Digital Commons Network^™

The Coevolution Of The Six Ancient Kilns And Japanese Postwar Local Identity, Benjamin Lewis Rothstein

CISLA Senior Integrative Projects

The arts have long been tools used to prop up political visions, and Japan’s traditional crafts are no exception to this trend. Japanese ceramics in particular have enjoyed, or perhaps endured, era after era of patronage by successive governments and movements over their more than a millennium of history. Appropriated by a wave of nationalism in the Meiji period, the rokkoyō (six ancient kilns), long famous for their rustic style and acclaimed tea wares, were converted along with many other traditional crafts into symbols of the Japanese national spirit. In the postwar period, however, without necessarily losing their national importance, …

The Philippine Economy During The Japanese Occupation, Jasper Lem

Asian Studies: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

The economy of the Philippines was derailed by the Japanese occupation during World War II. As an American colony before World War II, the Philippines had close amicable ties with the United States highlighted by promises of independence on July 4th, 1946. The Philippines also maintained a beneficial economic relationship with the States at this time through extensive foreign trade. However, because of the Japanese invasion, the Philippine economy was robbed of this profitable foreign trade and the promise of independence, severely crippling the island nation and her morale. The first policies implemented by Japan were designed to control the …

Consumers' Perceptions Of Digital Privacy In The United States And Japan, Destiny Randle

Whittier Scholars Program

The purpose of my study is to explore the contours of contemporary consumer privacy protections derived from legislation, regulations and publicly available company policies as a way to get a better understanding of how consumer data is protected. A few examples ranging from company-based consumer protection in the United States to data breaches in Japan will be explored and examined. Finally, this paper includes a comparative survey of consumer perceptions and concerns related to personal data privacy in the U.S. and Japan. As a way to assess the degree to which digital privacy and personal data breaches have adversely influenced …

Cultural And Philosophical Beliefs In Tea Poetry, Julia M. Minor

CAFE Symposium 2023

Tea is a commodity that has greatly changed the course of history. One example of the influence of tea is in poetry. This project analyzes some examples of tea poetry from China and Japan to understand how tea in poetry conveys cultural and philosophical beliefs of given time periods. China and Japan are looked at collectively because their histories are very entwined. In the two Chinese poems, tea is tied to hierarchical relations and the importance of Taoism. In the Japanese poems, tea is greatly related to nature and appreciating simplicity. Three of the four poems are a reaction to …

A Phoenix From The Ashes: Jackson Park’S Japanese Garden, Cultural Exchange, And The Endurance Of Japanese Sites After Pearl Harbor, Brittany Murphy

Asian Studies: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Japanese gardens in the United States have a history that dates back to the World’s Fairs of the late 19th century, when Japan used the World’s Stage to project an image of itself as a powerful nation founded on both modern industrial techniques and traditional culture to compete with dominating Euro-American powers. The history of the Japanese garden in Chicago’s Jackson Park, gifted to Chicago by the Japanese government for the 1893 Columbian Exposition, tells the story of Midwesterners’ love and appreciation for the gardens while also demonstrating the implicit legacies of Executive Order 9066. The garden remained a crucial …

Butoh: From Wwii To The West, Caroline Conner

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Butoh is an underground dance movement in Japan that explores the human psyche in unconventional and sometimes grotesque ways. It originated out of the devastation of WWII Japan and rails against the rigidity of society as well as traditional theatre and dance forms. It has ties to Buddhism, in that both view suffering as a natural state of the world, and both may lead to depersonalisation (intentionally or otherwise), which is described as a loss of identity or sense of self. Gone unchecked, this detached exploration of the psyche can lead to personality dissolution, which can be especially problematic to …

The Influence Of The Thirty-Six Stratagems On Chinese Strategy In The Diaoyu Islands, Brent Schuliger

Senior Honors Theses

The Diaoyu Islands are a small, uninhabited archipelago in the East China Sea which has begun increasing in strategic significance due to its advantageous location near Taiwan and along the First Island Chain. The islands are currently under Japanese administration, but the People’s Republic of China considers them historically Chinese and contests Japan’s claim to the islands. A careful examination of China’s actions in challenging Japan’s rule over the Diaoyus reveals the influence of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, a tome of ancient Chinese military wisdom which provides a framework onto which China’s current strategy corresponds. This thesis examines the historical …

Human Rights And Professions Museums As Interlocutors Of Buraku Identity In Japan, Lisa Mueller

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Members of the Buraku minority group in contemporary Japan are traditionally perceived as descendants of outcaste communities who performed work deemed impure according to Shinto and Buddhist taboos in Japan’s caste system during the Tokugawa Era (1603-1867). After receiving emancipation in 1871, they continued to experience severe discrimination. Following successful activism culminating in government-issued affirmative action “special measures” funding beginning in 1969, Buraku people have now approached social and economic parity with mainstream Japanese. Partially due to these successes, the Buraku Liberation League, the largest Buraku rights organization in the country, has now embraced a new globalized, UN-centric Buraku identity …

Globalization In Japan: Rakugo As A Gateway For Foreigners, Ariel Hampton

Modern Languages: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

日本の伝統芸能とグローバリゼーション：

外国人による落語文化の国際化

This presentation examines foreigners’ interest in Japanese Traditional Arts and explores how globalization has affected them, by specifically focusing on Rakugo, one of the performing art forms centered around storytelling with more than 300 years of history.

In Japan, there are many traditional performing arts, such as Kabuki and Noh that Japanese people hold dear to their hearts and give them pride as people. These arts are still popular among the masses till this day as they began to modernize to appeal to new audiences. For a long time, they have been performed exclusively by Japanese natives and …

Secured Transactions Law Reform In Japan: Japan Business Credit Project Assessment Of Interviews And Tentative Policy Proposals, Megumi Hara, Kumiko Koens, Charles W. Mooney Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

This article summarizes key findings from the Japan Business Credit Project (JBCP), which involved more than 30 semi-structured interviews conducted in Japan from 2016 through 2018. It was inspired by important and previously unexplored questions concerning secured financing of movables (business equipment and inventory) and claims (receivables)—“asset-based lending” or “ABL.” Why is the use of ABL in Japan so limited? What are the principal obstacles and disincentives to the use of ABL in Japan? The interviews were primarily with staff of banks, but also included those of government officials and regulators, academics, and law practitioners. The article proposes reforms of …

The Fall Of The Ikko Ikki: The Demise Of The Honganji In The Late Sengoku Period, Alexander M. Remington

Student Publications

During the late Sengoku Period Japan witnessed the fall of the Honganji, a sect of Pure Land Buddhism. The Honganji was a significant military, political, and economic power and commanded armies of commoners known as Ikko Ikki. The Honganji fell because it challenged the traditional social order of Japan, lacked unity, and stood against warlord Oda Nobunaga during his bid for hegemony. The fall of the Honganji resulted in consequential policies and impacted Japanese society going into the Tokugawa period.

Translingual Practices In A ‘Monolingual’ Society: Discourses, Learners’ Subjectivities And Language Choices, Reiko Kato, Yuri Kumagai

East Asian Languages & Cultures: Faculty Publications

This study explores how Japanese EFL students engaged in translingual practices during a telecollaborative project that connected two college classrooms in the US and Japan. The project aimed at encouraging the students’ creative uses of languages, promoting an appreciation for their multiple linguistic resources, and nurturing their sense of ownership of languages informed by translingual practices. Contrary to our expectations, students in Japan exhibited great efforts to write in monolingual English and/or Japanese, which prompted us to investigate the reasons behind their language choices. Based on data analyses drawing on poststructural theory of subjectivities, we argue that the students’ language …

Transgender Identity In Pre-Modern Japan, Sam Friedline

Summer Scholarship, Creative Arts and Research Projects (SCARP)

This paper examines the documented history of transgender identity in pre-modern Japan. Through literary analysis of the Torikaebaya Monogatari and depictions of Kabuki actors and sex workers in woodblock prints, transgender individuals’s place in Japanese society is deconstructed, societal view of LGBTQIA+ individuals during these periods is interpreted, and where trasngender people were most prevalent in society is determined.

Can Whaling In Japan Be Justified By Culture?, Lily Harris

Modern Languages: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

"Can Whaling in Japan be Justified by Culture?" divulges on the current, tension-driven debate between pro-whalers and anti-whalers. In the process, the paper uncovers the reasoning behind the hostility towards Japan's whaling practices and, in turn, posits a solution in which Japan should still be able to do so.

La Comunidad Nikkei En Perú: Su Historia, Sus Influencias Y Sus Relaciones Con La Comunidad Indígena En Madre De Dios, Olivia Snyder

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Usando los métodos de observación directo y entrevistas personales, esta tesis analiza el contexto histórico y moderno de la migración japonesa a Perú, específicamente al departamento de Madre de Dios. Este análisis incluye las influencias y cambios provocados por los migrantes japoneses, la pregunta de identidad y doble herencia y la relación entre los descendientes japoneses y las comunidades nativas de Madre de Dios. Los resultados revelan que la primera generación de los migrantes japoneses, los “ isseis ”, generalmente tenía una relación muy cercana con los nativos. Algunas familias japonesas vivían y trabajaban en el Río Tambopata para escapar …

Nationalism And Education: A Case Study Of Germany And Japan, Sarah Vrtiska

Honors Theses

In this piece I ask the question: How has education contributed to the formation or prevention of nationalism in Germany and Japan? In examining this, after defining the standard conceptions of nationalism, I apply these definitions to pre-war and post-war Germany and Japan. Ultimately, I conclude that the goals of education, concepts of national identity that are taught, history curricula, and control of education all historically have the potential to contribute to the rise of nationalism within a country. Based on these fields, I find that although there are similar nationalist trends in both countries during the pre-war period, in …

The Tale Of The Tokugawa Artifacts: Japanese Funerary Lanterns At The Penn Museum, Yoko Nishimura

East Asian Studies Faculty Publications

That previously stood at the back of the quiet inner courtyard of the Penn Museum waited many years for its significance to be rediscovered. It is one of the Tokugawa lanterns that long illuminated the shogunate family’s grand mausoleums during the Edo period (1603–1868 CE) in the Zōjōji temple in Tokyo, Japan. Photographs taken around 1930 show the lanterns flanking the Museum entrance in the Stoner Courtyard. The prominent placement of these objects suggests that, in those days, the Museum acknowledged the significance of the lanterns. One of the lanterns was subsequently moved to Museum storage after suffering damage from …

Transpacific Resonances And Affiliations In Leanne Dunic’S To Love The Coming End And Ruth Ozeki’S The Tale For The Time Being, Michel O'Brien

English Faculty Scholarship

This article examines methods of tracing affiliations across transpacific critiques through a reading of Leanne Dunic’s To Love the Coming End and Ruth Ozeki’s The Tale for the Time Being. The article proposes that, rather than reproducing a nation-bound framing of the 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tōhoku that envisions it as a solely Japanese crisis, Dunic’s and Ozeki’s works explore what it would mean to read the earthquake and its aftermath as a transpacific event. It argues that these works facilitate new relations between national cultures and the global, suggesting that, by narrating the earthquake and …

Mother Of God, Mother Of Christianity: The Development Of The Marian Tradition In Early Modern Japan, Alaina Keller

Student Publications

The Christian figure of the Virgin Mary, first introduced as Jesus’ mother in the Bible, has since been repeatedly reinterpreted in various roles and imagery through her incorporation into different cultures. This project analyses the historical adoption and adaptation of Mary among Christian converts in Japan, from the arrival of Jesuit missionaries in 1549 to the end of the Tokugawa era in the nineteenth century. An examination of doctrinal prayers, the rosary, and Marian iconography within Japan illustrates Mary’s role as the Mother of God and compassionate intercessor for early Japanese Christians. Moreover, their affinity for Mary enabled Christianity to …

One Nation, One Race: An Analysis Of Nationalist Influence On Japanese Human Rights Policy, Garrett J. Schoonover

International Studies Honors Projects

Nationalism has continued to be prevalent in Japanese society, the legacy of Japan’s period of modernization. This thesis examines the relationship between nationalism and human rights in Japanese policy, focusing on the question, “How do nationalist organizations in Japan influence government policies related to human rights?” It begins with a historical analysis in order to determine the remaining influence of nationalism in Japanese society at large, before determining the direct influence nationalism, through nationalist organizations and individuals, influence Japan’s laws and policies. I argue that much of Japan’s policy making is influenced by the nationalist movement, and as result, human …

Finding Aid For Richard F. Baggett Papers, (1952), Richard F. Baggett

Richard F. Baggett Papers

Richard F. Baggett graduated from Harding College in 1949. Richard and his wife, Mary, served as missionaries in Japan from 1950-1955, and 1956-1958. The focus of their work was training native preachers, establishing churches, teaching Bible at Ibaraki Christian College, and holding gospel meetings. The Baggetts were financially supported by the Coleman Avenue Church of Christ (Memphis, Tennessee), and the Union Avenue Church of Christ (Memphis, Tennessee).

This collection includes two reports from Richard F. Baggett, an American who was serving as a Churches of Christ missionary in Japan. Baggett mentions preaching in Japanese for the first time without the …

Finding Aid For Edward Washington Mcmillan Papers, (1863-1986), Abilene Christian University Special Collections And Archives

Edward Washington McMillan Papers

Finding aid for the Edward Washington McMillan Papers, (1863-1986).

Il Rosario Di Hiroshima, Hubert F. Schiffer, Federica Favaretta Tr.

Library Special Collections

Account of the survival of Jesuit priests (among them Father Hubert Schiffer) near the center of the atom bomb attack on Hiroshima. Their survival was considered by many to be a miracle. The Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima was started by Rev. Harold V. Colgan when he was completely cured of a serious heart attack after praying to the Blessed Virgin Mary. If cured he promised to spend the rest of his life spreading devotion to her. Blue Army members promise to say the Rosary every day, consecrate themselves to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and offer sacrifices and …

Tales Of Cherry Blossom Dreams, Kelly Dykstra

Honors Projects

I studied the writings of Female authors during the Heian era of Japan to write an original work imitating that style.

Monstrous Maternity: Folkloric Expressions Of The Feminine In Images Of The Ubume, Michaela Leah Prostak

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The ubume is a ghost of Japanese folklore, once a living woman, who died during either pregnancy or childbirth. This thesis explores how the religious and secular developments of the ubume and related figures create a dichotomy of ideologies that both condemn and liberate women in their roles as mothers. Examples of literary and visual narratives of the ubume as well as the religious practices that were employed for maternity-related concerns are explored within their historical contexts in order to best understand what meaning they held for people at a given time and if that meaning has changed. These meanings …

Let Your Light Shine: A Holistic Reflection On The Individual In A Community, Nicole C. Argudin

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

"Sic luceat lux vestra," or “Let your light Shine” This phrase from the Gospel of Mattew stresses the importance that we all have a light or a talent and we should shine our light for all. The problem though is when we live in the same community for so long, we start to lose our uniqueness and eventually become close-minded to new experiences. By encountering and learning from other communities, we are made aware of this issue and other strengths and weakness of our own community that we take for granted. My disclaimer about this paper is that it is …

Anime And War, Carol Sun

Honors Papers and Posters

This poster examines the growth and development of anime in Japan in post-World War II Japan, particularly its ability to make audiences question the trajectory of humanity and society and to "critique the society that relies on technology...as a means to prevent or discourage war and conflict".

Law, Society, And Setsuo: Miyazawa’S Influence On Socio-Legal Studies, Eric A. Feldman

All Faculty Scholarship

What Setsuo has accomplished over these past 30 years is nothing short of remarkable. I can think of no other scholar within or outside of Japan who has had a greater impact on both the legal academic community and society more generally. Indeed, when Setsuo was still quite young he had already written a number of influential articles. But they turn out to represent only a fraction of his extraordinary output over the next years. In reflecting on Setsuo’s many achievements, I am particularly drawn to comment on three of them. First, his empirical and comparative law and society scholarship, …

Social And Economic Factors Influencing Japanese Women's Decision About Childbearing In Post-Bubble Japan, Rebecca L. Richko

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For the past twenty-five years, Japan’s population decline has been a domestic and global concern. A common discourse on the issue of Japan’s low birth rate tends to focus on the role of women, specifically indicating that women should change their behavior to prioritize motherhood. This thesis argues that Japan’s low birth rate is the result of a nexus of social and economic influences that are experienced in contemporary society. In order to provide a nuanced analysis of the influences on a woman’s childbearing decision, motivators of and challenges to population growth will be explored. The dynamic struggle that women …

Review: Buddhism, Unitarianism, And The Meiji Competition For Universality By Michel Mohr, Susanna Fessler Phd

East Asian Studies Faculty Scholarship

Review of the book "Buddhism, Unitarianism, and the Meiji Competition for Universality" by Michel Mohr.