When we look in detail at the various peripheral groups of disenfranchised people emerging from the aftermath of the Asia-Pacific War the list is startling: Koreans in Japan (migrants or forced labourers), Burakumin, Hibakusha, Okinawans, Asian minorities, comfort women and many others. Many of these groups have been discussed in a large corpus of what we may call 'disenfranchised literature', and the research presented in this book intends to add an additional and particularly controversial example to the long list of the voice- and powerless. The presence of members of what is known as...
When we look in detail at the various peripheral groups of disenfranchised people emerging from the aftermath of the Asia-Pacific War the list is s...
This book analyses how linguistic diversity in Japan, and indeed recognition of this phenomenon, presents a wide range of sociolinguistic challenges and opportunities in fundamental institutions such as schools, in cultural patterns and in social behaviours and attitudes.
This book analyses how linguistic diversity in Japan, and indeed recognition of this phenomenon, presents a wide range of sociolinguistic challenges a...
This book examines the many attempts over the last three decades to revise Japan's constitution. As the book shows, these attempts at revision have been relatively conservative, aiming to embed in the constitution visions of a different future for Japan. Specific reforms advocated include: enabling Japan to have a more proactive foreign policy, more independent of the US-Japan alliance; strengthening the role of the Emperor, and excluding female succession to the throne; and emphasising more citizens' duties, rather than their rights, in order to strengthen community and societal cohesion. By...
This book examines the many attempts over the last three decades to revise Japan's constitution. As the book shows, these attempts at revision have be...
Since the late nineteenth century, religious ideas and practices in Japan have become increasingly intertwined with those associated with mental health and healing. This relationship developed against the backdrop of a far broader, and deeply consequential meeting: between Japan's long-standing, Chinese-influenced intellectual and institutional forms, and the politics, science, philosophy and religion of the post-Enlightenment West. In striving to craft a modern society and culture that could exist on terms with - rather than be subsumed by - western power and influence, Japan became home to...
Since the late nineteenth century, religious ideas and practices in Japan have become increasingly intertwined with those associated with mental healt...
Japan was sometimes described as a country of "peace" during the Cold War period, in contrast to the continental border conflicts taking place at the time, such as the China-Soviet rivalry. However, as the maritime frontier was "rediscovered" and defined by the regional powers and legal refinements of the 1970s, the process of states seeking a secure maritime zone has accelerated and maritime rivalries have become as intense as inland rivalries.
This book examines the territorial disputes souring relations between Japan and its three neighbours: Russia, South Korea and China. It...
Japan was sometimes described as a country of "peace" during the Cold War period, in contrast to the continental border conflicts taking place at t...
In recent decades Japan has changed from a strongly growing, economically successful nation regarded as prime example of social equality and inclusion, to a nation with a stagnating economy, a shrinking population and a very high proportion of elderly people. Within this, new forms of inequality are emerging and deepening, and a new model of Japan as 'gap society' ("kakusa shakai") has become common-sense. These new forms of inequality are complex, are caused in different ways by a variety of factors, and require deep-seated reforms in order to remedy them. This book provides a...
In recent decades Japan has changed from a strongly growing, economically successful nation regarded as prime example of social equality and inclus...
In the election to the House of Representatives in 2009, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) almost tripled the number of its lower house members by winning 308 seats. It subsequently formed a coalition government with the Social Democratic Party and the People’s New Party. The new ruling party promised to completely overhaul policymaking mechanisms that had been shaped over the past decades. Yet, the Japanese people quickly felt disappointed with the DPJ’s ‘policymaking engineering’.
Examining the evolution of the decision-making process in Japan under the DPJ...
In the election to the House of Representatives in 2009, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) almost tripled the number of its lower house members b...
Presenting the voices of a unique group within contemporary Japanese society—Zainichi women—this book provides a fresh insight into their experiences of oppression and marginalization that over time have led to liberation and empowerment. Often viewed as unimportant and inconsequential, these women’s stories and activism are now proving to be an integral part of both the Zainichi Korean community and Japanese society.
Featuring in-depth interviews from 1994 to the present, three generations of Zainichi Korean women—those who migrated from colonial Korea before or during WWII...
Presenting the voices of a unique group within contemporary Japanese society—Zainichi women—this book provides a fresh insight into their exper...
