Digital Commons Network^™

Celebrating Extinction? The Disconnect Between Reality And Media Representation Of Bluefin Tuna In Japan, Gene Fukui

Honors Papers

The Japanese media has perpetually glorified Bluefin tuna as the symbol of Japanese culture, cuisine, and national identity. Meanwhile, Bluefin tuna stocks are plummeting due to overfishing, and some species are international recognized as endangered. Blame is primarily placed on Japan, as the nation consumes 80% of Bluefin in the world and the government has admitted to overfishing several times. This has led to international environmental organizations and Western governments continually criticizing Japan for its unsustainable fishing practices.

This paper provides an explanation as to why there is no domestic movement within Japan to put an end to overfishing: the …

Post Merger Performances In Japan, Mami Suzuki

Honors Papers

Mergers and acquisitions are relatively new phenomena in the Japanese market. The total number M & A transactions per year has increased from approximately 500 to 1,752 between 1995 and 2002. MergerStat records 3,510 and 7,411 transactions in the U.S. for the equivalent years. The percentage of M & A transactions per number of business entities was 0.03% for Japan in 2001 and 0.1% for the U.S. in 2002. As illustrated through the figures, the frequency of M&A in Japan is considerably lower relative to the U.S., but proliferation of transactions is evident as well. Post-merger performances of firms in …

Asset Price Inflation- Theory, History, And An Alternative Model, Christian Fitchett

Honors Papers

This paper takes a different approach by developing a model based on the boom and bust cycle of Japan during the mid to late 1980's, using currently accepted theory. In section II, I review the general characteristics of asset bubbles to familiarize the reader and offer some historical examples. Section III offers a review of many of the theoretical papers on asset bubbles, as well as empirical papers, which involve similar phenomena in order to gain some insight in building the model. In section IV, I build a theoretical model. Section V begins preliminary testing to examine this theory and …

Women's Status And Roles In Contemporary Japanese Society, Schon Beechler

Honors Papers

The combination of modernization and industrialization and the persistence of traditional attitudes serves to create a unique set of tensions and strains within the Japanese social system. The position of women is one such area in which the conflicting demands of this system are especially evident. Women in contemporary Japanese society are still expected to be "good wives and mothers" yet they are also often required to participate in the workforce in an economy beset by spiraling inflation. Even those women who are not forced to work by necessity have found that the importance of their wife/mother role has been …

Women's Liberation: Is It Smashing The Hothouse?, Wendy Tarnoff

Honors Papers

Since this paper has concentrated on the cultural and societal influences on women's roles, and how these affect their criminal behavior, these variables rather than exclusively economic ones, will be presented now in relatively economic homogeneous contexts. The remaining discussion will, therefore, compare the patterns and trends of female criminal behavior in England-Wales and Japan with those in the United States. A final note will be made on some research done by Safilios-Rothschild in Greece concerning socio-cultural changes which have occurred in Greece, and how they have affected the commission of "honor crimes."