Digital Commons Network^™

The Yakuza: Organized Crime In Japan, Darlene N. Moorman

The Downtown Review

Examining organized crime groups should not be purely economic; in other words, the culture, social structure, political contexts, and so on, are also critical in an insightful analysis of any organized crime group. For this paper, the Japanese yakuza are considered both in an economic viewpoint, such as how they make money, but also in other areas, such as its syndicates' notable cultural contributions and specific social characteristics. Moreover, this paper explores the dynamic changing of the organization overtime, especially in regards to its shifting relationship with the Japanese government.

From International Borders To The Honeycombing Of Internal Borders: Response To Covid-19 Pandemic, David E. Toohey

International Journal of Peace Studies

This article looks at borders during the Covid-19 crisis. In particular, it looks at how internal borders have arisen following xenophobic and national responses to Covid-19. This rise of internal borders is referred to as the honeycombing of borders. This article takes a genealogical approach to understand how borders have arisen—despite not always favorable opinions about them. Therefore, this looks at Rancière’s (1999; 2004) concept of the “police order” in the imposition of the sensible through Foucault’s genealogical approach, both to show the temporary, haphazard nature of these borders and how they revert to less desirable things. This is situated …

The Long-Term Effects Of Japan’S Traumatic Experience In The Second World War And Its Implications For Peace In Northeast Asia, Eugen Koh, Tadashi Takeshima

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article is an introductory report on the work of a Japanese study group whose primary aim is peacemaking, which it seeks by promoting a greater understanding of the long-term effects of their country’s traumatic experience of the Second World War. The group does not adopt a position of victimhood but seeks to understand the full picture of Japan’s role in the war, including its role as perpetrator. We came together with the shared assumption that the country’s inability to take responsibility for its role of the war is inextricably tied to its own traumatization. If this assumption is true, …

Japan's Special Funds-Supplying Operations (Japan Gfc), Alec Buchholtz

Journal of Financial Crises

Following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, the global commercial paper (CP) market began to tighten as interest rates rose and investors sought more-liquid money market securities. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) introduced several measures in late 2008 to make liquidity available to nonfinancial corporations that were strapped for cash. In December 2008, the BOJ implemented special funds-supplying operations in order to provide unlimited liquidity to banks and other financial institutions so they could continue to fund nonfinancial corporations. The BOJ would provide one- to three-month loans against an equal value of eligible corporate debt at a rate …

Japan's Outright Purchases Of Commercial Paper (Japan Gfc), Alec Buchholtz

Journal of Financial Crises

Following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, the global commercial paper (CP) market began to tighten as interest rates rose and investors sought more-liquid money market securities. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) introduced several operations in late 2008 to promote liquidity in the CP market. In January 2009, the BOJ began to purchase CP and asset-backed CP outright from banks and other financial institutions. The BOJ could purchase up to ¥3 trillion of CP with a residual maturity of up to three months, among other short-term securities, via 10 purchases of up to ¥300 billion each. The BOJ …

The Emergence Of Anti-Hate Speech Activism In Japan: The Relevance Of Critical Race Theory’S Sociological Implications, Bachtiar Alam

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

As concern over hate speech grows into a global issue (Haraszti 2012), a recurring question confronting every democratic society is how it should restrict discriminatory speech without infringing upon the universally accepted principle of free speech. Japan’s recent experience in coping with growing hate speech presents a valuable case study. The country had staunchly protected the free speech principle enshrined in the post-World War II constitution and consistently been disinclined to pass any law that regulates hate speech. This, however, has changed dramatically in the last few years. The incidence of hate speech targeting ethnic Koreans exploded around 2012, which …

Restructuring And Forgiveness In Financial Crises D: The Japanese Financial Crisis Of The 1990s, Christian M. Mcnamara, Andrew Metrick

Journal of Financial Crises

In November 1997 the Japanese government confronted a problem of enormous proportions when the turmoil that had been roiling the financial markets since the collapse of a real estate and stock market asset bubble in 1990 reached a crescendo with the failure of four major financial institutions in quick succession in the space of a month. Prior to these failures, the damage done by the collapsing bubble had seemed to be limited to certain segments of the financial landscape, and the government’s response consisted largely of targeted intervention when necessary for clearly insolvent financial institutions, with a more comprehensive approach …

The Russo-Japanese War: Origins And Implications, Benjamin E. Mainardi

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

The 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War was the first major conflict of the twentieth century and a turning point in the balance of power in East Asia. In the short term, Russia’s defeat helped precipitate the 1905 Russian Revolution and the 1917 October Revolution. More broadly, the aftermath of the war informed Japan’s imperial ambitions in Manchuria—the early stages of World War II in Asia during the 1930s—and continuing Russo-Japanese enmity over Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Island chain. Studying this historical conflict in terms of international relations provides valuable insights into the nature of the conflict and how the past continues …

Contemporary Japanese Career Women: Reflections On Profession, Life, And Purpose, Anne Stefanie Aronsson Aarons

The Qualitative Report

In this article, I explore what motivates Japanese women to pursue professional careers in today’s neoliberal economy and how they reconfigure notions of selfhood while doing so. I ask why and how one fourth of Japanese women stay on a career track, often against considerable odds, while the other three fourths drop out of the workforce. Employment trends indicate that more white-collar professional women are breaking through the “glass ceiling” and more women are now filling managerial posts. These trends have been supported by the recession, which has led to the liberalization of career paths that fit with women’s tendencies …

Strategy Of Japan In Afghanistan: Priority Interests And Key Results, A. Umarov

International Relations: Politics, Economics, Law

The article analyzes the Japan’s strategy of involvement in the conflict stabilization in Afghanistan. The priority interests of Tokyo in this country, the main directions of Japanese assistance to the development of Afghanistan, as well as the results of the implementation of numerous projects, are studied. At the same time, a number of promising areas for Uzbek-Japanese cooperation on a peaceful settlement of the situation in Afghanistan have been noted.

Feminist Action Against Pornography In Japan: Unexpected Success In An Unlikely Place, Caroline Norma, Seiya Morita

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

In late 2016 a feminist movement against problems of commercial sexual exploitation, and especially issues of coerced pornography filming, arose in Japan. This article describes the history of this movement as it mobilized to combat human rights violations perpetrated by the country’s pornographers. The movement’s success came not spontaneously or haphazardly; in fact, it was orchestrated earlier over a full decade-and-a-half by activists who persevered in researching and highlighting pornography’s harms in a civil environment of hostility, isolation and social derision, even among progressive groups and individuals. The Anti-Pornography and Prostitution Research Group (APP) was particularly prominent in this history. …

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

EnviroLab Asia

No abstract provided.

Orientalism, Resistance Or Global Harmony? Entangled Strands In The Film Isle Of Dogs, Soonkwan Hong

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Education, Enterprise Capitalism, And Equity Challenges: The Continuing Relevance Of The Correspondence Principle In Japan, Masaaki Takemura

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

This paper revisits the correspondence principle of Bowles and Gintis (1976) – which refers to the mutual mimicking of the capitalist hierarchy in the workplace and the school. The Bowles-Gintis model still appears to be working in the context of schooling in Japan. In the international comparative educational assessment called PISA (Program for International Student Assessment), created by OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the association of advanced democratic nations), Japanese students achieve better results than most countries. Japanese students excel in PISA performance, especially in mathematics. Such excellence, however, has negative correlations with students’ creativity, positive attitudes, and …

Virtual Idol Hatsune Miku: Case Study Of New Production/Consumption Phenomena Generated By Network Effects In Japan’S Online Environment, Hajime Kobayashi, Takashi Taguchi

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

Using Hatsune Miku, a vocaloid or a Desktop Music (DTM) software using voice synthesizer technology, as a case study, this paper explores how consumer generated media (CGM) and user generated content (UGC) diffused in Japan – rapidly at first and then at an erratic and not-so-rapid pace. The creative environment ushered in by the vocaloid platform, it appears, represents a form of "managed creativity", and not a rosy future characterized by a participatory turn to a widespread democratization of creative activity.

A Critical Marketing Practitioner In Japan: Philosophy And Marketing Activities Of Seiji Tsutsumi, Kazuo Usui

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

This paper explores some features of marketing activities and marketing thought of a Japanese critical marketing practitioner, Dr. Seiji Tsutsumi. The approach of the paper is biographical. Somewhat paradoxically, the paper finds – in the practices and thoughts of Dr. Seiji Tsutsumi – a refreshingly critical mindset, despite his huge commercial success in retail business in Japan. Similar biographical research should be done in other national contexts, to develop links between practices and critical theories.

Critical Thinking From Japan: Additional Perspectives, Masaaki Takemura, Nikhilesh Dholakia

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Speech We Hate: An Argument For The Cessation Of International Pressure On Japan To Strengthen Its Anti-Child Pornography Laws, Alison Rapp

Augsburg Honors Review

One can hardly mention child pornography, even as a subject of serious academic research, without receiving questioning, fearful, or even disgusted looks. The creation, dissemination, and possession of child pornography is severely criminalized in many countries, and continues to be a topic of intense controversy in countries that have "lagged" in passing laws condemning the trade (though the word "trade" is misleading, as most child pornography is created, disseminated, and consumed almost entirely free of charge). Yet, there is also a great deal of confusion, misunderstanding, and sheer ignorance surrounding child pornogaphy and its connections (or lack thereof) to lowered …

Japan’S Policy On The Trans-Pacific Partnership (Tpp) In Light Of Ir Theory And Analytical Eclecticism, Daisuke Akimoto Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

Japan’s policy toward the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement has been controversial at the political, academic, and public levels. The domestic debate on the TPP literally split public opinion in Japan, and academic analyses are apt to be argumentatively divided into pros and cons. Likewise, earlier studies regarding the TPP in the field of international relations offered particular theoretical perspectives, yet tended not to conduct eclectic theoretical examination. In order to overcome the research gap, this paper attempts to provide both narrative and theoretical explanations by applying international relations (IR) theory in combination with “analytical eclecticism” as a research method in …

Managing Urban Crow Populations In Japan, Tsuyoshi Yoda

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Crow (Corvus spp.) populations are increasing globally. This is cause for concern because overabundant crow populations can damage agricultural crops, harm native wildlife, and become a nuisance in urban areas. In Japan, the carrion (C. corone) and large-billed crow (C. macrorhynchos) can cause damage to crops and livestock. This damage is predicted to increase in Japan with climate change, especially when precipitation increases, inducing landscape changes that may favor crow populations and activities. In Japan, the primary control method used to manage crow damage is the destruction of nests by a crow control officer who …

Four Poems From To Young Utari By Yaeko Batchelor, Laurel Taylor

Transference

Translated from Ainu and Japanese by Laurel Taylor:

• Wild stag...
• Had I even...
• Raised on...
• My utari...

Perils Of Hollywood Whitewashing?: A Review Of 'Ghost In The Shell' Movie, Kosuke Mizukoshi

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

'Ghost in the Shell' was first produced as a Japanese animated film in 1995. The movie and its sequels established a cult status due to the philosophical depth in portraying the posthuman condition. It was remade as a live action Hollywood film in 2017; and this version failed at the box office. One reason had to be the “whitewashing” issue – that the female protagonist was played by a white actress in the Hollywood movie, rather than a Japanese character as in the original anime. This review essay critically discusses issues of whitewashing, racial ‘identity’, the shifting identity of the …

Revisiting The Creation Of Meaning By Media: A Perspective From Japan, Satoko Suzuki

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

This paper revisits the role of media in the meaning-construction system. In consumer research, media are often regarded as gatekeepers in the system. This paper focuses on the media’s other role -- as the creator of meanings. In this paper, an interpretive analysis of magazine articles regarding the ‘jibun e no gohoubi’ [self-reward] consumption since 1990 has been conducted. The findings indicate that the media had created the meanings of sacred and profane consumption acts, in the domain of self-reward consumption. In addition, the paper explores the influence of media in liberating and empowering Japanese women.

From Social Marketing To Societal Perversion: History Of Hometown Tax In Japan, Yuichiro Hidaka, Kosuke Mizukoshi

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

This paper considers social marketing from a critical perspective. The paper traces the history of the donation system named ‘hometown tax’ that the Japanese government introduced to promote local revitalization of relatively marginal communities. Owing to the lavish reciprocal gifts to “donors” by the administrators of these communities, the system resulted in a quasi-market that allowed donors to avoid paying taxes and to receive special benefits. Our analysis reveals the divergence of the intents and effects of this social marketing intervention. The findings indicate that during social marketing attempts to carry out effective and well-intentioned interventions, which social marketing research …

Critical Marketing In Japan: The Legacy Of Fujiya Morishita, Kazuo Usui

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

This paper explores the tradition of critical marketing studies in Japan, launched by Professor Fujiya Morishita. From his Osaka-based university appointments, Morishita's paradigm criticized disadvantageous aspects of the marketing practices of dominant manufacturers. Based on Marxian economic thinking, his ideas resonated well with the disaffected groups during the 1950-75 high-growth phase of Japan. As the economic context in Japan changed, Morishita's ideas lost some of their validity and appeal. Nonetheless, understanding the contributions of Morishita is important in the overall analysis of the development of marketing knowledge in Japan.

Japan And Critical Marketing Theory: Opening A Window, Masaaki Takemura, Nikhilesh Dholakia

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Consumer Involvement In Japanese Pornography Production, Yukino Yamamoto, Caroline Norma, Ruwan Dep Weerasinghe

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The authors examined two pornographic film series produced in Japan in the first decade of the twenty-first century, as well as their DVD box cover advertising copy. Additionally, and crucially, these data were examined in light of online forum posts made by the producers and consumers of the two film series before, during and after their production. These posts indicate consumer-producer cooperation and collaboration in all aspects of the series’ planning and execution, in addition to consumer involvement in the perpetration of the filmed sex acts and abuses themselves. The discussion of the article emphasizes the accelerating effect of online …

Theoretical Explanations Of Jyoshi Kousei Business ("Jk Business") In Japan, Mutsumi Ogaki

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Jyoshi kousei (JK) means high school girls in Japanese and “JK business” is an umbrella term for commercial activities done by high school girls to provide male customers with sexual arousal. The “JK business” is considered to promote sexual exploitation or sexual assault of minors. Currently, only two prefectures out of 47 in Japan enforce ordinances that specifically regulate the “JK business.” This paper intends to explore possible theoretical explanations of the “JK business” to raise awareness on the issue. Gendered pathways theory and sexual script theory are selected as the primary source of the discussions. Policy implications and future …

Sofia Coppola, Lost In Translation (2003), Masaaki Takemura

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Global Range And Eclectic Potpourri, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Deniz Atik

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.