Asian Ethnology Podcast

Interview with Mark Bookman: Introduction to the new series "Disability and Japan in the Digital Age"

Interviewer: Ben Dorman, co-editor Asian Ethnology

Recorded 3 November 2020

In this episode, Mark Bookman discusses a new project that includes a series of lectures entitled "Disability and Japan in the Digital Age." The project is run through the Anthropological Institute, Nanzan University. He talks about the significance of the series at this time. Mark will also be presenting interviews with the participants in Asian Ethnology Podcast episodes.

An abstract of the project is as follows:

This research program will investigate core issues surrounding the study of disability in Japan. It has three main units: 1) Disability Studies; 2) Deaf Studies; and 3) Margins and Intersections. Collectively, those units will identify how stakeholders construct notions of disability in Japan by harnessing domestic developments and international innovations, including, but not limited to, those connected to law, policy, education, employment, media, technology, gender, and sex. Nine scholars from diverse personal and professional backgrounds will combine their expertise to produce a series of podcasts and presentations. Their efforts will culminate in the first edited volume in the English language devoted solely to the study of disability in the Japanese context.

Download a copy of the transcript via this link.

Music used with kind permission of the performer, shamisen master Koji Yamaguchi.