Search

After the 1970s the new urban poverty (NUP) ballooned in Japan and the US, and it evoked policy responses that produced new, rescaled regulatory spaces to contain the poor on the fringe of social rights and the capital circuit. The paper illuminates this process through the comparison of Japanese and US trajectories, both of which, evolving through economic crises, have established unique pathways. The author first constructs a theoretical framework based on Marxian, Polanyian, and Lefebvrean traditions. Then, he compares national-scale poverty regulation in Japan and the US from the 1950s through the 2000s. Lastly, the author examines how the countries' regulation of a major aspect of the NUP--homelessness--intensified multiscalar reseating processes. The paper concludes that regulation of the NUP represents a significant instance of uneven spatial development of capitalism mediated by the state that requires synthetic research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The premise of this paper is that those persons who excessively overwork can die as a result, through stress-related illness or suicide. This paper undertakes a comparative analysis of the legal treatment of stress-related illness at work and, in particular, death by overwork (known as Karoshi in Japan). The legal rules governing this aspect of health and safety in the US and the UK will be considered primarily, because these are countries where this problem has not been properly recognized and, accordingly, legislators and the judiciary in both the US and the UK have largely failed to address it. Despite this, it is a fact that organizations in these countries have the worst record for requiring their workforce to work excessively and/or for long hours. Research has shown that this leads to stress-related illness and sometimes death by overwork in organizations. The failure to take legal action to deal with this problem in the US and the UK is all the more surprising and disappointing because these countries (along with Japan where it is legally recognized) have the richest economies in the world. It is now accepted that a working pattern and culture of long hours and excessive working adversely affect workers by putting at risk their physical and/or mental health, and it is important to consider how workers in this position are dealt with by employers and within the legal framework of both jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the differences in business continuity of Japanese and American small organizations during the Covid-19 pandemic since early 2020 in terms of organizational adaptation empowered by loans, grants, and aid and created through processes of visioning, and relationship building. The 28 Japanese and 21 American small organizations collected through snowball sampling were asked about their level of preparedness, the types of aid earned, the vision that an organization developed, and how they used their organization to advance community life. We used semi-structured interviews in the participants' native languages for 40 min to 1.5 h. Coding results identified 36 codes, nine subcategories, and three broad categories common among small organizations in Japan and the United States. A comparison of the coding results showed three results that we focus on in our comparative analysis. First, loans, grants, and aid provided by the government were effectively used as a business continuity resource in both countries. Second, visioning, a process of setting goals and understanding purpose, was observed in Japan and the United States. Lastly, Japanese organizations emphasized maintaining relationships with business partners, even providing monetary support to them. Conversely, in the United States, new relationships were observed but organizations did not provide as much mutual support. Thus, the study clarified two different types of resilience among small organizations: trust-based resilience seen frequently in Japan, which seeks to maintain relationships with employees and business partners rather than investing in the organization, and the change-based resilience in the United States, which aims to change the organization and build new relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how multiple roles affect the mental health of the elderly in Japan and the United States, two countries with vastly different cultures. Hypotheses were drawn based on the cultural differences in role experiences, and these hypotheses are tested by analyzing nationally representative samples of the elderly in these countries. The results show that Americans are more likely to be involved in roles related to family, work, and community, while the Japanese are more likely to be involved in only those roles related to family and work. Multiple roles are also found to be less beneficialfor the mental health of Japanese elderly compared to American counterparts. National differences in the effects of individual roles and role configurations on mental health are also documented. Overall, the results show the importance of broad cultural contexts for understanding the relationship between roles and mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how cultural values affect the meaning and experiences of daughter (or daughter-in-law) caregivers of elderly persons with dementia by comparing caregivers in the United States and Japan. Nine American and seven Japanese caregivers were interviewed twice at 6-month intervals. Interviews were audiotaped and analyzed using constant-comparative techniques. Data suggest that moral obligation to care and intense loss are two universal themes of caregiving. However the experiences and perceptions of the role of caregivers from these two cultures differed in select ways that were captured within three categories: reasons for caregiving, caregiving as a career, and caregiving as a life phase or detour. Findings suggest that American caregivers may need greater anticipatory socialization regarding the caregiving role, whereas Japanese caregivers may benefit from assistance in accepting needed services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the book "Capitalist Property and Financial Power: A Comparative Study of Britain, the United States and Japan," by John Scott.