.Schulz at ostasien.fak12.uni-muenchen.de

Program:

Session 1: Planning, Citizen Participation and Structural Constraints
Carolin Funck (Hiroshima University)
Citizen Participation and Urban Development in Japan and Germany: Issues
and Problems
Senta Hoji (Development Bank of Japan, Okayama)
Regional Aspects of City Planning: The Relationship Between Center and
Periphery
Franz Waldenberger (University of Munich)
The Fiscal Conditions of Urban Development in Japan
Anke Scherer (University of Bochum)
The Colonial Appropriation of Public Space: Architecture and City
Planning in the Japanese-Dominated Cities of Taibei, Seoul and Xinjing
Katja Schmidtpott (University of Bochum)
The Emergence of a New Type of Suburban Neighbourhood Association in the
1950s

Session 2: Tokyo in Transformation
Theodore Bestor (Harvard University)
Place-Making and Urban Subjectivity in Tokyo
Ralph Lutzeler (University of Bonn)
Segregation in a "Homogeneous" City: Tokyo and the New Debate on
Fragmenting Urban Societies
Paul Waley (University of Leeds)
>From Ugly Duckling to Cool Cat: The Rescripting of Tokyo

Session 3: Kyoto in Transformation
Nicolas Fieve (Centre National de Recherches Scientifiques, Paris)
The Urban Landscape Preservation in the Historical City of Kyoto
Muneta Yoshifumi (Kyoto Prefectural University)
A la recherche du Japon perdu: The conceptual evolution of the "historic
city" Kyoto
Christoph Brumann (University of Cologne)
Dividing the City: High-Rises and Conflict in Central Kyoto

Session 4: Cultural and Social Innovation in the City
Roland Domenig (University of Vienna)
The Role of Cinemas for Urban Development and Identity
Ingrid Getreuer-Kargl (University of Vienna)
Gendered Modes of Appropriating Public Space

Session 5: Japanese Urban Space-- Broadening the View
Winfried Fluchter (University of Duisburg-Essen)
The Concept of the City, the City System and City Development of Japan
Throughout the Changing Times
Andre Sorensen (University of Toronto)
Machizukuri, Civil Society and Community Space in Japan
Evelyn Schulz (University of Munich)
Walking the City: Configurations of the Urban Spectator in Writings on Tokyo
Shirahata Yozaburo (International Research Center for Japanese Studies,
Kyoto)
The Future of the Japanese City: Aspects of Urbanity and Sustainability

Concluding discussion

Prof. Dr. Evelyn Schulz
Munich University
Japan Center
Oettingenstr. 67
80538 Munich
Germany
phone: +49 (89) 2180 9803
fax: +49 (89) 2180 9801
Email: evelyn.schulz at ostasien.fak12.uni-muenchen.de
Visit the website at http://www.vsjf.net