Publications

Publication

Japanese translation of "Energiewende verstehen: Handlungsstrategien, Akteure, Regulierung" (エネルギーシフトを理解する：行動戦略、関係者、調整)

Germany’s ‘Energy Shift’ aims at achieving the country’s goals on climate protection, particularly a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by shifting towards renewable energy production and improving consumption efficiency....

Publication

The Abe Government and the 2014 Screening of Japanese Junior High School History Textbooks

School textbooks are an arena of contesting the past to shape the future, and can be a sign of democracy as well as an indicator of efforts to suppress it. Results of the Japanese government’s school textbook screening show how...

Publication

Japanese translation of "Die 6 Mythen der Euro-Krise" ("ユーロ危機をめぐる6つの「神話")

With its outcome showing an increasing distrust in its institutions and the rise of euro-sceptic and right-wing movements, the European elections have substantially shaken up the European politics. This paper argues that even though...

Publication

Statement of Social Democratic Party of Japan on the House of Representatives General Election

In response to the surprise dissolution and general election seeking the voters' judgment on ‘Abenomics’, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) positioned the election as questioning the politics of the Abe administration. It chose the...

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"The Politics of History - History in Politics. Sources relating to the History Textbook Controversy and other debates over history and memory in Japan and East Asia."

Discussions about the Asia-Pacific War (1931-1945) still have a tremendous impact on international relations in East Asia. This collection of documents will help to better understand the complex processes of reconciliation and the...

Publication

"Learning from the Nazis? How the Japanese constitution is being quietly undermined."

In summer 2013, Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso suggested that Japan should learn methods of constitutional revision from the Nazis in 1930s Germany. This paper analyses the background of this statement and the underlying ideology of...

Publication

"Japan ist übrigens auch noch da" (Japan is still important)

Germany seems out of touch with Japan. High ranking federal representatives, including Merkel, and the German media seem to focus only little on Japan and its recent developments, such as in economy and politics, or are too heavily...

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"Rechtsruck in Japan? - Am Rundfunksender NHK zeigen sich die Konflikte der japanischen Gesellschaft" (Japan shifts to the right?)

Even though NHK is Japan’s publicly owned broadcaster, to this date it has maintained its independence from the government. This is increasingly changing, due to more active political interventions to key areas like program planning and...

Publication

"PM Abe Overturns Japan’s Pacifist Postwar Order"

1 July 2014 will go down in history as a watershed in Japan’s postwar history, a twenty-first century "day of infamy" when Abe hijacked democracy by renouncing Article 9 and the nation’s pacifist postwar order in an unscrupulous manner,...

Publication

"Geschichte der Sozialdemokratie in Japan" (History of Social Democracy in Japan)

In the course of the development of political ideologies in modern Japan, Social Democracy has been subject to many changesof minor relevance. What is understood by the concept has been subject to profound changes over time in Japan,just...