The changing position of Japanese women

In this article, Sumiko Iwao, Chair of the Japanese government's Council for Gender Equality and Professor at the Musashi Institute of Technology, Tokyo, surveys the current status of change among Japanese women and discusses the measures that need to be taken in order to achieve a gender‐neutral society. For Japan today, says Iwao, the task is to form a society where men and women can lead enjoyable lives in which there is a balance between the demands of home and work. In order for this to happen, there is an urgent need to build a gender‐neutral society to enable men and women to help each other in managing their housework, raising children, and having careers. Creating such a society promises an environment where all people, regardless of gender, can lead richer lives.     

The Japanese economy on the mend

There are two main reasons for the prolonged period of weak growth in the Japanese economy, says Mikio Wakatsuki, Chairman of the Board of Counsellors, The Japan Research Institute, Tokyo. The first is complacency; the second is that Japan has overlooked the implications of changes in the global economic paradigm. Both have led Japan to procrastination in dealing with the problems it faces. Wakatsuki identifies five problems in the Japanese economy: deflation, debt, deregulation, deficit, and demography. Despite the challenges these problems pose, he sees 1999 as a year of consolidation and rehabilitation for the economy, which will pave the way for a moderate, healthy upswing in the year 2000.     

The Afterlives of Post-War Japanese Prime Ministers

Despite growing interest over the last 20 years in the position and power of the Japanese prime minister, what he does after resigning from this position has been overlooked in the extant literatures in both English and Japanese. This is unfortunate because, to paraphrase former US President Bill Clinton, as an ex-leader “you lose your power but not your influence.” This article represents the first attempt to explore what post-war Japanese prime ministers have done after stepping down and what influence they have continued to exert. It does so by providing an empirical overview of the afterlives of Japan’s 33 post-war ex-prime ministers before then discussing the benefits and shortcomings of applying the comparative, conceptual literature on the role of former leaders in Western democracies to the specific case of Japan. After providing the necessary justification, it then focuses on three detailed and illuminating case studies of Nakasone Yasuhiro, Murayama Tomiichi and Fukuda Yasuo. It argues that Japanese prime ministers continue to exert influence in several informal ways.     

近代日本医护队伍的发展

明治维新以后,日本大力发展医疗事业,创立了以西方医学为基础的近代医学教育和行政体系,培养了大批职业的医生、助产士和护士等医学人才。近代日本医护队伍的发展,提高了医护人员的社会地位和职业水平,推动了医学知识和卫生意识的传播和普及,为日本人口数量和质量的提高做出了卓越贡献。     

日本企业CSR的推进机制

企业虽以获取经济的最大利润为根本，但除此之外，企业作为社会的基本单位之一，还需为社会、环境等的可持续发展尽自己的一份责任和力量。日本企业的CSR活动虽晚于欧美主要发达国家，但近年来发展速度很快。日本企业通过确立CSR理念、建立相关规章制度以及具体推进措施等积累了诸多成功经验，值得学习与借鉴。     

The Japanese Movement to Protest Wartime Sexual Violence: A Survey of Japanese and International Literature

ABSTRACT

This paper contributes a genealogical perspective to the social sciences study of robots in Japan, proposing a widely applicable research on “robot cultures.” The author discusses the corporate and governmental strategies and mechanisms that are shaping a national robot culture through establishing robot “lineages” and a national robot history which can have significant implications for both humans and robots. The paper contributes discussions on monozukuri (manufacturing) and Nihonjinron (theories on “Japaneseness”) to the existing anthropological consideration of robots, by examining links between monozukuri and robots, robot genealogy, popular culture and robots, and different social rituals and sites that help the enculturation of robots. The paper draws attention to the power relations and hegemonies of robot culture which also imply the existence of plurality and diversity that will require further scholarly attention as the robot phenomenon unfolds.     

日本国风文化的特征与意义

国风文化是产生于平安时代中期以后的独具日本风韵的文化。其主要表现为净土信仰的流行、造型艺术的繁荣以及国文学的隆盛。以贵族为中心、以和风为主体的国风文化,对后世日本文化的发展与繁荣给予了深远而持久的影响。     

略论中日关系中的能源因素

能源因素是影响中日关系的重要变量.20世纪以来,中日间的能源关系大致历经了两个阶段:日本帝国主义大肆掠夺中国能源时期和新中国成立之后中日间平等互利的能源合作时期.后冷战时期,随着国际格局的演变,日本新保守主义的抬头,中日之间在能源安全领域的竞争日趋激烈.积极倡导中日间能源领域的合作不仅有助于改善两国关系,而且对维护东亚稳定具有重要意义.     

The Security Treaty System and the Japanese Military-Industrial Complex

Abstract

Recently much discussion has focused on the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, first signed in September, 1951, renewed in a more equitable form in 1960, and up for renewal again in 1970. Much less attention has been paid the U.S.-Japan military-economic relationship shaped largely by adminstrative agreements that followed in the wake of the first Security Treaty. This article deals with that military-economic relationship and other aspects of recent U.S.-Japanese relations relevant to the discussion of contemporary American imperialism in Asia.     

The Japanese legal system: Why many Americans fail

In the United States, a businessperson can operate within the familiar framework of American law, relying on a legal expert only for the relevant specifics. However, because the historical background, modern usage, and basic logical structure of the Japanese legal system differs so completely from American expected norms, this simple acquaintance with the law is insufficient in Japan. The failure of the American trans-Pacific business community to acquaint itself adequately with the unique Japanese legal system has contributed to America’s inability to penetrate Japanese markets, the default of many business ventures, and ultimately to the decline of America’s economic status relative to Japan.     

日本佛教题材文学的演变及当代转型

始于明治元年的"废佛毁释"运动彻底改变了日本佛教的命运,由此产生的新文化语境与思想生态对日本佛教题材文学的创作产生了重大影响。纵观近代以来约150年间的日本佛教题材文学,其中的佛教思想接受模式呈现了从信仰、怀疑、理性主义到多元宗教观的变迁,实践了与佛教地位转型相呼应的文学创作转型。而多元信仰的必然结果是人们无暇顾及自我磨砺,急功近利的宗教心理使得"他力思想"和"恶人正机"等方便法门取代了注重修行的正统佛教思想。新生代僧侣作家的登场则将传统僧侣文学和现代文学融于一体,既让人们了解到神秘的僧界,亦使佛教更多地介入了现代世俗生活,他们作品中呈现的多元宗教观亦符合当下日本民众的多元信仰形态。     

日本家族政治的现状及成因分析

20世纪60年代后,家族政治开始在日本政坛出现,人们对日本家族政治开始关注起来。1955年自民党成立,之后的38年间日本政坛大致经历了4代家族政治人物。在现任议员中“世袭议员”占了40％,在发达国家中这个比例是最高的。日本家族政治的形式在归纳起来大致为3大类：一是随同父兄进入国会、二是长期的工作上形成的信任关系、三是门生与老师的关系,当然家族政治也是按照一定原则形成起来的,其形成是日本传统的家族制度,选举制度、派阀政治以及后援会的存在共同影响的结果。     

近代日本宪法学中的国体论流变

近代日本的国体论包括神国思想、尊皇思想和伦理道德,与宪法解释密切相关。在明治、大正、昭和3个时期的主流宪法解释中,国体论发生流变,从纯粹法理上的天皇主权到日本独有的皇室尊严、忠君爱国等国民性,政治神学与伦理道德持续侵入世俗性权力体系,天皇拥有与日本民族永久同在、无可变更的统治权,而国民主体性则在此过程中逐渐被消解掉了。国体论在与宪法解释的互动变化中,最终也成为了法西斯统治的关键道具。     

Sino‐Japanese relations: A Japanese perspective

Although Sino‐Japanese relations seem much improved in recent years, Tomoyuki Kojima, professor of political science at Keio University, still sees numerous problems that Japan must come to terms with before the two countries can develop a truly close relationship. Points of friction include Japan's past aggression in China, Chinese nuclear testing, regional security issues, and China's criticism of Japan. This paper was presented at the conference, “China and Japan in the Asia‐Pacific region since the Pacific War and Prospects for the Future,” held in Beijing on Nov. 12–13, 1995, by the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations and the Australian National University.