Digital Commons Network^™

A Comparative Study On How Governments And Outside Entities Responded To Natural Disasters: Haiti 2010, Ecuador 2016, And Japan 2011 Earthquakes, Cindy Burga-Romero

CMC Senior Theses

With the world becoming more susceptible to natural disasters on account of climate change, it is important to better see and understand the relationship between a country’s economic and political stability to its ability to provide resources and take care of their people and their institutions. This paper looks at 3 earthquake events in the 21st century that have had large disastrous impacts on the country’s infrastructure, economy, and livelihood of people. The events that occurred in Haiti in 2010, in Ecuador in 2016, and in Japan in 2011 have all had major negative impacts on the vastly different countries. …

In Search Of Unicorns: An Analysis Of Japan's Startup Ecosystem, Kaito Komoriya

CMC Senior Theses

While Japan previously dominated global consumer markets in innovative electronic products, the economy has failed to live up to this performance since the burst of the asset price bubble in 1992 and the subsequent lost decades. In the modern economy, startup companies have become synonymous with innovation. Most of these companies have emerged from Silicon Valley, as well as other startup hubs around the globe. However, critics have criticized Japan for the limited number of notable startup companies from the country.

My thesis seeks to answer the two following questions: First, what is the current state of Japan’s startup ecosystem? …

Towards Universal Design For All: Understanding Japan’S Environment From An Accessibility Standpoint, Bailey Lai

EnviroLab Asia

No abstract provided.

Giving To Get: A Neorealist Explanation Of Japan’S Foreign Aid Program, Tiana Steverson Pugh

CMC Senior Theses

Many countries use aid as a political tool, but Japan is unique in that foreign aid is one of its most important foreign policy tools. Drawing from literature on donor motivations for aid-giving, this paper argues that the neo-realist view of aid-giving offers the best explanation for why Japan provides aid. More specifically, Japan’s aid-giving is motivated by its pursuit of economic and strategic goals. This underlying motive for aid-giving necessarily impacts how Japan provides aid and how it uses aid to respond to human rights violations in recipient countries.

The Ghost Of Modernity: Normative Power Of Modernity As Propaganda, Seoyoon Choi

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores how domestic factions and authoritarian regimes in Japan and Korea in the period from the 1850s to 1970s appropriated the concept of “modernity” to gain normative superiority over their competitors. The appropriating entity revised the concept of modernity to suit its own worldview. Across the case studies, the propaganda of modernity created a hierarchy that privileged those who are “more modern,” encouraged martial masculinity, and attached itself to existing domestic norms, such as ethno- nationalism. Under authoritarian regimes, modernity helped justify the mobilization of capital, manpower, and other critical resources in the name of nation-building or defense. …

The Mark Of The Japanese Murrelet (Synthliboramphus Wumizusume): A Study Of Song And Stewardship In Japan’S Inland Sea, Charlotte Hyde

Pomona Senior Theses

The Japanese Crested Murrelet Synthliboramphus wumizusume occupies a limited range in Southern Korea and Japan and is considered vulnerable by the IUCN. There is strong indication of a colony of Japanese Murrelets located in Kaminoseki, Japan; however, no nests or individuals have yet been found. The is also evidence that murrelets make use of this habitat during their vulnerable autumnal molting season during which they cannot fly. This habitat is threatened by the construction of a nuclear power plant in Tanoura Bay. Construction of this plant would result in loss of nesting sites, food supply, and other components vital to …

The Question Of Remilitarization: Is Japan's Pacifist Nature In Danger Of Reform, Shanisha Coram

Scripps Senior Theses

Though Article 9 has not been revised since it was implemented in 1947, the past two decades have seen an increase in Japanese military capability due to the government’s loose interpretation of Article 9 and its limitations to allow for Japanese involvement in collective security operations internationally. As a result, a number of Japanese political scholars and newspapers have projected the possibility of not only Japanese constitutional revision but also the re-militarization of Japan as well. Interested in finding out whether or not this projection has any likelihood of success in the future, I have posed the following question: Why …

Why Foreign Policy Principles Persist: Understanding The Reinterpretations Of Japan’S Article 9 And Switzerland’S Neutrality, Yuki Numata

Pomona Senior Theses

This study examines why Japan and Switzerland have chosen to keep the vocabulary of Article 9 and neutrality, respectively, and to reinterpret their definitions to suit their needs (policy reinterpretation), instead of simply abandoning the original policy and replacing it with a new, more suitably worded policy that clarifies the changing policy position of the government (policy abandonment). By analyzing the legal history of the overseas capabilities of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the Swiss Armed Forces, as well as the actions and influences of the government, political parties, and the public, this study finds the following trends. First, the …

Deterring Nuclear Attacks On Japan: An Examination Of The U.S.-Japan Relationship And Nuclear Modernization, Alyssa M. Minamide

CMC Senior Theses

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal in covering security commitments with its foreign allies, particularly Japan. The U.S. has promised to defend allies all over the world with nuclear forces, and consequently has been forced into a delicate and precarious position. President Barack Obama wants to reach nuclear zero, which would make the world safe from nuclear destruction in the future; yet he also wants to provide security for allied nations in the present, using the
very weapons he has marked for destruction. And he is facing an aging Cold War-era nuclear arsenal that needs …

The Impacts Of The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster On Electricity Consumption: An Examination Of Tepco's Daily Load Curve, Kristina B. Stanford

Scripps Senior Theses

This paper analyzes the effects of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster on Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO) electricity load using alternative event study methodology. The data set includes TEPCO’s published hourly loads from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2011. Four time series regressions are used to analyze the disaster’s effect on TEPCO’s load curve at an hourly and aggregate level. By examining the hourly impacts of the disaster, this paper provides commentary on the effects of the disaster on the daily load curve, finding transition periods to be the time of day that is most targeted for decreases in …