Digital Commons Network^™

Interrogating Households In Anticipation Of Disasters: The Feminization Of Preparedness, Chika Watanabe, Celie Hanson

Critical Disaster Studies

It is now a maxim among scholars and policy-makers alike that disaster preparedness needs to involve community-based approaches in order to be effective. These include preparedness strategies in the household. But how do disaster preparedness policies and public discourses define “the household” in the first place? In this article, we explore how particular gendered notions of the household are reproduced in disaster preparedness policies and activities in Japan and the UK. Drawing on historical and cross-cultural analyses, we suggest that household preparedness efforts place the burden of labor on people coded as women—a phenomenon we call “the feminization of preparedness.” …

Book Review: Blood And Ruins: The Last Imperial War, 1931–1945, Jonathan Klug

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Richard Overy

Reviewed by Jonathan Klug, colonel, US Army, and assistant professor, Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations, US Army War College

Many track the start of World War II to Poland in 1939.In Blood and Ruins, Richard Overy contends the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria was the start of an Asian war that later merged into the 1939 war in Europe when Japan attacked America. The book addresses policy and strategy as well as operational, technical, and tactical issues.

From Rivals To Partners: The Evolution Of Environmental Cooperation Among China, Japan, And Korea, Changrui Yuan, Brice Tseen Fu Lee

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

This study analyses the trilateral cooperation among China, Japan, and Korea in the realm of environmental issues, focusing on the Trilateral Environment Ministers Meeting (TEMM) as the representative institution. Through a theoretical perspective based on rational design theory, this paper examines the rationality of TEMM's design and how it has addressed the enforcement problems and asymmetry of control among the three countries. The study also suggests some strategies for further deepening and empowering the trilateral cooperation, such as developing the environmental protection industry and carbon trading market, involving funds and non-state actors, and improving institutionalization. While acknowledging the achievements and …

What Doesn’T Kill You Makes You Stronger: The Shifting Strategies Of Japan’S Yakuza In Response To Economic Globalization And Securitization, Benjamin P. Murkison

Honors College Theses

The Yakuza in Japan is a deeply traditional and infamous ethnic mafia, which has historically based their profits off of the protection of gambling rings and street vendors, but have developed into one of the most sophisticated and wealthy criminal institutions in the world. Reaching their peak in the 1960’s with around 200,000 members, the Yakuza has been in a slow decline ever since. However, the past decade has seen the most dramatic drop in Yakuza numbers in recorded history, as a result of increasing securitization by the Japanese state. As their power has declined within Japan, they have only …

Nuclear Weapons In Japanese Strategic Culture, Logan Joseph Douglas Campbell

MSU Graduate Theses

Acquiring nuclear weapons of its own has been inconsistent with Japan’s post-Cold War strategic culture, which is heavily based on an identity and associated norms grounded in nuclear pacifism. However, Japan’s strategic culture has been evolving with changing threat perceptions, eroding international nuclear nonproliferation norms, and declining confidence in US security guarantees. As Japan’s strategic culture shifts towards a more pragmatic interpretation of its national interests, acquiring nuclear weapons may become a more easily legitimized option, one that would be entirely consistent with a remilitarized strategic culture. Scholarship on Japanese strategic culture is vast but lacks a strategic culture explanation …

Japan: Special Funds-Supplying Operations, Sharon M. Nunn

Journal of Financial Crises

The Bank of Japan responded to the COVID-19 economic downturn in March 2020 with several financial stability interventions. The Special Funds-Supplying Operations to Facilitate Financing in Response to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) (SFSO) offered interest-free loans of up to one year in maturity to eligible financial institutions in an attempt to encourage broader lending to Japanese businesses and households. Counterparties could pledge as collateral a broad range of corporate and private debt, including corporate bonds and asset-backed securities. Enhancements made throughout the program's operation led to substantial increases in SFSO use. First, the BoJ expanded institution and collateral eligibility, as …

Ms-285: Corporal Anthony John Kachmarsky Wwii Collection, Carly A. Jensen

All Finding Aids

The Corporal Anthony John Kachmarsky WWII Collection contains photos and documents of his time in the Pacific Theater. The bulk of the images focuses on the Japanese Surrender Treaty Signing and the occupation of Tsingtao. There are also several medals in Box 2 that Kachmarsky earned during his service, including his Purple Heart. There are magazines, books, newspaper clippings, and postcards that illustrate life in the Marine Corps. Susan Ross Southgate’s ration book and Disney-themed War Bond have been removed from this location and relocated to Vertical File Manuscript Collections.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools …

Creative Citizen Peacebuilding: Japanese Artists And Audiences Respond To The Vietnam-American War, Long T. Bui, Ayako Sahara

Peace and Conflict Studies

This article explores two case studies related to South Vietnam and Japan, relating them to the controversial history and legacy of the Second Indochina War. The first is the Japanese adoption and adaptation of South Vietnamese antiwar music. The second is a Japanese film, uncovered decades later after the war, exposing the role of Japan in South Vietnam. Cultural productions, from nations allied with the United States, sought to expose the popular struggle for peace against the rising tide of Cold War military violence and corporate capitalist exploitation. Through interviews, archival research, and textual analysis, the article argues for a …

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 …

Islands In The Sun: Lawfare And Great-Power Competition In The Indo-Pacific, Clayton T. Russo

MSU Graduate Theses

This thesis examines the U.S.-Japan Mutual Defense Treaty and its future considering the recent developments in the international security environment. The 2018 National Defense Strategy brought back an emphasis on Great Power Competition, fundamentally transforming the role of U.S. alliances to address new challenges. In the 2021 budget, the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI) has prioritized the People’s Republic of China as the number one pacing threat to theUnited States, drastically shifting international focus away from the Middle East and towards East Asia. In conjunction with funding new capabilities through the PDI, the U.S. will need to conceive new legal doctrines …

Japan’S Act On Strengthening Financial Functions (Asff), Vaasavi Unnava, Junko Oguri

Journal of Financial Crises

After the Japanese Financial Crisis in 1990s, the non-performing loan problem was mitigated in the large Japanese banks but persisted in the regional banking system. By 2004, regional banks accounted for half of all non-performing loans. In 2004, the government passed the Act on Strengthening Financial Functions (ASFF), legislation for capital injections to address the non-performing loan problem. Aimed at regional banks, the ASFF secured ¥2 trillion in capital, with various eligibility restrictions and requirements, such as a rigorous debt restructuring plan. As the Japanese economy and the financial system encountered multiple external shocks, the government amended the Act several …

Financial Functions Stabilization Act, Vaasavi Unnava

Journal of Financial Crises

In 1990, the asset-pricing bubble in Japan peaked and began a steady decline. Over the next seven years, a series of bank failures induced the Japanese government to introduce the first of a series of capital injections in 1998, 1999, and 2004. The capital injection of 1998, authorized by the Financial Functions Stabilization Act, made ¥13 trillion ($103 billion) available to financial institutions that applied. By the end of the injection window, 21 banks and trusts applied for and received ¥1.8 trillion ($13.5 billion) in subordinated debt and loans and preferred shares. While there were no limits on compensation for …

Prompt Recapitalization Act, Vaasavi Unnava

Journal of Financial Crises

In 1997, Japan’s banks were in crisis due to hundreds of billions of dollars of non-performing real estate loans. In response, the government performed three rounds of capital injections in 1998, 1999, and the early 2000s. The capital injection of 1999, authorized by the Prompt Recapitalization Act, made as much as ¥25 trillion ($208 billion) available to financial institutions that applied, regardless of their capitalization. By the end of the injection window, 32 banks and trusts applied for and received ¥8.6 trillion ($71.6 billion) total in preferred shares and subordinated debts. The Act required banks to submit and adhere to …

The Resolution And Collection Corporation Of Japan, Mallory Dreyer

Journal of Financial Crises

Though the Japanese real estate and stock market bubble burst in the early 1990s, the ensuing financial crisis in Japan did not reach a systemic level until 1997, when four large financial institutions failed in a single month. Because of their heavy exposure to real estate and equity markets, Japanese banks had a nonperforming loan (NPL) problem, which was prolonged, and private sector estimates of the scale of the NPL problem differed significantly from the official estimates. In response, the Japanese government created multiple asset management companies; the Resolution and Collection Corporation (RCC) was the result of the merger of …

Pornography, Its Harms, And A New Legal Strategy: Research And Experience In Japan, Seiya Morita, Caroline Norma

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

In this article we describe pornography’s harms in Japan, which are known about from surveys and research, and from the outreach and consulting activities of Japanese feminist-abolitionist groups. Among these are the Anti-Pornography and Prostitution Research Group (APP) and People Against Pornography and Sexual Violence (PAPS). We then propose a renewed classification scheme for pornography’s harms that centrally considers the experiences of victims in Japan. Lastly, we consider various legal approaches to addressing the myriad harms we describe and suggest possibilities for a new legal strategy. The article’s research comes from Japanese-language materials produced by the above-mentioned activist groups, as …

The Spread Of International Borders As A Prelude To The Spread Of International Borders During Covid-19, David E. Toohey

International Journal of Peace Studies

This article analyzes how Covid-19 has impacted borders and xenophobia. In particular, it looks at how four countries with generally right-wing politics, but not necessarily right-wing viewpoints, have used xenophobia to deal with Covid-19: The United States, Japan, Brazil, and Australia. This paper chronicles the expected rise in blaming other countries for the spread of Covid-19 with unexpected consequences. Rather than solidifying national borders and constituencies in the face of an international threat through xenophobia, right-wing countries have instead created a successful border creation process with little room to expand. The options seem to be a fragmentation of these countries …

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, …

A Hard Look At Hard Power: Assessing The Defense Capabilities Of Key Us Allies And Security Partners—Second Edition, Gary J. Schmitt Mr.

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

With the United States facing two major revisionist powers, Russia and China, as well as additional security threats from North Korea, Iran, and jihadist terrorism, a critical advantage for the United States is its global network of alliances and strategic partners. As the 2018 National Defense Strategy states, “Alliances and partnerships are crucial to our strategy, providing a durable asymmetric strategic advantage that no competitor or rival can match.”

The advantage of having military allies and partners is enhanced by the core capacity of the American military having remained largely the same over the past decade, though the global security …

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 …

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 …

Why Does The Us Pay So Much For The Defense Of Its Allies?: 5 Questions Answered, Michael E. Flynn, Carla Martinez Machain, Michael A. Allen

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Since the start of Donald Trump’s run for the U.S. presidency in 2015, he has been critical of the amount of money U.S. allies contribute to their own defense.

Now, the Trump administration is demanding that Japan and South Korea pay more for hosting U.S. troops stationed in those countries.

The media also reported that U.S. military leadership in South Korea discussed the possibility of withdrawing up to 4,000 troops from South Korea if it does not increase its contributions. The Pentagon has since denied having such plans.

We have each studied overseas deployments of U.S. military personnel for nearly …

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

EnviroLab Asia

No abstract provided.

Regulating E-Cigarettes: Why Policies Diverge, Eric A. Feldman

All Faculty Scholarship

This paper, part of a festschrift in honor of Professor Malcolm Feeley, explores the landscape of e-cigarette policy globally by looking at three jurisdictions that have taken starkly different approaches to regulating e-cigarettes—the US, Japan, and China. Each of those countries has a robust tobacco industry, government agencies entrusted with protecting public health, an active and sophisticated scientific and medical community, and a regulatory structure for managing new pharmaceutical, tobacco, and consumer products. All three are signatories of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, all are signatories of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, …

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 …

The Nail That Sticks Up Isn't Always Hammered Down: Women, Employment Discrimination, And Litigiousness In Japan, Kristen Luck

Theses and Dissertations

Much recent scholarship is devoted to projecting Japan’s future and analyzing its prospects as a global power. After two decades of economic stagnation, alarming demographic trends, and the 3/11 triple disaster, some scholars argue that Japan is grappling with an era of precarity, marked with instability and anxiety. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned to office in 2012, promoting his economic reform policy, “Abenomics” and within the third “arrow" of this approach targeting structural reforms, he promoted “womenomics”, a term coined by Kathy Matsui of Goldman-Sachs. Prime Minister Abe’s objective is to create a society where "women can shine” and women …

World Conference Of Religions For Peace : Understanding Japanese Perspectives On Peacemaking, Matthew J. Smith

History: Student Scholarship & Creative Work

This presentation as a part of the Center for Global Understanding and Peacemaking's 2018 panel "Peace and Conflict Studies: Field Research Reports from the Philippines, Zanzibar, and Japan" features the analysis of peacemaking in Japan based on the February 2018 meeting of the World Conference of Religions for Peace - Japan.

Japan National Energy Strategy: Energy Politics - Posc 370, Peter Wong

Political Science Student Papers and Posters

In this paper is my energy strategy for Japan, with the purpose to: provide broad strategic objectives, identify and explain the policies chosen, mobilization of political support as well as consideration of Japan’s energy resources. Additionally the paper considers economic and political feasibility, and theaters of conflict that may arise. The paper uses the knowledge and skills of looking at national energy politics and strategies learned in class.