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Japan famously muddled through the 2020 Summer Olympics – triumphant as a host in that the Games were held, after a year-long delay, despite the global COVID-19 pandemic that had threatened to shutter the event entirely. The successes were qualified, with spectator-less matches and races leading to eerily quiet medals ceremonies, at least compared with normal years of cheering fans, enthusiasts, and tourists. Nowhere was the strangeness of the event more apparent than in the Opening Ceremony, filled with a combination of subdued but technologically adept spectacle, artistic representations of grief and loss, and the an unnervingly empty Olympic Stadium. This paper examines the politics of the Ceremony, and in particular the apparent early plans for a more standard, lightly nationalistic display of local history and culture, and toward a set of acknowledgments of a global crisis that transcended borders. In doing so, it calls attention to the complex political goals on display, as well as the challenges of benefiting politically from an event whose meaning in the midst of loss had been called broadly into question. Drawing from political science and literary theory, the paper emphasizes that while spectacle can matter, it risks, a dense environment of media reflection, being seen as little more than a gimmick. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to survey the findings of phenomenological studies built up in the field of diabetes care in Sweden. This is a meta-synthesis of phenomenological studies on experiences related to diabetes in Sweden focusing on learning to live with diabetes. We proceeded by reference to the seven phases of Noblit & Hare. We examined papers from seven phenomenological studies on learning to live with diabetes in Sweden. From the papers, which describe the experience of living with diabetes, three overarching themes were selected—perception and awareness of the body; integration and responsibility; and presence of others who provide support. From those describing the expert's experience, an overarching theme emerged—encouraging reflection in persons with diabetes. We interpreted each of these themes in phenomenological terms and compared them with theories in Japan. Persons with diabetes take responsibility for coping with a range of things brought on by the illness and learn to live with diabetes. Experts support these persons so they can see their world objectively and critically scrutinize it. By building a model of diabetes care in Japan that references Scandinavian human science, it will be possible to find new approaches that support learning at the existential level. [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]

Considering the significant importance of environmental sustainability, it is vital to understand the determinants of environmental sustainability and to draw the policy implications for a sustainable environment. This paper examines the impacts of financial development and industrial structure on environmental sustainability in China from 1995 to 2020 using the A.R.D.L. approach. The result indicates that financial development negatively impacts CO2 emissions and greenhouse gas emissions in the long-run. The impact of industrial structure is also enormous. The results also suggest that industrial structure negatively impacts environmental sustainability by decreasing CO2 emissions and greenhouse gas emissions in the long-run. While Internet development accelerates environmental sustainability in Japan in the long run, economic development and energy negatively impact environmental sustainability in the long run. The findings of this study add to the current literature and provide some significant policy implications for improving environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Escalation of great power rivalry resulting from China's rise and Russia's invasion of Ukraine has prompted Japan to align its foreign and security policies more closely. This paper analyzes how ODA policy, which the Japanese government regards as a crucial diplomatic instrument, has been modified in the face of these changes. The most significant transformation is the securitization of ODA, or the deployment of ODA to advance Japan's national security interests. This trend is evident in the emergence of a new type of ODA that aims to contribute to Japan's security interests by strengthening the deterrence capabilities of developing countries involved in territorial disputes with China. Notably, Japan is justifying this new ODA trend in the name of upholding the universal value of the international rule of law. In other words, Japan is shifting the focus of assistance away from domestic issues of democracy and human rights in each recipient country toward the rule of law in international relations. This is a manifestation of Japan's effort to strike a careful balance between upholding universal values and avoiding the risk of offending incumbent governments in recipient countries with questionable domestic governance records. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population decline is expected to continue to be a prominent feature of Japanese demography in future decades. Internal migration plays a significant role in dictating the intensity of population decline at the regional level. In this paper we visualize inter-prefecture internal migration flows between the eight regions of Japan in 2020 using a chord diagram to show the relative scales of the origin-destination migration flows between each region. In addition, we use an animated series of chord diagrams to show the development of internal migration between 1954 and 2020. We fix the axis of the sectors of the chord diagram in the animation to illustrate the rapid growth and then slow decline (post-1972) in the regional migration system, as well as the interruption in the movement patterns during 2011, due to the Great East Japan Earthquake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper it is assumed that equity markets reflect the development of the overall economy of a country. Equity markets, among other factors, are considerably affected by factors such as inflation or deflation. Therefore, when inflationary or deflationary pressures appear, Central Banks try to manage those pressures in order to minimise their impact on the economy. In this paper, the case of Japan will be examined. Japan can be considered an example of a country which was under extended deflationary pressures for about three decades. In this study, the authors investigate different time frames for the Japan equity market. The research is based on Japan equity market (NIKKEI) returns. The authors aim to answer the question of whether the Japanese market complies with the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) for different time frames, as well as test analytically if Japan's stock market and economy have improved after the implementation of different attempts at Quantitative Easing (QEs), a Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) or a Negative Interest Rate Policy (NIRP) to curb deflationary impacts on the economy. The analysis and obtained results could be useful for risk and portfolio management, and could be extended to other markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how cinema has represented the two sides of the industrial expansion and contraction process in the context of a peripheral shrinking region. It explores how the cinematic vision of regions helps one to understand the processes of spatial development that resulted from socio-economic changes. Classic and contemporary filmmakers have shown the social problems associated with industrialization as well as deindustrialization. The paper focuses on the Northern Kyushu Region in Japan, which due to its own history epitomizes the problematic that affects Japan's peripheral territories - those outside the Pacific Industrial Belt. Through this analysis, it is argued that films can reveal aspects that other kinds of data cannot convey and, therefore, the cinematic analysis of regions has the potential to identify and reveal problems that otherwise would have remained unnoticed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a brief explanation of the Japanese public credit guarantee system and analyzes what role it played during the global financial crisis. The author conducted a questionnaire survey of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Aichi Prefecture, the prefecture most seriously hit by the crisis, in collaboration with the Aichi-ken Credit Guarantee Corporation. Using the survey, which provides valuable information about the usage of the credit guarantee program, this paper finds that the credit guarantee system was effective in protecting the economy from collapsing. The system was so generous that now almost all SMEs want it to remain unchanged. However, as the generous system brings heavy financial burdens on the Japanese government and, more seriously, discourages firms and banks from improving their efficiencies, the author insists that reforms, such as limiting the target and the guarantee coverage, are inevitable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In May 2012, Japan launched the Point-Based Preferential Immigration Treatment for Highly-Skilled Professionals system for highly-skilled migrants. This launch is a culmination of years of interest in attracting highly-skilled migrants. Although the incentives offered to highly-skilled migrants are attractive, incentives alone do not constitute the whole picture. Researchers such as Anthony D'Costa and Oishi Nana have written about why Japan is not attracting as many highly-skilled migrants as it could be. The present paper discusses Japanese exclusionary tendencies which diminish its attraction as a destination for highly-skilled migrants, focusing on its English language education, Nihonjinron influences, mistrust of foreigners, inequality between foreigners and the Japanese, and insistence on doing things the Japanese way. These issues need to be addressed if Japan is serious about attracting larger numbers of highly-skilled migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most economists examining the question of 'pollution havens' have concluded that the level of environmental regulation and activism in different states is not generally a significant determinant of international patterns of trade and foreign direct investment. This paper argues on the basis of extensive primary research that with respect to Japan's foreign direct investment during the 1970s, at any rate, this conclusion needs to be rethought. In the early 1970s, Japanese actors were remarkably forthright in ascribing their investment decisions to a desire to move polluting industry overseas. These statements allow us to examine 'pollution export' as a state strategy, a project advocated by industry organizations, and a response of individual firms to high levels of protest and regulation. The paper also traces the development of the Japanese debate over pollution export through the 1970s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparative assessment of pandemic governance in Japan and the United States helps explain the strikingly different shapes of the Covid-19 pandemic in these two countries. Japan has more successfully managed the pandemic compared to the striking failure of the US response. This paper uses the metaphor of the control tower of an airport to examine four aspects of pandemic governance: (1) the culture of the control tower, showing strikingly different cultures of mask-wearing; (2) the social value context of the control tower, reflecting a greater tendency in Japan for people to follow government advice, compared to the US libertarian values of emphasizing personal liberty and disregarding official advice; (3) the role of national leadership, especially who is sitting in the control tower making decisions, with Prime Minister Abe largely taking responsibility while President Trump effectively left decisions up to markets and individual states; and (4) the use and clarity of information provided by control-tower authorities, showing greater clarity and consistency in Japan compared to the confused and contradictory messages in the US. These differences in control-tower governance have had marked effects on the pandemic responses of the two countries and have important implications for sustaining democratic traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do major economic powers seek more and more free trade agreements (FTAs) with smaller partners? Recently, Japan has joined the bandwagon by signing its first bilateral FTA. The decision, highly contested domestically, represents a sea change in Japanese trade policy and a challenging case for theories of regionalism. This paper lays out a theoretical appraisal for why more and more industrialized countries join FTAs with emerging markets and illustrates the argument with an analysis of the Japanese case. The paper argues that foreign direct investment (FDI) changes the incentives for states in favour of preferential trade agreements. Increased FDI and shifts in multinational firm strategies increase flows of intermediate goods. As a result, firms lobby their home governments to bolster their competitive position by signing preferential agreements. Yet, FTAs also discriminate against firms from third parties, motivating them to lobby for defensive agreements. The qualitative case studies show how NAFTA discriminates against Japanese FDI in Mexico. As a result, firms began to lobby the Japanese trade bureaucracy, changing the perception of key policymakers who developed a strategy of pursuing preferential trade agreements in the Asia Pacific region, as shown in a case study of the initiative for an FTA with Thailand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the natural monopoly features of infrastructure industries, together with their strategic roles, have been important elements in state intervention. The aim of this paper is to evaluate what relative weight was attached to market failure problems on the one hand and geo-political factors on the other. For the period 1830-1939, how far were geo-political factors stronger than natural monopoly problems in accounting for the scale of intervention in the various countries of the Western World? How far did the policy instruments for security and market failure overlap? Whilst most of the infrastructure sectors are covered - including internal telecommunications, coal, gas, shipping, electricity and water - special attention is devoted to international submarine telegraph tables and railways. The paper concludes by demonstrating strong differences between Britain and USA on the one hand and Continental Europe plus Japan on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While sovereign debt has become a major constraint in the policymaking of most developed countries, this article asks why the choices in fiscal and monetary policy were not uniform among the highest sovereign debt countries: Italy and Japan. While Japan has been fairly unconstrained in economic policymaking over the last 25 years since the onset of the 'Lost Decades,' Italy has been very strongly constrained even as debt levels are higher in the former than in the latter case. It is argued that Italy faced two important constraints to policymaking, which Japan does not face: (1) the higher exposure to foreign debt holding, which has made Italy more vulnerable to fluctuations in the interest rate, thus making the government more cautious about taking certain fiscal decisions; (2) the common currency and fiscal treaties to limit deficit and debt accumulation, which form a legal barrier to fiscal and monetary expansionism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how the Japanese and Korean governments use multi-bi aid to complement their bilateral aid and compares their allocation behaviors. As opposed to traditional multilateral aid, multi-bi aid is earmarked for a specific country, project, region, sector, or theme. Japan—a traditional leading donor—and Korea—a small but growing donor—are considerably different in terms of their ODA history and size; although, they are comparable in meaningful manners in terms of their level of cooperation with multilateral organizations. Over the past 10 years, both countries used the multilateral system to a significantly lesser extent yet showed a higher proportion of earmarked funding within multilateral aid compared to the average DAC donor. This study identified more similarities than differences between Japan and South Korea—both countries commit a large proportion of their multi-bi to fragile and conflict-affected states, countries under-represented in their bilateral aid programs. Accordingly, a large proportion of their aid has been channeled through multilateral organizations leading the sectors that are not prioritized with their bilateral aid. Overall, this study identified strong complementarities between the composition of Japan's and Korea's bilateral and multi-bi aid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper focuses on the strategy adopted by the MNE Nestlé in Japan between the establishment of a branch at Yokohama in 1913 and the end of World War II. It highlights the difficulties encountered by the firm in its attempts to open up and operate production facilities due to strong opposition from local condensed milk makers, supported by the state. Eventually, in 1934, Nestlé opened a factory by founding an incorporated company, ARKK, all of whose shareholders were Japanese working for Nestlé. Although the war drastically curtailed the activities of both Nestlé Japan and ARKK, the organisational facilities set up during the inter-war period provided a springboard for Nestlé's post-war success in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses how value change and economic and social change have jointly affected fertility in Japan since 1950, and especially since 1973 when fertility resumed declining after some 15 years at near-replacement level. The resumption of fertility decline since 1973 has been driven primarily by underlying economic and social changes. Value change has tended to lag behind fertility change, and this lag has tended to be larger in Japan than in other advanced nations, primarily because underlying economic and social conditions have evolved more rapidly in Japan, and because it takes time for values to adjust to changes in underlying conditions. Because of Japans high degree of cultural homogeneity, values tend to be widely and quickly shared, so that under certain conditions value change tends to occur in spurts. In Japan, many of the more important value changes affecting fertility in recent decades are bound up with major educational and job gains by women, which have led to greater economic independence and more emphasis on values of individualism and equality between the sexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preoccupation of critical IPE theory with the global neo-liberal programme of deregulation and restructuring tends to hide the emergence of alternative patterns of regulation in different sites of global transformation. Currently, Japanese capitalism projects on a regional plane, concepts of regulation that negate neo-liberal discourse. The contours of the regionalization of Japan's state and economy are taking shape in the form of tightly coordinated production networks, administrative guidance of investment patterns, and a regional division of labour. The paper traces the roots of Japan's regulation strategy for the Asian region to a historical logic of ideological, political and institutional responses of Japanese capitalism to structural change in the world order. At three successive moments in the history of Japanese capitalism, the strategic competence, conscious compromises and 'sense of direction' of administrators played a critical role. It is contended that an account of the history of this intellectual stratum in the process of social differentiation will not only shed light on the persistence of Japan's enigmatic political culture, but also clarify the absence of liberal ideas in Japanese concepts of regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to clarify factors affecting the timing of marriage and pregnancy of Japanese women, this paper examines the timing of marriage, the age at which women first met the men they eventually married, the time that elapsed between first meeting and engagement, between engagement and marriage, and between engagement and first conception for the 1937-1955 birth cohorts. Women resorting to an arranged marriage showed a large increase in the age at first meeting as well as marriage age, while women marrying on a love-match basis did not. Supporting the hypothesis that there are three stages of Japanese women's attitude towards marriage, which affect the pattern of time schedule to marriage, it is found that women with a larger probability of career-seeking are likely to have a higher age at first meeting and a longer time between engagement and marriage even in love-match cases. This study suggests that a large proportion of women preferred their marriage to be a love match, but only a minority were career- orientated in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the archaeology of salmon fishing in Japan, mostly during the Jomon period. The starting point is Sugao Yamanouchi's 'salmon/trout theory', which suggested that the greater density of Jomon sites in northeastern Japan could be linked to greater availability of dog salmon (Oncorynchus keta) and trout (O. masou) in this area. Many archaeologists disputed this theory on the grounds that bones of salmon were very rarely recovered during archaeological excavations. Fine sieving of deposits does, however, enable salmon bones to be recovered, as the author has demonstrated on many archaeological sites. The varying frequencies of salmon bones on different sites enables those sites to be classified into four types: A, producing complete vertebrae only; B, producing vertebral fragments: C, producing vertebral fragments, and cranial elements; and D, producing complete vertebrae and cranial elements. Differential preservation is argued not to be responsible; it is argued that different patterns of capture, processing, storage, transport and consumption have caused the pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused serious disruptions to health systems across the world. While the pandemic has not ended, it is important to better understand the resilience of health systems by looking at the response to COVID-19 by hospitals and hospital staff. Part of a multi-country study, this study looks at the first and second waves of the pandemic in Japan and examines disruptions experienced by hospitals because of COVID-19 and the processes through which they overcame those disruptions. A holistic multiple case study design was employed, and two public hospitals were selected for the study. A total of 57 interviews were undertaken with purposively selected participants. A thematic approach was used in the analysis. The study found that in the early stages of the pandemic, faced with a previously unknown infectious disease, to facilitate the delivery of care to COVID-19 patients while also providing limited non-COVID-19 health care services, the case study hospitals undertook absorptive, adaptive, and transformative actions in the areas of hospital governance, human resources, nosocomial infection control, space and infrastructure management, and management of supplies. The process of overcoming the disruptions caused by the pandemic was complex, and the solution to one issue often caused other problems. To inform preparations for future health shocks and promote resilience, it is imperative to further investigate both organizational and broader health system factors that build absorptive, adaptive, and transformative capacity in hospitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how small corporations in rural areas of Japan obtained funding from the 1880 s through the 1910s and reassesses the role of market-based financing for Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). While most previous literature shows that Japan effectively used bank-based financing for SMEs, this study provides evidence that corporations of various sizes, including small ones in rural areas, arranged funding through the stock and bond markets during Japan's early industrialisation period. While this type of financing arrangement helped promote early industrialisation, it also strengthened the dual economy during full-fledged industrialisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collective memory inscribed in Korean history books recalls when the Japanese colonial state requisitioned brassware from Korean households during World War II. This study explores the complex mechanism behind these campaigns. Copper was a scarce commodity in the Japanese empire. The colonial brassware industry expanded but struggled due to fluctuating copper prices before the war. To overcome the reluctance of Koreans to part with their brassware, the colonial state had to coordinate various actors across multiple organisations, provide ceramic replacements, and establish a system of financial payments. The Japanese also ultimately created a 'brass bureaucracy' capable of carrying out the sensitive task of removing copper from Korean households. The Korean case reminds us that institutional frameworks are necessary for wartime salvage. Finally, brassware collections also resulted in fundamental changes in Korean society and everyday material culture that require careful analysis. (141 words) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's long-term cooperation with Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) has received a great number of academic debates for being part of China's Belt and Road Initiative and component of China-EU relations. It's noted China is not the only external "game player" in the CEEC region. After the end of the Cold War, Japan also enhanced its relations in the region through diplomacy and the provision of developmental assistance, which led to a deepening cooperation in the region within the Japan-EU framework of the 2010s. This article aims to form a comparative study of the strategies that China and Japan deploy in the CEEC in the historical review up to the present day, and to evaluate the approaches from institutional perspective as well as the infrastructure aspect when the two Asian countries dealing with the CEEC. It argues that China-launched cooperative scheme with the CEEC also draws the attention from Japan and Japan's relevant policies in CEEC cast significant implications on the development of China-CEEC cooperation. The comparison also rises some greater political landscape by not only involving the BRI and PQI, but also in QUAD and EU-relevant strategies. In discussing the above approaches and comparisons, the article concludes that China's various domestic and foreign policies towards CEEC present a "charming attraction" to Japan even in the context of China-US rivalry. Both Japan and CEEC need to be more pragmatic and positive towards cooperative mechanisms with China and embrace more opportunities to mutually support both China's and Japan's regional presences and influence for the continued development of the CEEC region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the pandemic hit Japan, PHCs repositioned prefectural officers, rehired former officers, and hired health specialists from various departments [[6]]. Keywords: Japan; Telemanagement; COVID-19; Pandemic; Public Health Center EN Japan Telemanagement COVID-19 Pandemic Public Health Center 101 103 3 02/27/23 20230301 NES 230301 When did it start? During isolation, the PHC checks the patient's daily symptoms through HER-SYS (an online software where all the pandemic-related information is readily accessible to both public and the government). [Extracted from the article]

The Japanese government has recognized the challenges its rapidly aging population presents, especially in terms of healthcare provision, and is focusing on the potential of regenerative medicine to address them. The country has consequently embarked upon a national program to support development of this field. In 1999 Japan initiated a national research project in science and technology, known as the Millennium Project, whose areas of research include tissue engineering covering skin, cornea, bone, cartilage, blood vessels, nerves and bone marrow. In this context, at a time when regulations for tissue engineered products are being developed and revised in the USA and at the European level, it is interesting to investigate what type of framework Japanese regulators have designed to deal with these products in order to see what lessons might be learnt by UK, US and EU regulators. This paper reviews negative and positive aspects of the current regulatory situation that applies to tissue engineered products in Japan but will mostly focus on examples of good practice, such as the pragmatism that underpins the Japanese regulatory strategy, the international involvement of the country when it comes to developing regulatory standards and the promotion of a supportive public environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accounting scholars have discussed the determinants of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption and its outcomes. However, little research focuses on the Asian countries that voluntarily adopted IFRS on a limited basis. In this study, we focus on a specific country, Japan, the largest nation worldwide that allows voluntary IFRS adoption. According to expectancy theory, we predict that voluntary IFRS adoption with motivation similar to that of the International Accounting Standards Board can improve accounting quality by enhancing motivation to adhere to the IFRS guidelines, which increases financial reporting comparability. We find that voluntary IFRS adoption by Japanese firms with positive motivation reduces income smoothing and enhances the extent of conditional conservatism. Additionally, we find that these associations primarily exist in firms with higher leverage, banker investors, a higher degree of tax avoidance and in regions with strong outside investor rights. Our main findings are robust to several sensitivity tests. This study fills a gap in the existing literature on IFRS adoption by investigating the effect of voluntary IFRS adoption on accounting quality from an adoption motivation perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the history of state intervention in East Asia's varieties of capitalism through a case study of the electric power industry. The reasons for state intervention in China and Japan, their similarities and differences, and their relative importance are described and analysed. The origin and evolution of the different national models of state–business relations in the two countries are influenced by domestic factors such as national defence and internal unification, as well as external circumstances such as colonialism, occupation, and war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares co-ethnic migrants in Japan and Singapore, namely: the Nikkeijin in Japan and Chinese nationals in Singapore. One striking difference between the two countries is that Singapore refers to migrants, both skilled and unskilled, as valuable human resources, while in Japan, the most influential discourse on migrants portrays them as an internal security threat. The Singaporean Government has made serious efforts in integrating skilled Chinese nationals, but in Japan, little has been done at the national level to integrate the Nikkeijin, even though they are potential long-term residents. Although the negative effects of having an ageing and declining population threaten both countries, Singapore has responded by prioritising immigration while Japan has not. Singapore may espouse multiculturalism, but the Singaporean Chinese have rejected Chinese nationals just the same. Singaporeans have rejected co-ethnic migrants primarily because they are outraged by the privileges offered to skilled Chinese nationals in employment, residency and citizenship matters. The Japanese, on the other hand, have rejected the Nikkeijin because despite their Japanese descent, they disturb Japanese homogeneity by bringing with them their language and culture from Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As a result of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, many residents evacuated and were exposed to changes in their living environment and socioeconomic status, and to persistent stressors. Past studies have suggested the potential for these circumstances to contribute to long-term changes to population health. Objective: The objective of this study was to gain a better understanding of long-term health effects of evacuation, by evaluating the risk of non-communicable diseases among evacuees from Minamisoma City (one of the closest municipalities to the power plant) until 2017. Methods: The study evaluated data from annual health check-ups for residents aged 40–74 years covered by National Health Insurance (who are largely self-employed) from 2010 to 2017 administered by Minamisoma City. Diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension were defined from the results of blood sampling. Annual changes in age-adjusted prevalence were estimated by evacuation scenario. We also performed an inverse-probability weighting (IPW) analysis to adjust for baseline covariates in 2010 and estimated the differences in the risk of diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension by evacuation scenario as of the 2017 health check-up in reference to the no-evacuation group. Results: A total of 1,837 individuals were considered in this study. Regardless of evacuation scenario, there was statistical evidence suggesting an upward and a downward trend in diabetes and hypertension from 2010 to 2017, respectively, while hyperlipidemia showed no remarkable change. IPW analyses demonstrated that disease risks in 2017 did not differ significantly among people with different evacuation scenarios. Conclusions: Region-specific factors played an important role in the health effects of the evacuation. Our findings have important implications for the need of an assessment of the health effects of evacuations in more localized manner. Further research in this area will strengthen the communities' preparedness for future disasters that require mass evacuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Approaching sustainability through landscapes helps appreciate the value of the diversity of human ways to live with nature that exists today. On the basis of fieldwork research in Japan, we explore the landscapes of natural parks, satoyama, and permaculture, all three recognized as sustainable and of high biodiversity value despite showing significant differences in terms of nature protection and landscape management strategies. We use the 'framework of the milieu' inspired by Watsuji Tetsurō and Augustin Berque to situate individual experiences and behaviours within the landscape's dynamics. It sheds light on the ideas of human-nature relations that underpin the understandings of sustainability as reflected in each landscape. We derive three corresponding landscape types: scenic, cultural, and ecotopian landscapes. We show that these types can be complementary insofar as they together support healthy ecosystems and fuel a sense of connectedness to nature. EDITED BY Jacqueline Loos [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article follows the evolution of biopharmaceutical firms as they bore great uncertainty and risks in their endeavours to commercialise new therapies – through the regenerative medicine industry in the United States, Britain and Japan. Despite its beginnings in the 1970s, regenerative medicines have yet to become a widely accepted form of medicine. A large part of the problem lay with the lack of 'fit' with the broader health context. This article illustrates how the trajectory of the sector was shaped, not only by the nature of the technology, but also by the complex contexts in which firms were embedded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses hospitals as medical technology in itself and discusses the evolution of hospital design. As a case study, it focuses on Japan from 1918 to 1970. Hospital systems in this country experienced a major shift between the prewar and postwar periods. While the prewar period was characterised by the domination of numerous private small hospitals in urban areas, the postwar reconstruction was based on the extension of large public hospitals. This article demonstrates the major roles that architects played in introducing hospital designs in Japan and adapting the Western functional model for use in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking a historical and comparative view, we explore the long debated cause of the spectacular economic successes of East Asia using land reforms in China and Japan during the 1940-50s. Examining the approach to land reform embodied by technocrats such as Liu Shaoqi in China and Wada Hiroo in Japan in addition to the implementation mechanisms of the policies they adopted, we show that the land reforms developed characteristics of dynamic factor endowment according to the Engerman-Sokoloff hypothesis. Fairly equal land redistribution led to political power equality and improved agricultural productivity and income equality, which is conducive to long-term economic development and the prevention of the Kuznets effect ex ante. Nevertheless, factors such as initial exogenous shocks, insufficient scale of family farming, persistent government support and consequential interest groups obstruct sustainable development of the agricultural sector as well as the generalization of East Asian experiences. Equality or inequality is essentially a policy choice in addition to being a long-term ex post evaluation of the reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the various factors that have shaped the internationalisation of the Japanese cosmetics industry over six decades of economic transformation from 1951 to 2015. Whilst Japanese cosmetics companies have expanded overseas, their focus has largely been in Asia. This article advances a multifactorial explanation that analyses a number of factors that led to regionalisation, including foreign consumers’ perception of Japan, managerial perceptions and strategies toward export markets, as well as the challenges pertaining to cross-border mergers and acquisitions activities by Japanese firms. Using Shiseido as the case example, the article offers a highly-textured account rooted in an understanding of the evolving historical setting, cautions against simple explanations and extends previous discussions concerning the reasons behind the regional orientation of the Japanese cosmetics industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses the experience of the Japanese pharmaceutical industry to show how Japan's national system of innovation evolved from a closed, firm-based domestic system toward a more open, networked, global system. This occurred in the face of a crisis of economic and technological dimensions. During the Lost Decades, the nature of innovation in this industry shifted from incremental toward more radical innovation, as the system internationalised and as firms leveraged different environments around the world. This article highlights the varying roles that the components of the system of innovation play in shaping innovative industries. It also shows how institutions can be remarkably malleable in times of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ‘Era of High Growth’ in Japan is well known for its ‘miracle’ economy, although the reasons why car ownership increased during this period have been largely ignored. Both the ‘miracle’ and the process of motor manufacturing have been viewed from the perspective of supply rather than demand. This article examines the ways in which the formidable barriers to mass car ownership were removed during this period by analysing quantitative data and also reconsidering narratives of Japanese manufacturing predicated on Japanese cultural uniqueness (nihonjinron). It considers the Japanese as consumers as well as workers, and concludes that car ownership is less a ‘miracle’ than a manifestation of Japan's process of modernisation during the twentieth century. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article charts the history of Japanese corporate engagement with India. While there has been a profound historic relationship between the two nations, economic interaction is commonly portrayed in the context of geographical and psychic distance. As institutions set the rules of corporate engagement, we analyse the evolving regulatory and policy regime for foreign direct investment (FDI) in post-independence India and the corporate strategies of Japanese multinational enterprises (MNEs) in response to this institutional change. Using a firm-level dataset we show that the trajectory of Japanese investment in India broadly follows that of other nationalities of foreign firms. Differentiated responses to institutional changes are detected by industry. Our analysis reveals important instances of Japanese firm flexibility and pragmatism vis-à-vis the rapidly growing Indian market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The consumption and export of material and immaterial commodities based upon Japanese popular culture is rapidly growing and continually finds new fans all around the world. In this article, it is suggested that some of the competitiveness of these unique cultural phenomena can be traced to the very dense and vivid area of Akihabara in Tokyo. Its long history as an electronic retail district and a more recent influx of firms and shops focused on popular culture has created a strong place brand that continues to mark Akihabara as the capital of Japanese cultural industries. It is a space where different consumers, specialist subcultures and firms and their products can interact. The area functions as a hub were ideas and values are exchanged, tested and promoted. The article argues that research on innovation milieus must take account of the role of users and their relation to place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the United States, Switzerland was one of the main sources of FDI to Japan in the twentieth century. Swiss multinationals that have invested there have three characteristics in common. First of all, they take a long-term perspective. The main companies present at the beginning of the twentieth century (Brown Boveri, Ciba, Nestle, Sandoz, Sulzer) were still some of the largest Swiss companies in Japan at the end of the century. Second, they gradually shifted from distribution to production during the inter-war period. Third, they backed Japan's industrialisation by strengthening historically underdeveloped sectors (chemicals) and by contributing to the growth of the manufacturing industry (machines). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In assessing health risks relating to current and future heat extremes, it is important to include developing countries, because these countries are considered to be vulnerable to the impact of climate change due to inadequate public health infrastructure, nutritional status and so forth. However, it is usually difficult to obtain relevant information from these countries, also because of insufficient public health infrastructure. Objectives: We invented a method that can be used for developing countries to assess the health risks of current and future extremes, but there still are some issues. We introduce and discuss these issues. Design: We analysed time-series data with non-parametric regression models including generalised additive models, which controlled for time trends. Results: When we controlled for year, the temperature-mortality relation was V-shaped, but when we controlled for season as well as year, the left side of the V-shape disappeared. Our month-specific analysis also revealed that winter months had higher mortality rates than other months, but there was no relation between mortality rate and temperature within each month during winter. Conclusions: This suggests that, unlike heat effects, risks due to cold effects may not be ameliorated even if global warming occurs. We need to investigate the mechanism behind high mortality during winter months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent naval ship visits and exchanges of goodwill between China and Japan suggest an improvement in the two countries' bilateral relationship, which had been steadily deteriorating since the late 1990s. In the longer term, however, Sino-Japanese relations will likely be tested or constrained by five key sets of issues: (1) territorial and resource disputes, (2) nationalism and issues of mutual antipathy, (3) Taiwan's political status, (4) the rapid rise of China's military power, and (5) the U.S.-Japan security alliance. The manner in which these issues are managed or resolved will likely play a major role in shaping the Sino-Japanese relationship and thus the overall geopolitical environment in East Asia. A key complicating factor in the relationship, however, is the persistence of divergent worldviews: Chinese leaders appear to be more consistently persuaded by realist notions of international politics, whereas Japanese leaders tend to favor liberal-institutionalist values. The two countries may use these different lenses to view the same incident or issue, potentially creating misunderstanding and miscalculation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia occupies a uniquely strong position in Japan's evolving security partnerships. The two countries' bilateral alliances with the United States, their common desire for U.S. commitment to and presence in the Asia-Pacific region, their common desire to foster regional multilateral security institutions for the purpose of disciplining China through inclusion, and their limited but significant capabilities to respond to security problems beyond the region have caused the two countries to nurture enhanced ties. Although this bilateral partnership has been more closely associated with trilateral cooperation including the United States between 2005 and 2008 (rather than with regional multilateralism), the expanding scope of Australia-Japan cooperation mostly encompasses nontraditional security areas, such as law enforcement, counterterrorism, and humanitarian relief operations. This approach seeks a middle ground between exclusive U.S.-Japan-Australia trilateralism and all-inclusive regional multilateralism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With East Asian international relations in flux since the end of the Cold War, Japan's security role is critical in influencing the region's future. In this article, the author examines Japanese opinion leaders' attitudes toward relations with Asian countries, the U.S.-Japan security alliance, the role of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, and Japan's culpability for the Fifteen-Year War of 1931-45. The four major contemporary security strands in Japan—pacifism, mercantilism, normalism, and nationalism—are analyzed. The author argues that normalism continues to rise in the post-Cold War era as the rightist conservatives (normalists) gradually gain predominance over the moderate conservatives (mercantilists). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Korea is Japan's most logical ally in East Asia. Both nations share the same primary military benefactor, the United States. Their geographic proximity makes them natural allies in offsetting China's growing power and unknown intentions. In spite of the many reasons to ally, relations remain strained, primarily because of Japan's historical occupation of Korea. In this article, the authors examine the political issues that must be resolved for Japan and South Korea to work together and the potential for such reconciliation in light of South Korea's on-again/off-again drift away from the United States and Japan's open embrace of U.S. protection and occasional political distancing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dollar dominance in East Asia has depended on its regional support. Japan's supportive policy toward the dollar, however, shifted in the late 1990s as the Japanese government began to address the region's heavy dependence on the dollar, which was regarded as one (but an important one) of the causes of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis (AFC), by promoting the use of the yen in the region and regional monetary initiatives. Despite emerging signs of those challenges, Japan's domestic resistance and the region's power rivalry between Japan and China still makes the dollar the currency of choice in the medium term future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study shows a strong increase in the modal age at death (M) in Japan over a period of 50 calendar years, accompanied by a clear decrease in the standard deviation of ages at death above M (SD(M+)) until the 1990s for men and the mid-1980s for women. For the most recent periods SD(M+) appears to have stopped decreasing, even though M has continued to increase linearly. This stagnation in SD(M+) has been accompanied by stagnation in q(M). The number of deaths at M (d(M)) and the number of deaths at and above M (d(M+)) have increased, but significantly more slowly since the period 1975–79. Since the 1980s an acceleration in the increase of M+kSD(M+), our indicator of the longest life durations, has been essentially due to the pause in SD(M+). Our data do not suggest that we are approaching an upper limit in human longevity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Third sector projects were promoted by the Japanese central government as a perfect remedy for poor government performance. However, the third sector was not a savior of the situation; rather, it generated significant deficit. In this research, I redefine the concept of the third sector in Japan, which is different from that in the United States and England. I analyze the third sector corporations as service providers using profit-maximization theory and quasimarket theory. Also, I interpret the roles and activities of the third sector with the model of triangles and discuss the relation between the government and third sector firms, problems, and various implications to draw lessons from the Japanese third sector experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]