Search

In this paper, an effort is made to explore the authors' involvement as resource persons and facilitators in an exchange programme between Japan and India. The 15-day programme was created to understand the culture and rich heritage of India, particularly Rajasthan, by involving Japanese participants in a Tour based student exchange programme. The programme offered an opportunity for Japanese students to provide an experience of Indian culture through the use of various modules. The paper attempts to explore the impact of learning that took place during the period of the exchange programme, analysed through structured interviews. The findings of this study can facilitate effective creation and development of such exchange programmes in India and elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to explore the connections between expanding female education and the participation of women in paid employment in Japan, China and India, three of Asia's largest economies. Analysis based on existing data and literature shows that despite the large expansion in educational access in these countries in the last half century, women have lacked egalitarian labour market opportunities. A combination of social discouragement and individual choice largely explains the withdrawal, non-participation or intermittent female presence in the labour force, notwithstanding increased educational access. In taking stock of these issues and debates across these countries, it is argued that the parallel experiences of women in these countries can be traced back to persistent gender norms which, amongst other things, imply the centrality of marriage and non-market unpaid labour for women. The paper argues that there is a need for gender-sensitive public policy in order for increased education to translate to labour market gains for women, leading to sustainable development outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Contemporary Japan - Journal of the German Institute for Japanese Studies, Tokyo is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd 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 defense industrialization in three leading arms-producing states in Asia - India, Japan, and South Korea - and how their experiences compare to China's recent defense industrial developments. It argues that despite decades of considerable effort and investments in pursuit of a techno-nationalist self-arming strategy, these countries have experienced only modest success when it comes to achieving such self-reliance. Most regional defense industrial bases lack the necessary design skills and technological expertise in order to truly innovate, and at best these countries act as 'late innovators' when it comes to armaments production. The experiences of these countries have lessons for China as it attempts to move into the first tier of arms-producing states. China has over the past 15 years made significant progress in modernizing its defense technological and industrial base. At the same time, China faces the same long-term challenges that currently confront other regional arms industries - that is, making techno-nationalism work at the later stages of innovation. This is particularly critical as China's defense industry strives to move from a basically platform-centric to an increasingly network-centric technological-industrial process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of a survey-based study of perceptions of ethical business practices in 13 countries of Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Responses from more than 23,000 managers and employees were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance and post-hoc comparisons, aimed at identifying homogenous sets of countries. Anglo countries (US, UK, Australia, and Canada) clustered together, and were joined by India in most cases. Japan and Italy formed a homogenous subset significantly different from all other countries. Countries of continental Europe, China, Mexico, and Brazil formed various mid-range groupings. The paper discusses some salient differences between groups of countries and presents implications for human resource management (HRD) practice and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces the nature and strategy of product innovations of two SMEs in two different economic environments - one each in Japan and India. While the background of entrepreneurs and internal environment are similar, what distinguishes the two is the external environment. Though external sources of support appear similar outwardly, Indian external sources lack the much needed reputation for the capability of delivering productive assistance for technological innovations in manufacturing enterprises. That is why the Japanese SME could take advantage of its external sources but not the Indian SME. Further, the domestic market has ably supported and absorbed innovated products of the Japanese SME whereas the Indian SME has increasingly targeted its innovated products at the international market[i]. [i] The Japanese and Indian case studies used in this paper have been earlier used separately for two different papers in two different journals, namely, (i) Asia Pacific Tech Monitor (2006) January-February: 40-44, and (ii) International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management (2005) 5(5/6): 401-420, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines if the ‘economic centre’ of Asia is likely to shift over the next 20 years. In this context, it addresses the widely held notion that a deterioration of Southeast Asia's geographic centrality within the Asia Pacific region is likely to occur due to the rise of China. GNP-weighted centrality indices are calculated for major Asian cities, and it is shown that the changing economic map of Asia is unlikely to lead to geographic marginalization of Southeast Asia: even if the economic importance of China increases significantly, this will be more than offset by the corresponding decline of Japan. As a consequence, the total economic weight of Northeast Asia is likely to decrease slightly compared to Southeast Asia and Greater India over the next 20 years, with the economic centre of Asia moving further to the southwest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic development is accompanied with changes in the intersectoral flows of intermediate goods. This structural change assumes certain patterns depending on the stage and nature of development of the economy. This paper examines such possible patterns and their implications on the basis of input-output analysis for the USA, Japan and India and suggests that the form of interaction between sectors is unilateral -- the matrix is either lower or upper triangular signifying the structure of the economy. It also measures the extent of structural change of the three countries and considers the employment implications of such change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is a non-party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. However, India argues its impeccable non-proliferation record shows the country as aresponsible state with advanced nuclear technologythat should be allowed to acquire the same benefits and advantages of nuclear energy cooperation under the existing global nuclear non-proliferation regime. This statement needs careful analysis of whether or not the Japan-India civil nuclear energy cooperation agreement could be successfully concluded and acceded to. This paper elaborates on the possibilities and concerns related to the matter from a politico-legal point of view, in order to materialise a mutually satisfactory and legitimate bilateral agreement. The scope of possible civil nuclear energy cooperation may be limited, probably not exceeding the level that the US has agreed with India, right now. It is, however, a necessary initial step for dramatically reconstructing our relationship, which may allow for greater cooperation in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid rise of competitive space activities within Asia, this study examines the prospects for increasing international cooperation. After discussing relevant conceptual issues, it surveys the space policies particularly of China, India, Japan, and South Korea and examines the skewed patterns of cooperation seen at the international, regional, and bilateral levels. It then analyzes the historical, technology, and political factors that have impeded, especially regional, space cooperation in Asia to date. The study concludes that expanded regional space cooperation is an unlikely near-term outcome, but the paper also argues that the risks entailed in the current situation are growing and that US policy initiatives could make a difference in helping to lead countries out of this dead-end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing India-Japan engagements are not only focused on economic issues, but also cover a wide range of interests, including regional security, political, and maritime security concerns. Both countries are consolidating strategic partnerships to address the risks and vulnerabilities posed by the evolving regional balance of power. Through their embeddedness with China, both India and Japan form an intrinsic part of the Indo-Pacific geopolitical security architecture. The key transformation of relations between these two states in the region is in response to the geopolitical change brought about by China's rapid ascension. In this regard, the article further explains how both countries are systematically strengthening a strategic partnership and gradually reinforcing economic, political, security, and strategic cooperation against China. This article seeks to address how both states would restrain rising China's strategic maneuvering in the Indo-Pacific region through an analysis of the India-Japan alignment, with the main focus of this study being on analyzing how both India and Japan are now investing in a long-term strategy to balance China's hegemonic policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aim to investigate the impact of environmental entrepreneurship and green innovations on CO2 emissions in highly polluting Asian economies. For empirical estimation, we have applied ARDL and NARDL models. In the short run, the linear estimates of environmental entrepreneurship are significant in China and India. The short-run non-linear estimates of environmental entrepreneurship are significant in the case of China, India, and Japan. Similarly, the short-run linear estimates of green innovations are significant in China, India, and Japan, whereas the non-linear estimated coefficients of green innovation appeared to be significant in India, Japan, and Russia. In the long run, the linear estimates of environmental entrepreneurship are negative and significant in three countries, namely China, Japan, and Russia. Similarly, the estimates of green innovations are negative and significant in China, India, Japan, and Russia. In the non-linear model, the estimated coefficients of positive shock in environmental entrepreneurship are significant and negative in the case of China, India, and Japan; while, the estimates of negative shock in environmental entrepreneurship are negative and significant in India only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lintner model of aggregate corporate dividend pay-out behaviour is applied to firms in the private sector in a developing country, India. The findings are that an augmented Lintner model which includes external finance as an explanatory variable explains aggregate dividends better. Possible reasons for this finding are discussed both in the context of India and developing countries in general. Finally, the paper tests to see whether dividend pay-out behaviour can be characterized as rational. While it appears that dividend pay-out behaviour is not rational, which is contrary to recent evidence from the US and Japan, a deeper understanding of the institutional environment in which firms operate suggests that when viewed in that context the observed irrationality may indeed be rational. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-country approaches to the study of Buddhism miss the crucial significance of international networks in the making of modern Buddhism, in a period when the material basis for such networks had been transformed. Southeast Asia in particular acted as a dynamic crossroads in this period enabling the emergence of a ‘global Buddhism’ not controlled by any single sect, while India and Japan both played unexpectedly significant roles in this crossroads. A key element of this process was the encounter between Asian Buddhist networks and western would-be Buddhists. Those involved, however, were often marginal - ‘creative failures’ in many cases - whose stories enable us to think this history in a more diverse way than is often done. In other cases as isolated figures they could pave the way for the ‘mainstreaming’ of new forms of Buddhism by established actors in later decades. This article introduces the special issue ofContemporary Buddhismentitled ‘A Buddhist crossroads: pioneer European Buddhists and globalizing Asian networks 1860–1960’. The research described in this issue often raises other methodological questions of representativity and significance, while posing important challenges around collaborative research and the use of new technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The course of Anglo-Japanese relations prior to 1914 rendered senior British policy- makers nervous regarding possible Japanese aggrandisement in the Middle East. This article explores the factors which precluded British acceptance of Japanese military involvement there when, both before and during World War 1, the idea was discussed. Particular reference is made to the views of the India Office and to those of Lord Curzon and the subject is analysed in the broader context of British Middle Eastern policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The partnership between Japan and India has steadily deepened since the formation of the second Abe administration. This article, through the analysis of Japan's India strategy, seeks to address how the Indo-Pacific idea has developed and what functions this policy idea has played in the development of Japan's India strategy. This article argues that the Indo-Pacific idea functioned as a linchpin to define goals the two countries would pursue and promote practical collaboration in various policy areas from the economy to security. Moreover, it worked as a normative weapon to diffuse specific values in dealing with maritime security and infrastructure development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Asian Studies Review is the property of Routledge 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.)

Copyright of Contemporary Japan - Journal of the German Institute for Japanese Studies, Tokyo is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd 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.)

Undergraduate psychiatric education has an important role in developing psychiatric knowledge, decreasing stigma towards mental illness, and promoting psychiatry as a career choice. The attitudes and beliefs of medical students towards psychiatry have not been well understood, especially in non-western countries. To clarify this aspect, we have conducted a cross-sectional study between India and Japan. This study, conducted at two centres, one each in India and Japan, used a semi-structured questionnaire to evaluate the attitudes and beliefs of third-year medical students towards mental illness and psychiatry; such as emotions experienced dealing with psychiatric patients, aetiology and treatment of psychiatric disorders, and psychiatry as a career choice. A total of 79 medical students from India and 77 from Japan participated in the present study. Significant differences were observed in the emotions experienced by the medical students while dealing with psychiatric patients. Most medical students (> 90%) from both study sites favoured psychiatrists for treatment of psychiatric illness. Psychiatry as a carrier choice was significantly related to the nationality of the medical students. The findings of the current study provide insight in to the attitudes of third-year medical students from India and Japan towards psychiatric patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers news brief about National Associations as of November, 2012. The 30th World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) Council Meeting and a series of workshops was held on March 2012, in Taiwan, hosted by Taiwan Occupational Therapy Association. The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Annual Conference and Expo is to be held on April 25-28, 2013, in U.S. A Seminar-Workshop titled "Doing Social Inclusion", was held on September 2012 in Greece.

The Lisbon Treaty enacted in 2009 allows the European Union (EU) to adopt a foreign, security, and defense policy with a higher profile. In particular, the High Representative and the European External Action Service are now in a position to conduct a continuous conversation with China, India, Japan, and ASEAN beyond trade-oriented dialogues. But a genuine strategic approach toward Asia requires military expertise so as to adequately assess how to best contribute to stability in this part of the world. Military diplomacy involving individual member states already takes place, yet virtually no information is shared at the EU level. The adoption of a full-fledged strategic approach toward Asia would not only be politically astute and make excellent economic sense; it can also consolidate EU institutions in the realm of foreign, security and defense policy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article charts the history of Japanese corporate engagement with India. While there has been a profound historic relationship between the two nations, economic interaction is commonly portrayed in the context of geographical and psychic distance. As institutions set the rules of corporate engagement, we analyse the evolving regulatory and policy regime for foreign direct investment (FDI) in post-independence India and the corporate strategies of Japanese multinational enterprises (MNEs) in response to this institutional change. Using a firm-level dataset we show that the trajectory of Japanese investment in India broadly follows that of other nationalities of foreign firms. Differentiated responses to institutional changes are detected by industry. Our analysis reveals important instances of Japanese firm flexibility and pragmatism vis-à-vis the rapidly growing Indian market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an analysis of the bilateral economic relations between Japan and India from 1991-2012. It explores the history of the Indo-Japanese economic relations, India's economic liberalization, and capital movements and migration of labor between the two countries. It also relates that the tie is conducive in strengthening the capital and population of the countries.

This article focuses on the Fourth Asian Games (Jakarta 1962) and the influence the Cold War, decolonisation and the Non-Aligned Movement had on international sports events. Caught between Indonesian nationalism under President Sukarno's ‘guided democracy’, pan-Asian responsibilities and the ‘Olympic ideal’, including not to mix sport and politics, a way had to be found to deal with Indonesia's decision to bar the participation of two member countries inthe Asian Games. Since the Games had been planned as a prestige project by the Indonesian government, foreign delegates faced the risk of serious political repercussions if Indonesia's behaviour was criticised or even challenged. Nevertheless, at the same time, international sports organisations put pressure on the delegates to uphold the ‘Olympic ideal’ of non-discrimination for political reasons. This article discusses how the Japanese and the Indian delegates responded to these incompatible demands. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Campus suicides have increased manifold across academic institutions, often leaving unresolved bereavement issues in these institutions, primarily because students are supposed to carry on with their daily activities with little or no time and attention paid to this necessary process. In this study, the role of cognitive-emotional processes in coping, especially when one is grieving a death, was investigated through a comparison between 40 bereaved Japanese and Indian female college students. The participants were assessed for resilience, cognitive-emotional regulation, posttraumatic cognition, and coping strategies in the aftermath of the suicide death of someone close. Positive reappraisal mediated the relationship between resilience and proactive coping, whereas negative cognitions about the self mediated the relationship between resilience and proactive as well as reflective coping. The participants from the two cultures differed significantly on resilience, with Indians scoring higher than Japanese young adults. The findings are analyzed in light of the coping with distressful life events model and could have possible implications for social workers and/or mental health professionals in terms of acceptability of interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author argues that India must restructure its foreign and security policies within the framework of a multipolar world, in which China has become the second largest economy, while the economies of U.S., Europe and Japan have stagnated. The key factors to a new Indian foreign policy are hinged on the presence of an unstable neighborhood, an assertive China and a divided domestic politics. The author also believes that India must use its economic, cultural, military and diplomatic profiles to highlights its place in the international arena.

Background Statistics are critical in holding governments accountable for the well-being of citizens with disability. International initiatives are underway to improve the quality of disability statistics, but meaningful ID data is exceptionally rare. Method The status of ID data was evaluated in a review of 12 national statistical systems. Recurring data collection by national ministries was identified and the availability of measures of poverty, exclusion, and disadvantage was assessed. Results A total of 131 recurring systems coordinated by 50 different ministries were identified. The majority included general disability but less than 25% of the systems screened ID. Of these, few provided policy-relevant data. Conclusions The scope of ID data was dismal at best, though a significant statistical infrastructure exists for the integration of ID data. Advocacy will be necessary. There is no optimal form of data monitoring, and decisions regarding priorities in purpose, targeted audiences, and the goals for surveillance must be resolved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the subprime-induced financial crisis broke out in the U.S. housing sector in the summer of 2007 and mushroomed into a global financial crisis by September 2008, it was widely believed that the Asian economies, especially the 'big four'-Japan, China, South Korea, and India-would remain largely immune from the worst of the crisis. However, this assumption has proven to be false. All four countries have felt the negative impact of the financial contagion-albeit differently. Whereas China and India have been moderately impacted, Japan and South Korea have experienced heightened financial instability, sharp economic contraction, and a deep recession. What explains the big four's vulnerability to the crisis, and why have Japan and South Korea been affected more negatively than China and India? How have the four countries responded to the crisis, and what can they do to further insulate their economies from the vagaries of the global financial markets? In this article, the author addresses these interrelated issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compares the patterns of women's employment in four major Asian economies: China, India, Japan and South Korea. It illuminates how the heterogeneous characteristics of political regimes, institutional arrangements and societal values are manifested in the employment system and human resources of each country. It also reveals the varying cultural, social and institutional forces that prevail, despite similar outcomes of women's employment. The contribution adds to existing knowledge of women's employment through the comparison of four major Asian countries which remains under-explored. It also contributes to the theoretical debates of gender and employment by adopting an interdisciplinary analytical framework that incorporates socio-cultural, politico-economic and institutional perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Confronted during the first decade of the twenty-first century with the rapidly burgeoning US-Indian security partnership and then by the emergence of the India-Japan security relationship, Beijing struggled to respond. After initially attempting to court India away from a too-close partnership with the United States in the first half of the decade, Beijing shifted to a more coercive approach around the end of 2005. One key mechanism used to pressure India was psychological war waged via the Internet raising the possibility of another Sino-Indian war. As China shifted from a soft to a hard-line approach toward India, policy toward Japan was moving in the opposite direction. After keeping relations with Japan in the freezer during the early part of the decade, around 2006, Beijing shifted gear and adopted a much more conciliatory approach. The authors hypothesize that these simultaneous shifts in Sino-Indian and Sino-Japanese relations were not coincidence but predicated instead on an understanding that simultaneous efforts to pressure Japan and India could drive those countries further together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A methodology is presented to accurately estimate electric power consumption from saturated night-time Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS) imagery using a stable light correction. An area correction for the stable light image of DMSP/OLS for the year 1999 was performed and the build-up area rate data were used to clarify the intensity distribution characteristics of the stable light. Based on the spatial distribution characteristics of the stable light, the saturation light of the electric power supply area of Japan was corrected using a cubic regression equation. The regression between the correction calculations by the cubic regression equation and the statistical electric power consumption data was applied in Japan and also in China, India and 10 other Asian countries. The correction method was then evaluated. This study confirms that electric power consumption can be estimated with high precision from the stable light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses two research questions: whether interest in Asian communication has been growing over the past 20 years, and whether there is an increasing level of participation and growing contributions among Asian scholars in the field of communication. Using 23 communication journals in the SSCI database, we identify Asia-related journal article titles and count the number of authors of Asian origins. We find that both are clearly on the rise, especially in the fields of new media and public relations. China, Japan, and South Korea have the largest share of title references, followed by Israel, Taiwan, India, and Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2008, India and Japan made a joint security declaration while asserting that a strategic partnership between the two countries would become an essential pillar for the future architecture of the region. This article examines whether the security declaration is a step toward building an enduring security partnership. It will consider perceptions in Japan and India of the bilateral security relationship, proposals for how to give it substance, and key issues that may impede the deepening of the relationship. This article will conclude that although there is no clear consensus as to the substance of the relationship, the relationship between India and Japan is likely to grow in coming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying a general functional form, the Marshall-Lerner condition of the bilateral trade between the US and Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, or Thailand is examined. In deriving the real exchange rate, both the relative consumer price index (CPI) and producer price index (PPI) are considered. The results show that the widely used log-log form can be rejected for Singapore and Malaysia using either the relative CPI or PPI and is also inappropriate for India and Pakistan using the relative PPI. The Marshall-Lerner condition holds for India, Korea, Japan and Pakistan, is confirmed for Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand using the relative CPI, and cannot be confirmed for Malaysia. Thus, in examining the Marshall-Lerner condition or the exchange rate behavior, non-linearity or the appropriateness of the functional form needs to be tested [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the volatility spillover effects among six Asian country stock markets using bivariate vector autoregression-generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity [VAR(p)-GARCH(1,1)] model. The six Asian countries are India, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan. This study found that there are statistically significant volatility spillover effects within the stock markets of these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Having maintained a low-key relationship since early postwar, Japan today shows increasing interest in India as a rising economic and regional power. The two nations are now developing ties in many areas consequent with India's ascent, most importantly in politico-strategic matters. This strategic development is intriguing as Tokyo was one of the most critical voices condemning New Delhi's decision to conduct nuclear testing in 1998, when the relationship reached its nadir. So why this strategic repositioning and why now? This article explores Japan's move towards India as an attempt to balance and bandwagon strategically. Japan's strategic thinking now recognises India as potential balance for Japan against China while Japan bandwagons with the United States in response to both India and China as rising Asian powers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensuring access to crude oil and natural gas forms a crucial component of India's security calculus. It also critically underlines the significance of sea transportation through which much of these vital resources are traded. With India virtually insular in terms of its land communications, its trade interests are increasingly focused on the maritime domain. Its vital interests in the security of sea routes at the same time are beginning to converge with those of Japan, the economic powerhouse of Asia, which being an island state is critically dependent on Pacific and Indian Ocean "maritime lifelines' not only for its energy imports but also for much of its food and other vital resource supplies. As the Indian economy grows, the strategic congruence between the two states is likely to strengthen because of two factors; first, the growing Asian economic integration, and second, the geographic locations of India and Japan vis-à-vis the global distribution of potential sources of strategic commodities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the incidence of leftward bias of paired organs and the incidence of accident among individuals with leftward, rightward and no bias in Japan and India. Cultural notion towards left-handedness and accidents; Comparison between the overall incidence of accidents in Japan and India.

The article presents an analysis of public relations in three dominant Asian cultures namely India, Japan and South Korea. In analyzing the public relations the authors described two types of metaresearch, arguing that "every communication researcher must do meta-research even though none of them is given any formal training in how to do it." Next, the authors review the literature in these three areas pertinent to this study. First, because they use the concept of culture and report on its impact on public relations in the three countries studied here, they review literature in the area of societal and corporate culture. Then, because they have used J. E. Grunig's models of public relations as the theoretical foundation for evaluating how public relations is practiced in the three countries, they briefly review literature on this widely written topic. Having identified the factors that cause the cultures of a society, it is important to understand how societal culture is manifested.

It is argued here that in transitional economies industrial growth depends not so much on the size of the agricultural surplus but rather on the rates of productivity growth and population growth in agriculture via their effects on the size of the home market for manufactures. In developing this argument estimates of the agricultural surplus and inter-sectoral market shares in post-restoration Japan and post-independence India are compared. A typology of agrarian systems is then suggested based on how alternative systems influence productivity and population trends in agriculture. The typology is illustrated with historical comparisons from Europe, Japan and India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article comments on the vision of Pittu Laungani, social scientist and researcher, regarding building multicultural counseling bridges and his several works on psychology. The author agreed with Laungani on the four continua and eight pillars that support the efforts on improving counseling across cultures. He discusses the four continua as mentioned in the works of Laungani which include individualism, communalism, free will or determinism, and material or spiritual continuum. He said that Laungani raises an important question on ethics which is the ethical universalism against ethical relativism. It points out that there is a real need for counseling and psychotherapy in urban areas of Japan and India.