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The women’s liberation movement in the United States of the late 1960s and early 1970s had more than a ripple effect on women in Japan as well as other countries like Australia. In most Japanese families the husband hands over his pay packet to his wife who then gives him ‘an allowance’ for pocket money and generally takes charge of the day-today management of the household’s activities and expenses. The home and domestic responsibilities have been the centre of Japanese women’s activities since the 1890s, but being ‘good wives and wise mothers’ was not in fact the ‘traditional’ ideal for women. Japanese mothers have been given the entire responsibility for their children’s success in this competition, and for most women who live in urban areas this is carried out without help from the extended family. Television, also a pervasive source of role models for women, provides another reason for feminists’ pessimism. Although.

This study focuses on a comparison of the three most popular sakariba (entertainment districts) in Tokyo of the late 1920s and 1930s to highlight the new role of leisure in everyday life as Japan industrialized and urbanized. The comparison of Asakusa, Ginza and Shinjuku shows that even as Japan became a mass society, leisure practices and patterns became stratified and diversified. This stratification and diversification reflected class, age and cultural tastes. The three sakariba developed distinctive characters and attractions for consumers, raising challenges to mass culture critics’ assumption that the rise of mass culture and commodity culture would lead to homogenization of taste and recreational products and a lack of consumer choice.

When historians have written about modernity in Japan during the interwar period their focus has predominantly been on Tokyo. One good reason is that writers and social commentators of the time the...

During the late 1910s to early 1920s leaders in women's education sought to rationalize and modernize daily life through the promotion of ‘domestic science’. Their writings, aimed at young educated...

The Japanese government introduced new social welfare policies and institutions during the late 1910s and 1920s that acknowledged the growing significance of the ‘social question’ in Japan and seemingly recognized that social and economic structures were responsible for an increasing number of urban poor. However, a moralistic approach to the solution of poverty remained prominent, which aimed at ‘guiding’ and ‘correcting’ poor families' behaviour, values and ‘thought’. This revealed the persistence of an assumption that the poor were poor due to their individual moral failings. The Relief and Protection Law of 1929 and social welfare institutions and practices defined the poor as morally undeserving and thereby marginalized and marked them as inferior to respectable members of Japanese society. Not only was relief inadequate to raise the poor out of poverty; discriminatory treatment and stigmatization excluded the poor from being full members of Japanese society, a situation that still affects J...

This article focuses on Japanese government restrictions and regulation of urban entertainments during the 1920s and 1930s as examples of attempts to rectify what was perceived as the declining morals of a modernizing, industrializing Japanese society. In this respect it adds another dimension to depictions of the Second World War as opposition to the cultural as well as political hegemony of the major Western powers. However, although war no doubt gave added impetus to the state's desire to unify popular support and sense of loyalty to the nation, morality campaigns had been initiated even before war had become an imminent possibility. Restrictions were imposed on cafés, dance halls and other modern entertainments, representing opposition to Westernizing, modernizing trends in social values and behaviour that had become prominent in the cities during the 1920s—individualism, materialism, sexuality, and more particularly, female sexuality. Middle class Protestants played a significant role in promoting and shaping these policies. Although such reformers disagreed with the government on other matters, they actively enlisted governmental support to carry out a moral cleansing of the ‘spiritual pests’ infesting the nation.

Jeff Kingston is well qualified to write what is intended as an introduction to the history of postwar and contemporary Japan. He is a long-time resident academic in Japan and a regular commentator...

JAN BARDSLEY and LAURA MILLER (eds). Manners and Mischief: Gender, Power, and Etiquette in Japan . Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 2011. 284 pp. US$25.00, paper. J...

A crystal structure determination of a bilirubin analog with a sulfur instead of a C(10)–CH2 linking the two dipyrrinones is reported. Conformation-determining torsion angles and key hydrogen bond distances and angles are compared to those obtained from molecular dynamics calculations as well as to the corresponding data from X-ray determinations and molecular dynamics calculations of bilirubin. Like other bilirubins, the component dipyrrinones of the analog are present in the bis-lactam form with (Z)-configurated double bonds at C(4) and C(15). Despite the large differences in bond lengths and angles at –S–vs.–CH2–, the crystal structure shows considerable similarity to bilirubin: both pigments adopt a folded, intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded ridge-tile conformation stabilized by six hydrogen bonds – although the interplanar angle of the ridge-tile conformation of the title compound is smaller (∼ 86°) than that of bilirubin (∼ 98°). The collective data indicate that even with long C–S bond lengths and a smaller C–S–C bond angle at the pivot point on the ridge-tile seam, intramolecular hydrogen bonding persists.

A symmetrical C(10)-thiabilirubin analogue, 8,12-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-2,3,17,18-tetraethyl-7,13-dimethyl-10-thia-(21H,23H,24H)-bilin-1,19-dione (1), was synthesized from 8-(2-carboxyethyl)-2,3-diethyl-7-methyl-10H-dipyrrin-1-one in one step by reaction with sulfur dichloride. The thia-rubin exhibited the expected IR, UV-vis, and NMR spectroscopic properties, which are rather similar to those of mesobilirubin-XIIIalpha. Like bilirubin and mesobilirubin, 1 adopts an intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded conformation, shaped like a ridge-tile but with a steeper pitch. The longer C-S bond lengths and smaller bond angles at C-S-C, as compared to C-CH(2)-C, lead to an interplanar angle between the two dipyrrinones of only 74 degrees -or considerably less than that of bilirubin (approximately 100 degrees). On normal- and reversed-phase chromatography, 1 is substantially less polar than bilirubin. Despite this conformational distortion, 1 is metabolized in normal rats to acyl glucuronides, which are secreted into bile. In mutant (Gunn) rats lacking bilirubin glucuronosyl transferase, 1 (like bilirubin) was not excreted in bile.

Significant effort has been made to develop synthetic metal complexes that hydrolyze DNA. Here we report a new dicerium complex, Ce(2)(HXTA) (HXTA = 5-methyl-2-hydroxy-1,3-xylene-alpha,alpha-diamine-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid), which can hydrolyze DNA at pH 8 and 37 degrees C. This complex hydrolyzes DNA restriction fragments to give products with high regioselectivity, affording >90% 5'-OPO(3) and 3'-OH ends, like the products of DNA hydrolyzing enzymes. Ce(2)(HXTA) also hydrolyzes Litmus 29 plasmid DNA to afford both nicked and linear DNA. Analysis of the relative amounts of supercoiled, nicked, and linear DNA present show that there is one double-strand cleavage per ten single-strand cleavages, indicating that the linear DNA formed cannot be the result of two random single-strand cleavage events. The kinetics of nicked and linear DNA formation are comparable, both being associated with apparent first-order rate constants of approximately 1 x 10(-)(4) s(-)(1) for complex concentrations of 10(-)(5)-10(-)(4) M. These observations suggest that similar factors affect the hydrolysis of the first and second DNA strands and that cleaving the phosphodiester bond is likely the rate determining step in both cases. This is the first detailed study of a metal complex shown to mimic DNA hydrolases in their capability to effect double-strand DNA hydrolysis regioselectively at the 3'-O-P bond.

The synthesis, crystal structure determination, conformational analysis, and spectroscopic properties of 3,3′-diethyl-4,4′-dimethyl-2,2′-dipyrryl ketone (1) are reported. The dipyrryl ketone is a model for the dipyrrole core of 10-oxobilirubin, a presumed metabolite in alternate pathways of excretion of the yellow pigment of jaundice, bilirubin. In the crystal, 1 adopts a helical conformation, with a molecule of one helicity being hydrogen-bonded to two molecules of the opposite helicity. Thus, 1 self-assembles via hydrogen bonding into supramolecular double-stranded arrays, where molecules of the same helicity comprise one strand and are paired through hydrogen bonding to molecules of opposite helicity in the second strand. In the observed molecular conformation each pyrrole ring and adjacent carbonyl group are rotated into an sc conformation (torsion angle ∼29 °), with each N-H pointing in the same direction as the C*O. Molecular mechanics/dynamics calculations predict the sc,sc conformation, absent hydrogen bonding, to be the most stable, but only by a few tenths of a kj/mol. In CHCl3, 1 is monomeric according to vapor pressure osmometry studies (\(\)). 1H NMR NH chemical shifts in CDCl3 suggest a predominantly anti orientation of the C=O and pyrrole NHs, which is opposite to the orientation observed in the crystal.

A crystal structure determination of the new dipyrrylmethane diethyl-2,3,5,5,7,8-hexamethyl-5,10-dihydrodipyrrin-1,9-dicarboxylate (1) is only the third reported for a dipyrrylmethane and the first with a gem-dimethyl group at the bridging carbon atom. Conformation determining torsion angles are compared to those from molecular mechanics calculations and to the corresponding data for an analogous dipyrrylmethane (2) with no gem-dimethyl moiety. The crystal structures of 1 and 2 differ significantly: 1 adopts the +ac,+ac or −ac,−ac conformation, whereas 2 exists in the −ac,+sc conformation in an intermolecularly hydrogen bonded dimer. There is no evidence for hydrogen bonding in crystals of 1, and its ac conformation is unlike that found about the central core of bilirubin (sc,sc). Taken collectively, the data indicate that the presence of a sterically demanding and potentially conformation distorting gem-dimethyl group located at the bridging carbon of a dipyrrylmethane (i) stabilizes a conformation that brings the pyrrole NH groups syn to the gem-dimethyls and (ii) would destabilize the ridge-title conformation of 10,10-dimethylbilirubin.

A crystal structure determination of 2,2′-bipyrroyl (1; 2,2′-dipyrryl-diketone, bis (2-pyrrolyl)ethanedione) and its spectroscopic properties in solution are reported. In the crystal, 1 self-assembles via hydrogen bonding into supramolecular ribbons that extend indefinitely through the crystal lattice. The observed molecular conformation is one where each pyrrole ring and adjacent carbonyl group are co-planar (torsion angle ∼ 0.9°), with the N-H pointing in the same direction as the C=O. The two carbonyls have a transoid but not co-planar geometry with a torsion angle of ∼128°. Adjacent molecules in the crystal are linked by pairs of intermolecular hydrogen bonds, pyrrole NH to carbonyl oxygen, to form a matrix of polymeric chains that lie like neatly stacked, parallel streams of ribbons. Molecular mechanics calculations on the monomer indicate an intra-molecularly hydrogen bonded planar conformation (sp, ap, sp) at the global energy minimum. In CHCl3, 1 is monomeric according to vapor pressure osmometry (MWobs=179±10 vsċMWcalc=188). In THF, the measured molecular weight is 340±15, which corresponds best to one molecule of 1 solvated by two THF molecules (MW=322 for C10H8N2O4ċ2 C4H8O) rather than to a dimer.

A crystal structure determination of a bilirubin analog (1) with an isopropyl group at C(10) is reported. Conformation determining torsion angles within the molecule and key hydrogen bond distances and angles are compared to those from molecular dynamics calculations and to the corresponding values from bilirubin X-ray determinations and molecular dynamics calculations. The crystal structure of 1 is very similar to that found by X-ray analysis of bilirubin and shows that 1 adopts a folded, intramolecularly hydrogen bonded ridge-tile conformation stabilized by six hydrogen bond. Taken collectively, the data indicate that even when a sterically demanding and potentially conformation distorting isopropyl group is located on the ridge-tile seam near the center of the molecule at C(10), intramolecular hydrogen bonding persists in the solid state. Like other bilirubins, the component dipyrrinones of 1 are present in the bis-lactam form with Z-configuration double bonds at C(4) and C(15).

A yellow tripyrrole analog (1) of bilirubin has been synthesized, and its lone propionic acid group is found to engage in conformation determining, intramolecular hydrogen bonding in solution and in the crystal. Molecular modelling and X-ray crystallography reveal an abbreviated ridge-tile or L-shape conformation in which an essentially planar dipyrrinone is hydrogen bonded to the single opposing propionic acid group. In the (arbitrary) (P)-helicity ridge-tile, the torsion angles about C(10) are computed to be 55° and 61° by molecular dynamics and found to be 66° and 53° in the crystal. Such torsion angles lead to an interplanar dihedral angle (∼93°) between the dipyrrinone and its adjoining pyrrole that is very close to the dihedral angle (∼98°) found in intramolecularly hydrogen bonded bilirubin.

Post-1945 Japan is known for its remarkably low birth rate and a heavy reliance on abortion for birth control purposes. What may be less well known is the extensive use of contraceptive methods as well to limit or regulate births and the role played by the prewar birth control movement in making the concept of birth control socially acceptable. The prewar movement owed its origins and much of its success in changing attitudes toward birth control to the efforts of an individual feminist – Ishimoto Shizue. Ishimoto, in turn, owed much support and guidance to the American birth control leader, Margaret Sanger. A study of Ishimoto and the prewar Japanese birth control movement highlights the importance of international cross-currents in feminist thought and practice, for Ishimoto's meeting of the dynamic and controversial American leader focused her energies on birth control as a means to bring about women's liberation in Japan. Ishimoto's relationship with Sanger continued and grew throughout the f...

This chapter begins with two quotations from feminist works on women and modernity to point to the object of analysis in this chapter, namely, department stores. The first is from Meaghan Morris's 'Things to Do with Shopping Centres'. The second, from Rita Felsky's The Gender of Modernity , similarly expresses concern with the everyday and the mundane to expand our understanding of modernity as it shaped the lives of the non-elite and especially non-elite women. During the Meiji period the government initiated the project of modernity as 'civilization' in the European Enlightenment sense, and the chapter shows that department store managers shared this commitment to 'modernism', a belief in change along Western lines as progress. The chapter examines a place and space that became central to modern Japanese life and a disseminator of modernist aesthetics to the general Japanese public during the early twentieth century. Keywords: department stores; Meiji period; modern Japanese life; The Gender of Modernity

A yellow tripyrrole analog (1) of bilirubin has been synthesized, and its lone propionic acid group is found to engage in conformation determining, intramolecular hydrogen bonding in solution and in the crystal. Molecular modelling and X-ray crystallography reveal an abbreviated ridge-tile or L-shape conformation in which an essentially planar dipyrrinone is hydrogen bonded to the single opposing propionic acid group. In the (arbitrary) (P)-helicity ridge-tile, the torsion angles about C(10) are computed to be 55° and 61° by molecular dynamics and found to be 66° and 53° in the crystal. Such torsion angles lead to an interplanar dihedral angle (∼93°) between the dipyrrinone and its adjoining pyrrole that is very close to the dihedral angle (∼98°) found in intramolecularly hydrogen bonded bilirubin.

This study of growing restrictions on cafés in Japan during the 1920s and 1930s provides a case study of moral regulation as a form of politics defined in a broad sense. Governmental authorities cracked down on cafés which they perceived to be the source of threats to established social norms and gender roles posed by « modem », Western trends of the 1920s. The repression demonstrates that Japan's prewar crisis was as much domestic and social as it was international and political. The Japanese police had played a social role in moral regulation since the Meiji period (1868-1912), but this was further expanded in the conflict over modernity. Cette étude porte sur les restrictions croissantes imposées aux cafés dans le Japon des années 1920 et 1930. Elle présente un cas de police des mœurs comme un aspect de la politique, au sens large du terme. Les autorités gouvernementales réprimèrent les cafés parce qu'elles voyaient l'origine des menaces que la vogue « moderne » inspirée de l'Occident faisait peser sur les normes sociales et les rôles sexuels établis. La répression montre que la crise japonaise d'avant-guerre était tout autant interne et sociale qu'internationale et politique. La police japonaise intervenait dans la régulation des mœurs depuis l'ère Meiji (1868-1912), mais le conflit relatif à la modernité donna une nouvelle expansion à ce rôle.

H. D. Harootunian. Things Seen and Unseen: Discourse and Ideology in Tokugawa Nativism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988. Pp. 488. US$$40.00, cloth; US$14.95, paper.

Researchers have long documented the importance of patient advocacy programs as a means of providing customer service in health-care organizations. Yet, while effective communication is often acknowledged as key to effective patient advocacy, knowledge of the specific communication role functions enacted by patient advocates remains limited, as does our understanding of the function of patient advocacy at the organizational level. This qualitative investigation not only provides a typology of communication roles enacted by patient advocates while solving problems on behalf of patients and their family members, but also integrates scholarly research on "boundary-spanning" as a means of theoretically contextualizing the advocacy role at the organizational level.

Women workers in Japan — costed, not valued. It would be quite easy to paint this picture of Japanese women workers since the late nineteenth century. Until the late 1970s women’s enormous contribution to Japan’s industrialisation was not recognised by historians. In Japan, it was a book by Yamamoto Shigemi (Yamamoto, 1977) written for a popular audience, and later made into a film, that exposed the deplorable conditions of women workers in the early textile mills. Then in the early 1980s Mikiso Hane conveyed the picture to Western audiences to reveal the ‘underside’ of Japan’s economic success story (Hane, 1982). Meanwhile, the wave of women’s liberation movements in the early 1970s had stimulated the emergence of a feminist women’s history that also depicted the exploitation of women industrial workers. But while all these pioneering studies were obviously sympathetic to women, they tended, like earlier labour histories, to portray the women workers as passive victims, uninterested or incapable of protest.