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The authors explain the purpose and context for the 2009 International Symposium on Economic Education that was the source for articles on four nations with relatively developed systems for economic education: Australia, England, Japan, and Korea. The authors highlight several key comparisons from the four articles that appear in this Journal of Economic Education issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the post-war period Australian Prime Ministers have played a proactive role in formulating foreign policy towards Japan. This paper explores the role of executive leadership towards Japan and its impact on the bilateral relationship. The Howard period and current Rudd-led initiatives on whaling, nuclear disarmament, climate change and regional architecture are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 1990s, pushed by domestic economic recession and uncertainty of their life paths, young Japanese have been flying to Canada and Australia not only for holiday experiences, English learning, and temporary work, but also in the quest to find oneself. Searching for “international” work they really want to do, they often prolong their sojourning. Host countries often keep them in temporary resident status, postponing their career development. Suspended in foreigner status, the migrants themselves extend their “subjective youth” – what they see as an ongoing preparatory period in their lives. Based on fieldwork in Vancouver and Sydney, this paper elucidates how the emerging population of self-searching migrants blurs the conventional boundaries between youth and adulthood, and work and holiday, as well as sojourning and immigrating, thus extending “youth experience” indefinitely. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Working Holiday is a relatively new but rapidly growing form of transnational mobility. In Australia, Working Holiday Makers (WHMs) form the largest group of Japanese temporary migrants, and their numbers have been increasing. In this paper, I will discuss the experience of returned WHMs in the light of Japanese labour practice. For my interlocutors, the motivations for taking a Working Holiday were frequently related to their dissatisfaction with their status and future prospects as workers. In order to understand this popular but under-researched form of transnational migration, it is therefore important to consider their self-perceptions about their worker status when they re-entered the Japanese workforce, and how they think their life course has changed due to the Working Holiday experience. The employment experience of WHMs upon their return to Japan illuminates their position in the home society in which their migratory decision-making was situated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the discourses of ‘old-comer’ Korean communities (zainichi) in Japan in relation to the recent advent of notions of coexistence (kyosei) and multiculturalism (tabunka) . I adopt an analytical framework that has been used to critically examine Australian multiculturalism, recognising that although the Australian context is different, this analytical framework is useful for the examination in hand. I argue that although the discursive recognition of Japan as multicultural is an important step away from ubiquitous notions of monoculturality, this relatively new direction needs to be balanced with critical interrogation of how it is being represented. The results of this research clarify the positions adopted by the Korean diaspora in Japan and offer a possible alternative perspective on the way forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an overview of the philosophy, structure and key objectives of R&D activity in the Japanese construction industry. It argues that this unique model of a close partnership between industry, government and society is based on shared values, and delivers significant benefits not only for firms but for society at large. Additionally, the Japanese system acts as an efficient market entry barrier that protects the Japanese domestic market from foreign competition while concurrently providing the basis of Japan's competitive advantage in international markets. To illustrate how significantly different the Japanese model is from those of other advanced economies, an empirical comparison of the belief structures concerning responsibility for R&D of key players in the construction industries in Japan and Australia is presented. The results illustrate the point that, unlike Australia, Japanese contractors play a much more extensive role in society than do their Australian counterparts. This role incongruence may be the true barrier to penetration of the Japanese construction market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stability in the cyber domain is rapidly deteriorating on several fronts marked by increasing sophistication of cyberattacks, declining consensus on global internet governance and intensifying great power competition. These challenges were critical turning points among nation-states to recalibrate prevailing cyber diplomatic engagements. This article investigates the increasing prominence of deterrence in the practice of cyber diplomacy in the Asia Pacific. Using Japan and Australia as case studies, it argues that both states continue to adhere to the conceptual tenets of cyber diplomacy, however, in practice, there is a growing integration of deterrence—cyber capabilities and public attribution/naming and shaming—in the equation at varying degrees and intensities. The article endeavours to make two important contributions: First, revitalize the existing cyber diplomacy framework by challenging the extant literature's view of deterrence's limited application—underpinned by cold war analogies—and the implausibility of conducting attribution of cyberattacks. Secondly, evaluate Japan and Australia's cyber diplomacy based on empirical evidence. Key findings suggest that deterrence reinforces/complements the fundamental elements present in the cyber diplomacy playbook. While slight variation exists, there is a strong acquiescence between Japan and Australia to expand existing cyber cooperation to tackle critical and emerging technologies, supply chain, and data governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article discusses Japan-Australia security cooperation in the context of changing regional dynamics in the Asia-Pacific. The combined influences of the rise of China, the US position in the world after two years under an Obama administration, and the changing structure of regional cooperation are setting new challenges and a historically distinct context for security relations between Japan and Australia. After examining each of the above regional changes, this article discusses the effects of political transitions over the last several months in both Japan and Australia. It then highlights three natural areas for Japan and Australia to pursue increased cooperation: denuclearisation, addressing China's policy on territorial integrity, and the rise of China's military, in particular in terms of naval power. The article concludes by providing the author's perspective on Japan-Australia security cooperation and suggests the future direction of relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of transnational links between sub-national governments is a lacuna in the field of international relations yet the issue on inter-sub-national government cooperation has recently gained greater importance at the international level. Since the 1992 Earth Summit recognition of sub-national authorities as key players in global sustainable development strategies, the importance of decentralised cooperation between sub-national governments has been strengthened by a series of international standardisation and domestic incorporation of this principle. Yet our research raises serious questions about the degree to which Australia-Japan twinning of sub-national governments has made progress towards taking responsibility in facing global challenges. Our case study of Western Australia-Hyogo sister-state relationships shows that their 25 year-old cooperation has been suffering from a lack of awareness of the emerging role of sub-national governments. Not surprisingly, national government policy and position has greatly influenced the nature and patterns of their relationships. Australia and Japan twinning, as leading inter-sub-national partnerships in the region, can do more to promote the value of the local dimension in international development cooperation. In light of these challenges, the future of their twinning must lie in a structured long-term commitment for global strategies as well as mutual benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the early post-war era, a Japanese revival was a source of profound concern to members of the Commonwealth, especially Australia and New Zealand. Britain, having abdicated the leading role in the Western Pacific to the United States, attempted to retain some influence in the region, but economic frailties and lack of Commonwealth unity undermined these efforts. Under American guidance, diplomatic, commercial and (to a lesser extent) security ties with Japan were later promoted, but elements of cooperation and competition persisted in Commonwealth relations with their former enemy. Ultimately, Britain, Australia and New Zealand placed their respective regional identities ahead of their Commonwealth loyalties. Japan took advantage of this situation to promote its own national interests. Hence, the wider aperture of the 'Commonwealth lens' throws into sharp relief the contours of a number of members' bilateral relationships with Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To support research-based planning this article aims to identify the similarities and differences between the Japanese tourist boom of the late-1980s and the current Chinese tourist boom, in the context of Australia. By investigating the past issues this analysis will assist the Australian tourism industry in providing an informed response to current issues and the predicted levels of Chinese visitation. This will provide the basis for positive host-visitor relations and assist sustainable inbound tourism development within Australia. [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]

The proliferation of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) in the Asia Pacific region is widely seen as a pragmatic response by governments to the bogging down of the regional and multilateral trade institutions. Analysis of these PTAs has focused primarily on their trade and economic dimensions. There has been less discussion and analysis of the geo-political and strategic dimensions of PTAs in the region. This article explores these issues with reference to the negotiation of a bilateral trade agreement between Australia and Japan. It argues that the drivers for this negotiation are primarily geo-political and strategic rather than economic and commercial, and it explores the potential implications of this. It concludes that the subordination of trade and economic concerns to broader foreign policy objectives in the pursuit of PTAs carries with it considerable risks, not just for Australia and Japan but also for the Asia Pacific region more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]