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PurposeMethodology/approachFindingsResearch implicationsPractical implicationsOriginalityExtensive research has been conducted on cross-cultural comparisons between Eastern and Western organizational cultures in major trading domains. However, there is a lack of examination of intra-comparative management nuances within Asian regions. This research paper focuses on the under-explored topic of the values, beliefs, and attitudes (VBAs) that influence the outcomes of East Asian (e.g. Japan) marketing strategies and operations when implemented in South Asian (e.g. India) markets and organizational contexts. The study aims to analyze the impact of VBAs on marketing effectiveness and provide insights for marketers in cross-cultural settings. The article analyzes the customer satisfaction orientation (CSO) of Japanese business executives and draws insights that offer lessons related to cultural VBAs for overall marketing strategy and foreign investors.The paper employs a social constructivist paradigm and gathers empirical research through multiple interviews. These facilitate novel and normally rare access and insights into Japanese business leaders’ lived experience of CSO in B2B Indian intercultural situations.Interpretivist data analysis reveals several push-pull factors that influence CSO practice. The research identifies shared values such as long-termism and harmony that have the potential to boost CSO as a marketing strategy in India.The paper develops a conceptualization of cultural VBAs that lead to successful CSO practice in India and is of relevance to foreign investors.This study suggests that East Asian marketers should carefully consider the impact of VBAs on their marketing strategies. Our research sheds light on the ongoing discussion on static versus evolving nature of culture and highlights the need to pay attention to cultural change, particularly congruence and confluence in workplace values.The intercultural study contributes to the literature on international marketing strategy by highlighting the nature and importance of understanding traditional and evolving cultural VBAs for appreciating receptivity to adoption and thereby efficacy of home country marketing strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractDuring the Second Abe Administration (2012-2020), Japan intensified its efforts to strengthen economic ties with Africa. This paper explores the reasons behind this shift and its implications for Japan’s African policy. Challenging the prevailing ‘Reactive State’ model of Japanese African policy, the study argues that the shift resulted from political and bureaucratic reforms that centralized power in the Prime Minister’s office (Kantei) and Abe’s favoritism toward the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). As a result, METI gained greater influence over African policy. Unlike the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, METI views Africa as a promising market with a limited Japanese presence and advocates for a more business-oriented approach. The paper concludes that Japan’s new policy provides a convincing reason why Japan must engage with Africa. However, Japanese companies do not always follow as the Government intended. Despite government efforts, the Japanese private sector remains hesitant to expand investment in Africa due to challenging business environments and the absence of legal frameworks between Japan and African countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationalisation is now a prominent feature of the higher education landscape, with many institutions integrating international, intercultural and global dimensions inside and outside the classroom. In this paper, I examine the long-term outcomes of international faculty mobility on individual pathways at home institutions framed within the context of internationalisation. I find that the current mode of internationalisation neglects the role of how abroad activities contribute to subsequent institutional internationalisation at home and abroad. My retrospective tracer study with eight qualitative in-depth interview participants finds that formerly internationally mobile faculty integrate international, intercultural, and global dimensions related to the host country, host region and wider world at their home institutions into their teaching, research and service after returning from abroad. In doing so, I propose a new way of understanding how the complementary pillars of abroad and at home internationalisation maintain an on-going, synergetic process that react and contribute to each other and the way in which internationalisation can be re-visited and re-imagined meeting broader goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis paper provides an in-depth analysis of Japan’s evolving cyber defense capabilities and explores its future challenges. National security has transformed in the twenty first century, with cyberspace becoming a key conflict domain. Japan, like other nations, has adapted to these changes. In 2022, the Japanese government introduced its active cyber defense concept. The National Security Strategy of 2022 stated the government’s posture for active cyber defense, which pre-emptively neutralizes adversary computers. This marked a turning point in Japan’s security and defense. This strategic shift, which occurred notably between 2000 and 2022, exemplifies Japan’s transition in the cyber domain. The scope of protecting cyberspace has evolved from primarily safeguarding civilian infrastructure to adopting proactive measures. This evolution is analyzed in the paper, which contrasts Japan’s approach with Western nations’ military-driven cyber policies. Additionally, the multifaceted challenges and opportunities arising from this paradigm shift in cyber capability development are explored. The analysis encompasses key aspects, including the policy formation, international cooperation, budgetary allocations, and the progress of organizational structures regarding the cyber domain. Furthermore, the study explores Japan’s future trajectory in cyber defense, with a particular focus on its role within the ‘Multi-Domain Defense Force’ and the dynamics of the Japan-US alliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper asks if there is deficiency of investment in people in Japan. To answer this question we examine comparative and historical data, as well as the reasons behind the data. We then look at public policies of recent administrations, particularly the Kishida administration, since one of its core policy agendas is 'investment in people'. We find that there is a deficiency of investment in people, by governments, companies and people themselves, for a variety of reasons, and that the Kishida administration has to date only proposed temporary measures without long term solutions. The paper concludes with policy implications and some proposals for additional action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the challenges posed by a rapidly aging society and its associated socio-economic difficulties, the Japanese government has encouraged the adoption of AI and robotics technologies for care. Conspicuous investments in these technologies in Japan underscore the dominance of techno-politics of innovation and the advocacy for the robotization of care practices. Such narratives — disseminated by the Japanese state, industry, media, and academia — often overlook the perspectives of the expected users of these technologies. This paper, rooted in a 14-month-long ethnographic study conducted at robotics labs in Japan and the UK in 2022–2023, examines the performance and ethical implications of technoscientific imaginaries portraying Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) as already reliable, safe, and efficient. It sheds light on the intricate relationship between science, technology, the state, and society, emphasizing their use as instruments of power for state-led national development objectives. Moreover, it exposes how technology is presented, creating an illusion of efficiency while neglecting the necessity of involving society in co-designing and co-producing these technologies. The paper ultimately advocates for responsible innovation, emphasizing in particular the need for user involvement to ensure these technologies are not only more efficient and reliable, but also more accessible, inclusive, and fairer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how AI ethics has been developed at the national level in Japan, and what this process reveals about broader Japanese state imaginaries of how advanced technology should be developed and used, and what a future with these technologies should look like. Key developments in the Japanese government's approach to AI ethics and governance between 2014 and 2023 are laid out, based on an analysis of official reports and policy documents supplemented by data collected via semi-structured interviews with three expert members of the committees that formulated several key sets of ethical principles. The paper considers Japan's positioning in the global race to develop AI ethics principles over this period, as well as the imaginary of AI within the wider historical context of imaginaries about the knowledge society in Japan. I suggest three ways in which AI ethics has been understood and instrumentalized in the Japanese context, and argue that the main methodology used to date—ELSI—complements the government's utopian and techno-determinist imaginaries of the future while concealing a deeply conservative approach that serves to reproduce structural inequalities and discrimination despite the apparent internationalism and progressive values that are repeatedly expressed in state-promoted ethical principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Language & Intercultural Communication is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The flexibility of the Delphi Technique has enabled its application across a wide range of fields to facilitate problem solving, decision-making and consensus-building. However, flexibility brings with it a corresponding lack of detailed methodological guidelines, and the rigour of Delphi studies has been questioned. This paper presents a recent study investigating global competence in Japan to demonstrate how Q-methodology can be integrated into a Delphi study to improve rigour. Using Q-methodology helps to mitigate potential problems associated with (a) consensus parameters and focus, (b) panel retention rates, and (c) feedback design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tōkaidō Road was the legendary highway constructed during the Edo period (1603–1868) in Japan connecting Edo, the home of the shogun, to Kyoto, the home of the emperor. Along the route were 53 post-stations (shuku) or towns catering to all manner of travellers from the daimyō (lords) and their great processions to pilgrims and later, lay travellers. Publication of period guidebooks, fictional journeys and the woodblock prints of artists like Hiroshige inspired increasing numbers of travellers who looked forward to adventures along the Tōkaidō Road. The heritage of the Tōkaidō Road today remains in the forms of signposts, markers, check points and preserved Edo towns visited by contemporary tourists. This paper examines historical travel along the Tōkaidō through Edo-era literature and art in the context of roads, mobility and imageries of place. Site visits to the preserved post-station of Seki and the reconstructed checkpoint at Hakone explore contemporary heritage tourism offering a nostalgic look back in time to Edo, Japan. Looking forward from the past through historic travel and looking back from the present via heritage tourism reveals the timelessness and popularity of the Tōkaidō Road. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'China threat' has been identified as an important driver of Japan's security agenda and discourse. The threat posed by China has been discussed either as a given factor determining the trajectory of Tokyo's security approach, as a product of identity construction, or as an expression of securitizing processes that facilitate institutional and policy change. This paper contributes to this debate by offering an alternative explanation of the process through which the Abe government constructed China as a threat. Building on securitization theory, the paper examines the modes and strategies employed by the Abe Administration to successfully securitize China. The paper argues that, while Beijing was labeled a 'concern' rather than an 'existential threat,' it was still securitized through a process of securitization that involves an association with those domains in which China engages assertively, namely the maritime commons. The paper suggests calling this type of securitizing pattern 'transversal securitization' and explores how this indirect strategy allowed the Abe government to pragmatically pursue its objectives both domestically and at the international level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guest worker programs entail an intrinsic tension between control over workers' mobility and workers' agency. By drawing on the qualitative data from Chinese construction workers in Japan's Technical Intern Training Program (TITP), I illuminate the dialectical nature of the tension between control and agency. My findings suggest that labor recruiters and employers implement labor control, but their practices have the opposite effect of pressing workers to abscond or to do irregular jobs. Staying in the program is not an outcome of effective control, but a response to circumstances wherein revisions to Japan's immigration policy bring rewards while China's surveillance policies incur potential punishments. The control-agency dialectic suggests that the regulative focus should be shifted from workers to employers and recruiters. Incorporating approaches of spatiotemporality and relationality, I analyze how workers sustain relations with various actors through three interconnected temporal stages, and how the relational dynamics shape workers' varied mobility choices. Two features of the construction industry shape workers' circumstances and occasionally facilitate their mobility: the stratification of the labor force according to legal status and the subcontract system. The paper thus highlights the need to contextualise labor agency in changing state policies, relations with co-ethnics, and industry-specific features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local knowledge is recognised as a critical element of global energy transition and energy justice. This paper explores the roles local knowledge in the formation of a community organisation responsible for monitoring the nuclear facility operations, governance, and public risk communication. Our case study examines a local nuclear oversight organisation in the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa region in Japan, where suggestions have been made to consider nation-wide institutionalisation of organisations similar to French Commissions Locales d’Information (Local Information Commissions). Our findings reveal the critical roles of three forms of local knowledge, with a particular emphasis on the nuanced yet crucial impact of everyday-life knowledge (seikatsu-chi), a facet not extensively explored in existing studies, in facilitating the establishment of the local organisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a study conducted in Japan on Japanese first-year tertiary learners' attitudes towards English language learning models. The study found that participants had a strong preference for native English speakers and negative views of localized Englishes. However, they were more likely to choose Japanese people as their ideal speaking models, with perceived personality being a major factor in their attitudes. The study also highlighted the importance of Japanese teachers' confidence in their own Englishes. The article provides insights into Japanese learners' perceptions of English and their preferences for language models. [Extracted from the article]

This paper examines the case of grassroots-level live music in Japan during the height of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Despite imposing restrictions on cross-border movement, the Japanese government refrained from implementing the ‘lockdowns’ seen elsewhere. As such, this study provides an opportunity to examine what happens when infection prevention measures are delegated to the community level. Using qualitative data gathered from ethnographic fieldwork, this case study of punks in the northern city of Sapporo affords a ‘real life’ view of live music practice under such circumstances. Given that governments and policy makers are keen to avoid ‘lockdowns’ or similar measures should there be a future pandemic, a consideration of what actually happens in such a case becomes imperative. Qualitative analysis of this ethnographic case study reveals that whether an audience is able to sufficiently ‘control’ themselves in order to follow infection prevention guidelines is dependent on the social trajectories of those within it, and to what extent they are willing and able to employ their personal (sub)cultural capital to influence the emergent event. For policy makers, this suggests that any ‘community-level’ approach to infection prevention necessitates engagement with the group in question that is simultaneously ‘bottom up’ and ‘top down.’ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the 'new trinity' reform of labour markets proposed in 2023, which is an integral part of Japan's New Form of Capitalism. After providing an overview of the reform's three components – reskilling/upskilling, inter-company mobility, and job-based employment – it discusses how the reform may contribute to reduction of labour shortages, skill shortages, and inequality among workers. It then assesses challenges to this reform, ways to overcome these challenges, and how Japan may hold answers for other countries facing similar labour market problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting with a broad overview of the need for urgent action concerning climate change globally, this paper then reviews the evolution of environmental policy in Japan up to and including green transformation (GX) measures taken under the Kishida administration, and an assessment of the changes still needed to achieve sustainability in Japan. An integrated approach has been adopted in Japan, encompassing the environment, the economy, and society, to achieve three transitions: first, to a de-carbonized society; second, to a circular economy; and third, to a 'nature-positive', decentralized society which co-exists with nature. This approach was signalled in the Regional Circular and Ecological concept in the Fifth Environmental Basic Plan of 2018, building on extensive discussions within the Ministry of Environment and with other ministries from 2014, in the wake of the 2011 triple earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the process of the internationalisation of Japan Tobacco (JT), as a former state-owned enterprise (SOE) in the context of varied state motives and interventions influenced by changing social and political environments. The account of the successful internationalisation of this large Japanese multinational corporation (MNC), frequently listed in the Fortune Global 500, helps to meet a growing need to elaborate the relationship between the privatisation and internationalisation of SOEs. The historical analysis of JT's internationalisation is presented with two distinct focuses, each of which illuminates significant implications for scholars of business history. First, breaking down the narrative into distinct phases helps to reveal the dynamic interaction between processes of privatisation and internationalisation over time. Second, the focus on distinct stakeholders draws on resource dependency theory to elaborate the nuanced relationship between the State's motives and JT's determination to internationalise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with ageing populations, escalating care needs, and growing shortages of care workers, Japanese and EU governments have pursued large, publicly-funded research projects to develop and commercialize care robots. Yet despite their global leadership in this field, Japan and the EU have rarely been compared directly in studies of care robotics. This paper explores similarities in their approaches to the public funding and planning of care robot development, commercialization, and implementation since the late 1990s, and what the differences reveal about their contrasting priorities in science, technology, and innovation policy, as well as differential treatment of care robotics as an industry and as a research domain. I conclude by arguing for the importance of studying such funding mechanisms and institutional actors to better understand their key role in shaping the emergent landscape of care robotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractIn 2016, Sanrio debuted a series of shorts featuring Retsuko, a cute lesser panda with a penchant for bursts of death-metal infused violent rage. The shorts, eventually transformed into a full show on Netflix, were a comedic look at Retsuko’s anger at unfair treatment in the Japanese workplace, casting a critical eye on issues of sexism, harassment, and overwork. But while Retsuko has been explicitly positioned as counter cultural, what does it mean to be transgressive and Sanrio? This paper analyzes this question from a cross-disciplinary perspective, drawing on critical feminist studies, rage studies, media studies, and sociolinguistics. Approaching the framing, content, and speech of Retsuko throughout her media appearances, we argue that while Retsuko is certainly critical of contemporary Japan, her transgression is ultimately limited, with any potential paths to freedom or rebellion hampered by a corporate system that reabsorbs transgressive behavior and sells it back to customers, closing off the potential to imagine new ways of being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

America's allies have reacted differently to the uncertainty surrounding US global leadership and the return to hard power politics in the 2010s. Some allies have remained steadfast in their commitment to Washington, while others distanced themselves from the United States. Why is it so? This article develops an integrated argument that brings together different strands of the literature on alignment, to better make sense of cross-national and within-case variations in allies' strategic behavior. By examining three case studies from distinct regional contexts – Japan, Poland and Turkey – the paper shows that although these allies all shared concerns about the Obama and Trump administrations' security commitment, it was their differing perceptions of the threats posed by China and Russia's power that influenced their pursuit of either stronger alignment with the US security patron – through internal balancing for 'attractiveness' and internal hedging –, or increased strategic autonomy from Washington by pursuing hard hedging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though many studies have analyzed public opinion of trade liberalization, they do not fully explain regional disparities in people's preferences with regard to trade. To explain such a geographic division, this paper focuses on differences in social contexts that exist between regions, which is composed of social networks of different characteristics and distinct news coverage from local media. By utilizing multiple recent public opinion surveys conducted in Japan, we confirm that individuals in rural areas are less likely to support trade liberalization and Japan's membership in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) independent of individuals' economic self-interest or skills. With multiple surveys and data on Japanese national and local newspapers, we investigate the mechanisms, showing that (a) individuals whose communication network includes people working for a sector vulnerable to trade liberalization tend to oppose free trade regardless of the industry they work for and that (b) newspapers circulated in rural and urban places tend to cover TPP differently, which also impacts people's attitudes toward the agreement. By analyzing the mechanisms of sociotropic considerations, our social context approach could eventually lead to further uncovering the formation of public opinion on trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how female and foreign corporate directors influence their corporation's climate change behaviour. This study found that female directors contribute to the formulation of their company's climate change vision, and foreign directors contribute to the formulation of a climate change mission. Japan has set a long-term goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, an extremely difficult goal to achieve. Our results suggest that it is important to appoint female and foreign directors to achieve net zero emissions. Our results also suggest that diversity among company directors needs to be further expanded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on migrants' experiences of moving house in the country of settlement, the study explores the housing pathways of Russian-speaking migrants in Japan over their life courses. This paper emphasizes the need for the anthropology of migration to consider not only the housing events but also the housing pathways experienced by cross-border migrants in receiving countries. It is argued that the act of moving from one accommodation to another plays a crucial role in how migrants develop their biographies and perceptions of self. In addition to investigating house relocation, the study borrows from the Russian formalist school of narratology to examine how migrants narrativize their experiences in stories that intertwine housing pathways and movers' identities. The study reveals how the instances of moving—and not necessarily the physical qualities of housing—emerge as dynamic forces that initiate migrants into their desired statuses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pursuit of Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) by numerous countries, aimed at promoting trade among member nations, is widely acknowledged. Nonetheless, policymakers often voice concerns regarding the potentially short-lived nature of PTAs' trade-promoting effects. In light of this concern, we present empirical evidence that substantiates the transient nature of the trade-enhancing impacts associated with PTAs. We identify the expanding economic influence of China in the global trade sphere as a primary driver for this trend. These findings are reinforced by a compelling illustration within the context of the PTAs involving Korea and Japan with Latin American countries. Our case study suggests that the attenuation of the export-promoting effects of Korea and Japan's PTAs with their Latin American counterparts can be attributed to the penetration of Chinese goods, the sustained reduction of Most Favored Nation (MFN) tariffs, and the proliferation of comprehensive PTAs within regional contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article briefly introduces and comments on the EPAT special issue 'Philosophical reflections on modern education in Japan: strategies and prospects' edited by Morimichi Kato. There are seven papers excluding the editor's introductory essay. This special issue provides a unique approach to Japanese educational philosophy by offering and deliberating features and concepts peculiar to Japanese education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

John Henry Wigmore's life experience as a Westerniser teaching Anglo-American Law in Japan from 1889 to 1892 is an example of legal orientalism. Engaging in the historical study of Japanese law despite diverging cultural paradigms between East and West paradoxically revealed striking similarities leading to the publication of the Materials for Study of Private Law in Old Japan in 1892. More than three decades after his return from Tokyo sparking a lasting fascination for foreign and comparative law, Wigmore published in 1928 A Panorama of the World's Legal Systems. This case study offers insights on the relationship between legal history and comparative law that these publications respectively represent. The imprecise classification of A Panorama at a time when comparative law was at its infancy stage requires identifying a relevant taxonomy. Wigmore's legacy is revisited with a focus on both its historical and comparative dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Comparative Education is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Comparative Education is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

How should we understand the relationship between nationalism and discourses of national decline, and more specifically the discourses of a shrinking nation? Driven by this question, this article highlights how bleak imaginings of the future also work to construct the relationship of the individual to the putative national community, creating forms of sentimental national belonging. This article analyses an emerging genre of best-selling books in Japan, Mirai no nenpyō [The chronology of the future] series, that present a dismal vision of Japan's national demographic future. Their goal is to provoke a sense of national urgency by encouraging Japanese nationals to feel personally the shrinking nation through imagining its coming consequences for everyday life. Such narrations of an imagined shrinking community act to create a timeless sense of national belonging, with daily lived experience in the imagined future interpreted through the lens of the contracting nation. Importantly, the future that these discourses present is nationalized within boundaries separating it from global developments and intercourse. Ultimately, this form of nationalism is constituted not by dying for the nation, but instead by people seeing the continued stability of everyday life as intricately tied to the fate of the national community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated whether the organisational culture of the country causes a moderating effect on the relationship between motivational factors and knowledge sharing intention (KSI) from the perspective of Toyota managers in Japan and Brazil. The questionnaire applied to Toyota managers, in Brazil (n = 84) and Japan (n = 111) through online access. The data treatment applied structural equation modelling. The results revealed that Brazilian managers attributed higher mean values than the average values of Japanese managers. Analysis of the two samples revealed no significant differences in the structure of the structural equation model through the use of PLS-PM. While for the Brazilian sample only anticipated reciprocal relationship explained KSI, for the Japanese sample, the anticipated reciprocal relationship and sense of self-worth contributed to explaining KSI. Three interactions between the three moderation variables and the three independent variables were significant when analysing the sample of Brazilian managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Valene L. Smith is best known as the editor of the successful book Hosts and Guests: The Anthropology of Tourism. Her life was dedicated to the anthropological study of tourism. In this article commemorating her life, I look at her work, particularly from the Japanese context in which I developed my anthropological study of tourism. This year, 2024, marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Hosts and Guests. A classic book like this will be read and updated by successive generations around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While serving as a benchmark of 'world-class' universities, the global university rankings do not include the vast majority of universities. However, Times Higher Education developed a Japanese national university ranking table in 2017, which includes approximately 40% of all Japanese universities. This increased coverage of universities that students may consider can extend the influence of global ranking developers. This study examines the impact of the Times Higher Education Japan University Rankings on admissions outcomes from 2017–2019. The findings indicate that universities ranked outside of the top 100 in 2017 had an increased number of applicants and decreased acceptance rates in 2018 and 2019 when compared to unranked universities. Among the top 100 universities, a more favourable ordinal ranking in 2017 was associated with increased matriculation rates in 2018 and 2019. Thus, it appears that the hegemony of global rankings may expand beyond elite universities via national versions of these rankings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the impact of NO2 emissions reduction on O3 and CH4 levels in 14 metropolitan areas of Japan in 2020. To account for meteorological variations, we employ business-as-usual air quality time series generated by machine learning models. Additionally, we use satellite observations and biogeochemical model simulations to analyse air quality changes. During the lockdown period from April 7 to May 25 in 2020, we observed a NO2 reduction that equated to a decrease equivalent to 3.4 and 5 years of the corresponding trends in roadside and ambient air quality recorded from 2010 to 2019. After meteorological normalization, NO2 decreased by 14.5% at ambient air stations and 19.1% at roadside stations. Surprisingly, the NO2 reduction did not immediately lead to increased O3. Instead, O3 levels rose after the lockdown, specifically in August due to favorable sunny conditions. This finding is important for Japan and has not been reported in previous studies. We found that changes in NO2 and CO marginally contributed to variations in CH4 levels across the study areas. It is recommended to simultaneously reduce NOx as well as non-methane volatile organic compounds to mitigate their adverse effects on future policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]