Gostujuće predavanje „Rethinking Japan’s Security in an Era of Demographic Change“, dr. sc. Boštjan Bertalanič (11. veljače, u 12.00)

Odsjek za azijske studije Filozofskog fakulteta Sveučilišta Jurja Dobrile u Puli poziva sve zainteresirane na predavanje koje će održati izvanredni profesor dr. sc. Boštjan Bertalanič sa Sveučilišta Josai (Saitama, Japan) pod nazivom Rethinking Japan’s Security in an Era of Demographic Change.

Predavanje će se održati u srijedu, 11. veljače, u 12.00 sati u dvorani 255, na Filozofskom fakultetu u Puli, 2. kat (Negrijeva 6).

Predavanju možete pristupiti i online, putem poveznice Zoom: https://unipu-hr.zoom.us/j/92389608326

Sažetak predavanja (na engleskom):

As Japan navigates the pivotal political landscape of early 2026—marked by the Takaichi administration’s snap election and renewed alliance commitments—the nation stands at a strategic crossroads. While Tokyo pursues an agenda of "Strategic Autonomy" and expanded defense capabilities, these dynamic ambitions must be reconciled with a fixed structural reality: the deepening impact of demographic change on national power.

This lecture analyzes the widening gap between Japan’s strategic goals and its societal constraints. Moving beyond alarmist headlines, we will examine the "amorphization" of the social structures that traditionally supported the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) and the structural causes behind the current recruitment crisis.

Crucially, the talk will explore the difficult policy dilemmas designed to bridge this gap. As decision-makers weigh the revitalization of human resources against a potential "technological offset"—leveraging Japan’s semiconductor revival (Rapidus, TSMC) and autonomous systems—we must ask: Is a high-tech defense posture a viable solution? We will evaluate these options against the backdrop of recent bond market volatility and economic pressure, discussing whether Japan can successfully re-engineer its security architecture in an era of fiscal and social limits.

Biografija predavača:

Boštjan BERTALANIČ, PhD, earned his doctorate in International Relations from the University of Tokyo. He currently serves as Adjunct Associate Professor within the Faculty of Contemporary Policy Studies at Josai University. Since 2015, he has also been an Adjunct Professor for the EU Interdisciplinary Graduate Program at Hitotsubashi University Faculty of Law.

His research primarily examines the diplomatic and foreign policy intersections between Japan and (Central) Europe. He is currently a member of an interdisciplinary research group, collaborating with Japanese colleagues to investigate trans-ethnic relations within the former Yugoslavia. Previously, he contributed to a project focused on emerging thematic trends in Japanese historiography of World War I. This research culminated in the publication of the monograph The Illusion of Self-Determination: The Collapse of the Habsburg Empire and the Emergence of New States, published in Japanese by Showado in 2020 (「民族自決」という幻影――ハプスブルク帝国の崩壊と新生諸国家の成立).

Beyond his academic career, Dr. Boštjan Bertalanič is also a photographer who graduated from the Nippon Photography Institute (日本写真芸術専門学校), where he specialized in portraiture and fashion photography.

*Predavanje je dio projekta 10th Anniversary of Japanese Studies: Lecture Series @Pula, organiziran uz pomoć financijske potpore Japanske fondacije.*

Povodom 10. obljetnice osnutka programa Japanologije na Sveučilištu Jurja Dobrile u Puli, projektom se planira obilježavanje ovog događaja kroz organizaciju ciklusa hibridnih (uživo i online) predavanja međunarodno priznatih znanstvenika iz Japana i Europe. Sva predavanja bit će snimana, arhivirana i dostupna javnosti putem internetske platforme, čime se osigurava široka dostupnost i dugoročna iskoristivost edukativnog sadržaja.

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