Social and economic history of modern Japan (mid-19th century–present):

• History of German-Japanese economic relations
• Industrialisation, urbanisation and the change of local communities in Japan
• Rationalisation of everyday life, changing perceptions of time
• Changing food habits

Professional History

• 2014–2017: Professor of Japanese Social and Cultural History, Freie Universität Berlin
• 2013–2014: Research Fellow, Gerda Henkel Foundation
• 2012–2013: Temporary Lecturer in Japanese History at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
• Summer term 2012: Temporary Lecturer in Japanese History at the Institute of Japanology, Frankfurt University (Germany)
• July 2007 – March 2012: Managing Director, Centre for Japanese Studies, Philipps-Universität Marburg (Germany) (institute closed on 31 March 2012 for financial reasons)
• May 2006 – July 2007: Vice-managing director, Centre for Japanese Studies, Philipps-Universität Marburg (Germany)
• since April 2006: Professor of Japanese History and Society, Centre for Japanese Studies, Philipps-Universität Marburg (Germany)
• April–July 2003: Teaching appointment at the Institute for Japanology, Leipzig University (Germany)
• Oct. 2000 – July 2001: Teaching Appointment at Cologne Business School (Germany)
• April 1997 – March 2006: Assistant researcher/lecturer, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Faculty of East Asian Studies, Department of Japanese History
• 1995–1997: Research assistant at the Centre for Japanese Studies, Philipps-Universität Marburg

Academic Education

• March 2022: Research stay at Hitotsubashi Daigaku, Tokyo, Faculty of Economics
• September 2018: Research stay at Aoyama Gakuin Daigaku, Tokyo, Faculty of Economics
• March 2016: Research stay at Keiō University, Tokyo, Faculty of Policy Management
• Aug.–Sept. 2013: Research stay at Tokyo University, Faculty of Letters, Institute of Japanese History
• Feb.–March 2010: Research stay at Ōsaka Shiritsu Daigaku (Osaka City University)
• July–Aug. 2007: Research stay at Ōsaka Shiritsu Daigaku (Osaka City University)
• Aug. 2005: Dr. phil. in Japanese History, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Faculty of East Asian Studies, Department of Japanese History (advisor: Prof. Dr. R. Mathias), doctoral thesis was on “Neighbourhood cultures in Tokyo between 1890 and 1970” (grade: ‘summa cum laude’)
• Mar. 2004: Short term research stay in Tokyo as guest of the Faculty of Economics, Keiō University
• Sept. 1999 – Sept. 2000: Guest researcher at Keiō University, Tokyo, Faculty of Economics, as a Japan Foundation scholarship research fellow
• Aug. 1998: Short term research stay in Tokyo and Osaka
• April 1997 – Aug. 2005: Doctoral studies in Japanese History at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Faculty of East Asian Studies, Department of Japanese History (advisor: Prof. Dr. R. Mathias)
• April 1997: M.A. in Japanese Studies, Philipps-Universität Marburg (Germany), Faculty of Non-European Languages and Cultures (grade: ‘excellent’), M.A. thesis was on “The introduction of fast food and convenience products to Japanese food habits in the postwar era”, publ. in 1998
• Oct. 1993 – Sept. 1994: Exchange student (language courses and lectures/seminars) at Ochanomizu Womens’ University, Tokyo, as Monbushō (Japanese Ministry of Education) scholarship student
• Oct. 1991 – May 1997: Philipps-Universität Marburg (Germany): M.A. studies in Japanese Studies (major), Japanese Language, and Social and Economic History (minors)

Scholarships

• Gerda Henkel Foundation (Germany), research scholarship (2 years) for the completion of a book (Habilitation), including a research stay at Tokyo University, 2013–2014
• Nihon Gakujutsu Shinkōkai (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, JSPS) scholarship for a research stay at ōsaka Shiritsu Daigaku (Osaka City University), Feb.–March 2010
• Nihon Gakujutsu Shinkōkai (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, JSPS) scholarship for a research stay at ōsaka Shiritsu Daigaku (Osaka City University), July–Aug. 2007
• Keiō University short term scholarship for a research stay as guest of the Faculty of Economics, Mar. 2004
• Japan Foundation scholarship for doctoral studies at Keiō University, Tokyo, Faculty of Economics, Sept. 1999 – Sept. 2000
• Monbushō (Japanese Ministry of Education) and DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) joint scholarship for undergraduate studies at Ochanomizu Womens’ University, Tokyo, Oct. 1993 – Sept. 1994

Books

• (2023) The Making of the 20th Century City: Towards a Transnational Urban History of Japan and Europe (co-editor, with Rainer Liedtke (U Regensburg) and MORI Takahito (U Hitotsubashi, Tokyo)); Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag (= Beiträge zur Stadtgeschichte und Urbanisierungsforschung; vol. 23).
• (2020) Wege zur japanischen Geschichte. Quellen aus dem 10. bis 21. Jahrhundert in deutscher Übersetzung.
  Festschrift für Regine Mathias anlässlich ihres 65. Geburtstags (co-editor, with Anke Scherer); Hamburg : Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens (= Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens e.V. Hamburg; vol. 148).
• (2020) The East Asian Dimension of the First World War: Global Entanglements and Japan, China and Korea, 1914-1919 (co-editor, with Jan Schmidt); Frankfurt/New York: Campus.
• • Review by Frank Jacob, in: Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft, Vol. 69, no. 3, pp. 286-287 (2021)
  • Review by Kevin Bockholt, in: Asien - The German Journal on Contemporary Asia, no. 162/163, pp. 131-134 (2022) http://asien.asienforschung.de/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/12/12-1_REZ_Schmidt-Schmidtpott_Bockholt_final.pdf
  • Review by Selena Daly, „Friends and Foes: Aliens and Migrants in the Era of the Great War (Review Article)“, in: The Journal of Modern History, vol. 95, no. 1, pp 149-172 (2023)
• (2010) Winds of change: On the 150th anniversary of C. Illies & Co. (co-author, with Johannes Bähr and Jörg Lesczenski); München: Piper (2009); chapter 1: “Rising in step with Japan's modernisation: L. Kniffler & Co./Illies & Co. from their beginnings to the First World War (1859-1914)”, pp. 19-101.
• • Review by Christof Dejung: http://www.sehepunkte.de/2010/07/17055.html (2010)
  • Review by Alexander Engel: https://www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/reb-13860 (2010)
• (2009) Nachbarschaft und Urbanisierung in Japan, 1890-1970 [Neighbourhood and Urbanisation in Japan, 1890-1970]; München: Iudicium.
• (1998) Fast Food, Convenience-Produkte und sozialer Wandel in Japan [Fast food, convenience products and social change in Japan]; Marburger Japan-Reihe Vol. 24, Marburg.

Digital edition

• Die internationale Geschäftskorrespondenz von L. Kniffler & Co. (1859-1876). The international business correspondence of L. Kniffler & Co. (1859-1876)・L. クニフラー商会(L. Kniffler & Co.)の国際的商業書簡(1859-1876) https://kniffler.ub.rub.de/exist/apps/Kniffler/index.html

Book chapters

• (2014) “Reisenka no tsūshō to anzen hoshō: Adenauaa seikenki no DokuNichi keizai kankei (1949-1963)“ [Trade and Security policy under the Cold War: German-Japanese Economic relations during the reign of Chancellor Adenauer (1949-1963)], in: Kudō Akira/Tajima Nobuo (eds.): Sengo NichiDoku kankeishi [German-Japanese relations in the post-war era]. Tokyo: Tokyo Daigaku Shuppankai, chapter 4, pp. 255-293.

Articles

• (2023) „Introduction“, in: Liedtke, Rainer/Mori Takahito/Schmidtpott, Katja (eds.): The Making of the 20th Century City: Towards a Transnational Urban History of Japan and Europe (co-editor, with Rainer Liedtke (U Regensburg) and MORI Takahito (U Hitotsubashi, Tokyo)); Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag (= Beiträge zur Stadtgeschichte und Urbanisierungsforschung; vol. 23), pp. 9-20.
• (2020) "The German trading company L. Kniffler & Co. in Japan, 1859 – 1880“, Aoyama Gakuin University, College of Economics, Working Paper no. 13, http://www.econ.aoyama.ac.jp/laboratory/1080.
• (2020) „How to access written and visual sources: Archives, libraries and databases“, in: Kottmann, Nora/Reiher, Cornelia (eds.): Studying Japan: Handbook of Research Designs, Fieldwork and Methods. Baden-Baden: Nomos, pp. 238-247 (with Theresia Berenike Peucker and Cosima Wagner).
• (2020) „Clever approaches to tricky sources: How to extract information from business archives and war memorials“, in: Kottmann, Nora/Reiher, Cornelia (eds.): Studying Japan: Handbook of Research Designs, Fieldwork and Methods. Baden-Baden: Nomos, pp. 248-251 (with Tino Schölz).
• (2020) "Prekarität als Normalität: Tagebücher von Tagelöhnern in Tōkyō im Schatten der Shōwa-Finanzkrise von 1927",
  in: Scherer, Anke/Schmidtpott, Katja (eds.): Wege zur japanischen Geschichte. Quellen aus dem 10. bis 21. Jahrhundert in deutscher Übersetzung; Hamburg : Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens (= Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens e.V. Hamburg; vol. 148), pp. 165-213.
• (2020) "The East Asian Dimension of the First World War: An Introduction", in: Schmidt, Jan/Schmidtpott, Katja (eds.): The East Asian Dimension of the First World War: Global Entanglements and Japan, China and Korea, 1914-1919; Frankfurt/New York: Campus, pp. 11-36.
• (2015) ’Die Propagierung moderner Zeitdisziplin in Japan (1906-1931)’ [The promotion of modern time discipline in Japan, 1906-1931], in: Geschichte und Gesellschaft, Sonderheft 25: Obsession der Gegenwart: Zeit im 20. Jahrhundert, ed. by Alexander C.T. Geppert/Till Kössler, pp. 123-155.
• (2012) „Neue Perspektiven der historischen Industriestadtforschung in Japan“ [New perspectives on historical research on Japan’s industrial cities], in: IMS – Informationen zur Modernen Stadtgeschichte 1/12, S. 87-103.
• (2012) ‘Indifferent communities: Neighbourhood associations, class and community consciousness in prewar Tokyo’, in: Brumann, Christoph / Schulz, Evelyn (eds.): Urban spaces in Japan: The social scientific study of Japan and the ‘spatial turn’. London, New York: Routledge, pp. 125-147.
• (2011) ‘Ein Schlüssel zu mehr weiblicher Unabhängigkeit: Die Einführung des Türschlosses in Japan während der 1920er und 1930er Jahre’ [A key to female independence: The introduction of locks in Japan in the 1920s and 1930s], in: MINIKOMI (Journal of the Institute of Japanese Studies, Vienna University), pp. 13-20.
• (2011) "Die familiale Tischgemeinschaft in Japan zwischen Ideal und Alltagspraxis vom Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts bis zur Gegenwart” [Family Meals in Japan Between Ideal and Practice from the End of the 19th Century to the Present], in: Japan Jahrbuch 2011 der VSJF [Yearbook of the German Association for Social Science Research on Japan, 2011], pp. 101-135 (to be published in November 2011).
• (2011) “Die deutsch-japanischen Handelsbeziehungen von 1859 bis zum Ersten Weltkrieg” [The German-Japanese Trade Relations from 1859 until the First World War], in: Catalogue of the Exhibition “Ferne Gefährten. 150 Jahre deutsch-japanische Beziehungen” [The 150th Anniversary of German-Japanese Relations], Reiss-Engelhorn-Museum Mannheim (ca. 5 pp., to be published in November 2011).
• (2010) “Die Wirtschaftsbeziehungen zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und Japan in der ära Adenauer (1949-1963)” [The Economic Relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and Japan in the Adenauer Era (1949-1963)], in: Conze, Eckart (ed.): Die Herausforderung des Globalen in der ära Adenauer [Global Challenges in the Adenauer Era]. (Rhöndorfer Gespräche, Vol. 24). Bonn: Bouvier, pp. 35-50.
• (2007) “Offene Häfen, geschlossene Gesellschaft: Die gesellschaftliche Wahrnehmung der Chinesen in Japan zur Zeit der Konzessionsgebiete (1859-1899)” [Open Ports, Closed Society: The Perception of the Chinese in Japan under the Treaty Port System (1859-1899)], in: comparativ: Zeitschrift für Globalgeschichte und vergleichende Gesellschaftsforschung Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 51-63.
• (2004) “'Stadt und Land, Männer und Frauen, Jung und Alt'. Die Reichweite der Kampagne für moderne Lebensführung (bunka seikatsu undō) in Japan in den 1920er Jahren” [‘Town and Countryside, Men and Women, Young and Old’: The Modern Life Campaign (bunka seikatsu undō) in Japan During the 1920s], in: Bochumer Jahrbuch zur Ostasienforschung Vol. 28, pp. 105-135; München: Iudicium.
• (2001) “Wohnverhältnisse der städtischen Mittelschicht 1905-1970: Bilder und Wirklichkeiten” [Urban Middle-class Housing in the 20th century: Images and Realities], in: Jahrbuch des Deutschen Instituts für Japanstudien Vol. 13, pp. 89-151; München: Iudicium (together with Regine Mathias).
• (2000) “Heilmittel, Genussmittel, Erfrischungsgetränk. Milchkonsum in Japan 1920-1970” [Milk Consumption in Japan 1920-1970], in: Jahrbuch des Deutschen Instituts für Japanstudien Vol. 12, pp. 117-156; München: Iudicium.

Translation

• (2011) Translation of a Japanese article into German: “Nihon no ryōji hōkoku kara mita Nachisu • Doitsu: Zai-Hanburuku, Uiin, Puraha sōryōjikan bunsho o chūshin ni” by Hirano Tatsushi (University of Tokyo) [Das ‚Dritte Reich’ im Spiegel japanischer Konsulatsberichte unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Dokumenten aus den japanischen Generalkonsulaten in Hamburg, Wien und Prag] [The ‘Third Reich’ as Reflected in Consular Reports from the Japanese General Consulates in Hamburg, Vienna and Prague], in: Bajohr, Frank/Strupp, Christoph ed.), Fremde Blicke auf das ‚Dritte Reich’: Konsulatsberichte über die deutsche Gesellschaft in der NS-Zeit 1933-1945 [Foreign Views of the ‘Third Reich’: Consular Reports on German Society under National Socialism, 1933-1945], pp. 287-303; Göttingen: Wallstein.

Other

• (2007) Book presentation: “Europäisches Mittelalter auf Japanisch“ [Research on the European Middle Ages in Japanese] (Hans K. Schulze (2005): Seiō chūseishi jiten II [Dictionary of Medieval History of Western Europe, Vol. 2]. Tokyo: Minerva Shobō), in: Marburger UniJournal, No. 29, May, p. 26.
• (2006) Conference report: “Stadt-Räume in Japan: Die sozialwissenschaftliche Japanforschung und der ‚Spatial Turn’” [Urban Spaces in Japan: The Social Scientific Study of Japan and the ‚Spatial Turn’], H-Soz-U-Kult 28.2.2006 (with Evelyn Schulz).
• (2006) Interview for the broadcast network Deutsche Welle: “Zukunft der Japanologie” [The future of Japanese Studies in Germany], 14.9.2006.
• (2006) “Miyazawa Kenji und der Denki Bran” [Miyazawa Kenji and the Denki Bran], in: OAG Notizen, No. 5, pp. 31–37.
• (2006) Interview for the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung: “Das unwiderstehliche Design von WBS 70” [The Irresistible Design of WBS 70], 23.2.2006, p. 10.
• (2004) “B.A.– und M.A.–Studiengänge für die Japanologie: Ansätze, Pläne, Erfahrungen” [Intro-ducing B.A. and M.A. into Japanese Studies: Plans and Experiences] (Günter Distelrath et al.), in: Japanforschung — Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Japanforschung e.V., Vol. 1, pp. 19-33.
• (2002) “Der B.A. als Chance — erste Erfahrungen mit gestuften Studiengängen in der Bochumer Japanologie” [The introduction of the B.A. in the Department of Japanese History at Ruhr-Universität Bochum], in: Japanforschung — Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Japanforschung e.V., Vol. 1, pp. 14-18.
• (2000) “Doitsu no kōgai, Nihon no kōgai” [German Suburbs, Japanese Suburbs], in: Takuchi to machizukuri, No. 181, pp. 41-45.

Presentations (selection)

• ‘Takamatsu kara Boohumu e: Sengo ni okeru Nihon gendai kenchiku no guroobaruka no tansho [From Takamatsu to Bochum: The beginnings of the globalisation of Japanese contemporary architecture in the postwar period]’, Hitotsubashi University Economic History Workshop + History and Man Study Group, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, 24 March 2023.
• ‘The Western Reception of Japanese Architecture from the 1910s to the 1960s. Or: When and how was Japan's contemporary architecture accepted as equal in the West?‘, 15th Conference of the European Association for Urban History, Panel: Towards a Transnational Urban History of Japan and Europe. Modernity and Governance, Antwerp University, 2 September 2022 (with Beate Löffler).
• ‘The Making of the 20th Century City: Towards a Transnational Urban History of Japan and Europe (work in progress)’, AREA Ruhr Occasional Lecture Series (online), 9 June 2021.
• ‘The Western Reception of Japanese Architecture from the 1920s to the 1960s‘, Shakai Keizaishi Gakkai dai90kai zenkoku taikai (90th Conference of the Socio-Economic History Society), Panel: Towards a Transnational Urban History of Japan and Europe: Making of the 20th Century City as Parallel and Interlinked Phenomenon, Kobe University (online), 16 May 2021 (with Beate Löffler).
• 'Japanese Futures for Euroamerican Cities (1950s/60s)', Biennial DGA Conference: Transnational Asian Studies – Multi-Level Dynamics of Identity Formation and Institution Building, Panel: East Asian Futures, AREA Ruhr (online), 12 March 2021.
• 'How German was the Japanese funen toshi (unburnable city)? German Concepts of Air Defence in Japanese Wartime Urban Planning and Architecture', Workshop: Rethinking the Aerial Destruction of Cities in East Asia, 1932-45, Princeton University, History and East Asian Studies Departments, 7 March, 2020.
• ‘Bakumatsu/Meiji shoki no Nihon ni okeru Doitsu shōsha Kunifuraa Shōkai no katsudō to sono shokan no dejitaruka purojekuto‘, Niigata University, Niigata, Jinbun Gakubu, 28 March, 2019.
• ‘The German trading company L. Kniffler & Co. (C. Illies & Co.) in Japan, 1859-1914‘, Aoyama Gakuin Daigaku, Faculty of Economics, Tokyo, 12 September, 2018.
• ‘Japanese Studies and Urban History: Overview and Perspectives‘, Workshop: Comparative Studies on the Development of the Modern City in Japan and Europe from the Perspective of Urban Governance, 1905-1935, Humboldt University Berlin, Historical Institute, 15 March, 2019.
• ‘The business correspondence of the German trading company L. Kniffler & Co. (est. 1859 in Nagasaki): A digital humanities project‘, Japan Science Days, Panel ‘Digital Humanities and Historical Research on East Asia‘, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 5/6 July, 2018.
• ‘Kansei shakai kyōiku undō to kindaiteki na jikan kiritsu no ikusei (20seiki hajime)’[The bureaucracy, campaigns and the emergence of modern time discipline in Japan at the beginning of the 20th century], Naimushō Kenkyūkai, Keiō University, Tokyo, 19 March, 2016.
• ‘Temporal behaviour in Japanese rural society and the Local Improvement Campaign (1906-1918)’, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Conference: Timing Day and Night: Timescapes in Premodern Japan, 15–17 April, 2015.
• ‚Learning from future enemies: Norisugi Kaju, the emergence of ‘social education’ (shakai kyōiku) and the transformation of Japanese society after the First World War’, Ljubljana (Slovenia), 14th EAJS International Conference, History Section, Panel: The First World War and the Transformation of Japan: Wartime Studies and Their Consequences, 29 August, 2014.
• ‚Japan und der Erste Weltkrieg’ [Japan and the First World War], Freie Universität Berlin, Department of History and Cultural Studies, 30 June, 2014 (with Dr. Jan Schmidt, Bochum).
• ‘Japanese Studies in Germany’, Conference: ‘Engaging with Japanese Studies: Revisiting the question of “why Japan matters”’, University of Oxford, Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies, 15 March, 2013.
• ‘The time exhibition in Tokyo and the promotion of punctuality and efficient time use in Japan in the 1920s/30s’, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Asian Studies Seminar Series, 26. November, 2012.
• ‚Nachbarschaftsvereinigungen in Japan’ [Neighbourhood associations in Japan], Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, 14 July, 2012.
• ‘The promotion of punctuality and efficient time use in Japan after the First World War’, University of St Andrews, Centre for Transnational History, School of History, Workshop: The Changing Experience of Time in the Long 19th Century, 19 May, 2012.
• ‚Zur Durchsetzung des industriellen Zeitregimes in Japan: Die Pünktlichkeitskampagne nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg’ [On the introduction of the industrial time regime in Japan: The punctuality campaign in Japan after the First World War], Heidelberg University, 27 January, 2012.
• ‘Ernährungserziehung (shokuiku) und familialer Eßalltag in Japan’ [Food education (shokuiku) and family meals in Japan], Vienna University, Institute of East Asian Studies, 24 January, 2012.
• ‘The evolution of modern time discipline in Japan’, University of Oxford, Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies, 30 November, 2011.
• ‘The Chinese community in the treaty port of Yokohama and the Japanese “coolie debate” of the 1880s/90s’, Innsbruck University (Austria), Department of Economic Theory, Policy and History, Conference: The Role and Function of the Global City, 3 November, 2011.
• ‘The campaign to improve daily life (seikatsu kaizen undō) and its activities to promote punctuality in Japan after the First World War’, Tallinn University (Estonia) , International Conference of the European Association of Japanese Studies (eajs), 24 August, 2011.
• ‘Die Entwicklung des Toyota-Produktionssystems nach dem Vorbild Ford (1930er-1960er Jahre)’ [The modelling of the Toyota Production System after the Fordist system from the 1930s to the 1960s], Max-Planck-Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, Annual Conference of the German Society for the History of Technology, 4 June, 2011.
• ‘Prekarität als Normalität: Die städtische Unterschicht (toshi kasō) als Gegenstand der japanischen Sozialforschung von der Meiji-Zeit bis in die 1920er Jahre’ [Precarity as normality: Research on the urban underclass (toshi kasō) by Japanese social scientists from the Meiji era to the 1920s], Frankfurt University, Institute of Japanology, 3 February, 2011.
• ‘Der deutsch-japanische Handel bis zum Ersten Weltkrieg’ [German-Japanese trade before the First World War], German National Museum of History, Berlin, Conference: 150 Jahre deutsch- japanische Beziehungen [150 Years of German-Japanese Relations], 24-26 January, 2011.
• Die familiale Tischgemeinschaft in Japan zwischen Auflösung und Renaissance’ [Family meals in Japan between dissolution and renaissance], Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (Germany) , Conference: Wandel des Essalltags: Organisation und Gestaltung von Ernährung zwischen Familie und öffentlichkeit im deutsch-japanischen Vergleich [Changing food habits: Nutrition between family and public life in Germany and Japan], 8-9 December, 2010.
• ‘Die Pünktlichkeits- und Zeitsparkampagne in Japan nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg’ [The campaign for punctuality and time saving in Japan after the First World War], Philipps-Universität Marburg, 31. Deutscher Orientalistentag [31st German Conference of Oriental Studies] , Section Japanese Studies, 20-24 September, 2010.
• ‘Ausländische Handelsunternehmen in Nagasaki in der Umbruchszeit Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts: überlegungen zu einer transnationalen Erweiterung der Handelsgeschichte’ [Foreign trading companies in Nagasaki in mid-19th century: Trade history as transnational history], Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Workshop: ‘Glocal History des langen 19. Jahrhunderts? – Die ,Verwandlung der Welt' in regionaler Perspektive: Das Ruhrgebiet und Nord-Kyūshū im Vergleich’ [Global history of the long 19th century? The transformation of the world in a regional perspective: Comparing the Ruhr area and Northern Kyushu], 30 April, 2010.
• ‘Das älteste deutsche Handelshaus in Japan: L. Kniffler & Co. / C. Illies & Co. 1859-1914’ [The earliest German trading company in Japan: L. Kniffler & Co. / C. Illies & Co. 1859-1914], OAG (German Society for the Study of East Asia) Tokyo, 17 March, 2010 & OAG Kobe, 24 March, 2010.
• ‘Wie die Japaner fleißig wurden: Die Durchsetzung der modernen Zeitdisziplin in der japanischen Schwerindustrie am Beispiel des Arsenals von Osaka (1870-1945)’ [How the Japanese became diligent: The introduction of modern time discipline in Japanese heavy industry as exemplified by the Osaka arsenal (1870-1945)], Frankfurt University, Institute of Japanology, 3 February, 2010.
• ‘150 Jahre C. Illies & Co.: Ein deutsches Handelshaus in Japan’ [150 years of C. Illies & Co.: A German trading company in Japan], East Asian Seminar, Zürich University (Switzerland) , 14th meeting of the Initiative für Historische Japanforschung [Study Group of Young Researchers in Japanese History], 8 November, 2009.
• ‘Japan und die Bundesrepublik Deutschland in der ära Adenauer’ [Japan and the Federal Republic of Germany in the Adenauer Era], Stiftung Bundeskanzler-Adenauer-Haus [The Foundation of the Residence of Chancellor Adenauer], Bad Honnef (Germany) , Conference: Die Herausforderung des Globalen in der Ära Adenauer [Global challenges in the Adenauer era], 3 April, 2008.
• ‘Die Japanische Lebensreformbewegung (seikatsu kaizen undō) in den 1920er Jahren’ [The Japanese campaing for life reform in the 1920s], Hessischer Geschichtslehrerverband [Association of History Teachers in the State of Hessen], Wiesbaden (Germany) , Conference: Zwischen Adaption und Aggression – Japans Weg in der Moderne [Between adaptation and aggression: Japan’s modern trajectory], 30 October, 2007.
• ‘Kindai Nihon ni okeru rōdōsha no aidentiti keisei’ [Identity formation of industrial workers in Modern Japan], Osaka City University, Faculty of Economics, 3 August, 2007.
• ‘Die japanische Industriearbeiterschaft vor 1945: Selbstverleugnung statt Identitätsbildung?’ [Japanese industrial workers before 1945: Selfdenial instead of identity formation?], Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of History and Cultural Sciences, 20 February, 2007.
• ‘Suburbane Lebenswelten in Japan um 1960: Die ‚Siedlungs-Leute’ (danchi-zoku) als Vorreiter eines euro-amerikanischen Lebensstils’ [Suburban life worlds in Japan around 1960: The inhabitants of public housing estates as pioneers of a Euro-American lifestyle], Forschungsstelle für Zeitgeschichte [Hamburg Research Institute of Contemporary History] , Hamburg (Germany), Workshop: Suburbanisierung in vergleichender Perspektive [Suburbanisation in international comparison], 5 May, 2006.
• ‘Beyond chōnaikai: Neighbourhood cultures in pre-war Tokyo’, Königswinter near Bonn (Germany) , Annual Conference of the Vereinigung für sozialwissenschaftliche Japanforschung (German Association of Social Scientific Research on Japan), Conference: Urban spaces in Japan: The social scientific study of Japan and the ‘spatial turn’, 18-20 November, 2005.
• ‘Public housing estates (danchi) and the modernization of daily life in Japan during the 1950s’, Collège de France, Paris, Workshop for Doctoral Students of the European Association for Japanese Studies, 5-6 July, 2002.
• ‘Danchi — Sengo Nihon ni okeru kindaiteki seikatsu kūkan no keisei’ [Public housing estates — The emergence of a modern space of everyday life in Postwar Japan], Keiō University, Tokyo, Keizai Gakkai (Economics research group), 23 June, 2000.
• ‘Shōwa 30nendai ni okeru danchi no komyuniti keisei to matsuri’ [The formation of local communities and religious festivals in public housing estates in the 1950s and 1960s], University of Tokyo, Seminar: Nihon no shisō to shūkyō [Japanese philosophy and religion], June 3, 2000.
• ‘Living in a box: Danchi dwellers as the pioneers of modern lifestyle in Japan in the 1950s’, Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien (German Institute for Japanese Studies), Tokyo, History Study Group, 10 May, 2000.
• ‘Choosing Western lifestyle — The introduction of modern household appliances into Japanese kitchens after 1945’, Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbéliard (France) , 26th Symposium of the International Committee for the History of Technology — ICOHTEC 1999, 16-21 August, 1999.

Conference Chairs

• International conference: Metropolitan Japan in Historical and Contemporary Perspective, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 8–10 November, 2019 (with Prof. Dr. Thomas Feldhoff, RUB).
• Panel: The First World War and the Transformation of Japan: Wartime Studies and Their Consequences, 14th EAJS International Conference, Ljubljana (Slovenia), History Section, 29 August, 2014 (with Dr. Jan Schmidt, Bochum).
• International conference: The East Asian Dimension of the First World War: The 'German-Japanese War‘ and China, 1914-1919, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 5–7 September, 2014 (with Jan Schmidt, Leuven).
• International workshop: Observing the First World War from its ‚Periphery’: Knowledge Transfer and the Transformation of Societies, Freie Universität Berlin, 8–9 November, 2014 (with Jan Schmidt, Leuven).
• Joint symposium of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the German Association of JSPS Alumni, Natural disasters: Impact and management, Münster University, 11-12 May, 2012. Section Japanese Studies at the 31. Deutscher Orientalistentag [31st German Conference of Oriental Studies] , Philipps-Universität Marburg, 20-24 Sep-tember, 2010. Joint symposium of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the German Association of JSPS Alumni and the French Association of JSPS Alumni, Food Science and Society, Strasbourg University (France), 21-22 May, 2010.
• 12th Japanese History Workshop, Young Researchers’ Japanese History Group, Centre for Japanese Studies, Philipps-Universität Marburg, 1-2 November, 2008.
• Panel: Die Zukunft der kleinen Fächer am Beispiel der Japanologie [The future of the “small subjects” as exemplified by Japanese Studies], 13. Deutschsprachiger Japanologentag [13th German Conference on Japanese Studies] , Bonn University (Germany), 12-15 September, 2006.

Other Presentations and Activities Aimed at the General Public

• „Japans Fischkultur: Im Land des Sushis wird mehr Fleisch gegessen“ [Japan's fish culture: In the land of sushi, consumers eat more meat than fish], radio podcast series „Weltzeit“ [World time] by Deutschlandfunk Kultur, https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/japans-fischkultur-land-des-sushis-konsumiert-mehr-fleisch-dlf-kultur-0f818b37-100.html (26 March 2024)
• “Kinder, Ernährung, Lokale Gemeinschaft" [Children, food, local community], dialogue with Fujihara Tatsushi, Japanisches Kulturinstitut (Japan Foundation), Cologne, 24 February 2023.
• „Tange Kenzô, die Metabolisten und die Ruhr-Universität Bochum“, AREA Day, online, Bochum/Duisburg, 10 November, 2021.
• „Tokyo Story“ (Ozu, 1953), Commentary on the film and discussion with the audience, Series: Filme im Quadrat [Films in the Square], Blue Square, Bochum, 23 Januar, 2019.
• ‚Japan und der Erste Weltkrieg. Lernen aus dem totalen Krieg in Europa’ [Japan and the First World War: Learning from total war in Europe], German Historical Museum, Berlin, 8 October, 2014 (with Dr. Jan Schmidt, Ruhr-Universität Bochum).
• „Der ‚Große Krieg’ und seine Zeit im japanischen Stummfilmkino, 1914-1918“ [The Great War in Japanese silent movies], Cinema Babylon, Berlin, 3 September, 2014.
• ‘Fukushima – Was haben japanische Geschichte und politische Kultur mit der dortigen Katastrophe zu tun?’ [Fukushima: Can we explain the catastrophe by referring to the history and political culture of Japan?], public discussion at the Citizen ́s Culture Centre, Marburg , 9 September, 2011.
• ‘Wurst und Kuchen: Kulinarischer Kulturtransfer’ [Sausages and cakes: Cultural transfer on the culinary level], Central Library of the Philipps-Universität Marburg, 23 September, 2009. Exhibition: ‘Alle Menschen werden Brüder – Deutsche Kriegsgefangene in Japan 1914-1920’ [German Prisoners of War in Japan 1914-1920] (in cooperation with the OAG [German Society for the Study of East Asia] Tokyo), University Library, Marburg, 3 September-18 October, 2009.
• Lecture of Japanese contemporary poetry by Takayanagi Makoto and Isolde Asai, in cooperation with the Neue Literarische Gesellschaft Marburgs [New literature society of Marburg], Café Vetter, Marburg, 30 August, 2009.
• ‘Hanami – Das japanische Kirschblütenfest’ [Hanami – The Japanese cherry blossom viewing festival], Botanical Garden of the Philipps-Universität Marburg, 5 April, 2009.

• Lecture series ‘Japans esoterischer Buddhismus’ [The esoteric Buddhism of Japan], Centre for Japanese Studies, Philipps-Universität Marburg, summer term 2008.
• ‘Samurai im Film – Samurai in der Geschichte’ [Samurai on screen – samurai in history], Centre for Japanese Studies, Philipps-Universität Marburg, 23 November, 2007.