“Technology-otaku” and “robot loving nation”? Exploring the recent discourse on robots and robotics

Japan is often referred to as the „robot kingdom“, not only because it takes pride in making use of the world's largest number of industrial robots but also because of its “robot culture” which includes robot influenced narratives (comics / manga and animation films / anime), robot toys, a general popularity of robotics research, exhibitions and robot competitions. The general acceptance of robots as partners of human beings at the work place and at home is also a major argument of the Japanese government to strongly promote the use of “social” robots in- and outside the factories to overcome the problems of the aging society, especially the decreasing number of Japan’s workforce population.

In contrary to the western image of robots as frightening machines there seems to be a different concept and attitude in Japan, for which most studies attribute the long history of robots in Japan since the 16th century, the great influence of pop-cultural robot icons and a “techno-animistic character trait” of the Japanese people. The lecture questions these “classical” arguments for the popularity of robots in Japan and will shed a new and more differentiated light on this discussion. While exploring the socio-cultural background of the creation and use of technological artifacts like robots in Japan, it also aims to initiate a discussion between the humanities and natural sciences about the influence of culture on the development of robot technology.