Digital Commons Network^™

Confronting Cultural Difference In The Establishment Of A Global Zen Community, Joshua A. Irizarry

2013 New England Association for Asian Studies Conference

As a commercial phenomenon, Zen is recognizable throughout the world as a lucrative brand name that communicates harmony, simplicity, and cosmopolitan elegance. In contrast, the Japanese Zen institution’s attempts to develop Zen into a successful global religion have proven more problematic. Despite initial successes by Japanese clergy in establishing centers of Zen practice throughout Europe and the Americas, the past fifty years have seen the dream of a global Zen community descend into a legacy of controversy, scandals, and schisms over conflicting claims of authority.

Looking specifically at the internationalization efforts of the Japanese Sōtō Zen sect, this paper will …

Maneuvering Modernity: Family Law As A Battle Field In Colonial Taiwan (1895-1945), Yun-Ru Chen

2013 New England Association for Asian Studies Conference

Twenty five years after launching its own legal modernization in response to Western imperialism, Japan imposed a modern legal system upon its first colony, Taiwan. In accordance with the “respecting old custom” colonial policy, the Japanese created a system called Taiwanese customary law, a mixture of imperial Chinese laws, local customs and European legal concepts, and gradually implemented its newly adopted European-style Meiji Civil Code (1898). However, even since the late 1910s when the colonial policy changed into “full-flag assimilation,” family law remained an exception to the transplantation of Japanese laws. That did not, however, mean that family law was …

The Rise Of Science In Japan: 日本科学発展と原因, Mario Harper

Mario Yuuji Harper

日本の科学は第二次世界大戦から始まったと多くの人は思っている。もちろん、多くの発展は戦後に行われたのは事実。しかし、戦争以前にも「テクノロジージャパン」な考え方が非常に寿実していた。このスライドショーは日本科学発展の原因となることをいくつか見ています。

Shugendo Now, Jonathan Thumas

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Shugendo Now (2010) directed by Jean-Marc Abela and Mark Patrick McGuire.

The Japanese History Textbook Controversy Amid Post-War Sino-Japanese Relations, Maria Gabriela Romeu

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The relations between China and Japan are strained and continue to foster negative emotions partly because of China’s grievances about Japan’s actions during World War II and the allegedly false historiographical accounts found in Japanese history textbooks. This study will utilize historical analysis of the events leading up to the Nanjing Massacre in December of 1937, examine the Japanese Ministry of Education’s (MEXT) critical and contentious role in the selection of textbooks, used for primary and secondary schools, and will also juxtapose the controversial 2001 Atarashii rekishi kyōkasho with current Japanese history textbooks. The study will also include a syntactical …

Flowers, Trees, And Writing Brushes: Extraordinary Lovers In The Otogi-Zoshi Kazashi No Himegimi And Sakuraume No Soshi, Haley R. Blum

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This thesis presents translations of Kazashi no himegimi and Sakuraume no sōshi, two tales belonging to the genre of medieval Japanese narrative known as otogi-zōshi, and of the subcategory known as iruimono (tales of non-humans). Chapter 1 provides context, beginning with a brief history of otogi-zōshi and a description of residual challenges in its research, including the parameters of the genre and problems with its nomenclature. This is followed by a discussion of the typical physical formats of these tales, Nara ehon and emaki, and a brief history of iruimono and plant symbolism in otogi-zōshi completes the …

Human Trafficking In Japan: Legislative Policy, Implications For Migration, And Cultural Relativism, Paul Capobianco

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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More Than A Bath: An Examination Of Japanese Bathing Culture, Adam M. Merry

CMC Senior Theses

Steeped in tradition for over a thousand years, bathing culture in Japan remains relevant due to the preservation of the traditional, innovative modernization of existing bathing structures, and the diversification therein. This thesis will examine the significance of bathing culture, focusing largely on onsen and sento, account for its historical evolution, analyze how it functions in modern society and forecast its future viability. More specifically, the concept that Japan's vibrant bathing culture was able to flourish due to mythological creation stories, politically motivated access to baths, propagated therapeutic value, and scientific reinforcement of the benefits of a hot bath …