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Fabian Schäfer

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About Fabian Schäfer

Prof. Dr. Fabian Schäfer received his PhD from the Leipzig University in 2008 and holds the chair in Japanese Studies (with a focus Modern and Contemporary Japan) at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). His research interests include the digital transformation of the public sphere, computational social sciences, media history, and modern Japanese (media) philosophy.

Posts by Fabian Schäfer:

[Article] Japan’s Shift to the Right: Computational Propaganda, Abe Shinzō’s LDP, and Internet Right-Wingers (Netto Uyo)

Abstract: In recent years, academic research and investigative reports have brought to light several cases of computational propaganda (i.e. orchestrated attempts to manipulate public opinion or the outcome of elections via social media), as well as proof that filter algorithms amplify right-wing conservative content on Japanese social media. Piecing together the scattered pieces of a puzzle, […]

[Article] Abe’s Digital Legacy

Schäfer, Fabian (2021): Abe’s Digital Legacy. In: Public Jurist – Hong Kong Journal of Law and Public Affairs (Januar). p. 19-24.

[Article] Politics in the Age of Connective Cynicism

Schäfer, Fabian (2020): Politics in the Age of Connective Cynicism. In: Kümmerle, Harald und Franz Waldenberger (Hrsg.): The Digital Transformation Implications for the Social Sciences and the Humanities. Tokyo: Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien (Tokyo). p. 50-58.

[Article] A Corpus-Linguistic Analysis of Media Discourses on Nuclear Phase-Out in Japan, 2011-2014

Abstract: The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster led to catastrophic environmental and economic consequences in Japan, leading to a temporary shift in public attitudes towards nuclear energy not only in Japan but globally. In 2011, the Japanese DPJ-led government gained worldwide attention for their plan to phase-out. However, while some countries seized the opportunity to transition […]

[Article] A Translational Analysis of News and Tweets about Nuclear Phase-Out in the After-math of the Fukushima incident

Abstract: Taking the impact of the Fukushima incident on the global discourse about nuclear energy as a case study, the present paper shows how to integrate computational linguistic methods into corpus-based discourse analysis (CDA). After an extensive literature review with regards to the related hermeneutic work, we present the corpus linguistic methods and point out […]

[Article] Japan’s 2014 General Election: Political Bots, Right-wing Internet Activism and PM Abe Shinzō’s Hidden Nationalist Agenda.

Abstract: In this article, we present results on the identification and behavioral analysis of social bots in a sample of 542,584 Tweets, collected before and after Japan’s 2014 general election. Typical forms of bot activity include massive Retweeting and repeated posting of (nearly) the same message, sometimes used in combination. We focus on the second […]

[Blog] The Metapolitics of the New Right: “Japan” as a Crypto-fascist Chiffre 

The New Right has truly fetishized Japan. In the past decades, “Japan” has turned into a crypto-fascist chiffre for core aspects of the ideology of the Far-Right. That is to say, by using “Japan” as a code, the proponents of the New Right can publicly express their views and propagate their worldviews without exposing themselves as fascists.

[Blog] Blind on the Left Eye? #kensatsuchō, a Case of Massive Anti-Abe Computational Propaganda?

In an article published in Asia-Pacific Focus Japan Journal, I presented recent academic and journalistic findings that have brought to light several cases of computational propaganda on Japanese social media. Although I couldn’t provide bullet-proof evidence of who was behind this activity, increasing circumstantial evidence allows for the assumption that certain factions of the LDP were behind this.