Agnotology Lab — Structural Analysis of Informational Injustice and Counter-Design

The Reproduction of Authority and Ignorance — The Structure of 'No Need to Know'

Starting from Nadainada's 'Authority and Power,' this analysis examines the mechanisms by which authority instills the notion of 'no need to know' and structurally reproduces ignorance. Through case studies in education, healthcare, and judiciary, it reveals the structure of epistemic submission.

Motivated Ignorance — The Cognitive Structure of 'Not Wanting to Know'

Analyzing the mechanism by which individuals voluntarily choose to 'remain ignorant' rather than being forced into ignorance from external sources, from a cognitive science perspective. Examining how the 'illusion of knowledge' demonstrated by Sloman & Fernbach's 'The Knowledge Illusion' and motivated reasoning form the individual-level foundation of structural ignorance.

The Production Mechanism of Taboos — Who Decides What 'Must Not Be Said'

A structural analysis of the questions raised by Akira Tachibana's 'Things That Must Not Be Said'—examining the mechanisms by which discussing genetics, intelligence, and appearance becomes 'forbidden to speak of' through the lens of agnotology. Taboos do not emerge naturally but are produced and maintained under specific social conditions.

Literature Map of Agnotology in the Japanese-speaking World 2022–2026 — Tracing the Birth of a Discipline

From the 2022 special issue of Journal of History of Science (Vol. 61) to the 2025 publication of 'Invitation to Agnotology,' this article organizes the development of agnotology research in the Japanese-speaking world as a literature map. We track researcher networks, major publications, and academic presentations chronologically to visualize the current state of this emerging academic field.

The New Ignorance Produced by Algorithms — Filter Bubbles and Echo Chambers

Recommendation algorithms, search engine optimization, and social media feed design automatically determine what users do not see. This structural ignorance, which arises not from intentional design but as a consequence of optimization, is analyzed as a compound mechanism of attention control and complexity weaponization.

Why Are the Voices of Persons with Disabilities Not Heard? — The Japanese Structure of Testimonial Injustice

This case study analyzes the mechanism by which the voices of persons with disabilities are systematically discounted as 'subjective' or 'emotional,' drawing on the intersection of Fricker's testimonial injustice theory and agnotology. Using Arai Yūki's Shōgaisha Sabetsu o Toinaosu as a primary reference, it illuminates the structure of epistemic exclusion within Japan's welfare system.

'Kūki' and Sontaku — The Japanese Form of Pluralistic Ignorance

This case study integrates the 'rule by atmosphere' (kūki) analyzed by Yamamoto Shichihei in A Study of 'Atmosphere' and the concept of 'sontaku' (anticipatory compliance), which gained political attention from 2017, within the theoretical framework of pluralistic ignorance. It illuminates the mechanism that structures the state of 'knowing but not speaking' by radically raising the cost of dissent.

What Is Not Reported — Media Agenda-Setting and Invisibilization

Media exercise a dual power: deciding 'what to report' and 'what not to report.' This selection constitutes the cognitive framework for perceiving social reality and produces structural invisibilization. The press club system, sponsor pressure, and audience metrics function as attention-control mechanisms in Japan's media environment.

Okinawa and Structural Ignorance — The Politics of Mainland Japan's 'Not Knowing'

Starting from Nishiyama Hideshi's (2023) analysis of 'the structural ignorance of mainland Japanese toward Okinawa' in Gendai Shisō, this case study examines how 'not knowing' about the base issue functions politically. The compound mechanism of attention control and epistemic exclusion is theorized.

Poverty and Epistemic Exclusion — The Structure of 'Being Unable Even to Know'

The loss of 'three bonds' (san-en) depicted in Suzuki Daisuke's Saihinkon Joshi is inseparable from the severance of access to information. This case study analyzes the spiral in which poverty enforces ignorance and ignorance reproduces poverty as a compound mechanism of epistemic exclusion and complexity weaponization.

The Anatomy of Predatory Business — The Structure That Exploits Information Asymmetry

Real estate, insurance, telecommunications, financial products — this case study analyzes from the perspective of agnotology the business models that intentionally maintain information asymmetry and convert consumers' 'not knowing' into profit. Complexity weaponization is theorized as the foundational mechanism.

The Doubt Manufacturing Industry — The Sixty-Year War of Tobacco and Climate

This case study analyzes sixty years of history in which the tobacco and fossil fuel industries systematically 'manufactured doubt' against scientific consensus. From the fact that the same group of scientists and the same strategic patterns were repeatedly employed, 'doubt manufacturing' is theorized as a foundational mechanism of ignorance production.