Toshio MIYAKE

Toshio Miyake è nato a Kyoto in Giappone. Dopo aver frequentato le scuole in Germania e Italia, si laurea in studi nipponistici all’Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia (1997), per poi specializzarsi in sociologia, media studies e cultural studies all’Università di Osaka e Ritsumeikan di Kyoto (M.A. 2000), e infine in letteratura giapponese comparata a Ca’ Foscari (PhD 2005).

Ha insegnato a contratto cultura, società e lingua giapponese in diversi atenei italiani (Venezia, Urbino/Pesaro, Perugia, Calabria/Cosenza, 2003-08). In veste di postdoc fellow all'Università di Kyoto e all'International Christian University, Tokyo (2008-10) ha condotto in Giappone ricerche sulle culture popolari (subculture giovanili e manga) e sulle rappresentazioni dell’Italia. Torna a Venezia come primo vincitore cafoscarino di un progetto europeo Marie Curie International Incoming (2011-13) e ottiene il Premio Ca’ Foscari alla Ricerca (Categoria giovani 2013). Dal 2015 è professore associato presso l'Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.   

Ha collaborato a progetti internazionali di ricerca inter-disciplinare (sociologia, antropologia, intellectual history, area studies) con l’Università di Kyoto, l’Università di Kobe e l’International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken). La sua ricerca riguarda la rivisitazione critica dei concetti identitari di ‘Occidente’/‘Oriente’ e di whiteness/yellowness, nonché il loro ruolo egemone nei rapporti storico-culturali fra Italia (Europa) e Giappone (Asia).

Current position

• Associate professor, Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca' Foscari University of Venice.

Academic duties

• Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca' Foscari University of Venice
• Member of the Research Committee (2021-present)
• Host scientific coordinator of the Reset Doc Venice Seminars and Summer School (2020-present)
• Member of the Undergraduate Teaching Board (2019-present)
• Member of the scientific board for the Marco Polo (MaP) Centre for Global Europe-Asia Connections (2018-present)
• Chair of the Undergraduate Teaching Board (2017-19)
• Chair of the Undergraduate Quality Assurance Committee (2017-19)
• Coordinator of the International Student Exchange Program - Japan Division (2015-17)
• Member of the Research Committee (2015-17)

Teaching (2022/23)

• Contemporary Japanese Society, Cultural Studies of East Asia (Japan), Japanese Grammar (basic).

Research interests

• Cultural studies, postcolonial/decolonial studies, media studies
• Occidentalism, Orientalism, self-Orientalism
• Whiteness, yellowness, blackness in Japan and Italy
• Socio-cultural history of Italy-Japan and Europe-Asia relations
• Media, popular and youth cultures in contemporary Japan

Research projects, collaborations, supervisions

• Scientific supervisor (2022-25): "Yamatology of the Axis. Japan as a Nazi-Fascist Utopia of Political Renewal-YTOPIA" (H2020-Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action IF), Research fellow: Dr. Nicola Bassoni, Ca' Foscari University of Venice. 
• Scientific supervisor (2021-22): "The Glocalization of East Asian Religions: Interculturality, Hybridity and Bricolage among Youth in Italy", Research fellow: Dr. Giovanni Lapis, Ca' Foscari University of Venice.
• Host researcher (2018-19): "The Significance of the West: a Comparative Study of Japanese Girl's Literature in the Twentieth Century", Principal Investigator: Prof. Noriko Hiraishi (Tsukuba University), Ca' Foscari University of Venice.
• Host researcher (2017-19): "Japanese films and television programs in Europe: Former popularity, current decline, and the quest for new marketing strategies, 1951-2018", Toshiba International Foundation Grant (TIFO), Principal investigator: Dr. Marco Pellitteri, Ca' Foscari University of Venice.
• Host researcher (2017-18): "Developing 'hybridity of society' approach for global studies", Principal investigator: Prof. Hirofumi Utsumi (Otemon Gakuin University, Osaka), Ca' Foscari University of Venice.
• Principal Investigator (2014-): "Critical Occidentalism Studies: Beyond the 'West' and the 'East' in Italy-Asia Relations" (Ca' Foscari Research Fellowship/ADIR), Ca' Foscari University of Venice.
• Research fellow (2011-13): “Beyond the 'West' and the 'East': Occidentalism, Orientalism and Self-Orientalism in Italy-Japan Relations" (FP 7 Marie Curie IIF), Ca' Foscari University of Venice.
  • research proposal summary and evaluation
  • final report summary
  • website
•  Ca' Foscari University Overseas Partner (2013-16): "Innovative Japanese Studies through International Cooperation" (JSPS), Graduate Schools of Humanities, Kobe University.
  • website (in Japanese)
• Ca' Foscari University Overseas Partner (2011-): "Reconstruction of Public and Intimate Spheres in 21st Century Asia”, Global Center of Excellence (GCOE)-Kyoto International Consortium for Asian Studies (KICAS), Dep. of Sociology-KUASU, Kyoto University.
  • website
• Member of the scientific and organizing committee for the Japan Foundation funded research, conference, staff expansion, visiting professor, library project ("Contemporary Japan", 2010-11, "Rethinking Japan", 2011-15); Dep. of Asian and North African Studies, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.
• Member of the scientific committee for the editorial and didactic project “The 47 Ronin” (2012-), Veneziacomix (Fabrizio Capigatti-Emanuele Tenderini) and Ca’ Foscari University.

Education, international experience, qualification

• Italian Habilitation (ASN):
  • Full professor (professore di I° fascia, since 2021)
  • Asscociate professor (professore di II° fascia, since 2013)
• Visiting researcher/professor at:
  • Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The University of Sydney (July/August 2018)
  • Department of Sociology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University (July/August 2016)
  • Department of Urban, Social and Cultural Studies, Yokohama City University (June/July 2014)
  • Institute of Comparative Culture, Sophia University, Tokyo (June/July 2013)
  • Department of Human and Social Dynamics, Kobe University (June/August 2012)
  • Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney (June 2012)
  • Institute of Asian Cultural Studies, ICU, Tokyo (2008-10).
• JSPS Postdoc Research Fellow, Graduate School of Letters (Sociology,) Kyoto University (2008-10).
• MURST Postdoc Research Fellow, Department of East Asian Studies, Ca' Foscari University of Venice (2007-08).
• Ph.D. in Asian Studies (Japanese & Comparative Literature), Ca' Foscari University of Venice (2005).
• Research Student in Sociology (Media & Gender Studies), Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University (1998-2000).
• M.A. in Applied Sociology (Subaltern Studies, Gramsci Studies), Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto (2000).
• B.A. (Hons.) in Foreign Languages and Literatures (Japanese New Religions & Media), Ca' Foscari University of Venice (1997).
• Japanese Language Proficiency Test, Level 1 (1994).

Awards, fellowships, grants

• Ca' Foscari Research Fellowship (2014-15).
• European Commission FP7 Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship (2011-13).
• Ca' Foscari Best Young Researcher Award Grant (2013).
• Ca' Foscari International Staff Exchange Grant (2012, 2013, 2014, 2016).
• Ca' Foscari International Research Incentive Grant (2011 FP7 Marie Curie proposal, 2012 ERC Consolidator proposal).
• Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoc Research Fellowship (2008-10).
• Italian Ministry for Universities, Scientific and Technological Research (MURST) Postdoc Research Fellowship (2007-08).
• Italian Association for Japanese Studies (AISTUGIA) "Mario Scalise Award for Young Researchers" (2006).
• Veneto Regional Government Grant and Venezia Ricerca per la Pace Foundation Grant (2002).
• Ca' Foscari PhD Fellowship (2000-03).

Teaching experience 

• 2015-: Associate professor at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Department of Asian and North African Studies
• 2012-: International Phd tutoring for the "Innovative Japanese Studies through International Cooperation" project (Kobe University, 2013-16) and the "Reconstruction of Public and Intimate Spheres in 21st Century Asia” Global Center of Excellence (Kyoto University, 2012-14).
• 2012-15: Phd seminar series founding coordinator, Dept. of Asian and North African Studies, Ca' Foscari University of Venice:
  • 2013-15: "TransPop Laboratory" (with Lorenzo Andolfatto, Caterina Mazza and Pierantonio Zanotti).
  • 2013-14: "Reading the Classics of Critical Theory" (with Pierantonio Zanotti).
  • 2012-15: "Critique, Theory, and Method in Area Studies".
• 2003-2008, 2010-15: Adjunct lecturer (professore a contratto) at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Dept. of Asian and North African Studies
• 2006-08: Adjunct lecturer at Carlo Bo' University of Urbino, Faculty of Oriental Languages and Civilizations
• 2005-06: Adjunct lecturer at the University For Foreigners of Perugia, M.A. on Promotion of Italian Language and Culture throughout the World
• 2004-06: Adjunct lecturer at the University of Calabria, Department of Linguistics
• 1998-99: Teaching assistant at Ritsumeikan University, Faculty of Applied Sociology (Kyoto, Japan) 
• 1997-2000: Instructor of Italian Language at OTC Institute of Foreign Languages (Osaka, Japan) and Isaac Institute of Foreign Languages (Kobe-Osaka, Japan).

Editorial memberships

• scientific director of the series "History and Society", Japanese Studies, Venice University Press
• member of the editorial board of the journal Annali di Ca' Foscari. Serie orientale, Venice University Press
• member of the editorial board of the series "Cinema, media e studi culturali", Meltemi
• member of the scientific board of the series "S.T.R.A.D.E." (Spiritualità e tradizioni religiose: approcci, discipline, etnografie), Franco Angeli
• member of the scientific board of the journal Mutual Images

Organization of events, conferences, workshops

• 23-28/05/2022: Between State and Civil Society: Who Protects Individual Liberties and Human Dignity?, Reset Doc Venice Seminars and Summer School (Ca' Foscari University host scientific and teaching coordinator).
• 25/11/2021: Italia-Giappone. Politiche di genere e violenza domestica. Il Movimento del Fiocco Bianco, online (co-coordinator and consecutive interpreting Japanese-Italian).
• 10/09/2021: Life Beyond Survival. Care, Creativity and Hope in post-3.11. Tohoku, panel of the Ca’ Foscari Series 3.11 Ten years on, online (organizer and chair).
• 24-28/05/2021: Free Speech, Its Primacy and Challenges, Reset Doc Venice Seminars and Summer School, online (Ca' Foscari University host scientific coordinator). 
• 01-07/09/2019: Uncovering Pathways of Change along the Belt and Road, Summer School of the Marco Polo (MaP) Centre for Global Europe-Asia Connections; San Servolo Island, Ca' Foscari University of Venice (co-organizer and member of the scientific committee).
• 15-16/2/2018: Japanese Animation and European Contexts, International Symposium, Ca' Foscari University of Venice (co-organizer and member of the scientific committee).
• 14-15/05/2015: Cultural and Science Diplomacy in a Globalising World: Politics and Culture in East Asia-Europe Relations, panel of the XV EastAsiaNet Research Workshop, Ca' Foscari University of Venice (member of the organizing and scientific committee).
• 17-18/03/2014: Rethinking Nature in Japan: from Tradition to Modernity, international conference on Japanese Studies, Auditorium-Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (member of the organizing committee).
• 17/06/2013: Italia e Giappone allo specchio, workshop on manga studies for the Milano Manga Festival 2013, WOW Comics Museum, Milan (coordinator and discussant).
• 03/05-21/07/2013: Milano Manga Festival 2013, member of the scientific committe, Asatsu-DK and The Japan Foundation, Rotonda in Via Besana − WOW Museo del Fumetto, Milan (interview for RepubblicaTV).
• 02/12/2012: Area Ca' Foscari, promotional and cultural event at the XV Salone dei Beni Culturali, Tronchetto, Venice (section/panel coordinator).
• 23/09/2012: Veneto Night - Notte europea dei ricercatori, European Commission FP7 The Researchers' Night project, Ca' Foscari University of Venice (event coordinator of the East Asian section).
• 25-26/02/2012: Rethinking Nature in Contemporary Japan: Science, Economics, Politics, international conference on Japanese Studies, Auditorium-Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (member of the organizing and scientific committee, panel coordinator, discussant).
• 12/03/2012; 10/04/2011: Ca' Foscari per il Giappone, charity/fundraising event for the victims of the 11.3.2011 disaster in north-eastern Japan, Ca' Foscari University of Venice (event coordinator delegated by DSAAM).
• 2012-: 3 Ph.D. workshop series, "Critique, Theory, and Method in Area Studies", "TransPop Laboratory", "Reading the Classics of Critical Theory", DSAAM, Ca' Foscari University (founding coordinator).
• 25-26/10/2011: Contemporary Japan: Challenges Facing a World Economic Power in Transition, international conference on Japanese Studies, Auditorium-Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (member of the organizing and scientific committee, panel coordinator, discussant).
• 2011-: 36 lectures at the Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca' Foscari University of Venice-DSAAM (coordinator and discussant).

Presentations

• 04-06/12/2022 (forthcoming): “The yellow whiteness of the ‘Japanese Race’ in Fascist Italy: fascisticizing Italy-Japan relations from the past to the present”, International Symposium, Historians’ Journeys: Tales of Search and Research in the Understanding of Fascism 100 Years from The March on Rome, 1922-2022, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
• 23/05/2022: “The notions of 'the West':(Un)marking civilizational, racial and national identity”, Reset Dialogues on Civilizations - Venice Summer School, Between State and Civil Society: Who Protects Individual Liberties and Human Dignity?, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.
• 22/04/2022: “Mostri e mostruosità del Giappone: passato, presente e futuro in ottica globale”, Centro di Cultura Giapponese, Milano, online.
• 08/03/2022: “Are the Japanese ‘white’? (Un)marking race through mangaesque whiteness”, Nissan Institute for Japanese Studies, Oriental Studies Faculty, University of Oxford, UK.
• 26/08/2021 (cfp): "From strategic orientalism to hybrid and pluriversal Japanese Studies: Japanization and neo-Japanism in contemporary Italy", Intellectual History and Philosophy section, European Association of Japanese Studies (EAJS), Ghent, Belgium, online.
• 08/07/2021: "Yellowness, Neo-orientalism and Sinophobia in Contemporary Italy”, Vulca 2021 seminars, University of British Columbia-University of Florence, online.
• 10/05/2021: "Can the Yellow Other Speak? (Un)Marking Westernness, Whiteness, Nationness in Italian and East Asian Studies", Diversity and Decolonization in Italian Studies series, online.
• 13/10/2020: "Critical Studies: beyond the ‘West’ and the ‘East’ ?", PhD workshop series on Asian and African Studies, Ca' Foscari University of Venice; Italy.
• 27/05/2020: "‘Cin Ciun Cian’ (ching chong): Neo-orientalism and Cultural Racialization in Italy at the Time of Covid-19", Reset Doc Venice Seminars Communities and the Individual: Beyond the Liberal-Communitarian Divide, Ca' Fsocari Univeristy of Venice.
• 14/05/2019: "Race in Manga and Anime: the mangaesque degree zero of whiteness", MIT-Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.
• 22/01/2019:"Critical Studies, Area Studies?", Phd workshop serie on Asian and African Studies, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
• 24/10/2018: "Japanese Studies between Occidentalism, Orientalism, and Self-Orientalism (tentative)", International Symposium Smart Cities: Secure Societies: Breakthrough in EU and Japan Research Cooperation, Kobe University Brussels European Centre, Belgium.
• 03/10/2018: " 'The Japanese Race' in La difesa della razza (1938-43): whiteness and yellowness in Fascist Italy", workshop The Languages of Discrimination and Racism in Italy, New York University Florence, Italy.
• 07/09/2018: "Japanese Studies as 'subculture' ?", International Conference Manga, Comics and Japan: Area Studies as Media Studies, University of Stockholm, Sweden.
• 29/06/2018 (cfp): "Desiring the Italian other: from whiteness/yellowness to hybrid 'halfness' in Japanese entertainment", international Conference Italy and Asia: Past and Present, Mahidol University, Thailand.
• 14/05/2018: "Axis Powers Hetalia: mangaesque convergence, nation anthropomorphism and sexualized history", Ca' Foscari International College, Italy.
• 09/05/2018: "I giapponesi sono 'gialli' o 'bianchi' ? Civiltà, nazione e razza nell'Italia fascista', University of Florence, Italy.
• 13/04/2018: "Are the Japanese 'white' ? Civilization, Nation and Race in Fascist Italy", EastAsiaNet (EAN) Workshop,University of Lodz, Poland.
• 06/04/2018: "Che cos'è il 'Giappone'? Gramsci, occidentalismo e orientalismo", Aula Magna Ca' Dolfin, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
• 23/11/2017: "Theory and Methodology for Asian Studies", Phd workshop, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
• 31/08/2017 (cfp): “Social hybridity, Japanese Studies and Area Studies: beyond methodological nationalism, regionalism and civilizationalism”, 15th International Conference of the European Association of Japanese Studies (EAJS), Lisbon, Portugal.
• 09/08/2017: "Beyond the ‘West’, the ‘East’ and ‘Japan’:toward Critical Occidentalism Studies", The University of Sydney, Australia.
• 07/08/2017: “Are the Japanese white? Civilization, nation and race in Fascist Italy”, The University of Sydney, Australia.
• 20/07/2017: "Beyond the Modern Hegemony of the ‘West’ and the ‘East’:Towards Critical Occidentalism Studies", Japan and Modernity, between Normative and Area Studies, University of Turin, Italy.
• 09/06/2017: "Il boom dell'Italia in Giappone", New Perspectives for the Italian Food & Beverage Industry in Japan, School of Law, LUISS University, Rome, Italy.
• 11/05/2017: “Occidentalism, Orientalism and self-Orientalism in Italy-Japan Relations”, Global Asian Studies 2, Ca’ Foscari International College, San Servolo-Venice, Italy.
• 21/04/2017: “Orientalizing the “West”: the historical narrative of Shiono Nanami in contemporary Japan”, EastAsiaNet (EAN) Workshop, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain.
• 16/12/2016: "Occidentalismo, orientalismo, auto-orientalismo", Phd workshop Orientalismi, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
• 12/10/2016: "Soto kara mita Nihon no taishū bunka - yōkaiwo chūshinni -" (External Perspectives on Japanese Popular Cultures: Focusing on Yōkai", International Research Center for Japanese Studies (NICHIBUNKEN), Kyoto, Japan.
• 06/10/2016: "Da Hiroshima e Nagasaki a Fukushima: egemonia nucleare, convergenza mediatica e protesta giovanile", X FestivalStoria, Turin, Italy. 
• 05/10/2016 (keynote lecture): "Oltre l' 'Occidente' e l' 'Oriente': occidentalismo, orientalismo e auto-orientalismo", X FestivalStoria, Turin, Italy.
• 22/09/2016 (cfp): "Il Giappone made in Italy: civiltà, nazione, razza/etnia nell'orientalismo italiano", XL Congress of the Italian Association for Japanese Studies (Aistugia), University of Turin, Italy.
• 13/09/2016: " I 47 rōnin: dal Chūshingura al manga", Museo d'Arte Orientale, Venice, Italy.
• 20/07/2016: "Occidentalism, Orientalism and self-Orientalism in Italy-Japan Relations", Kyoto University, Japan.
• 19/07/2016: "Beyond ‘the West’ and ‘the East’: Towards Critical Occidentalism Studies", Kyoto University, Japan.
• 20-21/03/2016: "New Steps in Japanese Studies", discussant for the concluding symposium of the Zunoujiunkan project, Kobe University, Japan.
• 25/11/2015: "Occidentalismo, orientalismo, auto-orientalismo", Phd workshop Orientalismi, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
• 13/11/2015: "Trans/Nationalising Youth in post-Fukushima Japan: from Galapagos Syndrome to Global Citizenship?", symposium Being young in ageing societies – Japan and Europe, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
• 29/10/2015: "What is 'Japan'? Undoing complicit Occidentalism, Orientalism and self-Orientalism", symposium How to Learn – Nippon/Japan as Object, Nippon/Japan as method, University of Florence,, Italy.
• 10/10/2015: "Methodological nationalism in Japanese Studies and Social Sciences", workshop Towards New Possibilities of Japanese Studies, Kobe University Brussels Center (KUBEC), Belgium.
• 14/03/2015: "History as Sexualised Parody", Kobe University, Japan.
• 10/12/2014: "Il Giappone nucleare: contraddizioni, convergenza mangaesque e Gen di Hiroshima", conference Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Fukushima, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
• 05/12/2014: "Che cos'è il 'Giappone' ? Gramsci, occidentalismo, orientalismo (What is 'Japan'? Gramsci, Occidentalism, Orientalism), Università del Tempo Libero, Noale (VE), Italy.
• 01/11/2014 (with Marcella Mariotti): "Hadashi no Gen", book presentation, Sala Oratorio San Giuseppe, Lucca Comics & Games, Lucca, Italy.
• 19/09/2014 (cfp): "Yamanba (vecchia di montagna): parodie mostruose al femminile nella narrativa giapponese postbellica" (Yamanba: monstrous parody in Japanese postwar narrative), speaker and panel organizer, XXXVIII Congress of the Italian Association for Japanese Studies (Aistugia), University of Salento, Lecce, Italy.
• 12/09/2014: "Popularising the Atom: hegemony from below and mangaesque media convergence", international symposium Catastrophes, Digital Public Spheres and the Future of Democracy, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany.
• 30/08/2014 (cfp): “Towards mangaesque convergence: Nation anthropomorphism, cross-gendered parody, and sexualised history in Axis Powers Hetalia”, 14th International Conference of the European Association of Japanese Studies (EAJS), Ljubljana, Slovenia.
• 18/07/2014 (cfp): “Doing Occidentalism through mangaesque convergence: the boom of Japanese popular cultures in contemporary Italy”, XVIII International Sociological Association (ISA) World Congress, Yokohama, Japan.
• 16/07/2014: "Japanese Studies at Ca' Foscari University of Venice", Yokohama City University, Japan.
• 12/07/2014: discussant for the panel "Manga Studies", workshop on media and manga studies, Kyoto International Manga Museum, Japan.
• 20/05/2014 (with Marcella Mariotti): “Shiranui”, book presentation, Museo Civico-Villa Bassi Rathgeb, Abano, Italy.
• 28/04/2014: "When History becomes Sexy: Nation, Parody and Moe in Japanese Media Convergence", Birkbeck, University of London, UK.
• 25/04/2014: “History as Sexualised Parody: from Historical Revisionism to Nation Anthropomorphism in Japanese Youth Subcultures”, East Asia Net Workshop, University of Sheffield, UK.
• 23/02/2014: “Orientalismo e studi sul Giappone” (Orientalism and Japanese Studies), PhD workshop Orientalismi, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
• 22/02/2014: “Orientalismo saidiano e Occidentalismo critico” (Said's Orientalism and Critical Occidentalism), PhD workshop Orientalismi, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
• 03/02/2014: “Occidentalismo, Orientalismo e auto-Orientalismo nei rapporti Italia-Giappone” (Occidentalism, Orientalism, and self-Orientalism in Italy-Japan Relations), Laboratorio Demo-Etno-Antropologico (DEA), Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
• 15/01/2014: “Transbordering Japanese Popular Cultures: Axis Powers Hetalia from Japan to Italy”, Kobe University, Japan.
• 15/01/2014: “Japanese Studies at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice”, Kobe University, Japan.
• 14/01/2014: “Do we still need to use the ‘West’ and the ‘East’? Towards Critical Occidentalism Studies”, Kobe University, Japan.
• 11/01/2014:  discussant for the panel “Literature and Culture”, The 6th Next-Generation Global Workshop-1st KUASU International Conference: Revisiting the Intimate and Public Spheres and the East-West Encounter, Kyoto University, Japan.
• 05/12/2013: “Convergenze mangaesque: la costellazione transmediale di Axis Powers Hetalia” (Mangaesque Convergence), Laboratorio per lo Studio Letterario del Fumetto, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
• 07/11/2013: “New Japanese Studies? Strategical Neo-Orientalism and Japanese Popular Cultures”, Kobe University Brussels Center (KUBEC), Belgium.
• 05/07/2013: “Beyond ‘the West’ and ‘the East’: Occidentalism, Orientalism and self-Orientalism”, Institute of Comparative Culture, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan.
• 20/06/2013: “L’Italia nei manga” (Italy in manga), NipPop Festival, University of Bologna, Italy.
• 17/06/2013: “Italia e Giappone allo specchio” (Italy and Japan in the Mirror), Milano Manga Festival, conference organizer and talk (" 'Itay' through mangaesque convergence"), WOW-Comics Museum, Milano, Italy.
• 28/02/2013: "Il Giappone come paradiso dei fumetti: industria culturale e convergenza globalizzata", press conference for the Milano Manga Festival, Palazzo Reale, Milano, Italy.
• 28/01/2013: “Occidentalismo e Axis Power Hetalia: antropomorfismo delle nazioni e parodia sessualizzata nelle subculture giapponesi otaku/fujoshi”, Laboratorio DEA, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
• 16/11/2012: "Axis Powers Hetalia: moe, yaoi e subculture femminili made in Japan", Festival Immagimondo, Palazzo Delle Paure, Lecco, Italy.
• 14/09/2012: "Desiring the Atom: Hegemony and Media Convergence in Japanese Popular Cultures", Japanese Studies and Popular Culture Studies in Recent Europe, Kobe University Brussels Center, Belgium.
• 07/09/2012 (cfp): "Desiring the Atom", British Association for Japanese Studies Conference 2012, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
• 28/08/2012: "Popular representations of the Nuclear", workshop, University of Kobe, Japan.
• 27/08/2012: "Beyond "the West" and "the East": Occidentalism, Orientalism, and self-Orientalism in Italy-Japan Relations", workshop, University of Kobe, Japan.
• 15/07/2012 (cfp): "Atomic Desires: Hegemony and Media Convergence in Japanese Popular Cultures", Cultural Typhoon 2012, Hiroshima, Japan.
• 26/06/2012: "Beyond "the West" and "the East": Occidentalism, Orientalism, and self-Orientalism in Italy-Japan Relations",Transforming Cultures Research Workshop, University of Technology Sydney, Australia.
• 07/06/2012: "Manga, anime, pop-art: da Hiroshima/Nagasaki a Fukushima" (Manga, anime, pop-art: from Hiroshima/Nagasaki to Fukushima), NipPop Festival, University of Bologna, Italy.
• 03/06/2012: "Japanese Studies as 'subculture' ", speaker and panel discussant, international symposium "Manga Worlds": Subcultures, Japan, Japanology, Kobe University- Kyoto International Manga Museum, Japan.
• 20/04/2012: "Popularising the Atom: Hegemony, Resistance, and Consent in Japanese Popular Cultures", Japanese Media Studies Workshop, Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, Norwich, UK.
• 27/03/2012: "Oltre l' "Occidente" e l' "Oriente": Occidentalismo, Orientalismo e auto-Orientalismo nei rapporti Italia-Giappone", University of Bologna, Italy.
• 24/03/2012: "Desiring the Atom: Hegemony and Media Convergence in Japanese Popular Cultures", speaker and panel discussant, international symposium X Magis Gorizia Filmforum Festival, University of Udine, Italy.
• 28/02/2012 : "Occidentalismo critico e Area Studies: teoria, metodo e interdisciplinarità", PhD. workshop Critica, teoria e metodo negli Area Studies, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
• 27/02/2012: "Occidentalismo, Orientalismo e auto-Orientalismo", PhD. workshop Critica, teoria e metodo negli Area Studies, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
• 26/11/2011: "Images of Asia in Japanese Subcultures: Occidentalism, Orientalism and self-Orientalism in Axis Powers Hetalia”, international symposium Imagining Asia through Cultural Production and Consumption, Seoul National University, South Korea.
• 16/11/2011 (cfp): "Nation Anthropomorphism in Japanese Subcultures: moe, yaoi and Axis Powers Hetalia", 110th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Montreal, Canada.
• 25/10/2011: "Re-inventing 'the West': Occidentalism and Nation Anthropomorphism in Japanese Subcultures", international symposium Contemporary Japan: Challenges Facing a World Economic Power during a Period of Transition, organizing committee member, panel organizer, discussant, speaker, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
• 23/09/2011: "Manga, anime, pop-art: da Hiroshima/Nagasaki a Fukushima" (Manga, anime, pop-art: from Hiroshima/Nagasaki to Fukushima), speaker and panel organizer, European Researchers' Night-Venetonight, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
• 16/09/2011 (cfp): "Quando la storia diventa sexy: dal revisionismo storico all'antropomorfismo moe delle nazioni" (When History becomes sexy: from historical revisionism to moe nation anthropomorphism), XXXV Congress of the Italian Association for Japanese Studies (Aistugia), University of Bologna, Italy.
• 27/08/2011 (cfp): "Doing Gendered Occidentalism: "Western" Mirrors in the Historical Narrative of Shiono Nanami", speaker and panel co-organizer, 13th European Association for Japanese Studies International Conference, University of Tallinn, Estonia.
• 24/06/2011: "Progettazione Europea: i programmi FP7 People Marie Curie ", Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
• 15/04/2011: "Trans/nationalising Occidentalism via Cool Japan. Nation Branding and Nation Anthropomorphism in Japanese Popular Cultures", EastAsiaNet Workshop, University of Duisburg, Germany.
• 08/04/2011 (with Matteo Casari), "Culture del Giappone contemporaneo" (Contemporary Japanese Cultures), book presentation, University of Bologna, Italy.
• 31/03-03/04/2011 (cfp, in absentia): "Re-Inventing Japan through "the West" Occidentalism, Cool Japan and moe Nation Anthropomorphism", Annual Conference of The Association for Asian Studies, Honolulu, Usa.
• 23/01/2011 (cfp): "Axis Powers Hetalia: Racialised and Sexualised Parody in Japanese Subcultures", Glocal Polemics of 'BL' (Boys Love): Production, Circulation, and Censorship, Oita University, Japan.
• 15/12/2010: "Axis Powers Hetalia: moe, yaoi e subculture femminili made in Japan", University of Bologna, Italy.
• 01/10/2010: "Moe kuni gijinka. Axis Powers Hetalia kara doujinshi e" (Moe nation anthropomorphism. From Axis Powers Hetalia to doujinshi), postgraduate seminar of sociology, Kansai University, Osaka, Japan.
• 19/07/2010: "Axis Powers Hetalia to okushidentarizumu" (Axis Powers Hetalia and Occidentalism), Manga Studies Workshop, Kyoto International Manga Museum, Japan.
• 03/07/2010 (cfp): "Revisiting Japanese Occidentalism via Axis Powers Hetalia: Nation Anthropomorphism and Sexualized Parody inotaku/yaoi Subcultures", Cultural Typhoon 2010, Komazawa University, Tokyo, Japan.
• 08/05/2010 (cfp): "Italy Made in Japan: Occidentalism, Self-Orientalism and Italianism in Contemporary Japan", Congress of Italian Cultural Studies, Dartmouth College, Usa.
• 06/11/2009: "Nihon ni okeru 'Italia' to wa? 90nendai no Itaria būmu ni miru tashasei to shite no seiyō to nashonaru aidentitī (What is 'Italy' in Japan? The Western Other and National Identity during the 1990s of the Italian Boom), Nihon no naka no 'Italia', Italian School of East Asian Studies-Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan.
• 16/10/2009 (cfp): "L'Italia made in Japan: occidentalismo, italianismo e auto-orientalismo nel Giappone moderno" (Italy Made in Japan: Occidentalism, Italianism and Self-Orientalism in Modern Japan), Congress of the Association for the Study of Comparative Theory and History of Literature (Compalit), University of Cagliari, Italy.
• 03/10/2008: "Mostri made in Japan: orientalismo e auto-orientalismo nell'era della globalizzazione" (Monsters Made in Japan: Orientalism and self-Orientalism in the Age of Globalization), Wabi Sabi Cyber 2, University of Naples L'Orientale, Italy.
• 22/09/2008 (cfp): "Monstering Japan: Neo-Orientalism and Self-Orientalism in the Age of Globalisation", 12th International Conference of the European Association of Japanese Studies (EAJS), University of Salento, Italy.
• 11/12/2007: "Mostri made in Japan. Metafore di (s)confinamento nell'era della globalizzazione" (Monsters Made in Japan. Metaphors of (De)Confinement in the Age of Globalization), Corpi e anime. Il design delle città, macchine, oggetti e segni nel cinema giapponese, IUAV Venice University Institute of Architecture, Italy .
• 18/03/2007 (with Marcella Mariotti): "Oni e kappa nel Giappone contemporaneo" (Oni and kappa in Contemporary Japan), Higan 2007, Abano Terme, Italy.
• 22/09/2006 (cfp): "Che cos'è il 'Giappone'? Il dibattito sul nome nazionale" (What is "Japan"? The Debate over the National Name), XXX Congress of the Italian Association of Japanese Studies (Aistugia), University of Salento, Italy.
• 14/11/2005: "Manga e anime: primi passi" (Manga and anime: first steps), Immagini e parole del Giappone, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
• 16/10/2005: "Caratteri e specificità del manga" (The specificity of manga), Ottobre Giapponese, ISIAO The Italian Institute for Africa and the East (Emiglia-Romagna section), Ravenna, Italy.
• 22/09/2005 (cfp): "Seiyō ("Occidente") e tōyō ("Oriente") in Giappone. Breve esplorazione di una geografia immaginaria" (Seiyō ["West"] and tōyō ["East"] in Japan. A Short Exploration of an Imagined Geography), XXIX Congress of the Italian Association for Japanese Studies (Aistugia), University of Florence, Italy.
• 23/02/2005: "Pop art e 'alta cultura' nel Giappone contemporaneo" (Pop Art and 'High culture' in Contemporary Japan), postgraduate course Consumi e cambiamento sociale, IULM University of Languages and Communication, Milan, Italy.
• 23/05/2003: "Le nuove religioni di ispirazione orientale nel Veneto" (New 'Oriental' Religions in Veneto), Diversità di fedi nel Veneto oggi. Problemi di identità e di convivenza, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
• 26/09/2002 (cfp): "Italianismo e occidentalismo nella narrativa storica di Shiono Nanami" (Italianism and Occidentalism in Shiono Nanami's Historical Fiction), XXVI Congress of the Italian Association for Japanese Studies (Aistugia), University of Turin, Italy.
• 15/04/2000: "Guramushi no sabarutan gainen ni tsuite" (Comments on Gramsci's Concept of Subaltern), Sociological Methodology Workshop, St. Andrew's University, Osaka, Japan.
• 31/07/1999: "Antonio Guramushi no sabarutan gainen: «Gokuchū nōto» no dai25nōto 'Rekishi no shūhen: sabarutanteki shakaishoshūdan no rekishi' o chūshin ni" (Antonio Gramsci's Concept of Subaltern: Analysis of Prison Notebooks Notebook 25 'On the Margins of History. History of Subaltern Social Groups'), Subaltern Studies Workshop, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan.
• 09/02/1999: "Guramushi ni okeru sabarutan ron" (Gramsci's Theory of Subaltern), Subaltern Studies Workshop, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan.
• 26/09/1998: "J.A. Buttigieg no «Guramushi no sabarutan gainen» ni tsuite" (Comments on J.A. Buttigieg's Essay "Gramsci's Category of Subaltern"), Subaltern Studies Workshop, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan.

PUBLICATIONS 

Books

• 2014: Mostri del Giappone. Narrative, figure, egemonie della dis-locazione identitaria  (Monsters of Japan: Narratives, Figures and Hegemonies of Identity Displacement), Venice: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari (ISBN 978-88-97735-68-7) [peer reviewed]
• 2014: with Marcella Mariotti, Andrea Revelant (eds.): Rethinking Nature in Contemporary Japan: Science, Economics, Politics, Venice: Edizioni Ca' Foscari (ISBN 978-88-97735-76-2) [peer reviewed]
• 2012: with Marco Del Bene, Noemi Lanna, Andrea Revelant: Il Giappone moderno e contemporaneo: Stato, media, processi identitari (Modern and Contemporary Japan: State, Media, Identity Processes), Bologna: I libri di Emil-Odoya University Express (Miyake: Introduction Part II, four chapters) (ISBN: 9788866800323)
• 2010: Occidentalismi. La narrativa storica giapponese (Occidentalisms: Historical Narrative in Japan), Venice: Cafoscarina (ISBN: 978-88-7543-282-9)

Journal articles (peer reviewed)

• 2021: “ ‘Cin ciun cian’ (ching chong): Yellowness and neo-orientalism in Italy at the time of COVID-19”,  in Philosophy & Social Criticism, vol. 47, pp. 486-511 (ISSN 1461-734X)
• 2013: "Italian Transnational Spaces in Japan: Doing Racialised, Gendered and Sexualised Occidentalism", in Maurizio Marinelli-Francesco Ricatti (eds.), Emotional Geographies of the Uncanny: Reinterpreting Italian Transnational Spaces, special issue of Cultural Studies Review, Vol. 19 (2), September 2013, pp. 99-124 (ISSN 1837-8692)
• 2013: "Doing Occidentalism in Contemporary Japan: Nation Anthropomorphism and Sexualized Parody in Axis Power Hetalia", in  Kazumi Nagaike-Katsuhiko Suganuma (eds.), Transnational Boys' Love Fan Studies, special issue of Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 12, March 2013 (ISSN 1941-2258)
• 2012: guest editor of the special section "Da Hiroshima/Nagasaki a Fukushima: cinema, manga e anime nel Giappone postbellico" (From Hiroshima/Nagasaki to Fukushima: Cinema, Manga and Anime in Postwar Japan), Cinergie: il cinema e le altre arti, n. 2, November 2012, pp. 118-174 (ISSN: 2280-9481)
  • "Introduzione" (Introduction), pp. 118-124
  • "Desideri nucleari: convergenze mediatiche nelle culture popolari giapponesi" (Nuclear Desires: Media Convergence in Japanese Popular Cultures), pp. 162-174 
• 2011: "Il boom dell' Italia in Giappone: riflessioni critiche su Occidentalismo e Italianismo" (The Boom of Italy in Japan: Critical Considerations on Occidentalism and Italianism), Between, vol. 1, May 2011, pp. 1-16 (ISSN: 2039-6597)
• 2002: "Economie minori insulari. La persistenza della caccia-raccolta ad Alicudi" (Minor Insular Economies. The Persistence of Hunting-Gathering in Alicudi), Erreffe. La ricerca folklorica, 46, October 2002, pp. 125-133 (ISSN: 0391-9099) (www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1479921?uid=3738296&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21104199167387)

Book chapters

• 2018: “Hayao Miyazaki: l'est/etica del mostruoso”, a cura di M. Pellitteri, Mazinga Nostalgia: Storia, valori e linguaggi della Goldrake-generation dal 1978 al nuovo secolo, Latina, Tunue, vol. 1, pp. 448-462 (ISBN 8867902725).
• 2018: “Il Giappone made in Italy: civiltà, nazione, razza nell’orientalismo italiano (Japan made in Italy: civilization, nation and race in Italian Orientalism)”, in M. Cestari, G. Coci, D. Moro, A. Specchio (eds.), Orizzonti giapponesi, Roma: Aracne, pp. 607-27 (ISBN 978-88-255-2118-4).
• 2016: "History as Sexualised Parody", in Nissim Otmazgin, Rebecca Suter (eds.), Rewriting History in Manga: Stories for the Nation, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 151-173 (ISBN 978-1-137-55478-9)
• 2015: "Towards Critical Occidentalism Studies: Re-inventing the 'West' and 'Japan' in Mangaesque Popular Cultures", in Paolo Calvetti, Marcella Mariotti (eds.), Contemporary Japan. The Challenge of a World Economic Power during a Period of Transition, Venice: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari, pp. 93-116 [peer reviewed]
• 2014: “Popularising the Nuclear: Mangaesque Convergence in Post-war Japan”, in Marcella Mariotti, Toshio Miyake, Andrea Revelant (eds.), Rethinking Nature in Contemporary Japan: Science, Economics, Politics, Venice: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari, pp. 71-93 [peer reviewed]
• 2013: "L'Italia nei manga: specchio identitario e convergenza mangaesque (Italy in manga: looking-glass self and mangaesque convergence)", in Gianluca Coci (ed.), JapanPOP: parole, immagini, suoni dal Giappone contemporaneo, Roma: Aracne editrice, pp. 283-322 (ISBN: 978-88-548-6002-5)
• 2012: "Italy Made in Japan: Occidentalism, Self-Orientalism, and Italianism in Contemporary Japan", in Graziella Parati (ed.), New Perspectives in Italian Cultural Studies, vol. 1, New York: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press and Rowman & Littlefield,  pp. 195-213 (ISBN: 1611475325) [peer reviewed]
• 2012: "Seiyō ('Occidente') e tōyō ('Oriente') in Giappone: breve esplorazione di una geografia immaginaria" (Seiyō ["West"] and tōyō ["East"] in Japan. A Short Exploration of an Imagined Geography), in M. Del Bene, N. Lanna, T. Miyake, A. Revelant, Il Giappone moderno e contemporaneo: Stato, media, processi identitari (Modern and Contemporary Japan), Bologna: I libri di Emil-Odoya University Express, pp. 17-30 (ISBN: 9788866800323)
• 2012: "Che cos'è il 'Giappone'? Il dibattito sul nome nazionale" (What is "Japan"? The Debate over the National Name), in M. Del Bene, N. Lanna, T. Miyake, A. Revelant, Il Giappone moderno e contemporaneo: Stato, media, processi identitari (Modern and Contemporary Japan), Bologna: I libri di Emil-Odoya University Express, pp. 149-162 (ISBN: 9788866800323)
• 2012: "Italianismo e Occidentalismo nella narrativa storica di Shiono Nanami" (Italianism and Occidentalism in Shiono Nanami's Historical Fiction), in M. Del Bene, N. Lanna, T. Miyake, A. Revelant, Il Giappone moderno e contemporaneo: Stato, media, processi identitari (Modern and Contemporary Japan), Bologna: I libri di Emil-Odoya University Express, pp. 203-218 (ISBN: 9788866800323)
• 2012: "Quando la storia diventa sexy: dal revisionismo storico all'antropomorfismo moe delle nazioni" (When History becomes Sexy: from Historical Revisionism to moe Nation Anthropomorphism), in M. Del Bene, N. Lanna, T. Miyake, A. Revelant, Il Giappone moderno e contemporaneo: Stato, media, processi identitari (Modern and Contemporary Japan), Bologna: I libri di Emil-Odoya University Express, pp. 237-255 (ISBN: 9788866800323)
• 2012: "Introduzione Parte II. Dall'Impero del Grande Giappone allo Stato del Giappone" (Introduction to Part II), in M. Del Bene, N. Lanna, T. Miyake, A. Revelant, Il Giappone moderno e contemporaneo: Stato, media, processi identitari (Modern and Contemporary Japan), Bologna: I libri di Emil-Odoya University Express, pp. 145-147 (ISBN: 9788866800323)
• 2011: "Mostri made in Japan. Orientalismo e auto-Orientalismo nell'epoca della globalizzazione" (Monsters made in Japan: Orientalism and Self-Orientalism in the Age of Globalization), in Matteo Casari (ed.), Culture del Giappone contemporaneo. Manga, anime, videogiochi, arti visive, cinema, letteratura, teatro, architettura, Latina: Tunué, pp. 161-193 (ISBN: 8897165001)
• 2010: "L'estetica del mostruoso nel cinema di Miyazaki Hayao" (The Aesthetics of Monstrosity in Miyazaki Hayao's Cinema), in Luisa Bienati, Matilde Mastrangelo (eds.), Un'isola in levante. Saggi sul Giappone in onore di Adriana Boscaro, "I Quaderni di Orientalistica di Phoenix", ScriptaWeb, pp. 363-376 (ISBN: 8863811075)
• 2008: "Il tengu, demone divino della montagna" (The Tengu: Divine Demon of the Mountains), in Takashi Yoichi, La Storia del Tengu (History of Tengu), Padua: CasadeiLibri, pp. 9-40 (ISBN: 888946612X)
• 2006: "Il kappa, caleidoscopio dell'immaginario nipponico" (The Kappa: Kaleidoscope of the Japanese Imaginary), in Takashi Yoichi, Storia di un kappa (Tale of a kappa), Padua: CasadeiLibri, pp. 41-69 (ISBN: 8889466111)
• 2005: "Letteratura e mass media" (Literature and Mass Media), in Luisa Bienati (ed.), Letteratura giapponese. Dalla fine dell'Ottocento all'inizio del terzo millennio. Parte II (Japanese Literature. Part II: from 1868 to Present), Turin: Einaudi, pp. 63-72 (ISBN: 8806178229)
• 2005: "Letteratura popolare contemporanea" (Contemporary Popular Literature), in Luisa Bienati (ed.), Letteratura giapponese. Dalla fine dell'Ottocento all'inizio del terzo millennio. Parte II (Japanese Literature. Part II: from 1868 to Present), Turin: Einaudi,  pp. 85-93 (ISBN: 8806178229)
• 2005: Entries in Luisa Bienati (ed.), Letteratura giapponese. Dalla fine dell'Ottocento all'inizio del terzo millennio. Parte II (Japanese Literature. Part II: from 1868 to Present), Turin: Einaudi (ISBN: 8806178229)
  • "Kanai Mieko", pp.256-259
  • "Matsuura Rieko", pp. 283-286
  • "Murakami Haruki", pp. 302-307
  • "Murakami Ryū", pp. 307-311
  • "Yamada Eimi", pp. 397-401
  • "Yoshimoto Banana", pp. 405-408
  • "Yū Miri", pp. 408-411
• 2001: "Black is beautiful. Il boom delle ganguro-gyaru" (Black is Beautiful. The Boom of the Ganguro-Gyaru), in Alessandro Gomarasca (ed.), La bambola e il robottone. Culture pop nel Giappone contemporaneo (Dolls and Robots. Pop Cultures in Contemporary Japan), Turin: Einaudi, pp. 111-144  (ISBN 9788806159597) (translated into French "Black is beautiful: le boom des ganguro-gyaru", in A. Gomarasca (ed.), Poupees, robots. La culture pop japonaise, Paris: Autrement, 2002, pp. 60-79 [ISBN: 2746701901])