Search

This paper will examine how Japanese education policy was articulated discursively from 1996 to 2010 in the semi-annual speeches of prime ministers to the Diet. It will identify three distinct discourses within these policy statements: a progressive discourse emphasizing the rights of individuals; a neo-liberal discourse of social independence and multi-tracked schooling; and a moral conservative discourse of patriotism and social conformism. In the 1990s, progressive and neo-liberal discourses held sway. Discursively, they were centred on key phrases such as "kosei jushi" ("respect for individuality") and "sozosei" (creativity), which were employed in a strategically ambiguous way to satisfy both progressive and neo-liberal demands. In the 2000s, however, right-wing politicians began to push a moral conservative agenda, which emphasized not the rights of individuals but their subservience to the wider needs of society and state. With neo-liberalism backed by powerful business interests, policymakers had to find a way to reconcile these two conflicting viewpoints discursively. They did this by binding the concept of individuality to traditional notions of Japanese identity and national citizenship, creating a hybrid discourse that attempted to blur the fundamental difference in ideologies. (Contains 1 table.)

'Internationalisation' in Japanese higher education (HE) is largely imagined in terms of English language acquisition. Native speakers of English are therefore desirable HE employees. However, 'native-speakerism' also reflects hierarchical notions of English language forms. In Japan, US and Anglo forms of English are privileged over others, which has uneven implications for English speakers employed in Japanese HE. In this paper, we discuss the findings of a qualitative doctoral study, conducted in 2015 and 2016, which involved interviews with 25 native English speakers working for Japanese universities. The study explored the interviewees' experiences working in Japanese HE. Interviewees revealed that as so-called native speakers of English, they experienced a range of advantages in Japanese universities, but that their positioning also seemed to preclude institutional attention to their wider professional expertise. Participants' narratives demonstrated how they sought to differentiate themselves from other native English speakers who were less qualified. We conclude the paper by considering the need for policies and practices in Japanese HE that acknowledge the diversity of 'English speakers', for example, by recruiting HE staff according to clearly defined skillsets (not just native speaker status) and developing internationalisation policies that move beyond English linguistic imperialism and native-speakerism.

The relationship between concepts of 'native-speakerism', English language education and their effects on local stakeholders are continually evolving. As such, this paper critically analysed native-speakerist ideologies in the Japanese EFL teaching context with the aim of illustrating the complicated nature of native-speakerism as it currently exists. The findings of the review show that native-speakerism and associated ideologies can be seen in various aspects of ELT and ELL. Private English language teaching sectors, as well as higher educational institutions appear to employ elements of native-speakerism, such as the native-speaker fallacy, to the detriment of both native speakers and non-native speakers alike.

This paper investigates the differentiated educational ideologies projected during the Japanese colonial era by comparing the Japanese language textbooks used by Korean and Japanese primary students at that time. By comparing the texts and images in "Kokugotokuhon" (Japanese language textbooks for Korean students) and "Shougakutokuhon" (Japanese language textbooks for Japanese students) with critical discourse analysis (CDA) in analysis of texts and visual image analysis (VIA) for images, this paper verifies the differentiated educational ideologies that Japanese colonial authorities presented to Korean students. There were three findings that were featured in the Japanese language textbooks for Korean students that were absent from the textbooks for Japanese students. Firstly, depictions of physical labour and helping parents after school and late at night were present only in the textbooks for Koreans. Secondly, Japanese nationalism with an Emperor-centred ideology was emphasised in the Japanese language textbooks used by Koreans. Thirdly, the textbooks encouraged Korean students to practise war-like games and drills. The results from this study suggest that differentiated education was provided to Korean students during the Japanese colonial era via the contents of the Japanese language textbooks, which projected the colonial ideologies of the Japanese government. Korean students were being educated to become Japanese colonial subjects.

The concept of educationalization refers to the government's tendency to impose heavy responsibilities to solve social problems on the school system. In this paper, after briefly reviewing the concept of educationalization, I will show that it is a ubiquitous phenomenon in contemporary Japan through three cases. This will prove that school reforms intended to fix social problems are poorly resourced and powerless to change schools in general. This stagnation is due to (1) immature professionalism in educators, (2) loss of motivation for "conspicuous consumption", and (3) the absence of ideals, beliefs, and values to be expressed in school reform. Elsewhere, another series of school reforms are much favored, well-funded and powerful in Japan. After posing anti-ijime policies as the best example, I describe and analyze the background of this type by introducing the concept of "officialization of school problems". Strongly supported by school consumers, it has successfully received a hegemonic position. However, under the hegemony the relation between school and environment is over-simplified by the logic of neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism. After comparing both types, we find a modest utility of educationalization: it could interrupt the perpetuation of hegemonic ideologies and make it possible to see the outer world in its complicated reality.

This paper explores how Japan employed language education to justify Japanese imperial surveillance practices by examining the depiction of policemen and military police officers in Japanese language textbooks used by Korean primary students during the colonial period under Japanese rule. The analysis of the Japanese language textbooks used during this period uncovered the colonial educational goals and ideologies presented to Korean students, the ideal colonial citizens desired by the ruling system, and colonial aims furthered. This study investigates the ideologies presented in the textbooks using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Visual Image Analysis (VIA) by analyzing eight textbooks that were used in Japan and Korea. Both images and texts relating to Japanese government officials in the textbooks for Koreans from the colonial era are analyzed. The study reveals that the textbooks positioned Korean students to accept and integrate Japanese ideologies and attempted to indoctrinate Koreans into believing that the Japanese government officials were kind and cooperative, while also maximizing their authority over the colonized in their portrayal. The portrayal of government officials in the textbooks further reinforced this by showing the colonized having to display good behavior to authority figures, while not conveying any negative images of the government officials.

This paper spotlights the twelve slogans of the Olympic Games in order to critically analyze the ideologies underlying the discourse. By taking the principles of critical discourse analysis (CDA) and Halliday's (1994) systemic-functional grammar (SFG) as analytical tools, the paper endeavours to reveal the ideology that predominates in the ruling class and that may impinge on the ways in which the slogans are constructed and elucidated. Furthermore, the images of the host countries manifested in the slogans and their attitude towards and enthusiasm for the Olympic Games are construed. Last but not least, with the rapid development of political and economic globalization, the enhanced call for friendliness and harmony is clearly shown in the linguistic structures of these slogans by analyzing them diachronically.

The term "globalization" does more than represent a set of material (and ideological) processes that have impacts on education and schooling. Additionally, "globalization" operates as a conceptual lens or set of interventions, which is significantly impacting academic discourses in Education and in other disciplines. Not only has "Globalization and Education" (G&E) emerged as a new, trans-disciplinary field of Educational Studies, insights from this field and globalization studies more directly have impacted many other fields of Education. This paper summarizes major impacts of globalization on education and maps out a "first-wave" G&E discourse by analyzing a small set of key texts published around the turn of the century. The paper distills key uses of globalization from this "first-wave" G&E and more recent correctives to clarify the potential applications for--and implications of the "lens" of--globalization for educational scholarship. (Contains 9 footnotes.)

One important task in internationalizing Japanese education is educating Japanese citizens to become "global citizens." This paper is a philosophical analysis of how Global Education deals with the problem of cultural-moral difference (moral conflict that arises between different cultures). The usual approaches taken in Global Education and Kokusai Rikai Kyôiku are a mix of cultural relativism and moral anti-relativism. Teachers often take one of the following strategies to dismiss cultural-moral difference: utilitarianism, absolutized human rights, rational justification, or "two-layer" approaches (suggested by Will Kymlicka). But these fail to balance the need for both openness to the other and moral engagement. As an alternative, I discuss Watsuji Tetsurô's search for moral unity in the empty dynamic of individualization and harmonization that is then expressed as culture. This unity is sought through a "hermeneutics of moral action," which considers how people are emplaced in multiple relational contexts in space and time. I sketch how this can be applied through a class on "Ethics across Cultural Difference." This alternative (Buddhist-Confucian) approach thus suggests a second sense of internationalizing Japanese education--using Japanese traditional theories to provide solutions for a global problem.

Purpose: This study explores the politics of ideology in the process of sensegiving and sensemaking at a Japanese retailer in Hong Kong. Studies on power and politics are scarce despite key role of power and politics in understanding the factors behind the conflict between the management's policy legitimization (sensegiving) and employees' policy interpretation (sensemaking). By using the three dimensions proposed in the critical sensemaking approach (discourse, rules and contexts), this paper explores the complex mechanism of power and politics in sensemaking and sensegiving. Design/methodology/approach: Using 15 months of participant observation as a salesperson, this paper discusses how the Japan-centric customer service philosophy (dominant discourse), customer service policies and practices (organizational rules) and asymmetric power structure between the Japanese global headquarters and Hong Kong subsidiaries (formative contexts) are presented and perpetuated through the sensegiving–sensemaking process. Findings: Dominant discourse was observed in the management's sensegiving, which placed the Japanese style of customer service over others. This ethnocentric dominant discourse informed the creation of customer service policies, although the realization of the discourse was determined by the employees' conflicting interpretations of the organizational rules. As a formative context, an asymmetric power structure was present that positioned the Hong Kong subsidiary as subservient to the global headquarters in Japan. This shows that the political process of sensegiving and sensemaking deeply implicates the dominant discourse, organizational rules and power structure as central forces that determine the level of perpetuating ideology. Originality/value: This research illustrates the wider implications of power and politics in sensegiving–sensemaking studies and provides a complex picture of ethnocentric management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tobin's work has been groundbreaking. Famously, he and his team put together a sophisticated comparative study of three ways of doing pre-school--in Japan, China, and the United States (1989). As such, this study has precedents in anthropology. What is unique in Tobin's work is that he got people from one place to comment on what they saw people from "other" places do, including what these Others said about Them. This is not only a study about cultural difference but, more significantly, a study about what might be called "meta-culture" or "meta-ideology," culture "about" culture, ideology "about" ideology. In this article, the author analyzes Tobin's study and shares his personal views on the results of Tobin's study.

We present the argument that the meaning of child care and the policies that address it are explicitly linked with national ideologies, work force participation, economic success, and child outcomes. The relationship between family and child care policies is cyclical in nature, with a nation's ideology and vision of family often driving child care policies, while child care policies in turn drive and support a nation's ideology. We examine the interrelatedness of child care policy and national ideologies of family in selected industrialized countries. Specifically, this paper first defines child care policy and discusses the national ideological frameworks that provide the impetus for child care policy formation and implementation. Second, the paper explores current child care policies and their connection to the historical and political context of several countries within, including France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Belgium, the Nordic countries, and the United States. Lastly, recommendations are offered for the future of child care policy development with specific recommendations for child care policy development in the United States.

A major role of education is to socialise individuals into being responsible and productive citizens. It is aimed at preparing people for the workforce and for participating in the public life of the nation. Educational systems are complex bureaucracies based on particular educational and social theories and philosophies. This paper is concerned with one particular system, the Japanese education system, which emerged from many conflicting ideologies. Polar extremes of liberal and ultra-nationalism orientations were disseminated in its historical course and it remains in the early twenty-first century a system that retains many tensions. This paper seeks to elucidate these tensions while demonstrating that peace outcomes can still be achieved. It begins with three collected narratives of peace work and peace education work within a formally militaristic institution, Ritsumeikan University. Together with Kogakukan University in Mei and Kokushikan University in Tokyo Ritsumeikan was threatened with closure by General Douglas MacArthur for activities during the Second World War. Ritsumeikan has striven to develop a peace role post-war. By employing these experiential narratives together with a brief study of Ritsumeikan itself the paper demonstrates positive peace outcomes within an oft-perceived "rigid" education system: outcomes for promoting peaceful action found both at the institutional level and at the personal level. (Contains 41 notes.)

Drawing on various sources of official discourse and public commentary pertaining to the recent implementation of two large-scale strategies aimed at internationalising student and academic staff populations within Japanese higher education institutions, this paper will present a number of broad multifaceted perspectives addressing those issues which may hinder the success of the two strategies. Announced in 2008 and 2009 respectively, the "300,000 international students plan" and the "Global 30" Project aim to enable 30 select universities to attract 300,000 international students to Japan by 2020. The 30 institutions, known as centres for internationalisation will each strive to recruit between 3000 and 8000 international students from across the globe. However, since the late 19th century Japanese attempts at the importation of ethnolinguistic diversity into the education system have been greeted with accusations of insincerity and the masking of a predominantly self-serving nationalistic agenda. The current paper will also seek to assess whether the self-serving nationalistic argument is still valid in relation to contemporary internationalisation efforts. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)

This paper examines the ideologies of language which underpin mainstream applied linguistic research and educational policy generation for English language teaching in Japan. Over the last 30 years a burgeoning literature has devoted itself to the task of researching and directing English language education in Japan, but has, by its own admission, had little success in effecting much change in what it perceives as a system incompatible with effective language learning. By surveying prominent academic studies on this topic and analysing these with reference to the policy reforms with which they interact, the paper makes explicit the linguistic and socio-political assumptions upon which this work is based and suggests that a critical awareness of these ideologies can assist in the production of sustainable language regulation.

Seikatsu-Tsuzurikata is an educational method related to teaching of written expression for children that was pioneered in elementary school education settings throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and which was widely adopted in Japan in the 1930s. It is a unique method developed in Japan that uses both school and non-school resources, not only in written expression education, but also as a foundation for intellectual training and character building. Using this method, children and young people craft written compositions using material from their own lives, which they then share with others. From an international perspective, it has been noted that the Seikatsu-Tsuzurikata movement shares features with the type of pragmatism advocated by Charles Sanders Peirce in the USA beginning in the 1870s. It is also relevant to note there are similarities between the literacy education practices of Paulo Freire, who developed critical pedagogy in Brazil, and aspects of the "living, working academic ability" found in Seikatsu-Tsuzurikata. The aim of this paper is to clarify the ideology of Seikatsu-Tsuzurikata and identify the features of its practice. In this process, a number of points will be examined. These are (1) the relationship with Japan's education system; (2) the establishment and sphere of pedagogic action of Seikatsu-Tsuzurikata; (3) the realism of Seikatsu-Tsuzurikata; (4) the collectivism of Seikatsu-Tsuzurikata; and (5) whether or not Seikatsu-Tsuzurikata can be classified as education. In particular, the ideology of Seikatsu-Tsuzurikata and the features related to its practice will be highlighted through an examination of the background leading to its establishment, facts regarding the realism of the thoughts and actions of one of the primary originators Tadayoshi Sasaoka (1897-1937), and collectivism as practiced by Tsuzurikata teachers. (Contains 1 note.)

After the establishment of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, the implementation of the Convention became the obligation of the government of each country and the responsibility of every society. However, in reality, many infringements on the rights of children, both visible and invisible, exist not only due to starvation, insecurity and warfare in developing countries, but also as a result of poverty in many of highly developed countries. In this paper I will first discuss the state of children in the world briefly according to UNICEF reports, and then the situation of children in Japan according to NGO's and Citizens' reports. Secondly, I would like to comment on the development of the ideas of "discovery of childhood", and children's rights from modern age to the Convention. Thirdly, I will construct the contents of the rights of children in the global age, reconsidering the relationship between human rights, children's rights and children's human rights. A Child is a human being. A child is a child, not miniature adult. A Child is growing being. Thus, the right to live, to develop, to express views, to learn and to require and receive education are the cores of the rights of children. The fulfillment of children's rights involves the fundamental basis of human rights. In conclusion, a child has to be respected as a human being, to be heard and to be responded to. We must widen our perspective beyond the frontier of one country. Peace and living-together in harmony with nature will be the prerequisite conditions for protecting children and for implementation of the Convention. (Contains 1 note.)

A study demonstrates the existence of a wartime register in Japanese newspaper journalism and characterizes its major linguistic and stylistic features. Special emphasis is placed on the aspect of modality as related to point of view. Modality expresses the mode within which the propositional content of a sentence is presented as certain, reliable, or authoritative, and it functions to regulate interpersonal relations in a language community. Point of view indicates a particular way of conceptualizing and refers to world-view or ideology. In relation to, or as a part of, modal functions, these issues are considered: point of view; certainty and probability; deontic and epistemic modality; and the use of classical style. To demonstrate the special features of modality in the wartime register, a diachronic comparison is made with texts from peacetime discourse. Contains 36 references. (Author/MSE)

This paper presents a duoethnographic study into the effects of native-speakerism on the professional lives of two English language teachers, one "native", and one "non-native speaker" of English. The goal of the study was to build on and extend existing research on the topic of native-speakerism by investigating, through dialogic interaction, the complex ways in which this ideology can influence the lives and career trajectories of individual language teachers. We show that the effects of native-speakerism can vary greatly from person to person based on not only their "native" or "non-native" positioning, but also on geography, teaching context and personal disposition.

This article cites the problems of citizenship education in three different countries: Bosnia, England and Japan, partly because of the way in which these nations are defined, as well as the way in which knowledge within the official school curriculum is selectively developed. In most countries, the curriculum is derived from a narrowly based understanding of the nation. The article suggests that during the period of globalisation it might be possible to devise an intercultural understanding of knowledge from across cultures and civilisations to obviate a clash of civilisations. The first universalist phase that the paper considers is from fifth century BC to seventh century AD when the great religions of Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam existed in tributary regions. The second phase in Andalusia in the eleventh century was the interaction between Christian, Jewish and Muslim scholars, which was part of the development of the Renaissance. These developments contributed to scientific and secular knowledge during the Enlightenment and led to the affirmation of the universal. The French and the American revolutions were informed by these ideas. The fourth phase was the development of the ideas of socialism to establish societies based on the basis of equality, but the states which espoused these ideologies failed to deepen ideas of shared values and inclusive citizenship in democratic contexts. The fifth phase of universalist development was the end of the colonial regimes in the middle of the twentieth century. The development of the Non-Aligned Movement following the 1955 Bandung Conference was the highlight of this phase of human development, but like many other phases of human history also failed in many ways.

Within the Japanese English Language Teaching context and consistent with the dominant conversation role assigned to the native English speaker teacher, there exists a belief that the most effective manner in which to teach and promote multilingualism and intercultural understanding is through restricting students to monolingual practices and prohibitive pedagogies. These beliefs, whilst entrenched in ideologies of cultural dominance and linguistic imperialism, have also nourished the foundations for the learner autonomy movement to develop through the creation of numerous self-access learning centres. In consideration of these core issues and building upon earlier context-specific work, this paper documents an attempt at negotiating the contradiction created by those institutions who promote the virtues of learner autonomy on one hand, whilst enforcing strict linguistic prohibitions on the other hand. Situated within a Japanese university, 43 mixed-ability English language learners were presented with two reflective awareness-raising strategies that sought to assist them in being more able to make informed classroom language choices when faced with the demands of a prescriptive English-only language learning environment. The results suggest that the English-only policy represents an unrealistic target for the majority of learners and one which may promote a number of negative consequences. (Contains 6 figures.)

Language learning is frequently justified as a vehicle for promoting intercultural communication and understanding, and language-in-education policies have increasingly come to reflect this preoccupation in their rhetoric. This paper will examine the ways in which concepts relating to interculturality are constructed in Japanese language policy documents. It will explore in particular the ways in which ideologies of nationalism and Japanese identity have an impact on understandings of the nature and purpose of interculturality and how these are developed discursively in Japanese language-in-education policy documents. Language policies construct a discourse of interculturality which focuses on the development of a nationalistic adherence to a particular conceptualisation of Japanese identity, which is unique, homogenous, and monolithic. These themes will be discussed in the contexts of Japanese policy documents relating to foreign language teaching and Japanese language spread.

The focus of this paper is on Japanese philosophy of education in the post-war period. We begin with a historical account, concentrating on developments in ideas and their interrelation with policy, and then go on to discuss aspects of the contemporary scene. Central to our concerns here are the ways in which there has been an impoverishment of the public and private realms, especially with the collusion of private and national interests under the sway of neo-liberal and neo-conservative ideologies. We conclude our discussion by identifying some current trends in Japanese philosophy of education, highlighting ways in which new developments in the subject may lay the way for restoring and enhancing the relationship between the private and the public.

This document introduces a special issue of the International Journal of the Sociology of Language that focuses on language ideology in Japan. The authors explore how contact and space influence language ideologies and metapragmatic meanings, as well as the impact of language contact situations on identity formation. The document emphasizes the need for a broader investigation of language ideologies in Japan, particularly in relation to power dynamics. It also discusses the importance of studying the materiality and commodification of language, and highlights the multidimensional nature of language ideologies and their intersection with power dynamics. The authors hope that their contributions will expand the understanding of ideology and contribute to the development of language and power studies. [Extracted from the article]

The ideology of a monolingual and monoracial Japan is being challenged by increasing language diversity in communities where Ainu, Ryukyuan, Chinese, English, Japanese Sign Language, Korean, and other languages are spoken. Government policies and school textbooks still resist the notion of a multilingual Japan. (SK)

In Japan, the so-called neoliberal-inspired transition generally refers to an ideological agenda. However, one should distinguish between neoliberal reforms carried out in accordance with a political agenda and the genuine local evolution of ideas based on the influence of foreign thinkers. By leveraging key notions such as 'individual responsibility' (jiko sekinin), 'self-help' (jijo), 'mutual aid' (kyōjo) and 'public aid' (kōjo), this paper accounts for older roots of Japanese-style neoliberalism. It highlights how, throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, predating current liberal norms, certain notions preceded contemporary liberal ideas and served as a discursive framework, while others became intertwined with 'foreign' ideas as they permeated the political discourse. It illuminates how shorter-term politics characterized by conflicts of interest and political strategies fit within longer-term political notions and their ideological evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

Cabinet scandals and minister resignations happen frequently in Japan. In recent years, political opponents and the mass media have approached such cases as occasions for pursuit of the prime minister’s ‘appointive responsibility’. Based on comprehensive source material since 1989 but focusing particularly on 2006–2012, this paper introduces appointive responsibility as an object of critical analysis. Emphasizing that the notion has distinct ideological implications, I pinpoint the rhetorical techniques and strategic rationale underlying appointive responsibility and show that the phenomenon operates in two logically opposed forms. The first form follows a causality principle and presents the prime minister as inappropriately ignorant. The second one operates according to a representative logic and revolves around inappropriate knowledge. Outlining and problematizing both forms, the paper analytically unravels key aspects of a new paradigm of executive leadership and responsibility in Japanese political discourse. The paper contributes to a better qualitative understanding of responsibility constructs in recent Japanese politics and delivers a focused critical examination of appointive responsibility as a key rhetorical vehicle for tapping into frustrated public expectations of political leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a question that has not been raised in the literature on Japan's regionalism: Why does it have a strong tendency toward making the boundary of the proposed East Asian community fluid? By looking back beyond the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere of the 1940s, a method hitherto untried, the paper shows that this Japanese propensity was also present in the first half of the twentieth century, especially in the 1920s and 1930s. Moreover, both then and now, Japan did not and does not have a firm adherence to an ideology. These are two similarities between the pre-World War II period and the present (from the 1960s). On the other hand, Japan's present international situation is very different from its pre-World War II position. The paper uses the logic of the ‘most different cases’ comparative method, which states that in two cases that are different in most aspects but the same in some, one or some of the similarities may explain the other similarity or similarities. It concludes that in both periods, the lack of a firm commitment to an ideology explains Japan's prejudice toward boundary fluidity. This explanation has the potential to contribute to a more comprehensive, if not yet a general theory of Japan's approach to regionalism because it applies not only to the present, but to the past as well. And it has to be stressed, the past refers not only to the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere of the 1940s but also to the decades before. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Do the policy preferences expressed through political participation represent the citizens as a whole? Previous studies argue that there is no ideological bias in voting participation in Japan. However, previous studies have only analyzed Japan up to 2010, and it is unclear whether ideological bias was consistently absent in voting participation in the 2010s. In the 2010s, ideological issues, such as the maintenance of nuclear power plants or the acceptance of collective self-defense, emerged in Japan, and the two major political parties, the Liberal Democratic Party and Democratic Party of Japan, became increasingly polarized. Considering these changes, the influence of ideology on political participation may be growing. Therefore, this paper examines the relationship between people's ideological positions and political participation using voter surveys conducted between 2001 and 2017. I find that since 2012, the more ideologically extreme Japanese voters are, the more they participate in voting. Furthermore, the same is true for other forms of participation. In general, the voices of ideologically moderate Japanese are becoming less represented by political parties and politicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1997 and 2007 the foreign population of Japan increased by more than 45% making it the largest at any time in the postwar period, constituting 1.69% of the overall population. At the same time, the trans-border flows of people, capital and media increased at an unprecedented rate. In the Japanese media, there has been a marked increase in the number of television programs featuring non-Japanese. This paper focuses on the phenomenon of non-Japanese residents of Japan on variety television programs and shows that the increase of foreign faces on Japanese television is significant as non-Japanese residents are used here to reinforce ideas of Japanese cultural identity. These programs, while usually advertised as opportunities to look at issues from an international perspective, instead highlight perceived differences which exist between Japan and the outside world as a form of entertainment, rather than to seriously examine the issues Japan faces as it becomes more international. Employing a discourse analysis of recent programs as well as interviews with program participants, this paper examines media mechanisms which create an image of the foreign ''other'' that is employed to create, perpetuate and strengthen the idea of a unique Japanese cultural identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the paper is to elucidate the different meaning of university autonomy historically and comparatively. The paper examines the shift in the definition of the university autonomy in England and Japan. It argues that the definition of university autonomy in England and Japan differed traditionally. In England, university autonomy functioned as the universities' ideology to protect the universities from outside of pressure. In Japan, university autonomy was understood in relation to the Ministerial coordination. The market-oriented policies in those countries have changed the meaning of university autonomy, bringing about “contractual autonomy” in England and institutional autonomy in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1985, the number of Chinese in Japan has been growing fast in comparison with the past stagnant growth. New comers mainly from Mainland China have changed the composition and social context of the Chinese communities, at the same time have emerged as potential market for the Chinese vernacular print-language market. Mass media are perceived to be powerful shapers of culture and communication in society. National majority media and ethnic minority media are both influential on achieving such reconstructed ideology. Thus, the new form of media business not only differs from the old, but also should be examined for its role of Chinese ethnic minority media. Besides, apart from the recognition of pluralistic print media environment of Japan by other researchers, it is important too to explore and find out what are the political and economic realities that impinge on the ethnic media survival in Japan context. This paper is intended to present the current development of the Chinese ethnic minority media in Japan, and to discuss its role as agent reconstruction of Chinese identity. Without dropping the nature of Chinese ethnic press as commercial media, this paper also wish to throw some lights over ethnic media's homogenization effects in representing Chinese not as the historically unique, very much diversified communities in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bilateral relationship between South Korea and Japan has been increasingly strained since a ruling of the Korean Supreme Court in 2018, which urged Japan to compensate Korean laborers forcefully conscripted during the Japanese colonial era. Since that time, other critical events have followed, additionally aggravating bilateral ties. In this context, this study attempts to investigate the different ideological frames in editorials of two South Korean newspapers--Han'gyŏre, a center-left newspaper, and Chosŏn ilbo, a center-right newspaper, and how the ideological frames of the papers are adjusted in the process of translation. Seemingly objective translations of news articles actually present views under the guise of facts, ultimately including ideological shifts that mislead readers. These translations facilitate ideological reinforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During my doctoral research, I looked at a specific type of medium who lives in the north of Japan. Although many of these figures are categorised as religious, the activity and role they cover in their communities goes beyond the "religious" function. In light of this consideration, I became interested in the use of the term religion, as its application in this context limited the capacity to understand these mediums. As I began questioning the category of religion, I was introduced by my supervisor to The Ideology of Religious Studies by Fitzgerald. The book quickly became a relevant source to understand the development of the discourse on the study of religion and in my specific region of research: Asia, and more specifically, Japan. Since then, I have applied his critical approach to the study of religion to my methodology of research, coupling it with visual ethnographic methods, "giving a body" to Fitzgerald's observations in his critique of religion in Asia. This paper will explore the use of the critical religion approach in the analysis of the use of the concept in Japan and, more specifically, in the study of the Itako mediums of Nord Tohoku. This work will also be related to the visual ethnographic work moulded on the critique of religion as conceived by Fitzgerald. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The birth control movement in Japan first arose in the early 1920s. The Japanese government disapproved of birth control because it was enthusiastic about population growth to strengthen national power. Simultaneously, the movement was accompanied by a clash of ideologies among its supporters and critics in society. Existing research is especially interested in state policies and management, as well as the viewpoints and activities of birth control activists. This paper delves into a less-discussed topic: the perspectives of birth control opponents, focusing on Yoshioka Yayoi (1871–1959), a gynaecologist, educator, and women's rights activist. It argues that during the early twentieth century, state policies did not always play a decisive role in shaping people's anti-birth control attitudes. Yoshioka's opposing views in interwar Japan incorporated her concerns for women's morals and health, which were heavily influenced by social values and contraceptive technology at the time. As World War II began, her anti-birth control views had a strong political implication – promoting childbirth as a war effort. Despite Yoshioka's alignment with the state, the distinctions that existed between her views and national ideologies should not be overlooked. Yoshioka's ideas are conservative and show limitations. However, through her case, this article hopes to offer insight into the different meanings of birth control for people living in the early twentieth century, not only in Japan but also in a global context. Many people were reluctant to embrace this new family planning method due to moral reasons and uncertainty. Keeping birth control out of people's daily lives, especially for conservatives like Yoshioka, was an optimal way to benefit individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1948, Japanese authorities operating under directions from the US Occupation and the Japanese Ministry of Education tried to shut down independent Korean schools in Japan. Tens of thousands of civilians led by the League of Koreans in Japan streamed into the streets of Osaka and Kobe in April to protest. Hundreds raided prefectural headquarters, vandalized the buildings, and held government officials hostage. The Occupation and Japanese police brutally suppressed the uprising and shot and killed a Korean teenager. This paper parses the grammar of ideological utterance during this crisis, known as the Hanshin Education Incident, to reveal how politicians and social leaders feuded over the meaning of postwar Japanese democracy. Koreans buttressed the myth of democracy by being cast as what democracy was not. A policeman shot through the body of a Korean boy with impunity because the myth of democracy shot through Japanese sociopolitics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the question of how voters perceive party positions, much of the existing literature has not adequately considered the case of a multidimensional policy space. Since the ideological cues related to each issue differ in a policy space of multiple dimensions, it is possible that each individual favors different dimensional cues. To test this hypothesis, this paper focuses on Japan’s 2012 Lower House election, which took place in a two-dimensional policy space. An analysis of how voters position the three major parties relative to each other reveals that there is actually heterogeneity in the voter perception of the policy space. Further, using a mixed logit model, we find that demographic factors and political attitudes explain this heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1957, the Japanese affiliate of the Congress for Cultural Freedom, an international anticommunist organization dedicated to the liberal ideals of the "free world," convened a symposium under the title "Tradition and Transition in Japanese Culture" ("Nihon bunka no dentō to hensen"). The event put noted Kyoto School intellectuals who had earlier conceptualized Japan's unique mission within world history during the war years—including Kōsaka Masaaki, Suzuki Shigetaka, and Nishitani Keiji—into dialogue with postwar thinkers who advocated for freedom of thought in opposition to what they viewed as the closed-mindedness of ideology. Drawing on rarely cited archival documents, this article explores how the symposium raised key questions about the fate of world historical thinking in transwar Japan at the same time that it tested the putative universality of postwar liberal ideals against what the symposium participants called the particularity of Japanese culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

This paper examines the ideologies of language which underpin mainstream applied linguistic research and educational policy generation for English language teaching in Japan. Over the last 30 years a burgeoning literature has devoted itself to the task of researching and directing English language education in Japan, but has, by its own admission, had little success in effecting much change in what it perceives as a system incompatible with effective language learning. By surveying prominent academic studies on this topic and analysing these with reference to the policy reforms with which they interact, the paper makes explicit the linguistic and socio-political assumptions upon which this work is based and suggests that a critical awareness of these ideologies can assist in the production of sustainable language regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Middle managers are facing major workplace pressures in an era of widespread corporate and public sector restructuring in Japan, USA and UK. This paper, based on interviews with senior/HR managers and middle managers in 30 large organizations, suggests that middle managers today face heavy workloads and limited promotion prospects. More significantly, the central task of middle management is changing from managing subordinates in hierarchies towards managing projects in flattened organizations. These changes are in accordance with a new organizational ideology that continues to influence change in public and private organizations in co-ordinated or free market economies. While this ideology has spread rapidly, it has not managed to achieve hegemony. Organizations can be difficult to change and bureaucratic elements will persist despite the changes. The Japanese co-ordinated model and the US and UK free market model are both subject to similar pressures, but the actual organizational changes work themselves out in different ways because of differing institutional arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines dilemmas inherent in the pursuit of the modern ideology of “authentic self”, which first emerged in the 1960s and is now widespread in contemporary cultures. The ideology is exemplified, in a religious scene, as “self-transformative” religions wherein seekers seek to transform themselves spiritually in order to realize their authentic, or “sacred” selves. Through an examination of Aum Shinrikyo, which began as a typical “self-transformative” religion but later transformed into a destructive cult, I will explain the intrinsic moral imperatives of the ideology of “authenticity”. This study of Aum explores the introverted lifestyle and extreme desocialization, which resulted in obsession with the central guru, being legitimated by the ideology. This search for “authenticity” resulted in the members cutting themselves off from the reality of the world. The final analysis suggests that possible consequences of the endless pursuit of the “authentic self” are a “vacuum” self and a loss of empathy with other people. The ontological conditions created by this bring about potential destructiveness, either internal or external. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay offers an overview of language and gender research as it unfolded in a particular 'Place': Japan. In the past thirty years, Japanese language and gender/sexuality relations have been characterised both domestically and globally as special, sometimes as unique, due to the existence of distinct joseigo 'women's language' and danseigo 'men's language'. A preferential focus on the surface-segmentable forms (pronouns, sentence final particles, etc.) over discursive features and a limited focus on Standard Japanese in the early years of Japanese language and gender research has led to a tendency to view 'the' Japanese language as a homogeneous unity and to the reification of the three critical categories, 'Japan', 'language' and 'gender'. In this essay, I discuss the problematic nature of the three critical terms, and suggest ways in which Japanas-Place might profitably be renarrated as the complex place it is and Japanese language, gender and sexuality relations revisited as they operate within that complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]