Programme

9.00 – 9.30 Registration

9.30 – 9.45 Welcome and Introductions

9.45 – 11.15 Key note: Ian Condry, 'The Digital Upheaval of Music in Japan and Why It’s Good: From Idols to Underground DJs' Everything is free now” is both a song and mantra describing the digital upheaval in the recording industry around the globe. How are musicians adapting in Japan? What can this tell us about the potential of a postcapitalist future? Based on fieldwork in Tokyo, Boston, and Berlin, cultural anthropologist Ian Condry will discuss some of the surprising insights to be gained from how musicians are adjusting to life after the recording industry’s 21st century demise

11.15 – 11.30 Coffee

11.30 – 13.00 Parallel Sessions:

Gaming/Games

  • Censoring Collective Memories: the treatment of sensitive historical imagery in the rating of videogames in Japan, William Kelly, University of Oxford, UK
  • Street Animals, Bronwin Patrickson, University of Leeds, UK
  • Spatial Practices in Ukiyo-e and Video Games, Mark Donoghue, University of the Arts London, UK

Digital Rights and Citizenship

  • Database Culture, Moe and Post-Truth: a comparative examination, Luca Paolo Bruno, Universität Leipzig, Germany
  • Use of Social Media and Messaging Apps in the Japanese Media Ecosystem: fictionality, privacity and the construction of personal narratives, Manuel Hernandez-Perez, University of Hull, UK
  • Cell Phone City: how mobile internet transforms urban space in Tokyo, Deirdre Sneep, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

Re-shaping a ‘new’ Japan

  • Japanese Digital Illustration and Popular Culture, Jennifer Lynch, Liverpool John Moores University, UK
  • Fashion, Fabric & Narratives - collaborative research with Kimono designers, Andrea Zapp, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
  • Technological Innovation through Cuteness, Christopher J. Hayes, Cardiff University, UK

13.00 – 14.00 Lunch

14.00 – 15.30 Key note: Kazuhito Gen’i, 'The 2.5-Dimensional Musical in Japan' 2.5-Dimensional Musical refers to a group of theatre productions that are based on manga, anime and videogames, where the 2D world of these texts are recreated on the stage in 3D: hence, '2.5D', a culture in between 2D and 3D. These productions have become extremely popular in Japan in the last ten years; the term ‘2.5-D musical’ itself was coined by fans and eventually spread beyond the fan community. Digital media always plays a key role in the success of these plays. Kazuhito Gen'i, as a professional lyricist and director, will discuss Japanese 2.5 D culture from a perspective of creator and practitioner.

15.30 – 15.45 Break

15.45 – 17.15 Parallel Sessions

Liminal Intersections

  • Re-thinking the Neo-Victoriental: Retrofuturism and Technological Fetishism in Japanese Steampunk, Robbie McAllister, Leeds Trinity University, UK
  • Crossdresser Escort Service: A 2.5 Dimensions Entertainment or an “Augmented Reality”?, Marta Fanasca, University of Manchester, UK

Systems, Structures and Industries

  • The Change of the Digital Legal Framework in Japan: a culture on the move, Ana Gascon Marcen, Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain
  • Digital Challenges Facing the Anime Industry, Olivia Hinkin, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
  • Inter-media Exchanges and Manga's Impact on Japanese Cinema After the Digital Turn, Giacomo Calorio, University of Genova, Italy

Heritage, history and the past

  • Preserving Anime in the Digital Age, or, Japanese Hand-drawn Animation and the Issue of Archiving, Dario Lolli, Birkbeck, University of London, UK and Niigata University, Japan
  • Digitizing Musical Minds in Japan, circa 1868 to the Present, Joshua Solomon, Hirosaki University, Japan
  • Promotion of Cultural Heritage by Digital Technologies in Japan, Delphine Vomscheid & Kevin Jacquot, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes and MAP-Aria, France

17.15 – 17.45 Close

18.30 Optional Dinner: Bakchich