2023 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Embodied Ikigai: Japanese women's narratives on well-being in times of crisis
| Project/Area Number |
22KF0372
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Institution | International Research Center for Japanese Studies |
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Principal Investigator |
安井 眞奈美 国際日本文化研究センター, 研究部, 教授 (40309513)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
PACHECO RODRIGUE JAMILA 国際日本文化研究センター, 研究部, 外国人特別研究員
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| Project Period (FY) |
2023-03-08 – 2025-03-31
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| Keywords | ikigai / embodiment / crisis / bodies / culture / emotions |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The aim of this research was to explore ikigai ideas and times of crisis as an embodied experience and the role of the body in this experience.
First, I co-authored an article in which we explored broader ideas about the role of the body in coping with crises, such as the pandemic crisis, and the kinds of narratives people have to maintain their wellbeing during these challenging times. We used an anthropological lens, drawing on Mary Douglas's theory of risk and Havi Carel's phenomenology and the concept of 'bodily doubt'.
Second, in another co-authored article, I explored ikigai as a cultural embodied emotion and used Thomas Csordas' theory of embodiment to support the argument of ikigai as a cultural embodied emotion.
Third, I wrote about Japanese women's embodied narratives of personal crisis and explored notions of self and understandings of ikigai. I draw on Arthur Frank's notions of illness narratives and Havi Carel's phenomenological study of illness, extending Carel's framework to examine broader personal crisis as an embodied disruption of normality.
I was selected to be part of the Japan-US SCP Fellowship Network Program funded by the Japan Foundation. In this program I developed policy skills and presented a pitch idea for embodied ikigai and wellbeing in the Japan context.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
1: Research has progressed more than it was originally planned.
Reason
The project has progressed as the original plan. In my grant application I aimed at four articles during the four years of fellowship. Although publication process take time (e.g, rejection, resubmission, collaborations) the progress of this project was to my view satisfactory.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
I have become interested in the wellbeing of coastal communities. I have started a collaboration on the wellbeing of AMA-san divers, their knowledge of the marine environment and their views on crises such as climate change. Additionally, I was awarded with a COI-NEXT GRANT from OIST (Okinawa Institute for Science and Technology) to start a project on fisheries (inshore fishers) in Okinawa, and the impact of climate change on their wellbeing and their work as fishers.
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| Causes of Carryover |
June 2024: I plan to attend MSEAS 2024 Conference (JUNE 3-7) in Yokohoma to co-present the project on Ama-san, wellbeing, climate change with one of the collaborators from Nagoya University.
Flight cost: 48,884 Yen
5 nights'accommodation: 55,000 Yen
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