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Paper short abstract

How will we work if the office moves to the metaverse? This paper maps rifts between Japan's sociotechnical imaginaries and two contemporary sci-fi authors' literary explorations of the metaverse cyberworkplace, retracing how speculative fiction intersects with public policy and corporate strategy.

Paper long abstract

Following the pandemic-induced rise of teleworking, workplace settings have become central to sociotechnical imaginaries of a nascent metaverse. In Japan, these visions are driven by a corporate-bureaucratic nexus: NTT subsidiary Qonoq markets its "Mirza" AR glasses as a catalyst for "worker transformation" (hataraku hito ni henkaku o), while the Sōmushō's recently published 'Guidelines for A Metaverse Implementation targeted at Solving Societal Challenges' also focus on professional, corporate utility.

Metaverse technologies such as headsets, goggles, and glasses also feature prominently in recent works of Japanese science fiction, but more mundane forms of waged labor play a minor role compared to more thrilling metaverse applications especially within high-stakes military dystopia: We get an abundance of spy gadgetry, updated to suit cyberphyiscal requirements, but metaverse-related depictions of waged labor as we know it are rare. This creates a rift between the speculative landscapes of science fiction and Japanese tech corporations' sociotechnical imaginaries of the metaverse– especially if we also consider their Sci-Fi-prototyping initiatives.

My paper focuses on the works of two contemporary Japanese Sci-Fi authors who are beginning to bridge this gap by reinforcing or contesting the predominant metaverse imaginary: Fujii, who transitioned from the software industry to literature, represents a collaborative approach to Sci-Fi prototyping in partnership with tech giants like Sony. His short stories Shoku & Shigoto (2021) and Reader Alice (2024) delineate optimistic to utopian, seamless integrations of labor within the metaverse. In contrast, Hirano Keiichirō's novel Honshin (2021) and its subsequent cinematic adaption (2024) present a starkly dystopian critique, envisioning metaverse technologies as facilitators of extreme precariousness and exploitative labor configurations.

The paper maps the competing strains of metaverse-related labor imaginaries against the official sociotechnical imaginaries currently shaping Japanese public policy and corporate strategy. It interrogates the mutual constitution of fictional narrative and the hyperbolic expectations—hopes and fears alike—that coalesce into "Cool Japan" 2.0 technopolitics. Ultimately, the paper argues for the enduring significance of literary imagination as a site of sense-making and potential resistance in Japan's digital transformation, demonstrating how Science and Technology Studies (STS) can be enriched by a rigorous literary perspective.