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What are the institutional features that incentivize established powers to join rising powers' new institutions? Going beyond alliance versus rivalry, this paper develops a novel theory in answering this question. We argue that the established power must address two primary design issues: 1. how to navigate the control and burden-sharing trade-off and 2. how to limit the potential diffusion of power by rendering the new institution "complementary" to the existing order. To the extent that these issues are resolved in line with the established power's (EP's) preferences, the EP is more likely to join the rising powers' institutions. We support our theory with an in-depth case analysis of the Japanese-led Asian Development Bank, utilizing primarily archival materials. The relatively under-theorized core question has both historical and contemporary relevance. The paper also advances the history of US multilateral economic policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What shapes preferences for income redistribution? Studies find that social identification plays an important role. In this paper, I argue that in-group favoritism generated through income proximity and out-group discrimination stemming from a nation/foreigner cleavage affect redistribution preference. Using data from a survey experiment with 4,002 Japanese citizens, I examined whether priming the poor as recipients of public assistance (or Seikatsu Hogo) generates more (less) support for income redistribution among the poor (the wealthier) and whether priming foreigners as public assistance recipients decreases support for redistribution. Analyses reveal that respondents with annual household income of 5–10 million yen negatively respond to the treatment priming the poor as public assistance recipients. Results also indicate that priming foreigners as public assistance recipients decreases support for redistribution. These findings corroborate previous research that finds evidence from North America and Europe. Analyzing a sample from Japan offers the external validity because the recent rise in income disparity in Japan involves unique characteristics including pauperization of low-income groups without enriching the wealthy. A rapid increase in the inflow of immigrants to Japan necessitates the need to study how Japanese people shape their redistribution preference in response to a growing number of foreign residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does the Japanese public consider shared ancestry the most essential condition for inclusion of an individual as a member of their country's citizenry? This paper empirically assesses how the public in the ethnic nation views citizenship acquisition criteria. The originally conducted survey based on a conjoint format in Japan (2015) displays interesting results. Overall, Japanese people most heavily rely on the nationalities of parents in judging who qualifies as 'Japanese', confirming the contentions of previous works that highlight Japanese people's belief in a mono-ethnic Japan. More detailed statistical analyses further reveal that Japanese people consider ethnic heritage through the father as the most essential criterion while the mother's nationality and country of upbringing are also relevant. These results seem to reflect Japan's long-lasting beliefs in cultural homogeneity as well as patriarchal values, which are reinforced by a patrilineal tradition of citizenship. This research advances the discussion on how to classify citizenship features by disaggregating ethnic lineage into paternal and maternal lines. Furthermore, it suggests a reevaluation of Japan's institutional and social attachment to patrilineal ethnic heritage in order to ease multiple layers of discrimination posed against (particularly female) migrants and to realize a sound multiethnic society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article re-examines Japan's entry into international society, focusing on leading Japanese diplomats. It has been believed that Meiji leaders' interpretation of international society and diplomacy was characterized by power-political and zero-sum thinking, and they took a realistic approach in an imperialistic system. However, the present article demonstrates that Japanese diplomacy in and after the 1890s was basically guided by interest-oriented and non–zero-sum thinking which was closely tied to the international order. Leading Japanese diplomats, who learned from their experiences in diplomacy with Western countries, understood the significance of norms as well as the importance of military power, and pursued Japan's national interests within the rules and norms of international society. These findings offer a new image of the principles of modern Japanese diplomacy, the mechanisms of Japanese imperial expansion, and the process of the spread of norms in international society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although a recovery approach is relevant to older adults, a significant gap exists in social work literature regarding mental health recovery among ethnic/racial minority older adults. This paper explores the meaning of 'recovery' and the applicability of the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP), a recovery-based programme, to Japanese-Canadian older adults through qualitative data collected as part of an evaluation of two WRAP workshop series in a metropolitan city in Canada, 2010-12. All eight workshop participants (two male and six female, all Japanese speakers, aged sixty-four to eighty-nine years) took part in the study. A strength-based critical social work approach, which incorporates the understanding of resilience and hope and the intersectionality of oppression, was used to facilitate the programme. Qualitative data analysis identified key themes of the participants' workshop experiences, including reaffirming self-worth, being positive (hope), being self-reflective and mindful, supporting each other and advocating for themselves. The participants experienced positive changes in line with Jacobson and Greenley's (2001) internal and external conditions for recovery; in particular, it found an unexpected long-term outcome: the formation of a peer support group by participants. Social work practice in recovery is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guth's exhaustive analysis of craft culture in Edo period Japan is required reading not just for anyone who seeks to better understand the world of craft, but also the vibrant world of early modern Japan in general. She also notes that there were, broadly speaking, two categories of craft: one was craft produced for the burgeoning early modern urban elite, often by celebrity craftspeople, and the other produced in the rural areas of Japan and intended mainly for local use, a distinction that Guth calls "art craft" versus "folk craft". Graph Christine Guth's monograph offers a new perspective on craft culture in early modern Japan. [Extracted from the article]

The purpose of this paper is to present (1) the method of assessing the contribution of short-lived radioiodines to the thyroid for members of the public in Fukushima and neighbouring prefectures based on available data and (2) the results of a realistic assessment of such a contribution. The estimates of that contribution for the inhalation intake that occurred on the day of the main fallout (15 March 2011) are within 15% of the dose to the thyroid from 131I. The contribution to the thyroid dose from intake of 132Te is higher than that from the intake of 133I by a factor of ~3. The contribution of short-lived radioiodines to the thyroid dose for the public in the case of inhalation intake occurring as early as March 12 might be as great as 30-40%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Dietary Guidelines for Japanese, released in 2000, provides the basics of a healthy diet for the people of Japan. In July 2005, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan jointly released a new pictorial guide, The Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top, to help people implement the Dietary Guidelines for Japanese. It guides people as to what kinds and how much food they should eat each day to promote health. This paper describes the nature of the diet and the theoretical framework applied in the development of the new guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To present safety and efficacy of the JAK1 preferential inhibitor filgotinib in Japanese patients with prior inadequate response (IR) to methotrexate (MTX) from a 52-week randomised controlled parent study (PS) and long-term extension (LTE) through June 2020. Methods: The PS (NCT02889796) randomised MTX-IR patients to filgotinib 200 (FIL200) or 100 mg (FIL100), adalimumab (ADA) 40 mg, or placebo; all took stable background MTX. At week (W) 24, placebo patients were rerandomised to FIL200 or FIL100. The primary endpoint was W12 American College of Rheumatology 20% improvement; safety was assessed by adverse event (AE) reporting. For the LTE (NCT03025308), eligible filgotinib patients continued FIL200/FIL100; ADA patients were rerandomised (blinded) to FIL200 or FIL100; all continued MTX. Results: In all, 114/147 Japanese patients completed the PS, 115 enrolled in LTE, and 103 remained on study in June 2020. In the PS, AEs were consistent with the overall population, and W24 efficacy was maintained or improved through W52, comparable with the overall population. LTE AE incidences were similar between doses; filgotinib efficacy was consistent from baseline to W48 and similar between PS ADA and filgotinib patients. Conclusions: Among MTX-IR Japanese patients, filgotinib maintained efficacy over 1 year; LTE safety was consistent with the PS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a Japanese family with dyschromatosis symmetrica hereditaria (DSH) (MIM 127400 in McKusick's Mendelian Inheritance in Man), a rare autosomal dominant genodermatosis, predominantly occurring among Japanese and Korean individuals. Members of the present family affected with the disease showed a mixture of hyperpigmented and hypopigmented macules distributed on the face and the dorsal aspects of the extremities, which are typical of DSH. As most of the literature on DSH has been written in Japanese, dermatologists outside Japan are not familiar with the condition. In this paper, 185 cases of DSH, most of them reported in Japanese, are reviewed and unique clinical, histological and genetic features of this condition are delineated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we investigate the quality change in Japanese car and truck imports over 1979-1985. Car imports have been subject to a quota restraint since April 1981, while compact trucks have faced an ad valorem tariff of 25 percent since August 1980. We find evidence of substantial upgrading in Japanese car imports, with ambiguous quality change in trucks. The welfare cost of the quota restraint in cars exceeds $1,000 per import in 1983 and 1984. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tobacco price increase is an effective measure to reduce tobacco smoking. In Japan, the price of combustible cigarettes increased in 2018 and 2020, and that of heated tobacco products increased every year from 2018 to 2020 by tobacco excise taxation. Also, the general consumption tax increase in 2019 slightly raised the retail prices of tobacco products. We investigated the impact of this stepwise tobacco price increase on combustible cigarette smoking status among Japanese adults.Methods: Five waves of annual longitudinal data (2017-2021) from The Japan "Society and New Tobacco" Internet Survey (JASTIS) (31,930 observations of 11,896 individuals) were analyzed. Multivariable logistic regression with generalized estimating equation was fitted, adjusting for the prefecture of residence, age, sex, socioeconomic status, health status, alcohol drinking, former smoker's duration of smoking cessation, and the current smoker's number of cigarettes smoked per day.Results: The 2018 price increase was associated with a reduction in relapse (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.54, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.42 to 0.68) and an increment in cessation (aOR 1.20, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.42). The price increase in 2019 was not associated with relapse (aOR 0.84, 95% CI 0.63 to 1.10) or cessation (aOR 0.95, 95% CI 0.80 to 1.13). The 2020 price increase was associated with a reduction in relapse (aOR 0.59, 95% CI 0.42 to 0.81) and an increment in cessation (aOR 1.45, 95% CI to 1.21, 1.73).Conclusion: The price increase caused by tobacco excise taxation was associated with a reduction in combustible cigarette smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report 2 Japanese infants with hypothyroidism requiring levothyroxine (LT4) replacement therapy following exposure to iodinated contrast media (ICM). Patient 1 was born at 32 weeks gestation. He had congenital heart disease and underwent contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) on day 22 (estimated amount of iodine: 600 mg/kg/dose). The newborn mass screening showed normal thyrotropin (thyroid-stimulating hormone; TSH) levels at day 4, but high TSH and low free thyroxine levels on retest at day 44. LT4 replacement therapy was administered on days 46 to 74. No hypothyroidism requiring LT4 replacement therapy was observed afterward. The ultrasonography showed a hypoplastic thyroid gland. Patient 2 was born full-term. She had congenital heart disease and underwent contrast-enhanced CT on day 52 (estimated amount of iodine: 1500 mg/kg/dose). The newborn mass screening showed normal TSH levels on day 4, but high TSH levels on retest on day 62. LT4 replacement therapy was administered from day 65 to 3 years of age. Genetic analysis showed a heterozygous variant of DUOX2. Exposure to ICM can result in hypothyroidism, requiring LT4 replacement therapy. The severity of hypothyroidism may depend on risk factors, such as genetic predisposition, preterm birth, thyroid hypoplasia, or early exposure to ICM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background This study aimed to evaluate differences in vowel production using acoustic analysis in skeletal Class III and Class I Japanese participants and to identify the correlation between vowel sounds and cephalometric variables in skeletal Class III subjects. Materials and methods Japanese males with skeletal Class III (ANB < 0°) and Class I skeletal anatomy (0.62° < ANB < 5.94°) were recruited (n = 18/group). Acoustic analysis of vowel sounds and cephalometric analysis of lateral cephalograms were performed. For sound analysis, an isolated Japanese vowel (/a/,/i/,/u/,/e/,/o/) pattern was recorded. Praat software was used to extract acoustic parameters such as fundamental frequency (F0) and the first four formants (F1, F2, F3, and F4). The formant graph area was calculated. Cephalometric values were obtained using ImageJ. Correlations between acoustic and cephalometric variables in skeletal Class III subjects were then investigated. Results Skeletal Class III subjects exhibited significantly higher/o/F2 and lower/o/F4 values. Mandibular length, SNB, and overjet of Class III subjects were moderately negatively correlated with acoustic variables. Limitations This study did not take into account vertical skeletal patterns and tissue movements during sound production. Conclusion Skeletal Class III males produced different /o/ (back and rounded vowel), possibly owing to their anatomical positions or adaptive changes. Vowel production was moderately associated with cephalometric characteristics of Class III subjects. Thus, changes in speech after orthognathic surgery may be expected. A multidisciplinary team approach that included the input of a speech pathologist would be useful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the semantics of tense morphemes in Japanese in temporal adverbial clauses as well as in relative clauses. We claim that they are non-pronominal higher order entities but do not carry existential quantifier meanings on their own. Specifically, we argue against the view that Japanese past tense sentences are necessarily existentially quantifying and that this is the reason why they cannot occur as mae 'before' clauses. This view is incompatible with the fact that Japanese ato 'after' clauses must occur in the past tense. By contrast, our own proposal about Japanese tense morphemes is based on the idea that the inherent meaning of 'before' (or 'after') agrees with the "relative" meaning of the tense morpheme in the temporal adverbial clause. That is, a 'before' clause must be in the future tense (conveyed by the non-past tense form) because it describes a situation that follows the matrix predication time, whereas an 'after' clause must be in the past tense because it describes a situation that precedes the matrix predication time. Choosing the wrong tense form would then result in a contradiction. We will make two separate compositional proposals within two major accounts of 'before' and 'after': Beaver and Condoravdi's and Anscombe's. This enables us to show that correct empirical predictions can be made about 'before' and 'after' clauses, including non-veridical 'before' clauses, regardless of which account of temporal connectives turns out to be optimal. Our proposal also covers 'when' clauses and (nominal) relative clauses. Japanese tense morphemes are higher order entities and are "quantifier-raised" to yield "simultaneous readings" for present tense relative clauses. From the viewpoint of natural language semantic theory, this article establishes that non-pronominal relative tense morphemes are not always existentially quantifying. When an existential quantifier interpretation is needed, it is supplied through independent means. This is a promising approach to the semantics of relative-tense languages such as Japanese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the impact of baseline blood pressure (BP) on adverse outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), using a pooled analysis performed on data from J-RISK AF, a large-scale cohort of Japanese patients with AF. Methods and results: Of the 16 918 patients from five major AF registries including the J-RHYTHM Registry, Fushimi AF Registry, Shinken Database, Keio interhospital Cardiovascular Studies, and Hokuriku-Plus AF Registry, 15 019 non-valvular AF (NVAF) patients with baseline BP values (age, 70.0 ± 11.0 years; men, 69.1%) were analysed. Incidence rates of adverse events were evaluated between patients divided into baseline systolic BP quartiles or at 150 mmHg. During the follow-up period of 730 days, ischaemic stroke, major bleeding, all-cause death, and cardiovascular death occurred in 277, 319, 718, and 275 patients, respectively. Hazard ratios (HRs) for ischaemic stroke and major bleeding were comparable among the quartiles, whereas HRs for all-cause and cardiovascular deaths in the lowest quartile with systolic BP <114 mmHg were significantly higher [HR 1.43, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13–1.81; and HR 1.47, 95% CI 1.01–2.12, respectively] than in the third quartile, even after adjusting for known confounding factors. In patients with a systolic BP of ≥150 mmHg, adjusted HR for major bleeding was significantly higher than that of <150 mmHg (HR 1.64, 95% CI 1.12–2.40). Conclusion: In Japanese patients with NVAF, a baseline systolic BP <114 mmHg was significantly associated with higher all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. In contrast, a systolic BP ≥150 mmHg was an independent risk factor for major bleeding. Graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the historical relationship between terrorism and global thought through the case of Arai Shōgo, a commoner from Tochigi, Japan. Arai was chief of operations in the 1885 Osaka Incident, a failed plot among Japanese democratic radicals to travel to Korea, detonate explosives, topple the Korean government, incite war with China, resist European imperialism, and invigorate the democratic movement back in Japan. By examining Arai's intellectual life as well as his geopolitical and local context, the article suggests that the rise of public political terrorism in East Asia not only signaled but also resulted from the crisis of intellectual globalization in the 1880s, in which terrorism marked the historical origins of the phenomenon of global civil war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To describe the real-world prescription and treatment retention of molecular-targeted drugs for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Japan. Methods: A total of 204,416 patients with RA were prescribed at least one of the eight molecular-targeted drugs in 7 years from the National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups of Japan covering 98.3% of the Japanese population. The retention rates of each drug as well as head-to-head comparisons were estimated by Kaplan-Meier method. Results: A total of 121,131 RA patients were prescribed any molecular-targeted drug for the first time, while 36,633 uses of molecular-targeted drug were switched from another (switch use). The overall retention rates of molecular-targeted drugs at 12, 36, and 60 months were 0.64, 0.42, and 0.32 for the naïve use and 0.59, 0.40, and 0.31 for the switch use, respectively. Non-tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-inhibitor molecular-targeted drugs, particularly tocilizumab and tofacitinib, had higher retention rates than TNF inhibitors for both naïve and switch uses regardless of the previous drug and showed higher retention rates in head-to-head comparisons between eight molecular-targeted drugs. Conclusions: Our data reveal that the real-world drug retention is overall lower than previously reported and higher with non-TNF inhibitors than with TNF inhibitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents for the first time the SWB-J index, a subjective well-being indicator for Japan based on Twitter data. The index is composed by eight dimensions of subjective well-being and is estimated relying on Twitter data by using human supervised sentiment analysis. The index is then compared with the analogous SWB-I index for Italy in order to verify possible analogies and cultural differences. Further, through structural equation models, we investigate the relationship between economic and health conditions of the country and the well-being latent variable and illustrate how this latent dimension affects the SWB-J and SWB-I indicators. It turns out that, as expected, economic and health welfare is only one aspect of the multidimensional well-being that is captured by the Twitter-based indicator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterizing the detailed spatial and temporal dynamics of plant pathogens can provide valuable information for crop protection strategies. However, the epidemiological characteristics and evolutionary trajectories of pathogens can differ markedly from one country to another. The most widespread and important virus of brassica vegetables, turnip mosaic virus (TuMV), causes serious plant diseases in Japan. We collected 317 isolates of TuMV from Raphanus and Brassica plants throughout Japan over nearly five decades. Genomic sequences from these isolates were combined with published sequences. We identified a total of eighty-eight independent recombination events in Japanese TuMV genomes and found eighty-two recombination-type patterns in Japan. We assessed the evolution of TuMV through space and time using whole and partial genome sequences of both nonrecombinants and recombinants. Our results suggest that TuMV was introduced into Japan after the country emerged from its isolationist policy (1639–1854) in the Edo period and then dispersed to other parts of Japan in the 20th century. The results of our analyses reveal the complex structure of the TuMV population in Japan and emphasize the importance of identifying recombination events in the genome. Our study also provides an example of surveying the epidemiology of a virus that is highly recombinogenic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the second half of the nineteenth century, the ethnic Japanese (wajin) population of Hokkaido ballooned from roughly sixty thousand residents, primarily living on the island's southern tip, to more than two million people, scattered across the island. This explosive colonization was part of a global wave of settler colonialism. The wajin colonial regime and the foreign advisers they hired helped turn indigenous Ainu territory into Japan's first modern colony and one of its most important agricultural breadbaskets, resembling the so-called Neo-Europes of the Anglophone settler world. Hokkaido's history fits into the framework of ecological imperialism developed by Alfred Crosby and expanded by many scholars since. But the role of city building in processes of ecological imperialism remains understudied. Scholars who do discuss urbanization in the context of ecological imperialism focus on cities' roles as markets, downplaying their importance as sites of state power and political interventions. In Hokkaido, however, the politics and policies of city building were crucial tools of Japanese ecological imperialism. Colonial authorities built Hokkaido's capital, Sapporo, as a colonial laboratory, importing ideas from Japan and abroad, recording their experiences in Hokkaido, and ultimately exporting that knowledge to Japan's later colonies in East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While most existing research attributes contemporary Japanese emigration to the pursuit of a better lifestyle, recent qualitative studies point out that concern about country risks is a significant driver . We explore Japan's brain-drain potential and factors shaping Japanese skilled workers' interest in emigrating to other countries based on our original survey with an experimental component. We first undertake descriptive analysis using respondents in the (baseline) control group and examine what types of Japanese skilled workers are interested in emigration. We then use respondents in the control and treatment groups to test our preregistered hypotheses regarding the impact of information about Japan's country risks on their attitudes. The results of our descriptive analysis show that respondents with overseas experience and younger respondents are particularly motivated to consider emigration. Another notable finding is that respondents who distrust the government and media are also more likely to consider leaving Japan than those who do not. Furthermore, through our randomized survey experiment, we find that exposure to information about long-term economic risk encourages people to consider living abroad in the future. These results suggest that the brain drain from Japan is likely to continue, pointing to a need for policy actions to tackle it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study examined the association of presenteeism with experiences of poverty among Japanese workers during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Methods: A prospective cohort study of Japanese workers was conducted using an Internet monitoring survey. The baseline survey was conducted in December 2020, and a follow‐up survey in December 2021. Of the 27 036 workers who participated, 18 560 (68.7%) completed the follow‐up survey. The 11 081 who reported that they were not in financial difficulty in the baseline survey were included in the analysis. The degree of work functioning impairment was assessed at baseline using the Work Functioning Impairment Scale (WFun). Households' experience of not being able to pay for food and clothing was identified in the follow‐up survey. The odds ratios (ORs) of presenteeism determined by WFun associated with poverty were estimated using a multilevel logistic model. The multivariate model included age, sex, marital status, job type, income, education, smoking, alcohol consumption, number of employees in the workplace, and the incidence rate of COVID‐19 by prefecture at baseline. Results: In the multivariate model, the odds ratio of experiencing food insecurity increased with high WFun score: compared with WFun scores of 13 or less, the OR was 1.87 (95% CI: 1.43–2.43, P <.001) for WFun scores of 14 or more and 3.26 (95% CI: 2.58–4.12, P <.001) for WFun scores of 21 or more. Conclusions: In addition to labor productivity, the adverse effects of presenteeism on social security‐related concerns such as poverty require further attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Although gender stereotypes regarding paid work and unpaid work are changing, most wives are responsible for taking care of the family and home in Japan. It is unclear how time spent on housework and childcare has changed between working men and women during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Japan. The purpose of this study is to investigate how working men and women's responsibilities for housework and childcare changed during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Japan depending on work hours, job type, the number of employees in the workplace, and frequency of telecommuting. Methods: A cross‐sectional analysis (N = 14,454) was conducted using data from an Internet monitoring study (CORoNa Work Project), which was conducted in December 2020. A multilevel logistic model with nested prefectures of residence was conducted to estimate the odds ratio (OR) for change in time devoted to housework and childcare among men and women adjusting for age, household income, presence of spouse who work, work hours, job type, the number of employees in the workplace, frequency of telecommuting, and the incidence rate of COVID‐19 by prefecture. Results: More women tended to perceive that their time of housework and/or childcare had been changed (increased housework: OR 1.92, 95% CI [1.71–2.16], P <.001; decreased workhours: 1.66 (1.25–2.19), P <.001: increased childcare: OR 1.58, 95% CI [1.29–1.92], P <.001; decreased childcare: 1.11 (0.62–2.00), P =.719). Conclusions: The time spent by women on housework and childcare changed significantly compared to men during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate efficacy and safety of filgotinib in Japanese RA patients who have failed or were intolerant to one or more biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARD) from the global FINCH 2 study (NCT02873936) Methods: This subgroup analysis was performed using the predefined statistical analyses. The FINCH 2 study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase 3 study in adult RA patients with inadequate response to bDMARDs. The randomized patients were treated with once-daily filgotinib 200 mg, filgotinib 100mg or placebo on a background of csDMARDs for 24 weeks. Results: Of 449 patients enrolled in the overall population, 40 patients were enrolled from Japan. In the Japanese population, the American College of Rheumatology 20% response rates at week 12 (primary endpoint) were 83.3% and 53.3% for filgotinib, 200mg and 100mg, respectively, vs 30.8% for placebo. Filgotinib was well tolerated, similar to the overall population. Conclusions: Both doses of once-daily filgotinib 200mg and filgotinib 100mg were effective, and generally well-tolerated in Japanese patients with active refractory RA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines reports made by the Japanese mass media that Japanese parents are making demands of schools that are impossible to fulfill. It attempts to understand parents’ expectations toward public schools, and it seeks to discover if a perceived increase in parent-school conflict has been caused by the changing circumstances of Japanese adults. The author categorizes mothers into several groups and contrasts them, with particular emphasis placed upon mothers who must balance work with familial obligations. It is concluded that child care assistance and other measures of support are needed for Japanese parents.

Ethnic-specific SNP arrays are becoming more important to increase the power of genome-wide association studies in diverse population. In the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project, we have been developing a series of Japonica Arrays (JPA) for genotyping participants based on reference panels constructed from whole-genome sequence data of the Japanese population. Here, we designed a novel version of the SNP array for the Japanese population, called Japonica Array NEO (JPA NEO), comprising a total of 666,883 markers. Among them, 654,246 tag SNPs of autosomes and X chromosome were selected from an expanded reference panel of 3,552 Japanese, 3.5KJPNv2, using pairwise r 2 of linkage disequilibrium measures. Additionally, 28,298 markers were included for the evaluation of previously identified disease risk markers from the literature and databases, and those present in the Japanese population were extracted using the reference panel. Through genotyping 286 Japanese samples, we found that the imputation quality r 2 and INFO score in the minor allele frequency bin >2.5–5% were >0.9 and >0.8, respectively, and >12 million markers were imputed with an INFO score >0.8. From these results, JPA NEO is a promising tool for genotyping the Japanese population with genome-wide coverage, contributing to the development of genetic risk scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to analyze possible sources of mental strains and conflicts of Japanese immigrants which develop from the character of the Japanese social structure. It is assumed that the Japanese immigrants in America brought with them the traditional culture of rural Japan of half a century ago. It may be concluded that the Japanese immigrants retain Japanese culture to a considerable extent. Consequently they are presumed to undergo the mental strains to a certain extent due to conditions inherent in the structure of the Japanese society, not to mention those resulting from new environments, cultural contact, and difficult relations with their American-educated children. In the Japanese family system collectivity-orientation is represented by the emphasis on kinship tie, strong personal attachment, the family council, and patriarchalism. The basic unit of the Japanese social organization is a kinship group. The emphasis on kinship tie is indicated in the number of generations residing in a single household.

Asia-Pacific lacks an environmental leader. Japan, a forerunner of environmental regulation in the 1970s, started to engage in active environmental diplomacy in the post-Cold War era by hosting conferences of parties to multilateral environmental agreements such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as well as providing a massive amount of environmental aid. Then, in the 2000s, Japan's initiatives became substantially weakened and have gained a negative international reputation as the country took a considerably passive position to the Paris Agreement, filed many reservations to the CITES listing decisions, and withdrew from the International Whaling Commission. This article explores, through six brief case studies, the factors and structures that systemically impede Japan's environmental leadership and norm internalization. It highlights the constraining factors behind Japan's devolution including its closed bureaucratic system and the lack of positive engagement of Japanese scientists. Finally, it addresses the future prospects of environmental cooperation in the Asia-Pacific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China and Japan are among the world's top space powers, with significant technical competence in both conventional and 'newspace' capabilities. Since the early 1990s, each country has also taken a keen interest in shaping the governance of outer space activities. But they have done so in remarkably different ways, calling into question Asian states' supposed preferences for soft and informal institutions. Japan has led the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum, involving both state and nonstate participants, which is guided by a set of principles. China has opted for a high-profile formal intergovernmental design, the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization, with a Convention and all the trappings of a formal organizational structure. This article assesses the activities of China and Japan in the new space race, discusses how and why the design of their space governance differs, and reflects on prospects for competition and cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan has long faced energy insecurity due to its extreme dependence on energy imports. Why, then, has Japan failed to exploit its huge domestic geothermal energy resources, which could provide up to 10% of the country's electricity needs? This article argues that local interests empowered by national policy have been the main obstacle to expansion of geothermal power production in Japan since the 1970s. The article substantiates its claim with a historical analysis of national geothermal policy and a fieldwork-based case study of geothermal power development in Yuzawa City, Akita Prefecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although many epidemiological studies have reported the preventive effects of soy products and isoflavones on prostate cancer, our previous studies reported that the association between soy and isoflavones and prostate cancer incidence differed according to stage. It is more important to identify modifiable risk factors related to lethal prostate cancer. Here, we investigated the association between soy, soy products and isoflavones intake and prostate cancer mortality, in a prospective study in Japan.Methods: We conducted a population-based prospective study in 43 580 Japanese men with no history of cancer or cardiovascular disease (aged 45-74 years). Participants completed a validated questionnaire which included 138 food items. We followed participants from 1995 to 2016. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of prostate cancer mortality were calculated according to quintiles of soy products and isoflavones intake, using Cox hazard proportional hazards regression.Results: During 16.9 years follow-up, we registered 221 deaths from prostate cancer. Isoflavones and soy products intake was associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer death, with multivariate HRQ5 vs. Q1=1.39, 95% CI = 0.87-2.20, p for trend = 0.04 for isoflavones and multivariate HRQ5 vs. Q1=1.76, 95% CI = 1.10-2.82, p for trend = 0.04 for soy food.Conclusions: Our study suggested that high intake of soy and isoflavones might increase the risk of prostate cancer mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much concern exists about individuals' tendency to favor attitude-consistent messages (confirmation bias) and the consequences for democracy; yet, empirical evidence is predominantly based on U.S. data and may not apply to other cultural contexts. The current three-session online experimental study unobtrusively observed Japanese participants' (N = 200) selective exposure to political news articles right before the 2017 Japanese snap general election. The research design paralleled an earlier U.S. study and a German study, which allowed direct comparisons of confirmation biases among the three countries. Japanese exhibited a confirmation bias, but it was smaller than the confirmation bias among Americans, though comparable to that of Germans. The extent of the confirmation bias among Japanese participants was influenced by individual media trust, which provides new insight into causes of these cross-country differences. Attitudinal impacts resulted from selective exposure, in line with message stance, and persisted for two days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the gendered configurations and practices within the Japanese settler community in colonial Korea. More specifically, it focuses on the experiences of urban middle-class Japanese women. Existing data show that Japanese settler women, as citizens of the metropole, reaped benefits in arenas such as lifestyle, education, occupation, and family life. Their status as women, however, simultaneously subjected them to strict patriarchal and conservative standards. While privileged as colonists, they were publicly marginalized and silenced by the peculiar dynamics created by colonialism and modernity. Based on in-depth interviews and personal memoirs, as well as official archives and statistics, this research examines the forms of modernity that Japanese women experienced in colonial Korea, highlighting both the benefits and constraints that the colonial context offered to the women. These insights will complicate the existing historiography of Japanese colonialism in Korea by unveiling the history of a social group that has rarely been discussed by scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background Cigarette smoking is consistently more common among schizophrenia patients than the general population worldwide; however, the findings of studies in Japan are inconsistent. Recently, the smoking rate has gradually decreased among the general population. Methods We performed a meta-analysis of smoking status in a large Japanese cohort of (1) 1845 schizophrenia patients and 196845 general population and (2) 842 schizophrenia patients and 766 psychiatrically healthy controls from 12 studies over a 25-year period, including 301 patients and 131 controls from our study. Results In our case-control sample, schizophrenia patients had a significantly higher smoking rate than healthy controls (P=.031). The proportion of heavy smokers (P=.027) and the number of cigarettes smoked per day (P= 8.20×10–3) were significantly higher among schizophrenia patients than healthy controls. For the smokers in the schizophrenia group, atypical antipsychotics dosage was positively correlated with cigarettes per day (P= 1.00×10–3). A meta-analysis found that schizophrenia patients had a higher smoking rate than the general population for both men (OR = 1.53, P=.035; schizophrenia patients, 52.9%; general population, 40.1%) and women (OR = 2.40, P= 1.08×10–5; schizophrenia patients, 24.4%; general population, 11.8%). In addition, male schizophrenia patients had a higher smoking rate than male healthy controls (OR = 2.84, P= 9.48×10–3; schizophrenia patients, 53.6%; healthy controls, 32.9%), but the difference was not significant for women (OR = 1.36, P=.53; schizophrenia patients, 17.0%; healthy controls,14.1%). Among both males and females, schizophrenia patients had a higher smoking rate than both the general population (OR = 1.88, P= 2.60×10–5) and healthy controls (OR = 2.05, P=.018). These rates were not affected by the patients' recruitment year (P>.05). The cigarettes per day values of schizophrenia patients and the general population were 22.0 and 18.8, respectively. Conclusions Schizophrenia patients are approximately 2 times more likely to smoke than the general population and healthy controls based on data collected over a decade in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article reports a study that compared how Portuguese and Brazilian newspapers covered Japan in the 90s. The research was based on 9,152 texts related to Japan published in a Portuguese and a Brazilian newspaper from that era. This is a much larger sample than what was used in existing text content analysis studies for Portuguese. To treat this large sample, selected concordances and distributions obtained from the corpora were semi-automatically analyzed. Results revealed that the most referred Japanese personalities were politicians. Additionally, in general, there are more texts related to Japan (and naming Japanese personalities) in the Portuguese newspaper than in the Brazilian newspaper. The study focused on personalities for which there are statistically significant frequency differences in the Portuguese and the Brazilian newspapers. A detailed analysis of the texts where these personalities were named revealed events related to Japan with different impact in Portugal and Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the paper "Malignant Melanoma in Japan," by Yoshio Yoshida. The paper states that malignant melanoma is less frequent among Japanese than in the white races, but a higher proportion are found on the lower extremities, especially on the soles.

The article discusses the U.S. Army and Navy's wartime planning for the colonial Japanese at the end of World War II. Topics include the government officials's recognition of the Japanese participation in a longer history of colonialism, the State Department policy recommendations concerning the overseas Japanese that include the Subcommittee on Migration and Resettlement, the Research and Analysis Branch of the Office of Strategic Services, and the Inter-Divisional Area Committee on the Far East, and the disposition of Japanese civilians.

Background. Nationwide data for the prevalence and outcomes of patients receiving continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) in intensive care units (ICUs) are scarce. This study assessed the status of CRRT in Japanese ICUs using a nationwide administrative claim database. Methods. Datawere extracted fromthe Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination database for 2011. From a cohort of critically ill patients aged 12 years or older whowere admitted to ICUs for 3 days or longer, acute kidney injury (AKI) patients treated with CRRT were identified. The period prevalence of CRRT and in-hospital mortality were calculated. Logistic regression analysis identified factors associated with in-hospital mortality. Results. Of 165 815 ICU patients, 6478 (3.9%) received CRRT for AKI. The most frequent admission diagnosis category was diseases of the circulatory system (n = 3074). The overall inhospital mortality rate of the CRRT-treated AKI patients was 50.6%. Clustering patients into four groups by background revealed the lowest in-hospital mortality rate of 41.5% for the cardiovascular surgery group (n = 1043) compared with 53.5% for the nonsurgical cardiovascular group (n = 2031), 51.7% for the sepsis group (n = 1863) and 51.6% for other cases (n = 1541). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed a significant association of these four group classifications with in-hospital mortality in addition to age, hospital characteristics (type and volume), time from hospital admission to CRRT initiation and interventions performed on the day of CRRT initiation. Conclusions. Using a large Japanese nationwide database, this study revealed remarkably high in-hospital mortality of CRRTtreated AKI patients, although the period prevalence of CRRT for AKI in ICUs was low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of oral methotrexate and tumor necrosis factor inhibitors in Japanese patients with active psoriatic arthritis. Methods. We retrospectively investigated 51 patients who fulfilled the ClASsification criteria for Psoriatic ARthritis (CASPAR) criteria for the efficacy of tumor necrosis factor inhibitors and methotrexate. We assessed the visual analog scale score, psoriasis area and severity index score, C-reactive protein-based disease activity score in 28 joints (DAS28), swollen joint count (0-66), tender joint count (0-68), health assessment questionnaire score, C-reactive protein level, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and matrix metalloproteinase 3, at both baseline and week 24. Results. Of the 51 patients, 34 were male and 17 were female, with a mean age of 50.3 ± 13.2 years. The duration of psoriasis to onset of arthritis was 10.2 ± 9.1 years. At week 24, in the group treated with the tumor necrosis factor inhibitor plus methotrexate, the tender joint count declined from 6.05 ± 5.84 to 0.43 ± 1.03, the swollen joint count declined from 6.42 ± 4.36 to 0.00 ± 0.00, and the DAS28 declined from 4.35 ± 0.82 to 2.04 ± 0.68. In the group treated with methotrexate alone, the tender joint count declined from 3.70 ± 1.76 to 0.60 ± 0.86, the swollen joint count declined from 5.26 ± 4.00 to 0.27 ± 0.70, and the DAS28 declined from 3.91 ± 0.82 to 1.94 ± 0.53. There were no significant differences in the mean reduction in clinical measurements between the two groups. Conclusion. Our study demonstrated that methotrexate and tumor necrosis factor inhibitors are effective for the treatment of active psoriatic arthritis in Japanese patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The risk of progressing to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) and factors associated with progression in children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are unclear, especially in Asian children. Methods We started a nationwide, prospective cohort study of 447 Japanese children with pre-dialysis CKD in 2010, with follow-up in 2011. Progression to ESKD was analyzed by Kaplan–Meier analysis according to CKD stage. Cox regression analysis was used to identify risk factors for progression. Results Data were analyzed for 429/447 children. Five patients died, of which four died before progression to ESKD. Fifty-two patients progressed to ESKD (median follow-up 1.49 years), including 9/315 patients with stage 3 CKD, 29/107 with Stage 4 CKD and 14/25 with Stage 5 CKD. One-year renal survival rates were 98.3, 80.0 and 40.9%, for Stages 3, 4 and 5 CKD, respectively. Risk factors for progression to ESKD included CKD stage [versus Stage 3; Stage 4: hazard ratio (HR) 11.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.22–29.28, P < 0.001; Stage 5: HR 26.95, 95% CI 7.71–94.17, P < 0.001], heavy proteinuria (>2.0 g/g urine creatinine; HR 7.56, 95% CI 3.22–17.77, P < 0.001) and age ( < 2 years: HR 9.06; 95% CI 2.29–35.84, P = 0.002; after starting puberty: HR 4.88; 95% CI 1.85–12.85, P = 0.001). Conclusions In this cohort, 12.5% of children with pre-dialysis CKD progressed to ESKD with a median-follow-up of 1.49 years. Children with advanced (Stage 4/5) CKD were particularly likely to progress. To our knowledge, this is the first, nationwide, prospective cohort study of children with pre-dialysis CKD in Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence, magnitude, and direction of the associations among disability, pain intensity, number of pain sites, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients reporting low back pain (LBP) as their primary pain. Methods. In January 2009, an Internet survey was performed for randomly selected adults aged 20-79 years who were registered as Internet research volunteers. Of 20 044 respondents, individuals with LBP as the primary pain were analyzed for associations among disability, number of pain sites, and HRQoL. Factors associated with low HRQoL were examined using multiple logistic regression modeling. Results. Of the 20 044 respondents, 25.2 % ( n = 5060) reported LBP and 13.5 % ( n = 2696) reported LBP as their primary pain. Among those with LBP as the primary pain, HRQoL decreased with increase in disability and number of pain sites. In multivariate analyses, disability [adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 2.93-4.58], number of pain sites (aOR, 1.42-6.12), pain intensity ≥7 (aOR, 1.88), and age ≥60 years (aOR, 1.55) were associated with low HRQoL. Conclusions. Approximately 13.5 % of patients reported LBP as their primary pain. Disability with absence from social activity and ≥7 pain sites were strongly associated with low HRQoL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines civil society and the public sphere in Japanese-occupied Korea. Particular focus is given to the role of Korean and Japanese members of city assemblies in the citizens' movement for public electricity during the 1920s and 1930s. According to the author, reforms to local systems of self-government increased elite political participation and opened up a discursive space of public debate in which Japanese and Korean community leaders could engage in joint political action. Topics discussed include authoritarianism, public opinion, and the utility corporation Keijō Electric.

Objective: To compare Behçet's syndrome (BS) cohorts from the US and Japan in terms of rates of concordance with the International Study Group (ISG) criteria and Japanese criteria, disease manifestations, and treatment. Methods: All BS patients seen at the NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases in the US and the Kameda Medical Center and St. Luke's International Hospital in Japan between 2003 and 2010 were included. Diagnosis of BS was made on the basis of clinical manifestations and the clinical decisions of experienced specialists familiar with BS. We classified the patients into complete and incomplete types based on their symptoms; both complete or incomplete types were assumed to fulfil the Japanese criteria. Results: A total of 769 patients (US n = 634, Japan n = 135) were reviewed. 61.5 % in the US and 63.7 % in Japan fulfilled the ISG criteria. Similarly, there was no difference in the proportions of US and Japanese patients who fulfilled the Japanese criteria. Japanese patients were less likely to be female and to have genital ulcers, but were more likely to have epididymitis and pulmonary disease. Significantly more patients were treated with colchicine, sulfasalazine/mesalazine, and NSAIDs in Japan, while significantly more patients in the US received first-line immunosuppressants. Conclusions: The concordance rates for ISG and Japanese criteria fulfillment in the US and Japan were not significantly different. These findings could help to clarify regional differences in the diagnostic and clinical features of BS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We performed a retrospective review of medical records to assess the clinical characteristics of 50 Japanese children with juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM). Methods: Fourteen boys and 36 girls who visited Yokohama City University Hospital between 1983 and 2008 were enrolled. Gender, age at disease onset and diagnosis, presenting clinical features, laboratory data at onset, complications, treatment, and outcome were reviewed. Results: Mean age at disease onset was 6.9 years. Clinical manifestations at the first visit were muscle pain and/or weakness (90 %), malar rash (90 %), Gottron's papules (86 %), and heliotrope rash (80.0 %). Elevated serum levels of creatine kinase were found in 57.0 % of patients and aldolase in 95 %. T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images with fat suppression demonstrated positive findings in 89.5 % of patients. Initial treatment was prednisolone (PSL) orally or pulsed methylprednisolone (mPSL) i.v. Pulsed mPSL therapy showed efficacy superior to PSL [flare in 8 of 19 (42 %) vs. 18 of 25 (72 %)]. Children refractory to initial treatment were given additional pulsed mPSL and/or cyclophosphamide (IVCY; n = 19) i.v.. Four patients with interstitial pneumonia responded well to IVCY. Conclusions: Our findings support the notion that JDM might be considered as both a systemic inflammatory and noninflammatory vasculopathy best treated by IVCY, as shown in previous literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]