11-13 September 2023
Concept, Idea & Coordination
Dr. Harald Kümmerle and Dr. Celia Spoden
German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ Tokyo)
Prof. Dr. Jiré Emine Gözen
University of Europe for Applied Sciences Berlin/University of Bayreuth
Prof. Noriyuki Yanagawa, PhD
The University of Tokyo

Registration
here!
https://dij.tokyo/dmd

Discursive andMaterial Dimensionsof the Digital
Transformation

Perspectives fromand on Japan

DAY 1
MON 11 SEPTEMBER
10:00-16:00 Robots and AI
Webinar (registration required)

10:30-12:15 Envisioning Future Societies:
Robots and AI in Science Fiction, the Lab, and Reality
13:45-16:00 Sociocultural Practices of Situating the Self and Other:
Robots with Heart, Virtual Humans, and Matter with Soul
Venue: Sophia University, Building No. 10, Kodo Lecture Hall (public – registration required)

18:00-20:30 keynote: Prof. Dr. Shoko Suzuki (Kyoto)
Rediscovering “Glocal” Cultural Resources for the Digital Future
keynote: Prof. Dr. Shintaro Miyazaki (Berlin)Counter-Dancing Digitality! Practising CommOnistic Cooperativity
DAY 2
TUE 12 SEPTEMBER
10:00-15:00 Data and Infrastructures

Webinar (registration required)

10:00-11:45 Algorithms, Data, and the In-between:
Fashion Culture and Transnational Science
13:15-15:00

Data Policy and Agile Governance
Venue: Half Moon Hall, Shimokitazawa (public– registration required)

17:45-22:00 ONE – A Performance About Artificial Intelligence by
Sabrina Strehl & Kathrin Diele (Berlin)
DAY 3
WED 13 SEPTEMBER
14:00-18:00 Cross-topic Working Groups (not public)

Organized and Sponsored by

Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
Workshop, 11-13 September 2023

Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital
Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
Based on perspectives from and on Japan, we deal with the discursive and material
dimensions of the digital transformation. In the research literature on the digitaltransformation, robots and data are often discussed separately. We want to bringthese topics together and consider algorithms, AI, and infrastructure as potentiallyconnecting approaches and analytical concepts.
On the first day, we will explore visions, practices, and narratives in politics,
research and development, and science fiction related to robots, artificial intelligence, and algorithms. The second day is dedicated to the use of data and thedevelopment of data infrastructures with regard to their socio-cultural, economic,
and historical situation. Here, too, AI and algorithms function as constitutive
elements. On both days, eurocentrisms and (self-)orientalizations will be identified
and questioned.
On the third day, the results of the two thematic days are compiled and related.
Based on the discussions of the previous days, we look for gaps, fractures, andthe in-between of the material and discursive constructions of robots, data, AI,
algorithms, and infrastructures from a transdisciplinary perspective to think
about possibilities of employing them productively. We draw on approaches frommedia and cultural studies, anthropology, the history of science, and science andtechnology studies.

Concept, Idea & Coordination
Dr. Harald Kümmerle and Dr. Celia Spoden, German Institute for Japanese Studies(DIJ Tokyo)
Prof. Dr. Jiré Emine Gözen, University of Europe for Applied Sciences Berlin/
University of Bayreuth
Prof. Noriyuki Yanagawa, PhD, The University of Tokyo
Workshop organized byGerman Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ) Tokyo
Nippon Institute for Research Advancement (NIRA)
German Center for Research and Innovation (DWIH) Tokyo
Sophia University, Graduate School of Global Studies
University of Europe for Applied Sciences (UE) Germany

2

Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
Workshop, 11-13 September 2023

PROGRAM
DAY 1

MON 11 SEPTEMBER

Robots and AI

10:00-10:30 Greetings

Venue: Sophia University, Building No. 10

Celia Spoden

Kodo Lecture Hall

10:30-10:45 Introduction to the 1st session
Jiré Emine Gözen
Envisioning Future Societies: Robots and AI in
Science Fiction, the Lab, and Reality
10:45-12:15

18:00-20:30 Keynotes & Discussion

Jiré Emine Gözen, Harald Kümmerle,

18:00

Doors open

18:15

Welcome addresses

18:30

Shoko Suzuki (Kyoto University)
Rediscovering ‘Glocal’ Cultural Resources for

Session 1 (hybrid)
Gentiane Venture (University of Tokyo)
How do autonomous robots transform our present

the Digital Future
19:15

Counter-Dancing Digitality! Practisingand future societies? Reflections on societal
challenges from the lab
Hirotaka Osawa (Keio University) &Yashima Yugen (Writer)
Sci-Fi prototyping and the AI alignment problem
James Wright (Queen Mary University of London)
Growing gaps between sci-fi visions and material
realities of digital transformation in Japan

13:45-14:00 Introduction to the 2nd session
Celia SpodenSociocultural Practices on Situating the Self andthe Other: Robots with Heart, Virtual Humans andMatter with Soul
14:00-16:00 Session 2 (hybrid)
Daniel White (University of Cambridge)
Making Emotional Connections with Robots and AI
in Japan’s Digital Transformation
Kerry McInerney (University College London)
From ‘Japan Panic’ to ‘Chinese Peril’:
The Shifting Location of the Techno-Orient in theUS
Kojiro Honda (Kanazawa Medical University)
Japanese Robot Culture and Ancient Shintoism
Chihyung Jeon (University of Tokyo)
Alive again, digitally: Turning dead persons into
virtual humans in South Korea

Shintaro Miyazaki (Humboldt University Berlin)
CommOnistic Cooperativity

20:00

Discussion

Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
Workshop, 11-13 September 2023

DAY 2

TUE 12 SEPTEMBER

Data and Infrastructures

10:00-10:15 Introduction to the 3rd session

17:45-20:00 Theater & Discussion

Harald Kümmerle

Venue: Half Moon Hall (Shimokitazawa)

Algorithms, Data, and the In-between:

ONE – A performance about artificial intelligence

Fashion Culture and Transnational Science
10:15-11:45

Session 3 (hybrid)by Sabrina Strehl & Kathrin Diele (Berlin)
17:45

Doors open

Fashion Culture Created by Algorithmic

18:15

Performance

Recommendations: How can a systematic

19:15

Discussion

Yoko Fujishima (Ritsumeikan University)

understanding of fashion be formed on social
networking sites and e-commerce sites?

20:15 -21:30 Reception and Buffet

Rebecca Carlson (Toyo University)
Infrastructuring (trans)national bioscience: fromhumans to cells to code in a Japanese laboratory
Tobias Matzner (University of Paderborn)
The co-constitution of machine learningalgorithms and training data
DAY 3
13:15-13:30

Introduction to the 4th session
Noriyuki Yanagawa
Data Policy & Agile Governance

13:30-15:00 Session 4 (hybrid)		
Chizuru Suga (METI)
Insights
Masakazu Masujima (Mori Hamada & Matsumoto

Cross-topic working groups

10:00-13:00 Excursion
DAWN Avatar Robot Café
Cross-topic working groups (not public)
14:00-14:30 Wrap-up of Day 1 and 2

Law Firm)

14:30-16:00 Discussions in cross-topic working groups

Perspective

16:30-18:00 Presentations of the results from theTatsuhiko Inatani (Kyoto University)
Analysis

4

WED 13 SEPTEMBER

working groups and final discussion

Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
11 September 2023
Keynotes and Workshop Day 1

Shoko Suzuki
Kyoto University, Centre for the Promotion of Interdisciplinary Education andResearch, Kyoto / RIKEN Centre for Advanced Intelligence Project, Tokyo

Rediscovering “Glocal” Cultural Resources forthe Digital Future
The rapid advancements in information and communication technologies,
including AI, have profoundly impacted society and the essence of humanexistence. As we witness the dynamic evolution of man-machine collaborationand symbiosis, exploring the factors that allow humans to preserve their coreidentity as custodians and heirs of technological civilization becomes crucial.
This presentation emphasizes the pivotal role of cultural diversity in implementing technology within society.
Envisioning a digital future where the evolution of humanity converges with thedevelopment of man-machine systems requires transcending anthropocentrism
and self-orientation and instead embracing the rediscovery of “glocal” cultural
resources. Overcoming the perception of other cultures as mere exotic or rare
entities, akin to the rarest orchids, is essential to avoid constructing overarching
universal models of culture and humans. Culture encompasses tangible
heritage and intangible aspects, including customs, practices, wisdom, behaviour, values, arts, and perspectives on life and death. These intangible elements
continuously shape and reshape the digital future daily.
To achieve this, we must scan local indigenous cultures from a global
perspective, updating them while preserving their potential for shareability
by transcending the inherent uniqueness of individual cultures. As part of thisendeavour, the presentation focuses on the potential elements of Japaneseculture, exploring “glocal” cultural resources for digital transformation (DX).

Shintaro Miyazaki
Humboldt-University Berlin, Media Studies

Counter-Dancing Digitality! Practising
CommOnistic Cooperativity
In my keynote I will emphasize the need to playfully practice new forms ofsolidarity-oriented computation that prioritize human needs over profit, and I
will argue for commoning, a practice to create shared resources that benefit
everyone involved. Overall, I will provide a critical media theory of futuringwith an emphasis on the transformative potential of agent-based modelingand counter-dancing as tools for social transformation. Modeling, especially
agent-based modeling, is presented as a medium to imagine, develop, test
and practice new ways of organization, non-capitalistic life, sharing resources
and new ways to think about social transformation. By processing, digesting,and countering the imposition of digitality, we can struggle against it in a jointly
self-determined way. This involves also historical, material and critical investigations and alternative inquiries into the operativity of digital environments and theways we usually react to them.
5Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
11 September 2023
Keynotes and Workshop Day 1

Gentiane Venture
The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Engineering

How do autonomous robots transform ourpresent and future societies? Reflections onsocietal challenges from the lab
Autonomous robotics is a “total social phenomenon”. By definition, suchphenomena can transform in depth all aspects of a society that permeate every
sector of the culture. They give rise to economical, ecological and politicalchallenges. This presentation proposes some original lines of reflection oncontemporary autonomous robotics through the presentation of our research
activities and by discussing the roles of robots in our present societies and in
the future, questioning our relationship with our surroundings and possibly thenotion of humanity.

Hirotaka Osawa & Yashima Yugen
Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University / Writer

Sci-Fi prototyping and the AI alignment problem
The rapid development of artificial intelligence technology has made predicting
the future extremely difficult. Under such unstable circumstances, attempts
at science fiction prototyping, in which science fiction is used as a means ofcommunication to explore the shape of the future with people, rather thansimply using Sci-Fi to predict the future, have been attracting attention. As aresult of these attempts, this study will also present an anthology of recent
years by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan and discuss theactivities of its authors.
One of the intriguing problems concerning AI is the AI alignment problem. In
particular, the AI alignment problem arises from the disparity in goals between
humans and AI. AI systems, such as ChatGPT, can appear superior to humans
in terms of the quantity and quality of knowledge, as well as their response time.
To ensure the protection of human users, AI may be required to adhere to ahigher moral standard than humans. Additionally, AI decisions may need to override a child’s reckless command. However, this does not imply that AI always
makes better choices. It is impossible to establish general rules regarding which
entity should have the final decision, as each case is unique. In this context, we
present thought-provoking perspectives on this problem.

6

Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
11 September 2023
Keynotes and Workshop Day 1

James Wright
Queen Mary University of London

Growing gaps between sci-fi visions and material
realities of digital transformation in Japan
This talk explores the growing gap between sci-fi visions and the moremundane reality of robotic and AI material infrastructures, practices, andaffordances in Japan. While science fiction and techno-utopian narratives,
catalysed by anxiety about Japan’s national competitiveness (White 2022), havebeen effective at mobilising public investment in robots and AI, they also bringheightened expectations and, arguably, a growing sense of disappointment at
the perceived lack of rapid progress in these areas. At the same time, thesetechno-visions themselves often omit any sense of transformed social orpolitical relations, and in their paternalistic and technologically determinist
origins end up representing what Robertson terms “‘retro-tech,’ or advanced
technology in the service of traditionalism” (2010, 28): a flattened and narrow
technology-led vision of society that is increasingly out of step with the kinds offutures Japanese people actually want.

Daniel White
University of Cambridge, Department of Social Anthropology

Making Emotional Connections with Robots and AI
in Japan’s Digital Transformation
Although the terms AI and robots are often conflated today, their respective
histories in Japan overlap only in part. Tracing the ways the concepts have been
recently integrated through engineering discourses offers an opportunity to
map their connections with emerging data infrastructures. One way to tracethese connections is by attending to a thematic focus within Japan’s growing
digital marketplace on robot emotionality. For example, Softbank’s humanoid
robot Pepper, introduced in 2014, has been marketed as the “the world’s first
personal robot that can read emotions.” Yukari Engineering’s cat-like robot
Qoobo is promoted as a “tailed cushion that heals your heart.” And Groove X’sfurry robot on wheels named LOVOT is designed, according to the company,
for just one reason: “to be loved by you.” These emerging robots reflect longer
histories in Japan of connecting emotionally with robots, in which a robot’s
sophistication was often measured by its impression of having heart (kokoro).
This presentation discusses how emotional connections between humans androbots becomes a discursive theme in Japanese robotics that creates material
consequences for the ways data, robots, and AI are codeveloping in Japan.

7

Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
11 September 2023
Keynotes and Workshop Day 1

Kerry McInerney
University of Cambridge, The Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence

From ‘Japan Panic’ to ‘Chinese Peril’: The Shifting
Location of the Techno-Orient in the US
In this paper, I examine how the locus of the ‘techno-Orient’ shifts across timeand space, reproducing historical anti-Asian power relations while simultaneously reinventing them for specific economic and geopolitical moments. I startby examining the contemporary rhetoric of the AI arms race between the US
and China. I then explore the direct parallels and the genealogical linkages
between the US-China AI arms race and the ‘Japan panic’ of the 1980s, where
Japan’s economic ascendancy and world-leading manufacturing generated
deep anxieties within the US. I show how this period shaped one of the mostinfluential genres in AI narratives - cyberpunk - and interrogate how theOrientalism of cyberpunk continues to underlie contemporary narratives about
Asianness and AI. I conclude by pointing towards the human cost of these
Orientalist narratives and tense geopolitical relations by looking at the murderof Vincent Chin in 1982 and the US Department of Justice’s 2018-2022 China
Initiative.

Kojiro Honda
Kanazawa Medical University, General Education Department

Japanese Robot Culture and Ancient Shintoism
Based on the theological theory of ancient Shintoism, I would like to discuss
where the normative consciousness related to the relationship between thingsand people is derived in Japanese society, where the use of robot technology is
progressing. In ancient Shintoism, all things are a combination of four kinds ofsouls and matter. According to this way of thinking, it is natural that souls dwell
in materials. The ancient Japanese believed that all antique items had souls andcalled them “Tsukumo-gami”. Because of such a cultural background, for theJapanese, there are no significant barriers to anthropomorphizing robots andcreating social relationships with them. But when it comes to body modification,it’s a different story. According to ancient Shintoism, human beings who have
“Nabitama (the balancer spirit)”, the branch spirit of “Amanominakanushi (thespirit of the universe)”, can activate it only by purifying their bodies. That is tosay, transforming the human body through technological modification contradicts this idea of body purification.

8

Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
11 September 2023
Keynotes and Workshop Day 1

Chihyung Jeon
Institute for Future Initiatives, University of Tokyo, andGraduate School of Science and Technology Policy, KAIST

Alive again, digitally: Turning dead persons into
virtual humans in South Korea
This presentation explores the technocultural practice of creating and interacting with virtual humans in South Korea. Virtual humans, by definition, exist in
virtual spaces and are not bound by physical or biological constraints of the realworld. The creation and use of virtual humans, however, is a social and cultural
practice shaped by the motivation and desire of their creators and users. In
this presentation, I focus on some recent examples in Korean popular cultureof recreating or reviving dead persons with VR or other digital technologies forthe purpose of memory, mourning, or entertainment. I point out that reviving
actual persons who are dead is different from creating virtual characters fromscratch in terms of cultural tolerance, ethical concerns, and social implications.
Often produced as part of television programs (documentary or entertainment),
these virtual versions of dead people raise questions about human identity
and relationships as well as the contemporary meaning of death. What traitsof a person are considered essential for digital revival? What social or cultural
work are the virtual humans expected to perform for their family, producers, orviewers?

9

Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
12 September 2023
Workshop Day 2

Tobias Matzner
Paderborn University, Media Studies

The co-constitution of machine learning algorithms
and training data
Training data is discussed as one major inroad for biases (mostly Eurocentric)
into algorithms. Many studies have shown the result in discriminatory algorithmic
output. While such discussions are very important, many of them implicitly reduce
the algorithm to a kind of neutral carrier or channel that transports whichever bias
is fed into them – as computer scientists say: bullshit in, bullshit out. The presentation will show how training data indeed constitutes important parts of machinelearning algorithms, yet at the same time these algorithms also performatively
turn the data into a part of their operation. Since machine learning algorithms canonly be assessed by their output, data are only judged through their applicationin algorithms. Data, one could say, are not only biased regarding the which they
represent, but also biased towards specific algorithms. In sum, I will argue thatdata should not be considered as a (more or less biased) representation but rather
an algorithmic performative that can be criticized with recourse to performative
theories of meaning and normativity.

Yoko Fujishima
Ritsumeikan University, College of Social Sciences

Fashion Culture Created by Algorithmic
Recommendations: How can a systematic
understanding of fashion be formed on social
networking sites and e-commerce sites?
Shopping on e-commerce sites has become an indispensable part of our lives.
Although there has been a resistance to purchasing fashion items on e-commercesites due to the high demand for trying on and checking actual items, the expansion of the market for inexpensive apparel items and the development of various
innovations to make shopping on e-commerce sites more convenient have led to
the widespread use of fashion e-commerce sites. However, in the realm of fashion,
it is difficult to search by word. There are no specific product names, the numberof products is enormous, and it is impossible to clearly define colors and shapes
in words. Traditionally, systematic understanding of fashion has been formed in
fashion media such as magazines and shopping malls. It is also said that with theproliferation of fast fashion and commodity items, fashion genres are becoming
increasingly difficult to recognize. In this context, how do users form theirperception of “fashion”? One point of focus is that algorithmic recommendations
on platforms such as e-commerce sites and social networking services have asignificant effect on user recognition. In this presentation, I will attempt to analyze
the systematization of fashion via SNS and e-commerce sites, especially for young
Japanese women’s fashion, from the perspective of the platform’s structure and

10Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
12 September 2023
Workshop Day 2

users’ usage practices. From this analysis, I will clarify the differences from thesituation when “fashion” was perceived in magazines and urban culture, anddiscuss the experience of fashion and consumer culture in the digital media
age.

Rebecca Carlson
Toyo University, Faculty of Information Sciences and Arts

Infrastructuring (trans)national bioscience: fromhumans to cells to code in a Japanese laboratory
When scientists transform cells into quantifiable information such as DNA
sequence data and then compute those in code, these materials, their attendant
practices and even researchers themselves, operate within, and are acted
on by, various infrastructures. These include government ministries, national
institutes, networks of individual research labs and even ideologies which define
the cross-border transmissibility of scientific materials. In this presentation, I
focus on the way infrastructures are fundamentally composed, and also constitutive, of circulation and transformative exchange. Brian Larkin has described
infrastructures as both the ground, a field upon which “objects operate”, and“the relation between things” (2013, 329). These fields are activated whenpeople, objects, and substances flow through them, forming and un-forming
relations, in ongoing activities of infrastructuring (Karasti & Blomberg, 2018;
Bossen & Markussen 2010). Yet, practices of infrastructuring are not definedby unfettered flow, but by regulation—a slowing down, diverting and prohibiting
just as much as they contribute to a moving about or a spreading around. For
example, when laboratory bioscientists in Japan need materials, new techniques and tools for their research experiments, they often encounter structuralresistance to transnational routes of exchange. In these contexts then, how dopractices of infrastructuring both reconfirm and rewrite such borders? Drawing
on ethnographic data from a bioscience research laboratory, I argue that wheninfrastructures at various scales meet, they transform—even as they may limit—
the materials and “data” which seek to move through and across them. Thesetransformations are always trans-border although they are not irreducible tonational boundaries.

11Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
12 September 2023
Workshop Day 2

Data policy and Agile GovernanceAs digitalization increasingly permeates every facet of our lives, the interplay
between vast streams of data and an evolving societal fabric are transforming
the world as we know it. How do we ensure that amidst the rapid advancements
in AI and big data that are reshaping our societies, we are able to navigate apath forward that preserves our core values and interests of privacy, equity,and economic dynamism? The answer might lie in the emerging concept ofagile governance, which could offer a framework for responsible and adaptive
data management. This session delivers a comprehensive exploration of theJapanese government’s efforts to build an agile governance regime, bringing
together a diverse set of panelists for an in-depth discussion on the real-world
implications of this shift.
In a world awash with data, understanding its influence and flow becomes
pivotal. Through Professor Noriyuki Yanagawa’s opening statement, attendees
will become acquainted with the seismic shifts in the technological landscapeand their broader implications. As the line between the tangible, physical world
we live in, and the intangible cyberspace we increasingly inhabit continues toblur, Yanagawa draws our attention to the need for the creation of innovative
governance mechanisms that will empower policy makers to guide society inmanaging risk and capturing opportunities. He posits agile governance notmerely as a strategy, but a necessary paradigm shift as society lurches toward
a new normal.
From policy to execution, Director Chizuru Suga of the Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry, sheds light on the Japanese government’s approachto agile governance. Balancing the promise of governance reform with theneed to safeguard against new kinds of vulnerabilities, she emphasizes agile
governance’s centrality in shaping the nation's future, expounding on current
strategies, challenges, and the roadmap for the implementation of agile governance in Japan.
Stepping from governance into the judicial domain, Attorney Masakazu Masujima takes a legal lens to the idea of agile governance. Every transformation
demands structural overhauls and regulatory recalibrations, perhaps none moreso than the ongoing digital transformation. Through his perspective, attendees
will discern the pressure points that exist, the potential roadblocks to be
circumvented, and the areas that demand the most immediate action.
Lastly, Professor Tatsuhiko Inatani critically analyzes the broader implicationsof agile governance on existing legal systems. A transition of this magnitude,
wherein the very meaning of rights and responsibilities is evolving to meet a
new normal, demands introspection of existing laws, their efficacy, and areas
needing renovation. Inatani demystifies the legal intricacies and implications ofagile governance, charting a path forward with actionable insights.

12

Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
12 September 2023
Workshop Day 2

ONE – A performance about artificial intelligenceby Sabrina Strehl & Kathrin Diele (Berlin)
Berlin in the near future. Actress Zelda has her daily routine naturally organizedby an artificial intelligence called Kate. Despite having no physical presence,
Kate embodies her manager, acting partner, and even best friend. By
processing huge amounts of Zelda’s personal data, the AI slowly becomes anequal counterpart to the actress – or might even surpass her.

13

Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
Workshop, 11-13 September 2023
Biographies

Rebecca Carlson
Rebecca Carlson is a visual and medical anthropologist studying laboratory
research in the medical sciences and bioinformatics in Japan. Her research
is focused broadly on the production of subjectivities, knowledge and powerin the transnational circulation of technology and digital media. Previously,
she focused on boundary maintenance in the development and circulation ofvideogames, including the migration of American fans of Japanese popular
culture to Tokyo. She is associate professor at Toyo University in the faculty ofInformation Sciences and Arts.

Yoko Fujishima
Yoko Fujishima is Associate Professor in the College of Social Sciences,
Ritsumeikan University. Her research focuses on the history of the Japanesefashion industry, specifically discussing the use of fashion media in thedevelopment of the industry. In recent years, her main interest has been in thearchitecture of digital fashion media and their relationship to consumption.
She is also involved in research on industries related to appearance such as
cosmetic surgery and dieting. She is also visiting researcher at the Center
for Advanced Intelligence Project, RIKEN, and the Chief Operating Officer ofSynflux Corporation, which conducts projects using advanced technology in the
fashion domain.

Jiré Emine Gözen
Jiré Emine Gözen is Professor of Media and Cultural Theory at the University ofEurope for Applied Sciences Berlin in the faculty for art & design. After working
for several years in Japan (3331 Arts Chiyoda, Mori Art Museum), her current
research is devoted to narratives, discourses and speculations on the future,
posthumanism and technology in literature, art, and film; visual cultures and theconstruction of masculinity; mimicry in popular culture, politics, and academia;
and artistic practices of cultural memory. Her monograph Cyberpunk Science
Fiction. Literary Fictions and Media Theory was published by Transcript
Verlag in 2012. Recent publications include “Chambers of the past and future.
The simulated worlds of Baudrillard, Cyberpunk and the Metaverse” (2023),“MATRIX | マトリックス | 母型 : Rei Naito and William Gibson hallucinating thePosthuman” (2023) and “X|Kein Lagebericht” (edition on media studies andracism, 2022). Since 2021 she has been elected Chair of the German Society
for Media Studies (GfM) and host of GAAAP_ The Blog of the Journal for Media
Studies (ZfM).

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Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
Workshop, 11-13 September 2023
Biographies

Kojiro Honda
Kojiro Honda is Associate Professor at Kanazawa Medical University, Department of Medical Humanities. He began exploring the ethical issues related torobot engineering and AI technology in 2011. His interest in these topics has led
him to examine the intersection of these fields with medicine. Currently, he isworking on developing an idea that challenges the “Transhumanism Thought”,
which advocates for human body remodeling. As robot engineering, AI, andBMIs advance, humans can potentially obtain machine-like bodies. He has
introduced the concept of “body-conservatism” to express his opposition tobody remodeling. Suppose the human body, which serves as the foundationof joint subjectivity and knowledge acquisition, is easily modified. In that case,the “community” of humanity, which is built on the premise of imitation ability,
may be jeopardized. He is currently conducting research on this topic withthe support of the JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C),No. 22K00044, “A Study of Governmentality and Trends in the Transhumanist
Movement under the Neoliberal Regime” (2022-2027).

Tatsuhiko Inatani
Tatsuhiko Inatani is a Professor at Kyoto University's Graduate School of Law
where he specializes in Criminology, Criminal Law, and Procedure. His researchdelves deep into Corporate Crime and the interplay between A.I. and Law,
adopting an interdisciplinary approach that spans philosophy, economics, andcognitive sciences. Key areas of Inatani's research encompass the intersectionof science, technology, and law, as well as strategies for countering corporate
crime. He has penned several notable publications, including "Privacy Protection in Criminal Procedure" (2017) and co-authored works like "Architecture andLaw" (2017) and "Law and Society Changing with AI" (2020).
Inatani holds a J.D. in Law from Kyoto University. His academic career has
included roles as a guest researcher at institutions like RIKEN Center for
Advanced Integrated Intelligence Research and international stints at the
University of Chicago and Sciences Po in Paris.

Chihyung Jeon
Chihyung Jeon is an associate professor of science and technology policy at
the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). In 2023, heis also a visiting researcher at the Institute for Future Initiatives of The Universityof Tokyo. His academic training is in the history of technology and STS (science,technology & society), and his research interests include the historical andsocial relationship between humans and machines and the cultures of AI,
robotics, and simulation in South Korea. Jeon’s current project focuses onvirtual humans, examining how engineers, entrepreneurs, artists, and users
produce digital versions of human beings and pose new questions about
identity, memory, and relationship.

15

Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
Workshop, 11-13 September 2023
Biographies

Harald Kümmerle
Harald Kümmerle is senior research fellow at the German Institute for JapaneseStudies (DIJ) in Tokyo. He studied mathematics and computer science at theTechnical University of Munich (TUM), Japanese Studies at the Martin Luther
University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), and Japanese as a Foreign Language at
Keio University in Tokyo. His doctoral thesis (Japanese Studies; defended in2019) concerned the institutionalization of mathematics as a science in Meijiand Taishō-era Japan. During the time as a doctoral researcher, he was juniorvisiting research fellow at Keio University, visiting research fellow at the Centre
for Science Studies at the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
and research fellow at the MLU Halle-Wittenberg. He has also been a visiting
researcher at the Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI. Hisinterests include the history of mathematics, digital humanities, new materialism, and critical data studies.

Masakazu Masujima
Masakazu “Masa” Masujima is a distinguished attorney and partner at Mori
Hamada & Matsumoto, an international law firm. Recognizing the transformative
impact of information technology on traditional businesses, Masa specializes inassisting companies with innovative business model creation. He predominantly
focuses on the M&A of financial institutions, governance consulting, andnavigating financial regulation. Masa is deeply involved in advancing ecosystem-centric business models by supporting startups in risk capital provision andfostering open innovation.
Masa received a degree from Columbia Law School and has previously worked
at the California-based law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati as well as the
Financial Services Agency of Japan. He also served as an external advisor for
the IMF's Financial Stability Assessment Program in 2015. Among his notablepublications are the co-authored "Startup M&As" (Nikkei Shimbun Publishing,2023), “Cryptocurrency Law” (Chuo Keizai Publishing, 2020) and “Cyber
Security Case Studies” (Keidanren Publishing, 2020).

Tobias Matzner
Tobias Matzner is professor for Digital Cultures at Paderborn University,
Germany. He has studied computer science and philosophy in Karlsruhe, Rome,and Berlin and holds a PhD in philosophy from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Before coming to Paderborn, he conducted research at the International
Centre for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities in Tübingen and the New
School for Social Research in New York. His work combines theories of digital
media and technologies with approaches from political philosophy, cultural
studies, and social theory. His most recent publication is “Algorithms: Theory,
Culture, Politics”, forthcoming from Routledge in winter 2023.

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Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
Workshop, 11-13 September 2023
Biographies

Kerry McInerney
Dr Kerry McInerney (née Mackereth) is a Research Fellow at the Leverhulme
Centre for the Future of Intelligence, where she researches anti-Asian racism
and AI and Asian diasporic approaches to AI ethics. Kerry is an AHRC/BBCRadio 3 New Generation Thinker, where she brings complex conversations
about gender, race and artificial intelligence to wide audiences. Her scholarshipon this topic has appeared in journals such as Feminist Review, Public Understanding of Science and Philosophy and Technology. She is the co-editor of
the upcoming collection Feminist AI: Critical Perspectives on Data, Algorithms
and Intelligent Machines (September 2023, OUP) and the upcoming collection
The Good Robot: Feminist Voices on the Future of Technology (February 2024,
Bloomsbury Academic). She has been offered a contract by Princeton University Press for a monograph called Reprogram: Why Big Tech is Broken and How
Feminism Can Transform It, co-authored with Dr Eleanor Drage.

Shintaro Miyazaki
Shintaro Miyazaki is since October 2020 a (junior)-professor in “Digital Mediaand Computation” (tenure track) at the Faculty of Humanities and Social
Sciences, Department of Musicology and Media Studies, Humboldt-Universität
zu Berlin. Shintaro was born in 1980 in then West-Berlin to Japanese classicalmusic percussionists and raised in Basel, Switzerland, where he studied
Media Studies, Musicology and Philosophy during the 2000s. Later in 2012
he received his PhD supervised by Wolfgang Ernst (Humboldt-Universität
zu Berlin). From 2014–2021 he has been a senior researcher at Institute ofExperimental Design and Media Cultures of the Academy of Art and Design inhis home town. Since 2017, he lives with his family in Berlin-Kreuzberg.

Hirotaka Osawa
Dr Hirotaka Osawa is an associate professor at Keio University and visiting
associate professor at the University of Tsukuba. His research field is in
human-agent interaction, including development of anthropomorphic devices,simulations for social agents using social games, and humanity studies using
science fiction. His own research focuses on how human-like appearance andattitude improves interaction between a user and machines. He also focuses on
how social intelligence would improve our society. Dr. Osawa received his PhD
in Engineering, MS and BS in Computer Science from Keio University.

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Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
Workshop, 11-13 September 2023
Biographies

Celia Spoden
Celia Spoden is a senior research fellow at the German Institute for JapaneseStudies (DIJ) in Tokyo. Her research focuses on bioethical issues and the social
impacts of digital transformation. In her current project, she explores what
opportunities and risks new technologies – especially telepresence and avatar
technologies – mean for social participation, and interaction between humans
and humans, and/or humans and machines. Before joining the DIJ, Celia worked
as a research associate at the Institute for Ethics, History and Philosophy ofMedicine at Hannover Medical School (2018-2021) and the Modern JapaneseStudies Department of Dusseldorf University (2008-2018) in Germany. Celia’s
previous projects have included research on life-sustaining treatments, end-oflife decision-making, social participation, and well-being.

Sabrina Strehl
Berlin resident Sabrina Strehl works as a freelance actor in the movie andtheatre industry. After graduating from the Academy for Music and Theatre
Munich in 2004 she had several engagements at German theaters. Since 2011
Sabrina mostly realizes her own projects. Her first work as a writer, producer
and actor was the solo show „Missing Alice“, in which she combined different
styles of expression such as video, puppeteering and acting. Her next show
„Blanche“, a co-production with Israeli director Shlomo Lieberman, was not only
performed in Germany, but in Israel and Australia. In 2018 the Senate for Culture
and Europe funded Sabrina to produce a futuristic and dystopian piece about
artificial intelligence. „EINS“ (ONE) premiered in December 2018 in Berlin, and is
adapted to English for the performance in Tokyo.

Chizuru Suga
Chizuru Suga is the Director of Digital Economy Division of Commerce andInformation Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, as
well as a director of its Study Group on New Governance Models in Society 5.0.
Between 2018 and 2021 she also served concurrently as the inaugural Director
at the World Economic Forum's Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Japan. Since joining METI in 2003, Suga has been involved in a wide range ofsectors, including climate change policy, FinTech innovation, “Cool Japan,” andcorporate governance reform. She has served in numerous roles of increasing
responsibility throughout the organization, including in its Agency for Natural
Resources and Energy, and its Economic and Industrial Policy Bureau.
Suga holds an undergraduate degree from The University of Tokyo's Facultyof Law and an MBA from the prestigious Wharton School of the University ofPennsylvania.

18Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
Workshop, 11-13 September 2023
Biographies

Shoko Suzuki
Shoko Suzuki studied Philosophy of Science and Educational Studies at
Sophia University, Tokyo, and the University of Cologne (Germany). She wasa professor at Kyoto University from 2003-2022, a member of the Science
Council of Japan from 2005-2020, a Visiting Professor at the Free Universityof Berlin, Germany in 2009/10. Furthermore, she was the team leader of the
AI Ethics and Society Team, AIP, RIKEN, Japan from 2016-2022, and since2016 she is secretary of the AI Network Society Promotion Council, Ministryof Internal Affairs and Communications. In 2018 she received a Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award for DistinguishedContributions to Local Administration. Her recent publications include “Pandemien im Anthropozän. Paragrana - Internationale Zeitschrift für Historische
Anthropologie, Vol. 30, De Gruyter Verlag; Berlin 2022; ’Redefining Humanity inthe Era of AI Technological Civilization’, (Paragrana, Vol. 29, 2020); ’Harmonizing
AI for Social Good’, (Philosophy & Technology, 2020).

Gentiane Venture
Gentiane Venture is a Professor of Robotics at The University of Tokyo anda cross-appointed fellow with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial
Science & Technology, Japan. Her research focuses on the dynamics ofhumans, robots, and the environment. Her group and her work are transdisciplinary in their approach to see robotics not as a field with applications in certain
areas but rather as an art of living together.

Daniel White
Daniel White is a Senior Research Affiliate in the Department of Social
Anthropology and an Associate Fellow with the Leverhulme Centre for the
Future of Intelligence, both at the University of Cambridge. He researches theemotional impacts of human-technology relations, with a regional focus on
Japan. Currently he is co-organizing an ethnographic research project called
Model Emotion, where he works across disciplines with anthropologists,
psychologists, computer scientists, and robotics engineers to document therole of cultural diversity in building machines with artificial emotional intelligenceand capacities for care. He is also the author of Administering Affect: Pop-Culture Japan and the Politics of Anxiety (Stanford University Press, 2022). Other
publications can be found in the journals Cultural Anthropology, The Journal of
the Royal Anthropological Institute, and on his online project page atmodelemotion.org.

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Discursive and Material Dimensions of the Digital Transformation: Perspectives from and on Japan
Workshop, 11-13 September 2023
Biographies

James Wright
Dr James Wright is a Programme Specialist at UNESCO’s Bioethics and Ethics
of Science and Technology Section, and Visiting Lecturer at Queen Mary
University of London. He received his Ph.D. in anthropology and science andtechnology studies from the University of Hong Kong in 2018. His current work
focuses on the ethics and governance of AI, and his research interests also
include the development and use of robots, AI, and other digital technologies for
elder care. His first book, entitled Robots Won't Save Japan: An Ethnography ofEldercare Automation, was published in 2023 by Cornell University Press.

Noriyuki Yanagawa
Noriyuki Yanagawa is a professor at The University of Tokyo’s Graduate
School of Economics, a board member at the Nippon Institute for Research
Advancement, and the chairperson of the Ministry of Economy Trade andIndustry’s Study Group on New Governance Models in Society 5.0. His research
focuses on the impact of laws and systems on economic activity. His seminal
work “Economic Analysis of Law and Corporate Behavior” (2006) (in Japanese)
received the Nikkei Economic Book Culture Award in 2007. Later works include“Asset bubbles and bailout,” Journal of Monetary Economics, 2015 (withTomohiro Hirano and Masaru Inaba), “Asset Bubbles, Endogenous Growth,and Financial Frictions,” The Review of Economic Studies, 2017 (with Tomohiro
Hirano), “Dark Sides of Patent Pools with Independent Licensing,” International
Journal of Industrial Organization, 2018 (with Akifumi Ishihara). Yanagawa
earned his Ph.D. in Economics from The University of Tokyo. He has previously
lectured at Keio University and has been an Associate Professor at The University of Tokyo. An influential voice in public policy, he has served in numerous
capacities including on the Japanese government’s Council for Economic andFiscal Policy.

Yashima Yugen
Yashima Yugen writes stories of science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, andfusions of these genres. He was born and raised in Japan. He received his MA
from the University of Chicago after studying comparative culture at Tsukuba
University. In 2018, he won the ninth Sogen SF Short Story Prize for Tenkuseyo
Hosshoji [Hosshoji the Rocket Temple]. This is a work of Buddhist science
fiction and, more specifically, Buddhpunk. In the same year, he also won thefifth Nikkei Hoshi Awards Grand Prix for Final Anchors and a merit award for
Hasukuibito [Lotus Eaters]. His stories have also been translated and publishedin China.

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