International Center for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities (IZEW)

Japanese Visual Media Graph (JVMG)

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in Japanese visual media that has resulted in an increasing number of publications and other academic activities in this field. Against this background, the massive publication volume and complex interactions of media works within large Japanese franchises and their interconnectedness pose a problem for researchers. The DFG-funded project „Japanese Visual Media Graph” is now in its second phase and aims to improve a research database for Japanese visual media (especially anime, manga, digital games, and visual novels). The goal of the second phase at the IZEW focuses on the implementation and data ethical reflection of genres and associated categories.  

Team

Projectpartners

Duration

November 2023 – October 2026 

Funding

To the project profile at the DFG

Associated Partners

Project description

The DFG-funded project „Japanese Visual Media Graph” is now in its second phase and aims to improve a research database for Japanese visual media (especially anime, manga, digital games, and visual novels), which was developed in the first project phase. In cooperation with the Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart and the University of Tübingen library, the project group received permission from several fan communities to use their data as a starting point for the development of the research graph. 

The second project phase focuses on consolidating and expanding the results of the first phase. Main goal is the integration of genre categories, the development of appropriate models as well as according research questions. The second phase also encompasses the inclusion of further data resources, collaborative research with several international partners, and improvement of the technological foundations of the service.

In the realm of knowledge transfer, practical workshops will be conceptualized, and a sustantial body of documentation will be compiled in support of students and researchers, who want to use the database for their own work. 

 

Further information about the project

The project’s homepage can be accessed via: https://jvmg.iuk.hdm-stuttgart.de/ 

Project related publications

Hennig, Martin und Krah, Hans. 2023. Spielzeichen IV. Genres – Systematiken, Kontexte, Entwicklungen. Glückstadt: VWH.

Hennig, Martin. 2018. “Bild – Spiel – Literatur. Zur Interaktion audiovisueller, ludischer und literarischer Erzählstrategien in der Visual Novel.” Kodikas/Code 41 (1–2): 73–85.  
https://elibrary.narr.digital/article/99.125005/kod20181-20073.

Hennig, Martin. 2017. Spielräume als Weltentwürfe. Kultursemiotik des Videospiels. Marburg: Schüren. 

Hennig, Martin. 2016. “Cross-Cultural Fear? Japanese Horror Films and Their Hollywood Remakes.” In Cultural Experiences of Fear, Horror and Terror, edited by Marc Callaghan and Kacey Davis, 181–89. Leiden, Niederlande: Brill. 
https://doi.org/10.1163/9781848883314_019. 

Presentations (selection)

Dr. Martin Hennig

2023/01: Research on Genres. Opening Workshop DFG-Project Japanese Visual Media Graph 2 (Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart).

2021/03:  Palimpseste. Spielgenres und Hypertextualität. Conference Spielzeichen IV: Genres (Universität Passau).

2019/11: More than a Morality Meter? Analyzing Models of Values in Games. Workshop at the Clash of Realities Conference (FH Köln).

2019/02: Von Tales from the Crypt bis American Horror Story: Genrefunktionen und Erzählformen der Horror-Anthologie. Workshop Anthologieserie. Systematik und Geschichte eines narrativen Formats (Universität Münster).

2018/06: Märchen als Modelle: Märchenmotive und -erzählungen in den interaktiven Weltentwürfen des Computerspiels. Lecture series Moderne Märchen. Innovationen zwischen Mut und Mainstream in Literatur und Medien für Kinder und Jugendliche (Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg).

2017/09: Bild – Spiel – Literatur. Zur Interaktion audiovisueller, ludischer und literarischer Erzählstrategien in der Visual Novel. 15. Internationaler Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Semiotik (Universität Passau).

03/2017/03: Kultursemiotik als Methodik zur Videospielanalyse. Conference Playful Meaning. Close Reading-Strategien in den Game Studies (Universität Kiel). 

 

Christopher Zysik 

2025/08: “Girls-Metal-Band-Boom” und die Aufteilung des Sinnlichen im transkulturellen Kontext. Japanologentag 2025 (Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main).

2025/06: Kawaii Metal and Gender – Imaginaries of Gender Disparity and Gender Fluidity in the Aesthetics of Cuteness. Waseda International Workshop: Rethinking the Relationship Between Beauty and Gender (Waseda University, Japan).

2025/06: Intersubjectivity and Empathy in Your Name. Mechademia Kyoto 2025 (Kyoto International Manga Museum, Japan).

2025/06: Kaiju Genre Data Analysis in the JVMG Project. Mechademia Kyoto 2025 (Kyoto Seika University, Japan).

2025/02: Researching Japanese Popular Culture. MondoCon (Budapest, Ungarn).

2023/06: Cuteness and Suicide – Affective Deconstruction of Stigmas About Mental Health in Japanese Music Videos. XXII. biennial IASPM International Conference Popular Music in Crisis (University of Minnesota, USA). 

2022/04: The Voice of Cuteness – Constructing Gender Segregation in Japanese Idol Music. Conference Differentiating Sound Studies: Politics of Sound and Listening (Hanyang University, Südkorea). 

2021/11: Ästhetische Hybridisierung im japanischen Kawaii-Metal. 6. IASPM D-A-CH Collegium Musicum Populare (Universität Innsbruck, Österreich). 

2021/09: “Girls-Metal-Band-Boom” – Between Japanese Gender Identity, Exoticization and Transregional Flows. 1. IASPM Poland Conference Regional experiences and external influences: reclaiming identities by popular music in the digital era (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Polen). 

2019/07: Wota – Raum schaffen für marginalisierte Identitäten in der japanischen Popkultur. 12. Graduate Conference Die Relevanz kulturwissenschaftlicher Forschung (Universität Paderborn).