Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies

Oxford University

The University of Oxford is one of the world's leading centres for the study of Japan. The Nissan Institute, within the School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies, acts as a focal point for graduate level work and faculty research on Japan in the social sciences. Alongside vibrant doctoral programmes, the MSc and MPhil in Modern Japanese Studies, inaugurated in 2008, are recognized as among Europe's most prestigious and successful training programmes. The Nissan Institute seminar runs each week during the teaching terms alongside the Graduate research seminar.

  • 23 minutes 42 seconds
    Towards Synthesis of the Youth’s Counter-urbanisation Movement and the Governmental-led Measures for Shrinking Communities in Japan
    Dr Taro Hirai, Hirosaki University, gives a talk for the Nissan Institute 'Slow Cities? The revitalisation of shrinking communities in Japan' on 10th March, 2016.
    7 April 2016, 9:11 am
  • 34 minutes 45 seconds
    Achieving an Asia-Pacific Depopulation Dividend: Evidence and Experience from Shrinking Regions in Japan and New Zealand
    Dr Peter Matanle, University of Sheffield, gives a talk for the Nissan Institute 'Slow Cities? The revitalisation of shrinking communities in Japan' on 10th March, 2016.
    7 April 2016, 9:08 am
  • 30 minutes 45 seconds
    The Degradation and Regeneration of Rural Areas in Japan
    Professor Hirokazu Sakuno, Shimane University, gives talk for the Nissan Institute 'Slow Cities? The revitalisation of shrinking communities in Japan' on 10th March, 2016.
    7 April 2016, 9:05 am
  • 31 minutes 7 seconds
    The Slow City Approach and the Resilience of Japanese Shrinking Communities
    Heuishilja Chang, University of Oxford, gives a talk for the Nissan Institute 'Slow Cities? The revitalisation of shrinking communities in Japan' on 10th March, 2016.
    7 April 2016, 9:03 am
  • 37 minutes 36 seconds
    Cittaslow Experiences against the Social Desertification and to Promote Local Micro-economies on Resilient Way
    Pier Giorgio Oliveti, Cittaslow International, gives a talk for the Nissan Institute for the Slow Cities? The revitalisation of shrinking communities in Japan on 10th March, 2016.
    7 April 2016, 9:02 am
  • 31 minutes 7 seconds
    From Growth to Shrinkage: Managing Population Decline in Western-Europe
    Professor Gert-Jan Hospers, Radboud University, the University of Twente, gives a talk for the Nissan Institute as part of the ;Slow Cities? The revitalisation of shrinking communities in Japan; on 10th March, 2016.
    7 April 2016, 8:57 am
  • 1 hour 8 minutes
    Abenomics: Past, Present, and Future
    Professor Jun Saito (Keio University), gives a talk for the Nissan Institute podcast series.
    10 March 2016, 4:48 pm
  • 46 minutes 57 seconds
    The Double Responsibility of Care: Balancing childcare, elderly care and work.
    Junko Yamashita (Bristol University), gives a talk for the Nissan Institute podcast series.
    10 March 2016, 4:40 pm
  • 1 hour 2 minutes
    A History of the IUD in Japan: Birth control policy and Cold War diplomacy
    Dr Aya Homei, Manchester University, gives a talk for the Nissan Institute podcast series.
    10 March 2016, 4:36 pm
  • 34 minutes 41 seconds
    The Social Life of the Solitary Death: Aging, housing, and the limits of dwelling
    Dr Jason Danely (Oxford Brookes University), gives a talk for the Nissan Institute seminar series.
    10 March 2016, 4:30 pm
  • 56 minutes 20 seconds
    Redefining the community firm? The unionization of part-time workers in the retail industry
    Arjan Keizer, Manchester Business School, gives a talk for the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies. The rise in non-regular employment poses a major challenge to Japanese mainstream unions which have long limited organisation to regular employees as members of the firm community while non-regular workers were considered non- or quasi-members at best. However, several unions in retail, in particular those affiliated with the industry union UA Zensen, have successfully organised part-time workers to the extent that they now constitute the majority of members. The seminar discusses these initiatives by drawing on interviews with representatives of Rengo, UA Zensen and three affiliated enterprise unions at major supermarkets, and addresses the implications for both the position of part-time workers and the character of Japanese unions. It finds that unionisation has contributed to a stronger integration of these workers in the systems of industrial relations and human resource management. Important developments include their inclusion in collective bargaining during the annual shunto and union participation in the development of inclusive personnel systems which offer new career chances. However, the developments remain strongly shaped by the dualism in the labour market and unionization has hardly addressed the secondary position of non-regular workers. Moreover, it has not fundamentally changed but actually confirmed the character of Japanese unionism. These unions have extended membership to the firm community but maintain their firm-based and cooperative character. It confirms how they are strongly embedded in the labour market and wider society, and suggests that more substantial change would require a new perspective on the position of and equality between regular and non-regular employees.
    26 February 2016, 11:23 am
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