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This paper compares the recycling attitudes of consumers in Germany and Japan, based on our nationwide questionnaires. We analyzed consumption behavior as well as recycling behavior in narrow sense, becauseit is important to study the former to see how the supply of recycled materials is balanced with the demand, particularly in Japan which exports little recycled materials. Toilet paper was adopted as a specific good for study, because consumers have options of buying virgin products and recycled products. It was found that German households pay for waste collection specifically and have higher recycling rates than Japanese households. On the other hand, similar figures in German and Japanese consumers were observed with regard to consumption of recycled products. Their purchasing criteria and preference on virginand recycled products of toilet paper were examined by self-report and blind test with 2x 2 experimental design for toilet paper (German versus Japanese, virgin versus recycled). Blind test showed that people prefer domestic and virgin products in both countries. Half of respondents rating virgin products guessed that the products contained recycled material. For Japanese, the material of the sample toilet paper, made from virgin pulp, seems to be a more determining factor thanthe nationality of products, i.e. made in Japan. On the other hand, for Germans, the domestic nature seems to be a more dominant factor than the material, i.e. made from virgin material. Canonical discriminant analysis in conjunction with logistic regression based on self-reporting data detected the characters `multiplied', `appearance' and `brand' as major factors making the difference in preference between the two countries. The possible reasons causing the similarity and dissimilarity between the two countries are discussed with reference to the background history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Asia Pacifi c War (1937-1945), the Japanese Imperial Army forced women in Japanese East Asian colonies to work as so-called “comfort women” (sex workers). The justice movement for these women is an international intersectional alliance of feminists from Japanese ex-colonies in East Asia, the former colonial power Japan, and other societies, such as Australia, Germany, and the USA. This long-term feminist justice movement has campaigned for an apology and compensation from the Japanese government, as well as for recognition of “comfort women‘s” suff ering and of sexual violence in war in cultural memory. Through researching this justice movement from a processual intersectionality perspective, this paper shows that it gained power and legitimacy from refl ecting and working on its internal intersectional inequalities. This included refl ecting on the class hierarchies between many former “comfort women”, who had power of defi nition, and intellectual feminist activists, as well as on the postcolonial divide between former Japanese colonies and the former colonial power Japan, leading it to develop horizontal cooperation and practices. Following an overview, the paper outlines the movements in South Korea, Japan, and Germany, and highlights the different postcolonial constellation between East Asia and Germany, the main actors, and their aims. While the Japanese government rejected the justice movement‘s demands and the right wing mobilised against it, has been able to infl uence cultural memory to widely recognize sexual violence in war and the dignity of the “comfort women”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of China Textile Leader is the property of China Textile Information Center 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.)

Graphical abstract Abstract In the photovoltaic (PV) industrial chain, polysilicon is the most vital product affecting the scale of the entire industry. Polysilicon trade holds the highest profit margin, and the technological developments among countries is unbalanced, promoting international trade among countries. Therefore, analysis of the international polysilicon trade is crucial for understanding the development of the global PV industry. In this paper, we use a social network analysis (SNA) method to study the structure of the global polysilicon trade network and each country's characteristics in the network based on international trade data from 2006 to 2016. Our results show that the network is very concentrated and shows an obvious core-periphery structure. The United States of America (USA), China, Germany and Japan are the most powerful countries in the trade network. We also find that the development of polysilicon trade can represent progress of the PV industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open access mega journals represent an increasingly important part of the scholarly communications. The current research aims to introduce eight international mega journals and to investigate their performance in a five-year time span (2012-2016). The current study is an applied research in terms of objectives while it is a descriptive study in terms of data analysis and conducted using scientometric indicators. Research population comprised of 195011 articles published in eight mega journals during 2012-2016 and indexed by the Web of Science. Data was collected using three products of the Clarivate Analytics, namely Web of Science, Journal Citation Reports as well as InCites. Data analysis was conducted using Microsoft Excel. Results of the study showed 101% growth in 2016 compared to 2012 with regard to publications in eight studied mega journals. A total of 195011 articles have been published in eight mega journals during 2012-2016. Considering article processing fees of each journal, we can assume that roughly 300 million USD has been charged by eight mega journals. Papers published in mega journals were found to have higher citation impact compared with the average of the Web of Science database. Results revealed that two mega journals, namely PLoS One and Scientific Reports, were accountable for 91.6% of total publications and 96.1% of total citations. The highest share of publications in eight mega journals was found to be in the following research categories: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Multidisciplinary Sciences, Neurosciences, Oncology and Immunology. Moreover, the US, China, the UK, Germany and Japan had the highest number of publications in eight studied mega journals. Reputable publishers have identified a market demand for publication of scholarly output and are offering their services using open access mega journals. The mega journal market seems likely to keep increasing in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• In this scenario, states vulnerable to impacts of climate change deploy solar geoengineering; the article provides insights into possible responses of a Great Power Bloc (Member of UN Security Council + Japan and Germany). • We investigate the differences of possible responses; esp. with regard to challenges linked to a "free-driver" dynamic. • Varying assumptions about international relations in 2040 substantially shape the responses by the different groups (between hegemonic & non-aligned approaches). • We explore prospects of multilateral governance of solar geoengineering and point to questions about the functioning and cohesion of alliances. The paper examines a scenario exercise concerning deployment of solar geoengineering by a small group of states that are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Two groups of participants were each asked to provide expert decision-making advice to an alliance comprising great powers, and to propose a political response to the deployment initiative. This paper discusses the initial governance proposals and examines differences and exchanges between the groups throughout the exercise. The two groups delivered distinct governance proposals. The differences, which were driven largely by divergent worldviews and assumptions about the geopolitical context, provide insights into the complexities of responses to "free-driving" the deployment of solar geoengineering, internal functioning and cohesion of coalitions, and interactions among multiple responses to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of UNISCI Discussion Papers is the property of Unidad de Investigaciones Sobre Seguridad y Cooperacion International (UNISCI) 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.)

Abstract: Only three days after the beginning of the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima, Japan, on 11 March 2011, the German government ordered 8 of the country''s 17 existing nuclear power plants (NPPs) to stop operating within a few days. In summer 2011 the government put forward a law – passed in parliament by a large majority – that calls for a complete nuclear phase-out by the end of 2022. These government actions were in contrast to its initial plans, laid out in fall 2010, to expand the lifetimes of the country''s NPPs. The immediate closure of 8 NPPs and the plans for a complete nuclear phase-out within little more than a decade, raised concerns about Germany''s ability to secure a stable supply of electricity. Some observers feared power supply shortages, increasing CO2-emissions and a need for Germany to become a net importer of electricity. Now – a little more than a year after the phase-out law entered into force – this paper examines these concerns using (a) recent statistical data on electricity production and demand in the first 15 months after the German government''s immediate reaction to the Fukushima accident and (b) reviews the most recent projections and scenarios by different stakeholders on how the German electricity system may develop until 2025, when NPPs will no longer be in operation. The paper finds that Germany has a realistic chance of fully replacing nuclear power with additional renewable electricity generation on an annual basis by 2025 or earlier, provided that several related challenges, e.g. expansion of the grids and provision of balancing power, can be solved successfully. Already in 2012 additional electricity generation from renewable energy sources in combination with a reduced domestic demand for electricity will likely fully compensate for the reduced power generation from the NPPs shut down in March 2011. If current political targets will be realised, Germany neither has to become a net electricity importer, nor will be unable to gradually reduce fossil fuel generated electricity. Whether the reduction in fossil fuel use will be sufficient to adequately contribute to national greenhouse gas mitigation targets significantly depends on an active policy to promote electricity savings, continuous efforts to increase the use of renewables and a higher share of natural gas (preferably used in combined heat and power plants) in fossil fuel power generation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The welfare state in industrialised countries is being challenged by a number of developments: the globalisation or internationalisation of the economy, changing demographics, a transformation from industrial to post-industrial economies, as well as social and cultural changes. Although all of these variables are important, this paper addresses only the effects of globalisation on social policy arrangements in the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, and the USA. The starting point of the paper is the hypothesis that the specific perception of globalisation and the constructed links to so. cial policy arrangements within the political discourse must be taken into account when analyzing the effects of globalisation. Furthermore, it is argued that focusing solely on the state's activity within the realm of social policy might lead to distorted and misleading results. Finally, the different dynamics of welfare systems in the era of globalisation are discussed in a broader theoretical framework. It is argued that the concept of path dependency underestimates the changes that have taken place in the German, Japanese, and USA-American welfare systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to clarify how educational and occupational expectations of students are conditioned by school track under Japanese school-to-work linkage. We compare Japan to the US and Germany, which have specific characteristics of school-to-work linkage of their own according to the literature. Our analysis is based on Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data collected by OECD. Using indicators from the literature, we can define the institutional characteristics of each country as follows: all the indicators are high in Germany, and low in the US, but in the case of Japan, the indicators for stratification and standardization are high, while vocational specificity is low. From the patterns of these indicators, we construct hypothesis about the effect of school track on students' educational and occupational expectations in each country. From our analysis, we can see that tracking in Germany strongly affects the educational and occupational expectations, while tracking in the US did not strongly affect either expectation. In Japan, school track strongly constrained educational expectations, but not occupational expectations. These results can be consistently interpreted as a consequence of different school-to-work linkages in these countries explained by using three indicators above. Therefore, we can conclude that we succeeded in clarifying distinguishing characteristics of the school track effect on student expectations in Japan compared to the US and Germany in relation to the institutional differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper analyzes the existence of flights from stocks to bonds and vice versa. We propose a definition and a test for flight-to-quality, flight-from-quality and cross-asset contagion and examine their characteristics and effects for the financial system. The empirical analysis for eight developed countries including the US, the UK, Germany and Japan shows that flights exist and are a common feature in many crises episodes. Our findings also reveal that flights are not merely country-specific events but occur simultaneously across countries. This indicates that there is a link between the occurrence of flights and cross-country contagion. Moreover, we show that flights enhance the resiliency of the financial markets by providing diversification benefits in times when they are needed most. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

At 1954, Professor Yoshihiro SHIMIZU of Tokyo University emphasized that the Educational Population Study could be a major topic in the field of the sociology of education. He was well informed regarding contemporary research trends in French sociology, and was very aware of the importance of the Population Study. Since then, several students in the sociology of education have engaged themselves in the study of educational populations. Governments have compiled statistics on education like student population, number of teachers and educational expenditure. In some countries these statistical data can be traced back to the middle of the 19th century. The first scholar who attempted a systematic analysis of such governmental educational statistics was Friedrich Edding in Germany. In 1957, he published International Trends in Educational Expenditures. In this book he compared trends of educational expenditures in several countries since the middle of the 19th century. From this time-series comparative study he drew the conclusion that countries which had attained a similar level of economic development should have similar sizes of educational systems and similar sizes of investment in education. In 1961, he presented a keynote paper to the OECD conference on "Economic Growth and the Investment in Education" along with Svennilson and Elvin, pointing out the existence of a strong correlation between the enrolment ratio and per capita GNP of OECD member countries. At the same time, they examined the ratio of educational expenditures to GNP, and they broke down 5 components which determine the ratio of educational expenditure among GNP, like proportion of school age population among total population, enrollment ratio, ratio of average teacher salary against GNP p. c. and per-teacher student ratio. This formulation has made possible international comparison of those educational indicators. Furthermore this formulation has made possible the simulation of educational expenditure allocation. This simulation model is now used by various international cooperation agencies to make clear trade-off relationship between various educational indicators. Stimulated with these research trends overseas, several Japanese students of educational population has started to analyze the trends of Japanese educational population based on modified models which have been developed in oversea countries. The author, who studied with Friedrich Edding since 1968, forecasted required numbers of high school and educational expenditure necessary for this expansion in 1974. Since then, various research outputs have been produced in the field of educational population studies. One major task facing this field of study is to extend the research perspective beyond the borders of one country. With globalization, movements of educational populations should no longer be confined within one country's borders. A second task is to encourage follow-up studies to ensure the quality of research outcomes in the field of educational population studies. Japanese scholars of sociology of education produce a large research output every year. However, most lack connections with the outputs of their colleagues. Outside people are much interested with those research outcomes, but most of the outcomes are not verified objectively by colleagues. Therefore, outside people are skeptical about whether these findings of particular experts are reliable because of the lack of follow-up studies. Recently, there have been strong opinions in factor of "Evidence-based policy." To put this into reality, we need to vitalize the cross-check studies, follow-up studies on research output done by our colleague researchers in the field of educational population studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After World War Two many Dutchmen perceived the Japanese occupation of 'their' Dutch East Indies in the light of their own experience with German rule during 1940-1945. In how far and in what respects were the two occupations similar? In this paper an analysis is presented of the ways in which the occupant in both cases utilized negative sanctions, could depend on certain sources of authority, and saw fit to manipulate various autochthonous elites with positive sanctions. Such a comparison makes sense not only in view of its historical and actual political significance, but also as a contribution to the development of a sociology of occupation of conquered territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article sheds light on the historical background of Japanese civil law. Although this paper will refer very briefly to some current issues of Japanese civil law, its main aim is to highlight some characteristic features of Japanese civil law derived from its historical background. Perhaps some comments on the role of law in the process of modernization of Japanese society might help to illuminate some unique features of contemporary Japanese law, as well as contributing to the development of more scientific approaches to comparative studies of law. A major characteristic of Japanese civil law in the modern period is the adoption of the system of a civil code, in the late nineteenth century, from the continental European countries, in particular Germany and France. However, in the post-war period, the Japanese system of law has been under the considerable influence of the Common Law, mainly because of the American occupation, and especially because of the introduction of the new constitution, for which the U.S. constitution was so frequently consulted as a model. Thus the ancient styles of legal thought and codes that had been formed in Japan under Chinese influence were abandoned, and there emerged a new codified system based initially on French law. An outstanding example was the Criminal Code of 1882, based on a new notion of criminal justice, embodied in principles such as no retrospective provision and, in particular, equality before the law regardless of social status.

This section presents the paper titled Article Eight of the League of Nations Covenant and the Washington Conference presented by C. B. Ames at the Third Annual Meeting of the Southwestern Political Science Association at Norman, Oklahoma on March 23, 1922. It took the World War to make the world want peace. It destroyed half the wealth of Europe. It left many nations groveling on the ground. When it was over the thoughts of men turned to peace. For the first time in history there seemed to be a universal desire for permanent peace and greater progress has been made since the war toward achieving this desire than in all the ages of the past. Three stages of this progress stand out as paramount. The first and by far the most important is the League of Nations. The second great step toward permanent peace is the establishment of the Permanent Court of International Justice. The third great step towards peace is the series of treaties which have been proposed by the Washington Conference. The U.S. and Japan negotiated a separate treaty relative to the island of Yap by which our rights in that island are made substantially equal to those of Japan under its mandate and by which Japan agrees to send to the U.S. annually a copy of the report of its mandate which it is required to file with the League of Nations. Japan and China negotiated a separate treaty relative to the province of Shantung which Japan had wrested from Germany and which was left in the possession of Japan by the Treaty of Versailles.

Abstract: The different approaches that other countries take to land use reflect many national variables, including planning systems, institutional structures, socio-cultural characteristics, population pressures and environmental priorities. Literature reviews of relevant land-use issues in Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden provided the background material for this paper. Other European countries appear to offer models of more pro-active and indicative land-use planning, in contrast to the adversarial system in the UK, and a much stronger regional focus. This seems to have made it easier to implement other policies, for example on renewable energy. Experience with liberalisation of agricultural markets, and the promotion of environmentally sustainable farming are both relevant to an increasingly polarised agricultural sector in the UK. Cutting across all these themes is a reflection on governance of land use. Of the countries considered, Sweden''s focus on environmental sustainability, international responsibility and long-term consistency of direction appears to be most closely aligned to the coming land-use challenges. When drawing conclusions from this review it is important to bear in mind the effect of differences in bio-geographic factors, socio-economic conditions and political culture, both in other countries and within the UK. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article highlights a tool to measure relative economic distance between two countries or among a group of countries. Barro and Sala-i Martin's concept of the sigma (beta) convergence was the basis of the new measurement tool, which was tested on the economies of Austria, Germany and Japan among others. In the comparison of the economy of six countries to that of the Czech Republic, he found that the country and its four neighbors shared a strong convergence from 2006-2010.