Julia Olsson

I began my doctoral studies at the Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies at Lund University in 2024. My research project explores the loss of sense of place and belonging in depopulating rural areas of Japan. I am particularly interested in the psychological and physical impacts of depopulation, as it is both an emotional and a bodily experience, where places undergo profound transformations, sometimes within just a few years. The challenges Japan faces today due to depopulation are likely to become issues for other countries in the near future. This project seeks to illuminate these processes and understand how once-vibrant cultures and communities attempt to adapt and survive amid increasingly abandoned structures, overgrown roads, and an aging population.

I hold a BA in Japanese from the University of Gothenburg and an MSc in Asian Studies from Lund University. I have spent two years living in Japan, including one year in Kochi Prefecture, which serves as the field site for this project. My research interests include depopulation issues, the concept of rurality, sense of place and belonging, environmental transformations, ideas of a post-growth society, and more.