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Paper short abstract:

For anthropologists hoping commencing fieldwork in Japan in 2020, digital ethnography was the only option. This paper considers the impact digital research will have on intimate topics of anthropology in Japan, as virtual possibilities in Japan develop for researchers, teachers, and activists alike.

Paper long abstract:

Japan’s digital possibilities are endless, especially in urban centres like Tokyo, Osaka, and Kobe. And fortunately for many, both living in Japan and connecting overseas, some virtual and hybrid events remain in place. This offers an additional layer of accessibility in school and work settings. But this paper also asks whether digital ethnographic methods can offer an in-roads to intimate encounters ‘in the field’ in places like Japan.

When it comes to research on intimate and typically private topics like marriage, divorce, sex, and sexuality, can digital methods be as or even more expansive than in-person encounters? Can they reach people or places that would otherwise be lost amid the crowds in Shinjuku or Shibuya neighborhoods?

What about in high-context cultures like Japan’s where indirect wording and keeping ‘sexual’ topics to private spaces is more common? How can anthropologists adopt and combine digital methods to make sensitive conversations more comfortable for everyone involved?

Combining my own fieldwork on sexual harassment and consent narratives among university students with a look into online methods as pedagogical tools in Japanese education, I hope to demonstrate that the virtual does not lack intimacy as some may believe. It is all a matter of perspective. And for youth in Japan, it may be much easier to share personal stories and opinions behind the screen than in front of it.