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The central model of Japan's North Korea policy has been maintained consistently despite repeated changes in the government from the Liberal Democratic Party to the Democratic Party and back again.Purpose: This paper summarizes Japan's policy concerning North Korea after the Cold War, examines the structure of this policy, and, based on this structure, analyzes Japan's current policy regarding North Korea. The analysis then turns to the future.Main Argument: Normalizing relations between Japan and North Korea may be the primary goal of Japan's policy, but the following four motives can also be identified. First, for Japan, the normalization of relations with North Korea is significant as a remaining postwar process. The second motive involves responses to security issues. Third, there is the issue of the safety of Japanese lives. Fourth, Japan's economic opportunities in North Korea must be considered. Japan has sought ties with North Korea with these four motives, which will remain unchanged in the future. However, Japan does not aim to normalize relations with North Korea without restrictions, and Japan's policy concerning North Korea is bound by the following three factors. The first factor is the international environment. Second, Japan–North Korea relations are constrained by the attitude of South Korea. Third, Japan's domestic politics also determine Japan's North Korea policy.Conclusion: While the four motives will remain the same for Japan, these three factors determine Japan's attitude toward North Korea, all three of which are pushing for Japan to negotiate with North Korea. He central model of Japan's North Korea policy has been maintained consistently despite repeated changes in the government from the Liberal Democratic Party to the Democratic Party and back again. This paper summarizes Japan's policy concerning North Korea after the Cold War, examines the structure of this policy, and, based on this structure, analyzes Japan's current policy regarding North Korea. The analysis then turns to the future. Normalizing relations between Japan and North Korea may be the primary goal of Japan's policy, but the following four motives can also be identified. First, for Japan, the normalization of relations with North Korea is significant as a remaining postwar process. The second motive involves responses to security issues. Third, there is the issue of the safety of Japanese lives. Fourth, Japan's economic opportunities in North Korea must be considered. Japan has sought ties with North Korea with these four motives, which will remain unchanged in the future. However, Japan does not aim to normalize relations with North Korea without restrictions, and Japan's policy concerning North Korea is bound by the following three factors. The first factor is the international environment. Second, Japan–North Korea relations are constrained by the attitude of South Korea. Third, Japan's domestic politics also determine Japan's North Korea policy. While the four motives will remain the same for Japan, these three factors determine Japan's attitude toward North Korea, all three of which are pushing for Japan to negotiate with North Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the so-called 'global age', the issue of how children learn to locate themselves in the world is an important one. Working from a foundation of theories related to globalisation, identity development and citizenship education, this paper describes the findings of a research project which explored elementary school children's geographical and affective location of the self in Japan, Macau and Hong Kong. Analysis and discussion of Japanese education policy is then presented in an attempt to explain the finding that Japanese children are far less likely than their counterparts in Hong Kong and Macau to locate themselves in an international sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates Japan's multicultural policy, introduced as an extension of the internationalisation scheme under the banner of tabunka kyōsei (multicultural coexistence). I first review the framework of tabunka kyōsei as it is expressed in the policy documents, highlighting its apolitical ideas of coexistence, and then explore its local reception, impact and practice, drawing from the narratives of people involved in multicultural programmes. The delivery of Japanese language classes by volunteers in the Aichi Prefecture is used as a case study. The participants' accounts reveal that the multicultural policy is evaluated by the public as poor, and its intent is questioned. For volunteers, the framework has had both positive and negative impacts on the work they perform. Their practices, although limited and localised, demonstrate independent engagement with the local authorities and expose the current multicultural framework as both ambiguous and ambivalent in its concern for the social and political rights of migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

When Hideo Nomo exploited a contractual loophole to transfer from Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) to Major League Baseball in 1994, he provided the catalyst for change in the relationship between individual players and teams in Japan's number one sport. Nomo's ‘defection’ changed player/team attitudes as emphasis shifted from one of mutual trust to one based heavily on contracts. The Japanese version of sportsmanship until that point had been one that relied on the loyalty of players to a paternal and protective owner. The mutual trust established through a combination of loyalty and obligation was not unique to baseball, rather it should be seen as a reflection of many aspects of Japanese culture. By the turn of the century, baseball in Japan has changed greatly and this is especially so for not only labour relations in NPB but also High School Baseball. In 2007, it was revealed that 7921 high school players had been given illegal financial assistance causing a scandal that had repercussions throughout Japanese society. This paper investigates the implications of this change, particularly on NPB. The analysis extends to consider the broader effects this event had on baseball, especially within the Japanese education system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper offers a comparative analysis of factions in Japan's long-time governing party, the LDP, and the country's biggest opposition party, the DPJ, by probing into their respective causes, functions and consequences. Factionalism in the LDP and the DPJ can be traced back to the fact that both parties came into existence as the result of a merger of formerly independent parties. In the case of the DPJ, groups based on former party affiliations still play an important role in the 'factional landscape' of the party. While the desire to remain in power has acted in the case of the LDP as an important centripetal force countervailing the immanent centrifugal forces of factionalism, it is suggested that in the case of the DPJ the current electoral system for the Lower House has so far helped to contain such centrifugal tendencies. A central consequence of inter-factional conflicts in the DPJ, however, is the visible lack of a clear profile of the party. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory study was conducted to understand and compare attitudes among social work students in the United States and Japan toward people with disabilities. The Modified Issues in Disabilities Scale (MIDS), designed to measure attitudes toward people with physical disabilities, was implemented on convenient samples of 92 U.S. and 73 Japanese social work students. The findings suggest that social work students in both countries hold moderately positive attitudes. Other similarities as well as differences among the sampled students from the two countries, and their implications to social work education, will be discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Japan currently displays many signs of a second demographic transition, which is marked by subreplacement fertility, a focus on self-fulfillment, and changes in family, residence, and marriage patterns. Concurrently, increased pet-keeping and related spending have occurred. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether the emergence of pet parenting can be documented in Japan. Previously documented in the United States and India, pet parenting is defined as the human investment of money, emotion, and time in companion animals that is like parental investment in children. We collected 615 online survey responses from pet owners (female = 48.1%, male = 51.9%; parents = 39.0%, nonparents = 35.8%, future parents = 25.2%). In addition to demographic questions about respondents and their companion animal, each completed the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale (LAPS) and a series of questions regarding Affective Responsiveness, Training and Play, and General Care (collectively, CARES). Our results found clear, significant sex differences on all scales, including the total LAPS score, with women reporting more agreement on the attitudes or frequency of behaviors throughout. Nonparents and future parents reported significantly higher total LAPS scores, with the biggest difference compared with parents on the People Substituting scale. Nonparents were also found to report more frequent General Care and Affective Responsiveness on the CARES scales. We conclude that intuitive but novel differences in human-to-pet attachment and caregiving behavior demonstrate that pet-keeping practices can follow sex roles seen in parenting. Additionally, nonparents are more likely to invest in the direct care of companion animals in ways that mirror in adult-to-child parenting practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The resumption of Japan's NPPs has become a controversial issue since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011. Although local agreement is a significant process of the resumption, the attitude of the general public toward the local agreement process has received little attention. This study uses a postal questionnaire survey with stratified random sampling to investigate the case of the Hamaoka NPP. Results show that the conventional way of seeking local agreement is not generally supported by the public. This may be explained by apparent widespread support for the participation of broader geographical areas, including those affected by reputational damage and urban areas consuming electricity, and by a general distrust of local governments/assemblies and the 'experts'. It was also found that respondent attitudes regarding local agreement differ depending on the respondent's position on the restart as well as the area in which the respondent resides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly changed the lives of a majority of the world's population. People have been encouraged to implement social distancing behaviors enforced by governments, and have experienced loss of employment or changes to their usual working environment. In the mental health sector, psychologists and psychiatrists have been forced to alter the standard care of patients without compromising safety. This article documents the experiences of the authors – mental health professionals in four countries, Canada, Russia, Australia and Japan – at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, and offers recommendations on how clinical, training, and research practices may need to be adjusted to deal with lockdown situations. Clinicians adapted their usual best practices by learning new skills and updating their knowledge base. Mental health clinicians noticed that the pandemic led to symptomatic changes in some of their patients. Most clinicians moved towards providing telemental health services, such as conducting assessments and treatments remotely. Those who continued seeing patients in person employed personal protective equipment with various impacts on the clinician–patient relationship. The dilemmas of mass quarantines need to be carefully examined, as their effects on numerous health and psychosocial variables appear to be far-reaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate speech-language pathologists' current perceptions, previous training experiences, resources, barriers, and training needs in terms of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in two Asian countries. Method: Their knowledge and attitudes about EBP were explored using an online questionnaire. A descriptive analysis was conducted with consideration of the effect of demographic variables on knowledge and attitudes about EBP. Result: Malaysian speech-language pathologists (n = 98) displayed more positive attitudes toward EBPs, with a significantly higher (t (143) = 5.91, p <.01) total mean score (Mean = 120.7, SD = 11) compared to the Japanese speech-language pathologists (n = 47, Mean = 107.8, SD = 13.5). Malaysian practitioners who were female, worked full-time, and worked in government settings reported higher motivation to develop EBP skills. Japanese practitioners who worked in private sectors reported higher EBPs training needs than those in government settings. In both countries, speech-language pathologists with higher education levels tended to express fewer perceived barriers towards EBP. Conclusion: Findings could help local governance and speech-language pathologist associations to understand the current practices and professional development needs of speech-language pathologists, leading to more effective training programs and educating employers and managers who can reinforce EBP among practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One possible predictive factor that affects both pro-environmental behavior and health behavior is health consciousness (a psychological state where an individual is aware of and involved in his/her health condition). We examined the relationship between health consciousness and two pro-environmental behaviors (recycling and green purchasing) within health professionals in a Japanese large hospital. Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed a significant association between health consciousness and recycling behavior, while there was no association between health consciousness and green purchasing behavior. We assume that health consciousness can certainly be a factor promoting pro-environmental behavior, but that it may have been insufficient to cause green purchasing, because of the organizational norm of recycling in the Japanese context. Given that there is previous evidence about the relationship between health consciousness and health behavior, health consciousness might be a predictive factor that encourages both health behavior and pro-environmental behavior simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Few scales currently exist to assess the quality of interprofessional teamwork through team members’ perceptions of working together in mental health settings. Aims: The purpose of this study was to revise and validate an interprofessional scale to assess the quality of teamwork in inpatient psychiatric units and to use it multi-nationally. Methods: A literature review was undertaken to identify evaluative teamwork tools and develop an additional 12 items to ensure a broad global focus. Focus group discussions considered adaptation to different care systems using subjective judgements from 11 participants in a pre-test of items. Data quality, construct validity, reproducibility, and internal consistency were investigated in the survey using an international comparative design. Results: Exploratory factor analysis yielded five factors with 21 items: ‘patient/community centred care’, ‘collaborative communication’, ‘interprofessional conflict’, ‘role clarification’, and ‘environment’. High overall internal consistency, reproducibility, adequate face validity, and reasonable construct validity were shown in the USA and Japan. Conclusions: The revised Collaborative Practice Assessment Tool (CPAT) is a valid measure to assess the quality of interprofessional teamwork in psychiatry and identifies the best strategies to improve team performance. Furthermore, the revised scale will generate more rigorous evidence for collaborative practice in psychiatry internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study utilizes theEmotional Solidarity Scale(ESS) to examine the relationship between ethnic majority (Japanese) and minority (Brazilian) residents living in Oizumi, Japan. Results revealed significant differences in nine of the 10 ESS items. Resulting ESS factors from confirmatory factor analysis were then found to predict six of the eight models among Japanese residents (versus only two among Brazilian residents) which explained perceptions of tourism focused on Brazilian culture. Results suggest emotional solidarity among disparate ethnic groups living in the community to be a key construct to consider when investigating residents’ support for ethnic enclave tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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Disclosing illness-related problems is the first step in help-seeking. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore Japanese breast cancer (BC) survivors’ decision-making about disclosure of lymphoedema symptoms to people in their social networks. A total of ten women participated in group discussions in Japan. A dual analytic approach, thematic analysis and conceptual analysis, was applied to the transcripts. Two themes (perceived responsibility of social roles within the family and unsupportive reactions to BC from others) affected participants’ decision-making. Support programs for Japanese BC survivors who feel unable to disclose lymphoedema symptoms to family members are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Human–wildlife conflicts are common in agricultural communities and mountainous villages in Japan. Tochigi prefecture has one of the highest amounts of agricultural damage caused by wildlife in the country. To reduce conflicts, the Nature Preservation Division of Tochigi Prefecture launched a wildlife damage prevention program. We evaluated the effects of this program on residents’ attitudes and behavioral intentions by comparing a model district receiving the treatment program to a nearby control district. We conducted a survey of all households registered either in the residential organization or telephone book in each district (n = 423), with a 46% response rate. The model district did not differ from the control except for greater perceived behavioral control regarding wildlife damage among residents in the model district (F = 3.83, df = 1,p = 0.05). An unanticipated outcome was the development of a community-based wildlife group in the model district. In both model and control districts, subjective norm (perceived social pressure to engage or not to engage in a behavior) was the strongest predictor of behavioral intentions, unlike results of studies conducted in the US. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An online survey of 624 respondents was divided evenly between men and women, with exactly 104 subjects in each of the six generational groupings. The respondents' occupational and other demographic characteristics do not deviate significantly from Japanese averages comprising a good cross-representational Japanese sample. A pre-Olympic survey was conducted on August 6–7, followed by a second survey carried out after the Olympics on September 1–2, 2008. Audience images of China and the Chinese improved as a result of exposure to media content during the Olympics period, although the improvements varied in degree somewhat depending on the issue at hand. As for reported audience attitudes towards China and the Chinese, the pre- to post-Olympic shifts were far less significant than observations of stable (i.e. apparently not significantly influenced by Olympics media coverage) attitudes/impressions in line with the audience members' individual ideological orientation. Among the ideological-type groups, those in the ‘National Regime’-oriented group had more salient and robust attitudes, in general, towards many items surveyed in the research. In terms of the reported preferred media use, the audience was categorised into three groups: newspaper readers/radio listeners, television watchers/Internet users and cellular phone users. Each group displayed similar tendencies regarding the relationship of individual ideological orientation and these individuals' respective evaluations of China/Chinese. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of the study was to analyze the worries of independent older people regarding health and daily life. We collected data from 259 people who responded to the free descriptive questionnaire and analyzed it qualitatively and inductively. Thirteen categories derived from the results were classified into 6 types of worries: health worries, life function worries, daily life worries, long-term care worries, family relationship worries, and future life worries. Promoting the prevention of “long-term care status,” the need for physical nursing care, in a super aging society, where the population of 65 years or older is more than 21% of all of the population, requires consideration of not only measures to deal with physical symptoms, but also measures to deal with psychological aspects, and social aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese and Chinese governmental initiatives in Africa since the 1990s have cast a spotlight on the nature of their respective interests and objectives on the continent. In particular, the speed with which China has advanced in Africa has led to observations in the English-language academic literature and media that China and Japan are engaged in a rivalry for resources, power and influence in Africa, and that Japan has been working hard to ‘catch up’ with China. This article questions this ‘strategic rivalry’ view by examining Japanese and Chinese academic studies of each other's activities in Africa and outlining the main themes of Japan's China-in-Africa discourse, and China's Japan-in-Africa discourse. It suggests that there appears to be less interest and anxiety in Japan about China's activities in Africa than some assessments infer, and that, by contrast, China's Japan-in-Africa discourse shows a greater interest in, and in some cases suspicions of, Japan's objectives in Africa. The article also discusses the seemingly distant prospects for cooperation between China and Japan in Africa, in light of these respective discourses, while considering the tentative steps towards coordination in the form of such initiatives as the ‘Trilateral Consultation’ between China, Japan and South Korea and the development of new academic networks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The 2005 anti-Japan protests in China inaugurated a new era of Chinese popular nationalism with their pervasive visuality and virtuality. The outpouring of emotions in cityscapes and cyberspaces – anger, outrage, zealousness and even pleasure – requires us to take emotion, passion, hope or sheer delight seriously and to recognize the power of some of the more alarming forms of popular nationalist sentimentality. This chapter analyses one instance of Sino-Japanese relations: the epithet of ‘riben guizi’ or Japanese devils in Chinese popular culture in four historical moments: late-Sinocentric imperium, high imperialism, socialist nationalism and post-socialist globalization. I want to suggest that while this ‘hate word’ performs an affective politics of recognition stemming from an ineluctable trauma of imperialist violence, it ultimately fails in establishing a politics of reconciliation. I argue that anti-Japanism in China is less about Japan than China's own self-image mediated through its asymmetrical power relations with Japan throughout its modern history. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aim of this study is to investigate how the work values and attitudes of Japanese managers changed between 1995 and 2009. In the last 15 years, the economic environment has drastically changed in Japan and resulted in profound changes in companies' structures and HR practices. In response to such changes, Japanese managers' work values and attitudes toward employing organizations have also changed. Traditional Japanese management systems and practices, which once sustained the competitiveness of Japanese firms are no longer suitable. A new management model must be implemented to fit the changing competitive environment and managers' new work values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women-only train carriages have been introduced in Japan as a response to widespread groping (chikan) by men. In August 2007, 155 young women completed a survey at a variety of locations in central Tokyo, mainly at the popular meeting places, Shinjuku and Shibuya. The survey involved face-to-face interviews conducted mainly by young female interviewers. The numbers involved are insufficient for rigorous statistical analysis and in this pilot study we were principally interested in further refining ideas and hypotheses for further investigation by considering results in the context of significant contemporary social trends. This article starts by considering a particular cultural context in which the issue of groping resulted in the introduction of women-only train carriages and this official antigroping measure which has been widely accepted. The article then examines women's responses to the availability of women-only train carriages, using surveys carried out in Tokyo. It concludes by considering the specific and anomalous targeting of primarily middle aged ‘salarymen’, a focus understood in the context of the collapse of the ideological power of the patriarchal corporate figure associated with the end of the Japanese economic miracle. Women's use and support for women-only train carriages is not solely dominated by anxiety over the risk of chikan. Our survey indicated that it was a symbolic rejection of a particular type of masculinity, rather than the physical separation from a risk of being groped. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A new procedure, saiban-in seido, was introduced in the Japanese criminal court in 2009.1 A mixed tribunal of three professional judges and six lay people selected from a list of voters deliberate the verdict in serious criminal cases such as murder, rape, and arson. This study researched lay people's attitudes toward the new system, their psychological knowledge (e.g. the reliability of eyewitness testimony) and legal knowledge (e.g. 'presumed innocent'), and the relationship between attitude and knowledge. Study 1 examined the responses of 294 citizens to a questionnaire; 90 responses were examined in Study 2 (both samples consisted of two age groups, i.e. (1) 20s and (2) 40s and 50s, and two education levels, i.e. (1) college or below and (2) university or more. In both studies, respondents showed concerns about their lack of ability and knowledge to become a lay judge. Although legal knowledge was related to attitude - i.e. the more legal knowledge, the less negativity - no relationship was found between psychological knowledge and attitude. Relevant support for citizens to become lay judges was discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lay judge system, a quasi-jury system, was introduced in Japan in May 2009. This article attempts to analyze Japanese people's attitude toward this system by examining whether they show a willingness to serve as a lay judge. The major findings from regression analysis are: (1) In general, people with a spouse are inclined to adopt a negative attitude about serving as a lay judge. This tendency is, however, not observed in large cities. (2) Long-time residents and homeowners are more likely to have a negative attitude about serving as a lay judge. These results show that a tight-knit interpersonal social network discourages people from serving as lay judges. Because of the lifetime secrecy obligation and the penalty provisions for those who break this obligation, people with closer interpersonal ties are under greater pressure and strains, which leads to greater psychological cost. The obligation and its penalty should be eased to improve attitudes about serving as a lay judge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines whether support for multiculturalism is compatible with an ethno-national identity in Japan. Multiculturalism discourses have centred on the issue of how to treat cultural diversity within a society. In Japan, the concept of multiculturalism has become popular over the past decade. However, some researchers think that the Japanese maintain their privileged position by essentialising cultural differences in the name of multiculturalism. My study therefore investigates the relationship between ethno-national identity, the endorsement of multiculturalism and supportive attitudes toward the equal rights of ethnic minorities by employing Japanese data from an international public-opinion survey. It was found that ethno-national identity has positive effects on the endorsement of multiculturalism, while having negative effects on the endorsement of equal rights between ethnic majorities and ethnic minorities. This means that the Japanese do not regard multiculturalism as antithetical to the maintenance of ethnic homogeneity within a 'nation'; rather, the endorsement of multiculturalism stems from belief in the uniqueness of 'Japaneseness'. The theoretical and political implications of this study's results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article has emerged from a large-scale, nationwide attitudinal study (n=2397) into the motivation of learners of English in Japan, which initially found that enjoyment of the learning experience seemed to be the major factor in the motivation of English learners. However, subsequent examination of the data revealed several incongruities in this initial analysis, which prompted further investigation of these issues using qualitative data. The qualitative investigation suggests that for many Japanese learners 'liking English' is essentially nothing more than an intentionally vague, socially conditioned response but in other cases it represents a genuine commitment to learning. The article concludes that this sense of commitment derives not so much from the values associated with English and an English-speaking community or a desire to interact with that community, but rather from factors in the learner's immediate social environment or personal experience that mediate these surface attractions of the language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to investigate what type of lodgings is popular on Internet business websites. For this purpose, a specific business website, one of the biggest websites for lodging reservations in Japan, will be analysed. In concrete terms, the number of reservations that 20 lodgings in Shinjuku had received in October 2003 was totalled, and these scores reflect the measure of popularity. Meanwhile, the lodging information on the website will be analysed, and it will be used as a measurement of lodging types. Then the relationship between them will be analysed with a correspondence analysis. The results show: (a) the most important criterion is the convenience of services the lodgings provide; and (b) the price "5000jpy" is critical to the split between popularity and unpopularity. In short, the most popular lodgings on the website were convenient and reasonable lodgings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine attitudes towards African-American vernacular English (AAVE) in a setting outside of the USA. Because foreign attitudes toward AAVE can serve as an indirect assessment of a society's racial prejudice, we decided to explore these attitudes in Japan: a country with an intriguing mix of ties that are both close (i.e. politically and economically) and distant (i.e. culturally) vis - à - vis the USA. Considering the ostensible similarities in racial beliefs widely held in both countries, we hypothesised that evaluations of AAVE in Japan would be comparable to those in the USA. We found that the evaluations expressed by a sample of Japanese college students were virtually indistinguishable from the overall pattern of AAVE evaluations made by US Americans and recommend additional research in order to better understand the nature of contemporary Japanese attitudes towards different varieties of English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The SCOFF was developed as a simple, five-question screening tool for eating disorders to be used in primary care. The aim of this study was to examine the appropriateness of each question in comparison with the Eating Attitudes Test-26. Methods: The SCOFF and the EAT-26 were administered to 80 patients with eating disorders who had received treatment from May through October 2003 in Japan. Results: The scores of the SCOFF and those of the EAT-26 were positively correlated ( P [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduces articles focused on varied aspects of China's relationship with the outside world. Chinese attitudes toward the United States, Russia, and Japan; American and European motion pictures; Foreign enterprises; Foreign brands; Public opinion and attitudinal survey data; College students' views.

This article presents practical expression to the primacy-recency problem in persuasion. The conflicting results obtained by the investigators may be viewed in retrospect as presaging a series of later studies that have generated similarly contradictory and inconclusive findings. Scientists presented subjects with arguments both proposing and attacking higher protective tariffs for the United States. Half of subjects heard the affirmative argument first, and the remaining half heard the negative argument first. Opinion questionnaires were administered initially to all of the subjects and again after each of the two opposing communications. In the present experiment, Japanese university students were exposed to conflicting communications on the subject of the Cold War in an attempt to determine whether the first or the second of the arguments would be more effective in influencing attitudes. The possibility existed that the lively concern of Japanese students with international issues might generate results less equivocal than those that have been reported with American subjects.