Challenges for Global Dissemination of Japanese Sociological Research

In my early career in the US, it was rare for me to run into Japanese scholars and graduate students when attending annual meetings of the American Sociological Association or other conferences hosted by different professional organizations. This scene has, however, steadily been changing, perhaps since the first years of this century, as I began to meet more sociologists from Japan at many professional meetings in the US.

Consolidation and breaching the language barrier

This trend has become much more evident since the XVIII ISA World Congress of Sociology was held in Yokohama in 2014. That is, sociologists living in Japan seemed to have a keener interest in presenting their research findings at global conferences as well as publishing their research papers in English-language journals worldwide. Just a glance at some ISA statistics also reveals this change. According to the ISA (2024), in 2010, the first year that Congress statistics were made available on the ISA website, 205 participants from Japan attended its Congress in Sweden and this figure represented the seventh highest number of attendees. That figure more than doubled, up to 429, in 2014 at the Yokohama Congress. After that, even though the total number of participants from Japan dropped to 115 and 277 in Toronto (2018) and Melbourne (2023), respectively, sociologists from Japan were comparatively the fifth most numerous in Toronto and fourth in Melbourne.

This is a welcome change not only for sociologists in Japan but also for their counterparts in different countries. When I was working on my doctoral dissertation in the US back in the mid-1980s, it was rather difficult to find sociological books and articles about Japan written in English. Thus, I often resorted to reading books and other documents written in Japanese. Although it was great to be able to read books and articles written in Japanese, at the same time I felt that the research findings should be introduced to and read by many more sociologists, not just those who understand Japanese. Now that sociologists from Japan are much more actively involved in international conferences and publishing their research in English-language journals, I feel that Japanese sociological work has a great chance to be recognized globally.

Despite more exposure of Japanese sociological research in recent years, there are still a few obstacles preventing Japanese sociologists from globally disseminating their research findings. Based on my experiences of teaching sociology at a Japanese university and my concerns, let me discuss what these obstacles are, offer some suggestions to overcome the difficulties, and introduce what the Japan Sociological Society (JSS) has been doing to meet some of these challenges.

Three obstacles and suggestions for globalizing research

First and perhaps foremost, many sociologists from Japan may feel that there is still a barrier in communicating with international researchers using English. This may be due to problems concerning English language teaching in Japan, where communicative ability in English is not taught effectively, as highlighted by Ikegashira, Matsumoto and Morita. At the same time, a good number of Japanese sociologists attempt too hard to speak like native English speakers. For many Japanese sociologists who wish to disseminate their research findings to the world, the realization that they do not need to sound like native speakers of English may ease their nervousness and reduce their stress levels. Within the JSS, we have created the Committee for Promoting International Research Activities which organizes annual workshops on writing research abstracts in English as well as offering lectures on presenting research papers in English. As graduate students attend these workshops and lectures many of their abstracts are being accepted for presentation at the ISA World Congress.

Second, there is a tendency for many graduate students and academics in Japanese sociology to want to be “perfect” when presenting and writing their research findings. Presenting their papers at conferences, for example, I have noticed that many Japanese sociologists prepare the presentation scripts and rehearse them many times. While practicing should be recommended, heavy dependence on manuscripts makes it rather difficult to give effective and smooth presentations. Furthermore, many presenters from Japan may feel nervous about the Q&A sessions for which manuscript preparation is not possible. What I usually recommend to students and researchers from Japan is not to be afraid of making mistakes and to explain which part of the comments and questions are difficult for them to understand. In the JSS, it may be necessary to offer seminars for students and new researchers to brush up their presentation skills.

Finally, in addition to overcoming language-related difficulties, it is essential for participants at overseas conferences to secure funding for traveling and accommodation. The JSS offers competitive travel grants for its members to participate in international conferences. In addition, the Japanese government, private organizations, and universities provide many types of scholarships for students to attend overseas conferences. Some professional organizations in the US also offer travel assistance for international attendees. I highly recommend Japanese professional organizations such as the JSS to create a database of these grants, fellowships and scholarships.

To summarize, promoting global dissemination of Japanese students’ and academics’ research requires both institutional and psychological support. An increase in Japanese sociologists participating in international conferences as well as increased visibility in English-language journals are both essential to push Japanese sociology onto the global stage.

Masako Ishii-Kuntz, Ochanomizu University, Japan <ishii.kuntz.masako@ocha.ac.jp>