Events

Japan and Germany are confronting fast ageing populations. Supporting the social participation and inclusion of a growing number of elderly people constitutes a major challenge for both societies. Digitalization and connectivity offer great opportunities in this respect. The symposium addresses the issues of active ageing in the digital age by looking at how societies like Japan and Germany are trying to integrate the older generation into the process of digital transformation.

How do countries in Asia and Europe deal with ethnic, religious and sexual minorities? Why, in some countries, those minorities are legally protected, while in others negative public attitudes and policies of willful neglect still do persist? This conference aims to examine differences in popular attitudes and official policies towards minorities in Asia and Europe, such as the LGBTQ community and disabled persons.

With the worldwide rise of populist movements, the increase of nationalist tendencies and young people knowing less and less about recent history, maintaining the memory of the past is more important today than ever. In this workshop, researchers from Germany and Japan analyse the culture of remembrance in both countries and discuss the current challenges of teaching history and commemoration in schools and universities.

Hate speech has become a concerning phenomenon in our society, particularly on the internet where minorities such as immigrants or the LGBTQ community increasingly face hatred, verbal violence and discrimination. Children are exposed to different forms of hate speech on a regular basis, not only when using social media but also in everyday school life. The FES Office Japan invites Japanese and German teachers to exchange their views and to work together on different approaches to raise awareness and to prevent racism and violence among students.

EPRIE aims to share and exchange perspectives and experiences between East Asia and Europe. In 2018, we examined the challenges posed to the media sector by populism and post-truth politics. This year, together with media practitioners, actors from civil society, scholars and politicians, we will focus on social media as a tool for social change.

Less wars, more prosperity—that is a global trend since the end of the Cold War. Yet, illiberalism is increasingly spreading, even in democratic countries, and nationalist populism has come to define the policies of some of the great powers. Do we head towards a world where—to speak with Thucydides—the strong do as they like while the weak do as they must? The most fragile and vulnerable states—the Middle Powers—have to find ways out of the conundrum. To that end, they must find solutions regarding the problems in their own societies.

Dr. Volker Stanzel is the former ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Japan and China and currently serves as the Vice President of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Senior Distinguished Fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), and President of the Association of German-German-Japanese Societies.

Are nation states with strong ethnic identities capable of integrating large numbers of people of diverse cultures, many of whom may wish to stay and form new ethnic minority communities? Of all host nations, Japan, with a less than two percent ratio of foreign residents in its population, comes to the era of diversity with the least prior preparation. At the international conference, the above theme will be discussed with a view to encouraging students to confront social issues likely to have an impact on their futures.