Digital Commons Network^™

Visions For Japanese Society: An Examination Of Japanese Postwar Occupation Period Film, Kaitlin Smith, Michael Gibbs

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

By following the films of directors Akira Kurosawa ( 黒澤明), Yasujiro Ozu ( 小津安二郎), Masaki Kobayashi (小林正樹), and Shohei Imamura (今村昌平) around occupation period Japan, unified visions for Japanese society are formed as it transitions from wartime into the postwar era. Each of these films conveys a sense of rapid change in society, external pressures and foreign influence, a daily struggle, and immediate postwar suffering. Not only can these films be seen across a wide variety of styles, but they also each approach these issues with immediacy and show tentative outlooks for how Japan functioned and felt for most people …

Japanese Worldviews, Ideologies, And Foreign Aid Policy, Richard Warren Shannon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project studies the ideational factors influencing Japanese foreign aid policy. It builds on previous research in political science on perception and foreign policy decision-making, Japanese political economy, economic and technological development, foreign aid, and in anthropology on perception, worldview, and international development.

The main goal of the research is to answer the question of how Japan's historical experiences with technology, development, and foreign relations (and key leaders' views of those areas) from 1850 to 1945 have influenced current aid policies. Second, the project aims to answer whether the Japanese development concepts of "modernization," internationalization and translative adaptation accurately reflect …

Japan's Missile Defense, Norifumi Namatame

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For some years, Japan has pursued its own missile defense system in cooperation with the United States. The Japanese government claims that the missile defense (JMD) program is purely defensive and will not pose a threat to other countries. JMD may seem justified by North Korea's development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. However, neighboring states regarded it as a sign of military ambition and revival of Japan's prewar militarism. The development and deployment of JMD could have grave implications for regional and global security. This dissertation focuses on these implications, domestic and international political considerations and the future direction …