As the literature of change and of the young, science fiction acts as a window on the minds of the young Japanese and to the uneasy alliance of the old and the new traditions therein.

This book aims to discredit the myth that has the unique cultural traits' of the Japanese as the key to the country's success, arguing that the more realisable foundation of long-term investment in training and research is responsible.
The book looks at the development of Japan in the pre-War period. Yukiko Fukusaku sees the achievements of this period as central to the present competitiveness of the country's industrial technology. She uses the Mitsubishi Nagasaki shipyard as a case study, looking at technological innovation and training as the keys to long-term stability and economic...

The passing of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, has brought fundamental changes to the post-16 age sector. The important elements in this era are flexibility of response, open access, equality of opportunity, and valuing and accrediting alternative ways of learning. These should all be linked within the concept of providing life-long learning opportunities. Michael Field focuses on these developments, taking as his theme the accreditation of prior learning. The provision by a college of APL, along with the support services needed to ensure its success, can be used as the acid test...

This new paperback edition of Foreign Direct Investment and Governments examines the dynamic relationship between foreign direct investment, governments and economic development. The book includes:
* an investigation of the catalytic role played by the governments and multinationals in determining national advantages
* eleven in-depth national studies of the UK, USA, Japan, New Zealand, India, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, China, Indonesia and Taiwan
* analysis of all aspects of the investment development path
Foreign Direct Investment and Governments is an...

Modern Japan's repressed anxieties, fears and hopes come to the surface in the fantastic. A close analysis of fantasy fiction, film and comics reveals the ambivalence felt by many Japanese towards the success story of the nation in the twentieth century.
The Fantastic in Modern Japanese Literature explores the dark side to Japanese literature and Japanese society. It takes in the nightmarish future depicted in the animated film masterpiece, Akira, and the pastoral dream worlds created by Japan's Nobel Prize winning author Oe Kenzaburo. A wide range of fantasists, many...

In a critical analysis of the asumptions underlying experimental psychology, Pertti Saariluoma urges social scientists to reflect upon their procedures and methodology. He has revisited the philosophy of science to find a new way of applying its methods to psychology. Foundational Analysis shows how it is possible to analyze existing methodological arguments and find loopholes in them, and raises new issues for the rationale behind empirical technique. It will be of interest to researchers and students in cognitive science and other social sciences, and the philosophy of science.

Japan is regarded as a society that provides cradle to grave security to those who conform to its standards. This ethnographic study of social life in Kotobuki, an inner city district of Yokohama, documents the lives of those on a low income who have missed the Japanese economic miracle. Kotobuki is the toughest neighbourhood in Yokohama and a traditional home to day labourers. The author has spent a number of years in the district and has closely examined the lives of those who live there, mostly the unemployed, elderly and disabled. Also she has sought to understand the small number of...

Japan's education system, like it's economy, was long seen in Japan and elsewhere as the model of efficiency, discipline and high standards. In recent years, however, the model has collapsed. Classroom pressures mount, and incidents of bullying, suicide, dropout, and violence of one kind or another proliferate. The growing sense of educational crisis came to a head with the 1997 incident in which a child was murdered and decapitated, apparently by a fourteen-year-old student. When the child killer of Kobe claimed that he had been avenging himself against school which threatened his existence,...

Japan has enormous economic power and yet is a minor player in international politics. In part this has been due to the partnership with US, but now with the end of cold war there is a fierce debate going on in Japan regarding the international political role for the nation. This book is a response to the issues raised and was originally published in Japanese for a Japanese audience. The author provides a full analysis of Japan's post-war international position and, in particular, its role within the UN, the use of armed force and constitution. The text offers an insight into Japan's foreign...

Japan has enormous economic power and yet is a minor player in international politics. In part this has been due to the partnership with US, but now with the end of cold war there is a fierce debate going on in Japan regarding the international political role for the nation. This book is a response to the issues raised and was originally published in Japanese for a Japanese audience. The author provides a full analysis of Japan's post-war international position and, in particular, its role within the UN, the use of armed force and constitution. The text offers an insight into Japan's foreign...