Japan’s new role in peace-building missions

Japan’s policy towards peace operations has been in a state of evolution. One of the issues on its peace operations policy was that the Japanese Government tended too much attention to possible tasks involving the Self Defense Forces (SDF). However, the Japanese society should consider the possibility of its participation in peace operations in the wider framework, such as multifunctional peace-building missions. In fact, the concept of peace-building is compatible with UN Millennium Declaration in 2000, and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also recommends that peace-building should be included as one of the priority issues in Japan's new policy on Official Development Assistance (ODA). Meanwhile, Japan will be required to participate in peace-building with the framework of multinational forces as well as the United Nations in the current post-9/11 era, such as its current mission in Iraq.     

Nationalist in a Liberal Order: Why Populism Missed Japan

In the past few years, many wealthy democracies have exhibited significant backlash against the liberal international order. Why has Japan—also a leader of this order—remained comparatively calm? I argue that though Japan was a prominent member of the liberal international order, in many ways it pursued policies far less liberal than those of its partners. Japanese trade policies (lingering trade barriers in in agriculture and non-tariff barriers in industrial sector) protected different sectors of the Japanese economy. Where Japan did liberalize, the government upheld the social compact of extending benefits to dislocated workers. Furthermore, Japan’s strict immigration policy contrasts with far more welcoming immigration policies in Europe and the United States. Tokyo deferred to public skepticism about immigration (rather than disregarding it, as did American and European leaders). The more nationalist agenda of a leading liberal state is critical for understanding both the roots of the current crisis in the liberal international order—and how it might be saved.     

Liberal Democracy and the Politics of Criminal Justice in Australia

Liberal democratic states like Australia manage criminal justice issues in ways which reflect an inbuilt tension between liberal and democratic values. Liberal democracies are responsive both to liberal claims and to democratic claims. As a result, policy debates and strategies can oscillate between (on the one hand) liberal sensitivity to individual rights and opposition to enhanced state capacity and (on the other hand) democratically legitimised community norms and collective values. Four crime-related policy debates — about the creation and operation of the National Crime Authority, about strategies for combating drug-related crime, about gun control legislation and about identity systems to counter money laundering, tax evasion and public benefit fraud — illustrate the characteristic liberal democratic mode of politics in operation. The spectrum of policy responses to crime issues within liberal democratic political systems corresponds to an analogous spectrum within criminology which encompasses individualistic and structuralist conceptions of the nature and causes of crime.     

Individuals in the Japanese cultural context

In recent years Japanese ways of thinking and behavioral patterns have changed considerably. Perhaps most important, according to Hayao Kawai, Director‐General of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto, has been a change in the relationship between individuals and society as a whole. This change will be worthwhile if it unleashes the initiative and capability of each individual for the good of society, Kawai says, but if it should give rise to an unfettered form of egoism, Japan is bound to end up with serious social problems. Japanese people are raised to be aware of the totality of relationships between people, so Japanese society presents a model of man in society that is quite different from the individualistic model of Western society. The task is to live with both world views, and constantly seek better ways to deal with the changing outside world.     

日本强震及核危机对全球经济的影响

地震、海啸、核安全问题接连发生,日本正在经历史上罕见的“大创伤”。强震、海啸、核危机对日本经济的负面冲击明显大于阪神地震。日本地震后的灾后重建与阪神地震时的财政环境明显不同,地震提高了日本政府的违约风险和隐含的主权债务风险。但对世界经济整体而言,日本大地震不会影响全球经济复苏的步伐。虽然全球股市企稳回升,但“核阴云”笼罩亚太、大宗商品呈现先抑后扬的态势,加之受利比亚战争及发达国家的量化宽松货币政策等外围因素影响,日本大地震使全球金融市场未来面临诸多不确定性。日本地震对中国经济影响有限,灾后重建对中国出口及产业发展带来有利契机。     

Regime Shift in Japan?Two Decades of Neoliberal Reforms

This paper uses insights drawn from a paired comparison of Switzerland and Japan to give an account of the changes brought about by neoliberal policy adaptation in Japan over the last two decades. In Switzerland, notwithstanding further liberalization of the traditionally liberal regime prompted by the economic hardships of the 1990s, the referendum system helped the Social Democrats and unions to defend their rights and maintain the welfare schemes belatedly established in the 1980s. By contrast, the Japanese ruling party not only delayed liberalization of the protectionist state, but also aggravated fiscal problems by implementing a series of expansionary macroeconomic policies in the 1990s. Thus, without pursuing coherently such neoliberal policies as fiscal consolidation, privatization, or market deregulation, the Japanese state now faces a serious dilemma between the immediate need for structural reforms and the social unease that would result. Focusing on the reform packages of the Nakasone (1982‐87), Hashimoto (1996‐98), and Koizumi (2001‐) administrations, the paper reviews the sequences of reform policies as an interplay among economic challenges, actors’ aspirations, and institutional constraints, and further develops arguments about the segmented structure, peculiar to the Japanese state, that retards political changes.     

石原现象及其成因分析

石原现象是日本国内政治环境整体"右倾化"的具体表象之一,以其所代表的右翼势力为主要依托,其主要特点是思想上体现右倾与民族主义情结,行为上进行组织整合、企图问鼎国家政权,在政策主张上修宪、改变国家制度以及外交上的排外反华等;其产生与持续演化,受到日本的经济萧条、政党制度、社会思潮与日本文化的特性等诸多因素共同作用。石原现象不仅冲击了日本政局、毒化了日本社会,也严重损害了中日关系,必须引起重视与警惕。在安倍当政且日本第三极势力崛起后,注重研究石原现象是审视日本内政外交之间多元互动、应对日本在整个国际格局中非良性作用渗透的重要参照物。     

日本在缅甸的平衡外交:特点与困境

冷战时期,日本与缅甸建立了特殊的历史友好关系,但在1988年以后双边关系较为冷淡。尽管日本之后一再努力,希望恢复昔日对缅影响与特殊的邦交,但收效甚微。日本在对缅关系上,一方面利用援助制裁实行有限的压力政策,另一方面又保持对缅接触,实行制裁和接触政策之间的中间路线。日本在缅甸问题上表现出的两面性,是其在国内各界分歧、日美基轴外交与亚洲独立外交、国家利益与价值观外交之间相互平衡的结果。     

20世纪90年代以来日本财政政策失效成因

二战后,日本通过实施凯恩斯的积极财政政策,实现了经济的高速增长。然而,伴随着20世纪90年代经济的长期萧条,传统的财政政策失效。本文通过巴罗模型检验了日本各项财政支出对经济增长的影响。实证分析结果表明：公共投资效果不佳成为日本财政政策失效的主要原因,而优化公共投资结构、提高公共投资乘数、调整财政支出结构,防范财政风险可以提高日本财政政策效应。     

日本近代的“公德”“训言”

日本近代的“公德”“训言”,是对近代日本国民遵守“公德”规则、规范的行为指导,并且以简单易记、容易理解、便于操作的表达方式体现。日本近代“公德”“训言”,是近代日本政府重视“公德”提升的产物,是落实统治者国民道德教育方针的手段之一。日本近代“公德”“训言”,其主要内容包括“消极公德”的“训言”和“积极公德”的“训言”。“公德”之“训言”以“训言”的方式告诫国民要有所不为、有所为。日本近代“公德”“训言”,是与道德的其他“训言”紧密联系在一起的,因为道德诸要素之间是相互作用、相互影响的,国民整体素质的提高,也是道德诸要素相互作用的结果。日本近代“公德”“训言”以及道德的其他“训言”,对于促进日本国民素质的整体提高,对于提高整个国家的“公德”水平,起到了潜移默化的作用。     

Von einem liberalen zu einem post‐liberalen Wohlfahrtsstaat: der Wandel der gewerkschaftlichen Sozialpolitik in der Schweiz

The article reconstructs the development of the Swiss welfare state against the background of the transformation of trade unions' social policy activities. It detects a sequence of trade unions' activities in social policy which runs uniformly to the development of the welfare state. While in the liberal phase of the Swiss welfare state trade unions were sceptical of national social policy and preferred mutual insurance and collective bargaining, in its post‐liberal phase they have become proponents of national social policy legislation.     

‘Surrounding Areas’ and The Recalibration of Japan’s Threat Perception

The official narratives of Surrounding Areas in the 1997 New Guidelines are a curiosity: on the one hand, they signify Japan??s readiness to increase its international involvement, while on the other hand, the geographical designation remains vague despite Japan??s preoccupation with Asia. This suggests that Asia as Japan??s neighbourhood is considered along with international developments to facilitate the emergence of an ambiguous language for Japanese policy makers as they seek to adapt to changes in the international environment. As such, the term ??Surrounding Areas?? signifies Tokyo??s anxieties in facing up to new challenges, as well as the willingness of the government to enhance Japan??s international role while maintaining its status as a pacifist state.     

Hedging Against China: Japanese Strategy Towards A Rising Power

Debates about how states deal with rising powers have been mainly concentrated on a continuum comprising on balancing and bandwagoning strategies. While theory has principally offered realist and liberal explanations, Japanese behavior vis-à-vis China does not match with them. Japan is not powerful enough to balance against China but remains too strong to bandwagon. Accordingly, Tokyo is pursuing a mixed strategy of both containment and engagement, which may be better described as a hedging strategy against Beijing. This article analyzes which strategies states can adopt when dealing with a rising power and proposes a framework to analyze Japan’s recent policy towards China based on Kuik’s analysis. We argue that Japan’s hedging strategy towards China is consistent with how middle-power states deal with rising power.     

Determinants of Happiness in Japan and the Netherlands: Macro and Micro Analysis and Comparison

It is often said that the Japanese happiness is lower than that of Europeans. However, sufficient discussion has yet to take place with consideration of differences in social forms as a background factor. In this study, therefore, by leveraging comparative international surveys, we empirically study and compare the factors that affect happiness in Japan and in the Netherlands, a country which has a higher happiness level than other European countries, from both macro (country level) and micro (individual level) perspectives.

This paper focuses on life evaluation as happiness. It was confirmed through the results of our macro analysis that social support (i.e., having relatives or friends you can count on to help you when you are in trouble) is the factor that significantly improves the level of life evaluation both in Japan and the Netherlands compared to other countries. In addition, change of the logarithmic value of GDP per capita in Japan is negative and statistically significant, which coincides with the Easterlin Paradox claim that more income does not bring greater happiness. On the other hand, we were unable to confirm the Easterlin Paradox in the Netherlands, in which change of the logarithmic value of GDP per capita is positive, though not statistically significant. Furthermore, our longitudinal data analysis in this paper also revealed that healthy life expectancy and generosity are insignificant, although their significance has been claimed in earlier studies (e.g. Helliwell et al, 2017).

Although our macro analysis found social support is important both for Japanese and Dutch happiness on average, the results of our micro analysis have revealed different views and structure of society; the Netherlands is a welfare society in which the public sector and the citizens support each other, and Japan is a welfare society which is based on support provided by community including families and the local area. In other words, the Netherlands showed greater trust on others in general (general trust) than Japan, and Japan showed greater trust on families (family trust) than the Netherlands, a factor that had an influence on happiness levels of individuals in the respective countries. That is, while the Netherlands’ vision of a welfare society is based on “individuals and the public,” under which the independent citizens take the initiative in supporting each other, Japan’s vision of welfare society is based on “community,” under which families have a duty to support each other. In Japan, where freedom of choice is more limited than in the Netherlands, people who have more freedom of choice were found to be happier.

In order to improve happiness in both countries, we need to strengthen social support based on their respectively unique visions of welfare society rather than resorting to income-boosting economic policies. In doing so, the key for Japan would be whether or not the system can be reformed in such a way as to allow freedom of choice to individuals.     

日本对华认识研究方面的社会分层问题探析

日本对华认识研究的前提是完成对概念的界定与对研究对象的分析。围绕中日邦交正常化的实现,考察日本政界、经济界、舆论媒体、学界、民界各自发生的作用,能够发现日本社会对华认识的生成路径:政界的对华政策与经济界的经济利益谋求结合形成某个时期的日本对华认识框架;舆论媒体在此框架之下展开具倾向性的宣传,使此认识框架更加明晰;在此基础上,学界的研究与其遥相呼应,推动了社会舆论的形成;信息化的发展及各层次之间的相互利益纠葛使民间团体和一般民众的社会地位日益提高。故应实现对日本社会各阶层对华认识形成的原因、过程、影响力等进行全面、综合、详尽的研究。     

Japan-Asia economic relations: Trade, investment, and the economic crisis

Japan has been and will continue to be an important economic player in the Asian region through its internationalization policy involving trade, foreign investments, aid, technical and other forms of economic cooperation. More recently, despite its own domestic problems, Japan has extended financial and other forms of assistance and support to the Asian economies which have been hit by the economic crisis. As it is in its interests that the Asian region survives and recover, Japan will indeed continue to lend a helping hand to Asia, either through unilateral or multilateral forms of assistance or both. Due to growing interdependence, Asia needs Japan and Japan needs Asia. This article analyzes Japan's economic relations with Asia. In particular, it hopes to present an overview of Japan’s involvement in Asia through trade and investments prior to the Asian economic crisis which began in July 1997. Moreover, this article provides an assessment of the crisis and identifies Japan’s responses and involvement towards the economic recovery of the crisis-hit economies in the region. The article draws from earlier versions of various papers presented at conferences and seminars in Washington, D.C. (1997), Japan and Mexico (1998), and Singapore and Thailand (1999).     

Social policies in Switzerland and Japan: Managing Change in Liberal‐Conservative Welfare States

Both the Swiss and the Japanese welfare states are difficult to classify in any one of the most widespread typologies, as each of the two countries combines features that are typical of the liberal model, such as a large private sector role in the delivery of welfare, with aspects that are more reminiscent of the conservative model. These include a social insurance system geared toward status preservation and low employment rates for mothers. In this article, Japan and Switzerland are characterised as liberal conservative welfare states. After pointing out the key features of this hybrid welfare state model, the article puts forward some hypothesis with regard to the reform trajectory that this model is likely to follow. In particular, it is argued that retrenchment in these two countries is likely to be more substantial than in conservative welfare states, because the private schemes that are going to be curtailed are less accountable to public scrutiny and do not automatically expose retrenchment‐oriented governments to the risk of electoral punishment. The hypothesis is only partially confirmed by the empirical analysis of reform, as Swiss direct democracy institutions are proving a formidable obstacle to a generalised dismantling of welfare programmes. In Japan, uncovered needs resulting from retrenchment and social change are being picked up by families.     

日本对华公共外交实施困境分析

鉴于日本对华公共外交因中日两国间的历史问题和海洋权益争端问题而逐步凸显出相应的实施困境,长期以来日本对华公共外交处于持续低迷的状态。日本对华公共外交的实施困境表现为内外制约性、迟滞性、顽固性与整体失调性。随着日本对华公共外交实施困境的长期延续,其在对华政策与中日关系方面的作用随之显现,并伴有扩散效应。对于实现日本对华公共外交的破解,日本需要积极改善对华政策中的相关节点,为中日关系真正的发展做出必要的准备与贡献。     

Remembering the Southeast Asian Chinese massacres of 1941-45

This article examines a series of wartime massacres (sook chings) conducted at various Southeast Asian sites with a view to teasing out broader lessons about justice, compensation, apology and the uses of memory both on the side of the victims as well as the nation that perpetrated the crimes. Characteristically, the sook chings of Southeast Asia, occurring in ethnically complex societies with mostly Chinese as victims, displayed a planned character of strictly ethnic and political “cleansing” that meets broad definitions of genocide. This article also considers historical memory. Obviously, as with Japanese war crimes in China, the sook chings of Southeast Asia are remembered locally. But also, as in China, remembrance of the sook chings has been modulated by the state, mostly in the interest of good relations and business links with Japan (with some notable exceptions). But, alongside the Nanjing Massacre, much contested in Japanese historiography, the sook ching massacres remain virtually unknown to the Japanese public, and have not become an issue between Japan and the Southeast Asian countries where these events occurred.     

日本地方治理中的公民社会组织参与模式——以自治会为例

公民社会组织的参与是治理体系的重要构成部分。其中地方治理强调地方分权和地方居民自治背景下的治理体系,地方居民为主体的公民组织是其重要参与者。日本的自治会作为地方社区的基层公民组织,无论从数量上还是分布规模来看都是日本最大的公民组织,是日本地方治理中的重要参与者。同时自治会又具有辅助行政功能的色彩,与市区町村的地方政府保持良好的合作、协调关系是其特色。因此自治会在参与地方治理中表现出了"行政媒介型公民参与模式"的特征。自治会一方面发动地方居民的力量参与地方治理,实现地方居民的主体性参与;另一方面通过参与协助地方政府的行政,和地方政府保持良好的合作关系进而达到影响地方政府的目的。