Anne Allison (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 1953
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781479889389
- eISBN:
- 9781479830893
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479889389.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Economic Sociology
In Japan: The Precarious Future, a group of distinguished scholars of Japanese economics, politics, law, and society examine the various roads that might lie ahead for this East Asian nation. Will ...
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In Japan: The Precarious Future, a group of distinguished scholars of Japanese economics, politics, law, and society examine the various roads that might lie ahead for this East Asian nation. Will Japan face a continued erosion of global economic and political power, particularly as China’s outlook improves exponentially? Or will it find a way to protect its status as an important player in global affairs? Contributors explore issues such as national security, political leadership, manufacturing prowess, diplomacy, population decline, and gender equality in politics and the workforce, all in an effort to chart the possible futures for Japan. Both a roadmap for change and a look at how Japan arrived at its present situation, this collection of thought-provoking analyses is essential for understanding the current landscape and future prospects of this world power.Less
In Japan: The Precarious Future, a group of distinguished scholars of Japanese economics, politics, law, and society examine the various roads that might lie ahead for this East Asian nation. Will Japan face a continued erosion of global economic and political power, particularly as China’s outlook improves exponentially? Or will it find a way to protect its status as an important player in global affairs? Contributors explore issues such as national security, political leadership, manufacturing prowess, diplomacy, population decline, and gender equality in politics and the workforce, all in an effort to chart the possible futures for Japan. Both a roadmap for change and a look at how Japan arrived at its present situation, this collection of thought-provoking analyses is essential for understanding the current landscape and future prospects of this world power.
Yasuhito Kinoshita
Christie Kiefer (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520075955
- eISBN:
- 9780520911789
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520075955.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
Faced with the decline of the traditional family and the explosive growth of the over-sixty-five population, the Japanese are looking for new ways to care for their elders. This study documents the ...
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Faced with the decline of the traditional family and the explosive growth of the over-sixty-five population, the Japanese are looking for new ways to care for their elders. This study documents the birth of a major social phenomenon in Japan: the planned retirement community. In the mid-1980s, the author of this book spent a year living in Japan's first such community, Fuji-no-Sato. His collaboration with a cultural gerontologist provides here a detailed study of a retirement community in a non-Western culture. Fuji-no-Sato is a social community with no visible traditions. The book shows that its residents' preference for long-established relationships creates the need for the invention of relationships which have no precedent in Japanese society, and reveals much about Japanese culture, and about the “graying of society” that plagues the newly industrialized countries of Asia. Its lessons about sensitivity to the elderly's values and the need for clear communication have applications in other cultures as well.Less
Faced with the decline of the traditional family and the explosive growth of the over-sixty-five population, the Japanese are looking for new ways to care for their elders. This study documents the birth of a major social phenomenon in Japan: the planned retirement community. In the mid-1980s, the author of this book spent a year living in Japan's first such community, Fuji-no-Sato. His collaboration with a cultural gerontologist provides here a detailed study of a retirement community in a non-Western culture. Fuji-no-Sato is a social community with no visible traditions. The book shows that its residents' preference for long-established relationships creates the need for the invention of relationships which have no precedent in Japanese society, and reveals much about Japanese culture, and about the “graying of society” that plagues the newly industrialized countries of Asia. Its lessons about sensitivity to the elderly's values and the need for clear communication have applications in other cultures as well.
Simon Avenell
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780824867133
- eISBN:
- 9780824873721
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824867133.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter reiterates the central argument that the experience with industrial pollution in 1960s and 1970s Japan nurtured an “environmental injustice paradigm” which, in turn, fueled transnational ...
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This chapter reiterates the central argument that the experience with industrial pollution in 1960s and 1970s Japan nurtured an “environmental injustice paradigm” which, in turn, fueled transnational mobilizations in the coming decades. The chapter highlights the role of rooted cosmopolitans who served as the connective tissue between local movements and struggles abroad. Significantly, the chapter notes that the movements explored throughout the study were part of a broader Japanese grassroots reengagement with Asia from the 1970s onward, involving women’s advocacy groups, movements of minority groups, and nongovernmental organizations working on health and development issues. The chapter suggests that these transnational movements played an important role in introducing new ideas and practices into Japanese civic activism which contributed to the development of civil society. These border-crossing movements have been largely invisible in historiography to date because of a general focus on events unfolding within the nation.Less
This chapter reiterates the central argument that the experience with industrial pollution in 1960s and 1970s Japan nurtured an “environmental injustice paradigm” which, in turn, fueled transnational mobilizations in the coming decades. The chapter highlights the role of rooted cosmopolitans who served as the connective tissue between local movements and struggles abroad. Significantly, the chapter notes that the movements explored throughout the study were part of a broader Japanese grassroots reengagement with Asia from the 1970s onward, involving women’s advocacy groups, movements of minority groups, and nongovernmental organizations working on health and development issues. The chapter suggests that these transnational movements played an important role in introducing new ideas and practices into Japanese civic activism which contributed to the development of civil society. These border-crossing movements have been largely invisible in historiography to date because of a general focus on events unfolding within the nation.
Ethan Mark
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231165686
- eISBN:
- 9780231538596
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231165686.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This introductory chapter discusses the common misconceptions surrounding Japanese wartime behavior during and after World War II. More specifically, it questions the distinction between the Japanese ...
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This introductory chapter discusses the common misconceptions surrounding Japanese wartime behavior during and after World War II. More specifically, it questions the distinction between the Japanese state—thought to be responsible for the nation's role in the Second World War—and that of the Japanese people, who are often treated as passive victims within the historical narrative. Such a view obscures the underlying complexity surrounding the Japanese wartime behavior and instead creates an image of a nation backwards in its thinking as it is swept into a Westernized power struggle. But rather than observe Japan's history from the actions of the leaders of the state, this book focuses on the “common people” of Japanese society, and how the complex socio-cultural interactions taking place as a whole have come to shape a “bottom-up” characterization that presents Japan as both victim and victimizer.Less
This introductory chapter discusses the common misconceptions surrounding Japanese wartime behavior during and after World War II. More specifically, it questions the distinction between the Japanese state—thought to be responsible for the nation's role in the Second World War—and that of the Japanese people, who are often treated as passive victims within the historical narrative. Such a view obscures the underlying complexity surrounding the Japanese wartime behavior and instead creates an image of a nation backwards in its thinking as it is swept into a Westernized power struggle. But rather than observe Japan's history from the actions of the leaders of the state, this book focuses on the “common people” of Japanese society, and how the complex socio-cultural interactions taking place as a whole have come to shape a “bottom-up” characterization that presents Japan as both victim and victimizer.
Lee K. Pennington
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801452574
- eISBN:
- 9780801455629
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801452574.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, Military History
This chapter talks about the postwar transformation of Japanese disabled veterans into casualties of history. Despite the accolades of the late 1930s and early 1940s, public acclaim for wounded ...
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This chapter talks about the postwar transformation of Japanese disabled veterans into casualties of history. Despite the accolades of the late 1930s and early 1940s, public acclaim for wounded servicemen faded once Japan began to experience Allied bombing raids from late 1944 onward. Ordinary men, women, and children became casualties of war; as a result, praising war-wounded men for their sacrifices became a risky public affair. After the war ended, the Japanese society began to prepare for foreign occupation. When Allied occupation forces started implementing the reforms for demilitarizing Japan, they decided to abolish the wartime systems of preferential treatment for military casualties. The chapter traces the emergence of new state-directed social welfare services that replaced the ones introduced by the Welfare Ministry, such as the Livelihood Protection Law and the Law for the Welfare of Physically Disabled Persons.Less
This chapter talks about the postwar transformation of Japanese disabled veterans into casualties of history. Despite the accolades of the late 1930s and early 1940s, public acclaim for wounded servicemen faded once Japan began to experience Allied bombing raids from late 1944 onward. Ordinary men, women, and children became casualties of war; as a result, praising war-wounded men for their sacrifices became a risky public affair. After the war ended, the Japanese society began to prepare for foreign occupation. When Allied occupation forces started implementing the reforms for demilitarizing Japan, they decided to abolish the wartime systems of preferential treatment for military casualties. The chapter traces the emergence of new state-directed social welfare services that replaced the ones introduced by the Welfare Ministry, such as the Livelihood Protection Law and the Law for the Welfare of Physically Disabled Persons.
Simon Partner
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520217928
- eISBN:
- 9780520923171
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520217928.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Occupations, Professions, and Work
This chapter argues that despite the gloomy economic conditions of the early postwar years, some entrepreneurs found immense business opportunities in the emerging new technologies of mass ...
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This chapter argues that despite the gloomy economic conditions of the early postwar years, some entrepreneurs found immense business opportunities in the emerging new technologies of mass communication. One man in particular—Shōriki Matsutarō, a newspaper magnate who well understood the power and profitability of the media—forged alliances with politicians, bureaucrats, and investors to bring television to Japan much sooner than conventional economic logic would have suggested. In doing so, he both formed a new industry and contributed to the transformation of Japanese society.Less
This chapter argues that despite the gloomy economic conditions of the early postwar years, some entrepreneurs found immense business opportunities in the emerging new technologies of mass communication. One man in particular—Shōriki Matsutarō, a newspaper magnate who well understood the power and profitability of the media—forged alliances with politicians, bureaucrats, and investors to bring television to Japan much sooner than conventional economic logic would have suggested. In doing so, he both formed a new industry and contributed to the transformation of Japanese society.
Naoki Sakai
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226185064
- eISBN:
- 9780226185088
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226185088.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
Japanese nationalism has gained its peculiar belligerence against the background of the loss of hope. The loss of hope reflects many aspects of Japanese society today, two of which are an increasing ...
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Japanese nationalism has gained its peculiar belligerence against the background of the loss of hope. The loss of hope reflects many aspects of Japanese society today, two of which are an increasing income disparity and the loss of upward social mobility. During Japan's Lost Decade of dismal economic growth, higher unemployment, and the retreat of traditional leftist organizations including the Socialist Party and the General Council of Labor Unions of Japan, not only national television networks and national newspapers but also the publishing industry at large seem to have taken a definitive turn toward the political right. The rhetoric of Japanese culturalism has been predominantly obsessed with the image of Japanese distinctiveness, but such rhetoric was produced only in contrast to some fantastic image of Western culture. Modern politics has appealed to the idea of nationality as the basis for its legitimacy and has constituted internationality as relationships among the state sovereignties, each of which is hypothesized to represent its own nation as an ethnolinguistic unity.Less
Japanese nationalism has gained its peculiar belligerence against the background of the loss of hope. The loss of hope reflects many aspects of Japanese society today, two of which are an increasing income disparity and the loss of upward social mobility. During Japan's Lost Decade of dismal economic growth, higher unemployment, and the retreat of traditional leftist organizations including the Socialist Party and the General Council of Labor Unions of Japan, not only national television networks and national newspapers but also the publishing industry at large seem to have taken a definitive turn toward the political right. The rhetoric of Japanese culturalism has been predominantly obsessed with the image of Japanese distinctiveness, but such rhetoric was produced only in contrast to some fantastic image of Western culture. Modern politics has appealed to the idea of nationality as the basis for its legitimacy and has constituted internationality as relationships among the state sovereignties, each of which is hypothesized to represent its own nation as an ethnolinguistic unity.
Hiro Saito
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780824856748
- eISBN:
- 9780824873714
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824856748.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
Between 1997 and 2015, the history problem became more complex due to changes in both domestic and international situations of the three countries. The LDP returned to power, but it had to form a ...
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Between 1997 and 2015, the history problem became more complex due to changes in both domestic and international situations of the three countries. The LDP returned to power, but it had to form a coalition government with other small parties. Various new actors also entered the field, including the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform that promoted “healthy nationalism” in history education. At the same time, historians and educators in the three countries began organizing joint historical research and education projects to promote the logic of cosmopolitanism, and even the LDP-led coalition government launched bilateral joint historical research projects with South Korea and China to prevent a further escalation of the history problem. Thus, nationalist commemorations in the three countries continued to fuel the history problem, but they came to coexist, in a complex manner, with mutual cosmopolitan commemoration initiated by the governmental and nongovernmental joint projects.Less
Between 1997 and 2015, the history problem became more complex due to changes in both domestic and international situations of the three countries. The LDP returned to power, but it had to form a coalition government with other small parties. Various new actors also entered the field, including the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform that promoted “healthy nationalism” in history education. At the same time, historians and educators in the three countries began organizing joint historical research and education projects to promote the logic of cosmopolitanism, and even the LDP-led coalition government launched bilateral joint historical research projects with South Korea and China to prevent a further escalation of the history problem. Thus, nationalist commemorations in the three countries continued to fuel the history problem, but they came to coexist, in a complex manner, with mutual cosmopolitan commemoration initiated by the governmental and nongovernmental joint projects.
Misa Izuhara
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781861343666
- eISBN:
- 9781447301967
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781861343666.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Comparative and Historical Sociology
The ageing of the population has affected many industrial societies, upsetting the existing balance of financial, material and instrumental resources across generations. The remarkable speed of ...
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The ageing of the population has affected many industrial societies, upsetting the existing balance of financial, material and instrumental resources across generations. The remarkable speed of societal ageing in Japan also poses a considerable challenge to the family and the state partly due to the increasing need for nursing care. This chapter explores, in the context of postwar demographics and socioeconomic and policy changes, the changing patterns of intergenerational relations, and in particular, the reciprocal dimension of the exchange of goods and services between ageing parents and their adult children. Given the specific cultural norms and traditions, this chapter first examines how intergenerational relations have been perceived in Japan, and how they are transforming with particular reference to living arrangements, co-residence in particular, and the provision of nursing care. It also discusses the wider issues linked to the development of social policy as well as gender issues.Less
The ageing of the population has affected many industrial societies, upsetting the existing balance of financial, material and instrumental resources across generations. The remarkable speed of societal ageing in Japan also poses a considerable challenge to the family and the state partly due to the increasing need for nursing care. This chapter explores, in the context of postwar demographics and socioeconomic and policy changes, the changing patterns of intergenerational relations, and in particular, the reciprocal dimension of the exchange of goods and services between ageing parents and their adult children. Given the specific cultural norms and traditions, this chapter first examines how intergenerational relations have been perceived in Japan, and how they are transforming with particular reference to living arrangements, co-residence in particular, and the provision of nursing care. It also discusses the wider issues linked to the development of social policy as well as gender issues.
James R. Brandon
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824832001
- eISBN:
- 9780824869137
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824832001.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
According to a myth constructed after Japan's surrender to the Allied Forces in 1945, kabuki was a pure, classical art form with no real place in modern Japanese society. This book calls this view ...
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According to a myth constructed after Japan's surrender to the Allied Forces in 1945, kabuki was a pure, classical art form with no real place in modern Japanese society. This book calls this view into question and makes a compelling case that, up to the very end of the Pacific War, kabuki was a living theater and, as an institution, an active participant in contemporary events, rising and falling in consonance with Japan's imperial adventures. The book shows that kabuki played an important role in Japan's Fifteen-Year Sacred War. It reveals, for example, that kabuki stars raised funds to buy fighter and bomber aircraft for the imperial forces and that producers arranged large-scale tours for kabuki troupes to entertain soldiers stationed in Manchuria, China, and Korea. Kabuki playwrights contributed no less than 160 new plays that dramatized frontline battles or rewrote history to propagate imperial ideology. Abridged by censors, molded by the Bureau of Information, and partially incorporated into the League of Touring Theaters, kabuki reached new audiences as it expanded along with the new Japanese empire. By the end of the war, however, it had fallen from government favor and in 1944–1946 it nearly expired when Japanese government decrees banished leading kabuki companies to minor urban theaters and the countryside. The book includes more than a hundred illustrations, many of which have never been published in an English-language work. It is a complete revision of kabuki's recent history and as such goes beyond correcting a significant misconception.Less
According to a myth constructed after Japan's surrender to the Allied Forces in 1945, kabuki was a pure, classical art form with no real place in modern Japanese society. This book calls this view into question and makes a compelling case that, up to the very end of the Pacific War, kabuki was a living theater and, as an institution, an active participant in contemporary events, rising and falling in consonance with Japan's imperial adventures. The book shows that kabuki played an important role in Japan's Fifteen-Year Sacred War. It reveals, for example, that kabuki stars raised funds to buy fighter and bomber aircraft for the imperial forces and that producers arranged large-scale tours for kabuki troupes to entertain soldiers stationed in Manchuria, China, and Korea. Kabuki playwrights contributed no less than 160 new plays that dramatized frontline battles or rewrote history to propagate imperial ideology. Abridged by censors, molded by the Bureau of Information, and partially incorporated into the League of Touring Theaters, kabuki reached new audiences as it expanded along with the new Japanese empire. By the end of the war, however, it had fallen from government favor and in 1944–1946 it nearly expired when Japanese government decrees banished leading kabuki companies to minor urban theaters and the countryside. The book includes more than a hundred illustrations, many of which have never been published in an English-language work. It is a complete revision of kabuki's recent history and as such goes beyond correcting a significant misconception.
Yukiko Tsunoda
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300098006
- eISBN:
- 9780300135305
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300098006.003.0036
- Subject:
- Law, Employment Law
This chapter focuses on the very brief history of Japanese sexual harassment laws and presents the landmark Japanese court decision in the Fukuoka case, which introduced the concept of sexual ...
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This chapter focuses on the very brief history of Japanese sexual harassment laws and presents the landmark Japanese court decision in the Fukuoka case, which introduced the concept of sexual harassment to the Japanese legal community and to Japanese society as a whole. It provides the reader an overview of Japanese sexual harassment law and, to this end, focuses on three points. First, the chapter describes the historical and social context in which the Fukuoka case was brought; second, it describes the impact that the case has had on the subsequent development of Japanese sexual harassment law; and finally, it summarizes the current state of Japanese sexual harassment law and the steps which still need to be taken.Less
This chapter focuses on the very brief history of Japanese sexual harassment laws and presents the landmark Japanese court decision in the Fukuoka case, which introduced the concept of sexual harassment to the Japanese legal community and to Japanese society as a whole. It provides the reader an overview of Japanese sexual harassment law and, to this end, focuses on three points. First, the chapter describes the historical and social context in which the Fukuoka case was brought; second, it describes the impact that the case has had on the subsequent development of Japanese sexual harassment law; and finally, it summarizes the current state of Japanese sexual harassment law and the steps which still need to be taken.
J. Charles Schencking
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231162180
- eISBN:
- 9780231535069
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231162180.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
In September 1923, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake devastated eastern Japan, killing more than 120,000 people and leaving two million homeless. This book tells the graphic tale of Tokyo's destruction and ...
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In September 1923, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake devastated eastern Japan, killing more than 120,000 people and leaving two million homeless. This book tells the graphic tale of Tokyo's destruction and rebirth. It documents how the citizens of Tokyo experienced this unprecedented calamity and explores the ways in which it rattled people's deep-seated anxieties about modernity. While explaining how and why the disaster compelled people to reflect on Japanese society, it also examines how reconstruction encouraged the capital's inhabitants to entertain new types of urbanism as they rebuilt their world. Some residents hoped that a grandiose metropolis, reflecting new values, would rise from the ashes of disaster-ravaged Tokyo. Many, however, desired a quick return of the city they once called home. Opportunistic elites advocated innovative state infrastructure to better manage the daily lives of Tokyo residents. Others focused on rejuvenating society—morally, economically, and spiritually—to combat the perceived degeneration of Japan. The book explores the inspiration behind these dreams and the extent to which they were realized. It investigates why Japanese citizens from all walks of life responded to overtures for renewal with varying degrees of acceptance, ambivalence, and resistance. The book not only sheds light on Japan's experience with and interpretation of the earthquake but challenges widespread assumptions that disasters unite stricken societies, creating a“blank slate” for radical transformation. National reconstruction in the wake of the Great Kantō Earthquake proved to be illusive.Less
In September 1923, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake devastated eastern Japan, killing more than 120,000 people and leaving two million homeless. This book tells the graphic tale of Tokyo's destruction and rebirth. It documents how the citizens of Tokyo experienced this unprecedented calamity and explores the ways in which it rattled people's deep-seated anxieties about modernity. While explaining how and why the disaster compelled people to reflect on Japanese society, it also examines how reconstruction encouraged the capital's inhabitants to entertain new types of urbanism as they rebuilt their world. Some residents hoped that a grandiose metropolis, reflecting new values, would rise from the ashes of disaster-ravaged Tokyo. Many, however, desired a quick return of the city they once called home. Opportunistic elites advocated innovative state infrastructure to better manage the daily lives of Tokyo residents. Others focused on rejuvenating society—morally, economically, and spiritually—to combat the perceived degeneration of Japan. The book explores the inspiration behind these dreams and the extent to which they were realized. It investigates why Japanese citizens from all walks of life responded to overtures for renewal with varying degrees of acceptance, ambivalence, and resistance. The book not only sheds light on Japan's experience with and interpretation of the earthquake but challenges widespread assumptions that disasters unite stricken societies, creating a“blank slate” for radical transformation. National reconstruction in the wake of the Great Kantō Earthquake proved to be illusive.
William Wayne Farris
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824833251
- eISBN:
- 9780824870119
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824833251.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter traces the origins of certain basic structures—so-called building blocks—in Japan that were to last up to about 600 CE. It first provides an overview of Japanese geography and ecology ...
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This chapter traces the origins of certain basic structures—so-called building blocks—in Japan that were to last up to about 600 CE. It first provides an overview of Japanese geography and ecology and their impact on economy and society. It then considers hunting and gathering in the period 35,000 BP–900 BCE as well as the transition to agriculture that ushered in an agrarian society. It also examines the gradual evolution of a political consciousness under the Yamato state centered in the Kyoto-Osaka-Nara region. Finally, it discusses Japanese society and economy in 600, focusing on a number of important changes such as a dense and growing population, increasing area of land under cultivation, the emergence of industries such as salt making and metallurgy, the rise of various occupations like fishing and trading, and the establishment of the confederation as the typical political structure.Less
This chapter traces the origins of certain basic structures—so-called building blocks—in Japan that were to last up to about 600 CE. It first provides an overview of Japanese geography and ecology and their impact on economy and society. It then considers hunting and gathering in the period 35,000 BP–900 BCE as well as the transition to agriculture that ushered in an agrarian society. It also examines the gradual evolution of a political consciousness under the Yamato state centered in the Kyoto-Osaka-Nara region. Finally, it discusses Japanese society and economy in 600, focusing on a number of important changes such as a dense and growing population, increasing area of land under cultivation, the emergence of industries such as salt making and metallurgy, the rise of various occupations like fishing and trading, and the establishment of the confederation as the typical political structure.
Jonathan Stockdale
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824839833
- eISBN:
- 9780824868659
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824839833.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter introduces the cultural history of exile during the Nara and Heian periods in Japan. The chapter also provides a theoretical framework for the study of exile in Japanese court society. ...
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This chapter introduces the cultural history of exile during the Nara and Heian periods in Japan. The chapter also provides a theoretical framework for the study of exile in Japanese court society. In addition, the introduction explains specific themes underlying the entire book, including the vocabulary of exile, the topic of centers and peripheries, the nature of Japanese court society, and the idea of a Heian “imaginary.”Less
This chapter introduces the cultural history of exile during the Nara and Heian periods in Japan. The chapter also provides a theoretical framework for the study of exile in Japanese court society. In addition, the introduction explains specific themes underlying the entire book, including the vocabulary of exile, the topic of centers and peripheries, the nature of Japanese court society, and the idea of a Heian “imaginary.”
James Reilly
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231158060
- eISBN:
- 9780231528085
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231158060.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter examines policy debates over China's relations with Japan from 1997 through 2008, highlighting interactions between elite policy advisors and the public. It combines analysis from 218 ...
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This chapter examines policy debates over China's relations with Japan from 1997 through 2008, highlighting interactions between elite policy advisors and the public. It combines analysis from 218 academic articles together with numerous Chinese writings from the decade that reveal the emergence of a subtle but significant shift in Chinese experts' views of Japan. Four elements stand out: (1) growing recognition that China's own actions can exacerbate a security dilemma with Japan; (2) acknowledgment of the costs of negative popular sentiments toward Japan; (3) a more nuanced view of Japanese society and politics; (4) and increased confidence in China's future power position through Japan. The chapter delves into this shift. Since the turn of the century, a new group has emerged as an important player in shaping Chinese foreign policy—the public. Through the use of various media such as the internet, the Chinese public have become far more informed, assertive, and engaged in foreign relations.Less
This chapter examines policy debates over China's relations with Japan from 1997 through 2008, highlighting interactions between elite policy advisors and the public. It combines analysis from 218 academic articles together with numerous Chinese writings from the decade that reveal the emergence of a subtle but significant shift in Chinese experts' views of Japan. Four elements stand out: (1) growing recognition that China's own actions can exacerbate a security dilemma with Japan; (2) acknowledgment of the costs of negative popular sentiments toward Japan; (3) a more nuanced view of Japanese society and politics; (4) and increased confidence in China's future power position through Japan. The chapter delves into this shift. Since the turn of the century, a new group has emerged as an important player in shaping Chinese foreign policy—the public. Through the use of various media such as the internet, the Chinese public have become far more informed, assertive, and engaged in foreign relations.
John K. Nelson
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824838331
- eISBN:
- 9780824870942
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824838331.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This book documents a sense of what is happening on the front lines as a growing number of Buddhist priests try to reboot their roles and traditions to gain greater significance in Japanese society. ...
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This book documents a sense of what is happening on the front lines as a growing number of Buddhist priests try to reboot their roles and traditions to gain greater significance in Japanese society. It profiles innovative as well as controversial responses to the challenges facing Buddhist priests. From traditional activities (conducting memorial rituals; supporting residences for the elderly and infirm; providing relief for victims of natural disasters) to more creative ones (collaborating in suicide prevention efforts; holding symposia and concerts on temple precincts; speaking out against nuclear power following Japan’s 2011 earthquake; opening cafés, storefront temples, and pubs; even staging fashion shows with priests on the runway) more progressive members of Japan’s Buddhist clergy are trying to navigate a path leading towards renewed relevance in society. An additional challenge is to avoid alienating older patrons while trying to attract younger ones vital to the future of their temples. The work’s central theme of “experimental Buddhism” provides a fresh perspective to understand how priests and other individuals employ Buddhist traditions in selective and pragmatic ways. Using these inventive approaches during a time of crisis and transition for Japanese temple Buddhism, priests and practitioners from all denominations seek solutions that not only can revitalize their religious traditions but also influence society and their fellow citizens in positive ways.Less
This book documents a sense of what is happening on the front lines as a growing number of Buddhist priests try to reboot their roles and traditions to gain greater significance in Japanese society. It profiles innovative as well as controversial responses to the challenges facing Buddhist priests. From traditional activities (conducting memorial rituals; supporting residences for the elderly and infirm; providing relief for victims of natural disasters) to more creative ones (collaborating in suicide prevention efforts; holding symposia and concerts on temple precincts; speaking out against nuclear power following Japan’s 2011 earthquake; opening cafés, storefront temples, and pubs; even staging fashion shows with priests on the runway) more progressive members of Japan’s Buddhist clergy are trying to navigate a path leading towards renewed relevance in society. An additional challenge is to avoid alienating older patrons while trying to attract younger ones vital to the future of their temples. The work’s central theme of “experimental Buddhism” provides a fresh perspective to understand how priests and other individuals employ Buddhist traditions in selective and pragmatic ways. Using these inventive approaches during a time of crisis and transition for Japanese temple Buddhism, priests and practitioners from all denominations seek solutions that not only can revitalize their religious traditions but also influence society and their fellow citizens in positive ways.
Peter Wynn Kirby
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824834289
- eISBN:
- 9780824870515
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824834289.003.0009
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This book has argued that the “environment” in Japan remains intensely Japanese even as it offers numerous facets that shed light on other parts of the world. It has explored what environment in ...
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This book has argued that the “environment” in Japan remains intensely Japanese even as it offers numerous facets that shed light on other parts of the world. It has explored what environment in Japan really means by focusing on the strata of Japanese society, revealing Japanese attitudes toward waste and pollution. It has presented evidence showing that urban Japanese attend to, and are in many ways deeply concerned with, their surroundings and participate in elaborate discourses on “nature.” It has also considered how threats to reproduction, conceptions of hygiene, notions of health and illness, shifting boundaries of place and the home, exclusionary mappings of the community, and evocations of nature together influence the social climate of Japan in general and Tokyo in particular. The book concludes by discussing the role that environmental anthropology can play in elucidating the rather underexplored contextual nature of environmental engagement.Less
This book has argued that the “environment” in Japan remains intensely Japanese even as it offers numerous facets that shed light on other parts of the world. It has explored what environment in Japan really means by focusing on the strata of Japanese society, revealing Japanese attitudes toward waste and pollution. It has presented evidence showing that urban Japanese attend to, and are in many ways deeply concerned with, their surroundings and participate in elaborate discourses on “nature.” It has also considered how threats to reproduction, conceptions of hygiene, notions of health and illness, shifting boundaries of place and the home, exclusionary mappings of the community, and evocations of nature together influence the social climate of Japan in general and Tokyo in particular. The book concludes by discussing the role that environmental anthropology can play in elucidating the rather underexplored contextual nature of environmental engagement.
Satsuki Kawano, Glenda S. Roberts, and Susan Orpett Long
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824838683
- eISBN:
- 9780824868895
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824838683.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This book explores various aspects of life in contemporary Japan in terms of the shift toward differentiation and uncertainty and from the perspective of social actors positioned differently in ...
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This book explores various aspects of life in contemporary Japan in terms of the shift toward differentiation and uncertainty and from the perspective of social actors positioned differently in Japanese society, including schoolgirls, teachers, women, mothers of young children, small-business owners, people with disabilities, and the elderly. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted during the first decade of the twenty-first century, the book examines a wide range of topics such as work, schooling, entertainment, lifestyle choices, volunteering, and material culture. It also considers family and marital relations, child rearing, driving manners, aging, death and memorial rituals, divination, and sexuality. Finally, it discusses the importance of self-realization and individuality in today's Japan.Less
This book explores various aspects of life in contemporary Japan in terms of the shift toward differentiation and uncertainty and from the perspective of social actors positioned differently in Japanese society, including schoolgirls, teachers, women, mothers of young children, small-business owners, people with disabilities, and the elderly. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted during the first decade of the twenty-first century, the book examines a wide range of topics such as work, schooling, entertainment, lifestyle choices, volunteering, and material culture. It also considers family and marital relations, child rearing, driving manners, aging, death and memorial rituals, divination, and sexuality. Finally, it discusses the importance of self-realization and individuality in today's Japan.
Gregory Smits
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824838171
- eISBN:
- 9780824870997
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824838171.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This book investigates the influence of the 1855 Ansei Edo earthquake in the context of major earthquakes of Japan's early modern and modern eras. It argues that the Ansei Edo earthquake played a ...
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This book investigates the influence of the 1855 Ansei Edo earthquake in the context of major earthquakes of Japan's early modern and modern eras. It argues that the Ansei Edo earthquake played a pivotal role in a process of shaping conceptions of Japan in the realms of politics, religion, geography, and natural science. Furthermore, it produced new ideas about human agency vis-à-vis earthquakes that have affected notions of seismicity and society in modern Japan. The book also examines the relevance of time in a society's vulnerability to natural hazards and connects both factors to the Ansei Edo earthquake in terms of when it began and when it ended. This chapter provides some basic information about earthquakes that struck early modern and modern Japan and describes early modern Japanese society by focusing on social and political geography, the nature of bakufu power, mass media and literacy, religious and intellectual milieu, and the belief that earthquakes were caused by catfish living under the earth.Less
This book investigates the influence of the 1855 Ansei Edo earthquake in the context of major earthquakes of Japan's early modern and modern eras. It argues that the Ansei Edo earthquake played a pivotal role in a process of shaping conceptions of Japan in the realms of politics, religion, geography, and natural science. Furthermore, it produced new ideas about human agency vis-à-vis earthquakes that have affected notions of seismicity and society in modern Japan. The book also examines the relevance of time in a society's vulnerability to natural hazards and connects both factors to the Ansei Edo earthquake in terms of when it began and when it ended. This chapter provides some basic information about earthquakes that struck early modern and modern Japan and describes early modern Japanese society by focusing on social and political geography, the nature of bakufu power, mass media and literacy, religious and intellectual milieu, and the belief that earthquakes were caused by catfish living under the earth.
Satsuki Kawano
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824833725
- eISBN:
- 9780824870850
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824833725.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This introductory chapter sets out the book's purpose, which is to examine changing death rites in Japan's postindustrial society. The central questions asked are: What new constraints and ...
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This introductory chapter sets out the book's purpose, which is to examine changing death rites in Japan's postindustrial society. The central questions asked are: What new constraints and opportunities have emerged to shape post-death trajectories in Japan's postindustrial society, and what innovations have been made to the end-of-life rites to accommodate them? How have such innovations created a new death and a new beyond? Who are the main actors making these changes? Why are they making these changes? What are the implications of these changes for the society and for the actors and their loved ones? Highlighting the perspectives of aging persons who have adopted the practice of scattering ashes to ritualize their own deaths, this study explores the creation of this new memorial strategy in Japan, one that has developed since 1991 as a citizens' movement based at the Grave-Free Promotion Society (GFPS, Sōsō No Jiyū O Susumeru Kai). An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.Less
This introductory chapter sets out the book's purpose, which is to examine changing death rites in Japan's postindustrial society. The central questions asked are: What new constraints and opportunities have emerged to shape post-death trajectories in Japan's postindustrial society, and what innovations have been made to the end-of-life rites to accommodate them? How have such innovations created a new death and a new beyond? Who are the main actors making these changes? Why are they making these changes? What are the implications of these changes for the society and for the actors and their loved ones? Highlighting the perspectives of aging persons who have adopted the practice of scattering ashes to ritualize their own deaths, this study explores the creation of this new memorial strategy in Japan, one that has developed since 1991 as a citizens' movement based at the Grave-Free Promotion Society (GFPS, Sōsō No Jiyū O Susumeru Kai). An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.
