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Full-Text Articles in History

Here, There, And In-Between: On The Civilizing Process And Civilizational Analysis, Michael Palencia-Roth Aug 2023

Here, There, And In-Between: On The Civilizing Process And Civilizational Analysis, Michael Palencia-Roth

Comparative Civilizations Review

This essay presents a cautionary tale about certain problems with systematization and abstraction in comparative civilizational studies. It advocates instead for the analysis of single works, limited events, or particular figures, within larger issues pertaining to what is understood as a “civilization” or “culture”. It prioritizes certain aspects of the civilizing process: the here, or the civilizing and interpretive gaze; the there, or the Other that is the object of that gaze; and the in-between. It further suggests that insights and methods from Mikhail Bakhtin, Hans-Georg Gadamer and others from the humanities, social sciences, and philosophy can …


When Big Brother Blinks, Josh Eyre Jan 2023

When Big Brother Blinks, Josh Eyre

BYU Asian Studies Journal

When discussing modern Japanese literature, works of the late 1930s and early 1940s are largely left out of the discussion. Stories written during this time are ignored by scholars, forgotten by readers, and at times even excluded from an author’s “complete works” by publishers (Keene 1987, 906–907). These works are often thought to be devoid of literary merit or not worth studying due to the high levels of scrutiny and censorship that Japanese authors were subjected to by the far right and intensely nationalistic Japanese government of the time. I would argue, however, that the near total dismissal of Japanese …


Christianity On Home Brew, Brayden Lane Jan 2023

Christianity On Home Brew, Brayden Lane

BYU Asian Studies Journal

In 1659, after enduring three years of torture and refusing to renounce his teachings, a Christian priest was executed in Nagasaki by decapitation under order by local officials. This man, who had taken the name of Bastian at his baptism, had spent the previous several years leading and teaching his fellow Christians in the villages near Nagasaki. He did this in secrecy, for in those days, professing belief as a Christian had been declared illegal by the Japanese government under penalty of death. In the course of his ministry, he saw many of his brethren meet their deaths for their …


Creative Citizen Peacebuilding: Japanese Artists And Audiences Respond To The Vietnam-American War, Long T. Bui, Ayako Sahara May 2022

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 …


Visions For Japanese Society: An Examination Of Japanese Postwar Occupation Period Film, Kaitlin Smith, Michael Gibbs Jan 2022

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 …


The Emergence Of Anti-Hate Speech Activism In Japan: The Relevance Of Critical Race Theory’S Sociological Implications, Bachtiar Alam Apr 2020

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 …


The Russo-Japanese War: Origins And Implications, Benjamin E. Mainardi Apr 2020

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 …


Deterrence & Security Assistance: The South China Sea, Tommy Ross Nov 2017

Deterrence & Security Assistance: The South China Sea, Tommy Ross

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article identifies how the United States can apply security assistance to support regional security in the South China Sea in order to counter China’s assertive expansion strategy.


Remembering An Abolitionist, Ambassador John R. Miller (May 23, 1938-October 4, 2017), Eleanor Kennelly Gaetan, Donna M. Hughes Oct 2017

Remembering An Abolitionist, Ambassador John R. Miller (May 23, 1938-October 4, 2017), Eleanor Kennelly Gaetan, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

A memorial for Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, John R. Miller (May 23, 1938-October 4, 2017). Ambassador Miller believed modern-day slavery, encompassing sex trafficking and forced labor, requires a principled global offensive that the United States is morally obligated to lead. In the four formative years he led the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, 2002 to 2006, John Miller set the office’s course as diplomatically aggressive and programmatically creative. He made the annual Trafficking in Persons report more than a bureaucratic submission, putting daring heroes at the center, and insisting on compelling …


The Rise And Fall Of The Zaibatsu: Japan's Industrial And Economic Modernization, David A. C. Addicott Jan 2017

The Rise And Fall Of The Zaibatsu: Japan's Industrial And Economic Modernization, David A. C. Addicott

Global Tides

Throughout the past century, the rise and fall of the zaibatsu and the operations of their direct successors has not only shaped Japan’s economic and financial landscape but also has been instrumental in the modernization of the world economy. Many of these corporations traced their roots to Japan’s premodern era, and were directly responsible for the transformation of a nation of rice farmers into an industrial powerhouse in the years prior to World War II. Following Japan’s defeat, these monopolistic corporations were dismantled by the Keynesian economists of the Allied occupation and were reorganized into the keiretsu system, which exists …


Death By Bullet, Fire, Or Vapor: Examining The Decision To Use The Atomic Bomb To End World War Ii In The Pacific Theatre, Jonathan Keenan Apr 2013

Death By Bullet, Fire, Or Vapor: Examining The Decision To Use The Atomic Bomb To End World War Ii In The Pacific Theatre, Jonathan Keenan

The Exposition

The atomic bomb is one of the most destructive devices man has created for warfare. Able to wipe out entire city blocks and dissolve a person’s body leaving only a shadow behind. How can any good be found in such a weapon? The paper will evaluate the process Americans went through to create this weapon and then use it. It will convey how different key players felt about the Bomb, such as politicians, scientists, and military figures. Both sides of the argument will be looked at whether the Bombs should have been dropped or if there was a way around …


The Contradictions Of Kitabatake Chikafusa's Jinno Shotoki: How The Jinno Shotoki Shows That Japan Is Not Shinkoku, Adam Wheeler Jan 2010

The Contradictions Of Kitabatake Chikafusa's Jinno Shotoki: How The Jinno Shotoki Shows That Japan Is Not Shinkoku, Adam Wheeler

BYU Asian Studies Journal

It is widely held by Japanese and non-Japanese historians alike that Japan has enjoyed an uninterrupted reign by a single royal family for at least the last 1,500 years, if not longer. This unprecedented system of government has given rise to much investigation as to how such a feat could have been accomplished and has also given rise to the belief that Japan is Shinkoku, or “divine land.” Theories on the longevity of the Japanese imperial family have been based on the relationship between them and surrounding families of influence, as well as the tenuous relationship that existed between …


Kai Eduard Rasmussen: A Danish American Hero, Val Hempel Jan 1993

Kai Eduard Rasmussen: A Danish American Hero, Val Hempel

The Bridge

Over the years, ever since immigration to the United States began, hundreds and thousands of Danes have crossed the Atlantic to begin new lives, to work, to settle and to become Americans. The vast majority of them have helped strengthen and build their adopted land, enrich its culture and add durable strands to that multicolored fabric that is America. Many stepped lightly and left few tracks while others broke bold new trails. A few fashioned memorable evidences of their journeys. Names such as Peter Lassen, Jacob Riis, William S. Knudsen, Jean Hersholdt, Victor Borge and others are known to millions. …