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Multicultural Japan? Discourse and the 'Myth' of Homogeneity [Indonesian Translation Available]
Volume 5 | Issue 3 | Article ID 2389 | Mar 01, 2007 The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Multicultural Japan? Discourse and the 'Myth' of Homogeneity [Indonesian Translation Available] Chris Burgess Multicultural Japan? Discourse and the one which dismisses the popular discourse of ‘Myth’ of Homogeneity [1] ‘homogeneous Japan’ as myth and which draws on ‘factual’ demographic and economic data to [Indonesian Translation Available Here] argue for the inevitability of further migration. This paper examines the discrepancy between Chris Burgess an increasingly negative global discourse on migration and an unwaveringly positive ‘multicultural Japan’ discourse. I argue that a It is not sufficient to fight against myths by destroying one myth and replacing it failure to acknowledge popular discourse as a with another, as in, for example,crucial element in the construction of Japanese criticising the myth of the homogenous social reality can lead to a distorted nation by replacing it with the myth of the understanding of migrants and migration in mixed nation (Oguma 2002: 349) Japan. 1. Nihonjinron and ‘Multicultural Japan’ Introduction In the field of Japanese Studies, one prominent discourse is that of a ‘multicultural Japan’. Recent years have seen a trend towards the Much of this can be traced back to a number of stabilisation of global migration flows (OECD critiques (e.g. Aoki 1990; Befu 1987; Dale 2005: 17/53). One factor behind this trend may 1986; Mouer and Sugimoto 1986; Yoshino be the growing atmosphere of global anxiety 1992) of Nihonjinron, a genre of writing and fear, fuelled by media reports of terrorist discussing Japanese cultural uniqueness. -
The Enduring Myth of an Okinawan Struggle: the History and Trajectory of a Diverse Community of Protest
The Enduring Myth of an Okinawan Struggle: The History and Trajectory of a Diverse Community of Protest A dissertation presented to the Division of Arts, Murdoch University in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2003 Miyume Tanji BA (Sophia University) MA (Australian National University) I declare that this thesis is my own account of my research. It contains as its main content work which has not previously been submitted for a degree at any university. ——————————————————————————————— ii ABSTRACT The islands of Okinawa have a long history of people’s protest. Much of this has been a manifestation in one way or another of Okinawa’s enforced assimilation into Japan and their differential treatment thereafter. However, it is only in the contemporary period that we find interpretations among academic and popular writers of a collective political movement opposing marginalisation of, and discrimination against, Okinawans. This is most powerfully expressed in the idea of the three ‘waves’ of a post-war ‘Okinawan struggle’ against the US military bases. Yet, since Okinawa’s annexation to Japan in 1879, differences have constantly existed among protest groups over the reasons for and the means by which to protest, and these have only intensified after the reversion to Japanese administration in 1972. This dissertation examines the trajectory of Okinawan protest actors, focusing on the development and nature of internal differences, the origin and survival of the idea of a united ‘Okinawan struggle’, and the implications of these factors for political reform agendas in Okinawa. It explains the internal differences in organisation, strategies and collective identities among the groups in terms of three major priorities in their protest. -
Embracing Immigration: Contemporary Japanese College Students Perceptions of Foreign Labor in Japan Kristin M
Seton Hall University eRepository @ Seton Hall Theses Summer 5-2012 Embracing Immigration: Contemporary Japanese College Students Perceptions of Foreign Labor in Japan Kristin M. Wingate Seton Hall University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.shu.edu/theses Part of the Asian Studies Commons Recommended Citation Wingate, Kristin M., "Embracing Immigration: Contemporary Japanese College Students Perceptions of Foreign Labor in Japan" (2012). Theses. 231. https://scholarship.shu.edu/theses/231 EMBRACING IMMIGRATION: CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE COLLEGE STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF FOREIGN LABOR IN JAPAN BY KRISTIN WINGATE B.A., FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY FAIRFIELD, CONNECTICUT 2010 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN THE ASIAN STUDIES PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES, LITERATURES, AND CULTURES AT SETON HALL UNIVERSITY SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY 2012 EMBRACING IMMIGRATION: CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE COLLEGE STUDENTS' PERCEPTION OF FOREIGN LABOR IN JAPAN THESIS TITLE BY KRISTIN WINGATE APPROVED BY DATE SHIGE OSUKA, Ed. D. MENTOR (FIRST READER) EDWIN PAK-WAH LEUNG, Ph.D. EXAMINER (SECOND READER) ~~ DEBORAH BROWN, Ph.D. II) ) o<tJ/~ EXAMINER (THIRD READER) ~ IUuAlut ~ ANNE MULLEN-HOHL, Ph.D. HEAD OF DEPARTMENT THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN THE ASIAN STUDIES PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES, LITERATURES, AND CULTURES AT SETON HALL UNIVERSITY, SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY. CONTENTS Acknowledgements.................................................................................... -
Rethinking Culture, National Culture, and Japanese Culture Author(S): Eika Tai Reviewed Work(S): Source: Japanese Language and Literature, Vol
Rethinking Culture, National Culture, and Japanese Culture Author(s): Eika Tai Reviewed work(s): Source: Japanese Language and Literature, Vol. 37, No. 1, Special Issue: Sociocultural Issues in Teaching Japanese: Critical Approaches (Apr., 2003), pp. 1-26 Published by: Association of Teachers of Japanese Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3594873 . Accessed: 26/11/2011 08:09 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Association of Teachers of Japanese is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Japanese Language and Literature. http://www.jstor.org Rethinking Culture, National Culture, and Japanese Culture Eika Tai 1. Introduction The recent literatureof social and human sciences, such as anthropology, history, and cultural studies, has scrutinized the concept of culture, par- ticularly as it refers to ethnic or national culture. Many scholars have pointed out that, contrary to a common-sense understanding, national culture such as Japaneseculture is far from natural,but is invented in the process of nation building, which is often interwovenwith other political processes such as colonization. It is invented as an essence of the nation, as an integratedhomogeneous whole sharedby the membersof the nation. -
An Introduction to Japanese Society's Attitudes Toward Race and Skin Color
Chapter 4 An Introduction to Japanese Society’s Attitudes Toward Race and Skin Color Debito Arudou Introduction Japan, no doubt like any country or society, places cultural value on skin color and melanin content. In Japan’s case, historically and traditionally, pale, unblemished white skin is held in high regard. For example, in classical Japanese ukiyo-e and woodblock prints, Japan’s upper classes and historical figures are generally rendered with very pale skin, while Japanese women, seen mostly indoors, are generally rendered whiter than men. To the present day, Japan’s traditional entertainers (from Kabuki actors to geisha) whiten their skin cosmetically, and its heroes (as seen, e.g., in Japan’s Neputa Festival (JNTO 2011) in Aomori Prefecture) are depicted as light-skinned Japanese battling hairy, swarthy barbarians. In modern Japanese adult society, skin coloring and care is de rigueur for women and sometimes even men (Ashikari 2005). Despite being the tenth most populous nation in the world, Japan’s cosmetics market is the world’s second largest, with an annual turnover of 990 billion yen in 2009 (Austrade 2010), selling products to both lighten and darken skin. Notwithstanding Japan’s fascination with African American culture, most related products, such as UV-blocking makeup foundation, sunscreen, visors, and parasols, help to keep skin light; darker tones due to sun exposure are often negatively associated with aging skin or outdoor manual labor (Ashikari ibid). Further, in a society where most members see themselves as similarly dark-haired and dark-eyed, distinctions are made in Japanese media by darkening skin tones and lightening or coloring hair. -
8 TECHNO-ORIENTALISM Japan Panic
8 TECHNO-ORIENTALISM Japan panic Every western politician has either actual or cinematic experience of the brutalities Japan inflicted on its prisoners-of-war. No one, whether in Asia or beyond, has fond memories of Japanese expansionism. Which is why, as Japan’s economic power expands anew, the Japanese would do better to face up to the darker aspects of their past. (Leader article in The Economist, 24 August 1991) Today, the modern era is in its terminal phase. An awareness of its imminent demise has made Americans, the most powerful Caucasians since World War II, increasingly emotional, almost hysterical, about Japan. (Shintaro Ishihara, 1991) Our concern in this chapter is with what has been called ‘the problem of Japan’, that is to say Japan as a problem for the West. Our interest here is in tracing a set of discursive correspondences that have been, and are still being, developed in the West between ‘Japan’, the ‘Orient’ and the ‘Other’. More specifically, we want to explore why, at this historical moment, this particular Other should occupy such a threatening position in the Western imagination. The former French prime minister, Edith Cresson, publicly declared her belief that ‘the Japanese have a strategy of world conquest’. The Japanese, she said, are ‘little yellow men’ who ‘stay up all night thinking about ways to screw the Americans and Europeans. They are our common enemy’. Most tellingly, Mme Cresson likened the Japanese to ‘ants’. Her fear was that those ‘ants’ were colonising the world and taking possession of the future. What are these fears and anxieties that Japan arouses in the Western psyche? THE JAPAN THAT IS SAYING NO For nearly five centuries now, Japan has been among the West’s Others. -
COMPLICITY Japan/China (2018) WEDNESDAY, JULY 28 at 7PM
2021 AN APPALACHIAN SUMMER FESTIVAL AppSummer.org WEICHOLZ GLOBAL FILM SERIES WRITTEN PRE-FILM LECTURE BY DR. JOHN PFEIFER COMPLICITY Japan/China (2018) WEDNESDAY, JULY 28 AT 7PM When it comes to food, the Japanese consider the preparation, cooking, presentation, and even the manner of how it is eaten to be deeply embedded in their culture. Careful preparation and meticulous presentation are crucial elements of Japanese cuisine. Food is an art form, and even the simplest dishes are often prepared by chefs who have trained for many years. Therefore, it stands to reason that there are countless Japanese films that revolve around food. Some of my favorite Japanese films highlight food as a backdrop to the underlying theme of the screenplay. These films celebrate the art of cooking as well as Japanese culture and the cinema itself. Three of these films, including this selection, deserve your attention and a place on your “must watch” list. Sweet Bean (2016) is a film about an elderly woman whose skill and more than 50 years of experience in making “dorayaki” gives her a newfound sense of purpose as she goes about teaching a young shopkeeper the importance of making and selling a quality product. Dorayaki is a sandwich-like Japanese treat made of two small pancakes held together with a large dollop of sweet bean paste. In teaching him her craft, she awakens in him Japan’s tradition of respecting their elders. Japan is the only country to celebrate “Keiro-no-HI” (Respect for the Aged Day) as a national holiday. Through their relationship, the young shop owner develops a passion and pride for product over profit that brings him greater happiness than he could have imagined. -
Japanese Protesters Use Nazism to Attack Chinese, Koreans May 01, 2014 the ASAHI SHIMBUN
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201405010052 Disturbing trend: Japanese protesters use Nazism to attack Chinese, Koreans May 01, 2014 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN Racist chants bellowed from a loudspeaker and Hinomaru flags were waved at a rally in Tokyo attended by about 40 people following a young person dressed in military uniform. But what set this demonstration apart from the usual protests against Koreans and Chinese were the swastika flags fluttering beside Japan’s national flag. “We will recover the honor of Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany,” one person shouted, as the protesters marched through a busy entertainment area of the Ikebukuro district. The rally was held on April 20, the 125th anniversary of the birth of Adolf Hitler. Although young Japanese protesters have recently increased their use of Nazi symbols in demonstrations, the rallies are not targeted at Jews. In their minds, the demonstrators seem to believe that Hitler was justified in trying to protect the German race from a rising threat, and that Nazi-style persecution offers way to save Japan from the increasing power of China and South Korea. Their numbers remain small, and they may simply be disgruntled youth ignorant about history. However, their praise for a man considered the most evil in the 20th century has raised fears about where their movement is heading. “One characteristic of the latest cases is the connecting of Nazism with calls spreading through the Internet to throw out ethnic Koreans and Chinese living in Japan,” said Mitsuharu Akao, an assistant professor at Osaka University specializing in Jewish cultural studies. -
Hate Speech Laws in Japan, the United States, and Canada Craig Martin
Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly Volume 45 Article 4 Number 3 Spring 2018 1-1-2018 Striking the Right Balance: Hate Speech Laws in Japan, the United States, and Canada Craig Martin Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/ hastings_constitutional_law_quaterly Part of the Constitutional Law Commons Recommended Citation Craig Martin, Striking the Right Balance: Hate Speech Laws in Japan, the United States, and Canada, 45 Hastings Const. L.Q. 455 (2018). Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_constitutional_law_quaterly/vol45/iss3/4 This Symposium is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly by an authorized editor of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Striking the Right Balance: Hate Speech Laws in Japan, the United States, and Canada by CRAIG MARTIN* Introduction The issue of hate speech has occupied the headlines of many democracies in recent years. Whether it be Charlottesville, Kyoto, or Warsaw, the rise of nativist, nationalist, and racist groups, expressing hatred towards minorities within society, has once again confronted us with the question of how far democracies can or should go in limiting certain extreme forms of hateful discriminatory expression. Certain types of hate speech, which have the purpose and effect of fostering hatred against groups defined by certain characteristics such as race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexual orientation, and which take the form of extreme vilification, denigration, and even dehumanization of its targets, are known to cause significant harm.1 This harm is suffered by the members of such groups, both in the form of direct emotional and psychological harm caused by the speech itself, and also in the form of increased levels of discrimination and persecution as a consequence of the hatred fomented in society by such speech. -
Japan's Under-Researched Visible Minorities: Applying Critical Race
Washington University Global Studies Law Review Volume 14 Issue 4 Global Perspectives on Colorism (Symposium Edition) 2015 Japan’s Under-Researched Visible Minorities: Applying Critical Race Theory to Racialization Dynamics in a Non-White Society Debito Arudou Hawaii Pacific University Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_globalstudies Part of the Japanese Studies Commons, Law Commons, and the Race and Ethnicity Commons Recommended Citation Debito Arudou, Japan’s Under-Researched Visible Minorities: Applying Critical Race Theory to Racialization Dynamics in a Non-White Society, 14 WASH. U. GLOBAL STUD. L. REV. 695 (2015), https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_globalstudies/vol14/iss4/13 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington University Global Studies Law Review by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. JAPAN’S UNDER-RESEARCHED VISIBLE MINORITIES: APPLYING CRITICAL RACE THEORY TO RACIALIZATION DYNAMICS IN A NON-WHITE SOCIETY DR. DEBITO ARUDOU ABSTRACT Critical Race Theory (CRT), an analytical framework grounded in American legal academia, uncovers power relationships between a racialized enfranchised majority and a disenfranchised minority. Although applied primarily to countries and societies with Caucasian majorities to analyze White Privilege this Article applies CRT to Japan, a non-White majority society. After discussing how scholarship on Japan has hitherto ignored a fundamental factor within racialization studies—the effects of skin color on the concept of “Japaneseness”—this Article examines an example of published research on the Post-WWII “konketsuji problem.”1 This research finds blind spots in the analysis, and re-examines it through CRT to uncover more nuanced power dynamics. -
THE YALE REVIEW of INTERNATIONAL STUDIES VOLUME 8, ISSUE 1, INTERCOLLEGIATE ISSUE University Is Not Responsible for Its Contents
THE YALE REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES OF INTERNATIONAL REVIEW YALE THE THE YALE REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES YRIS IS AN UNDERGRADUATE JOURNAL DEDICATED TO PUBLISHING BOTH OPINION AND LONG-FORM SCHOLARSHIP ON CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL ISSUES: THEIR ORIGINS, THEIR PRESENT VOLUME VIII, ISSUe 1 EFFECTS, AND THE FUTURE THEY WILL SHAPE. THE INTERCOLLEGIATE ISSUE ESSAYS Treasure Not Found in the Ground: Political Institutions ISSUE INTERCOLLEGIATE ISSUE 1, 8, VOLUME and Resource Wealth in Botswana and Gabon In this issue: Matthew Taylor King Treasure Not Found in the Japanese Ninhonjinron and 1890s American Social Ground: Political Institutions Darwinism: Looking to the Past for a Solution to Japan’s and Resource Wealth in Vicious Cycle of Homogeneity Botswana and Gabon David Ta-Wei Huang Biopolitics in the Borderlands: The Securitization of Development in the Global Liberal World Order Samuel Singler Water Securitization Reconsidered: Intrastate Water Disputes in India Marielena Octavio Understanding the Narrative: The Crucial First Step toward the Reduction and Prevention of Radical Jihadism Megan Bryn The Yale Review of International Studies is a student publication and a constituent organization of the Yale International Relations Association. The Review is published by Yale College students and Yale University is not responsible for its contents. 3 Editor's Letter ESSAYS 5 Treasure Not Found in the Ground: Political Institutions and Resource Wealth in Botswana and Gabon MATTHEW TAYLOR KING 13 Japanese Ninhonjinron and 1890s American Social -
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THE STATUS QUO OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN JAPAN AND THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA AND THE NEED TO PROVIDE FOR ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAWS Yujin Yi* Japan and the Republic of Korea, two neighboring nations situated in East Asia, have homogenous demographics. Both societies face large influxes of foreigners—from immigration and tourism alike—due to various factors ranging from rapidly aging populations, low birth rates, and globalization. Despite this, neither country has sufficient legal means of halting racially discriminatory practices that occur within them. This Note illustrates the rampant nature of racial discrimination in Japan and the Republic of Korea, analyzes the current state of their anti- discrimination laws, argues that the existing legal protections for foreigners against racial discrimination are inadequate at best, and finally, urges that the two governments adopt available means to improve upon the situation. I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................ 411 II. THE HISTORIC AND LEGAL FOUNDATIONS OF DISCRIMINATION IN JAPAN AND KOREA ..................... 413 A. Roots of Racial Prejudice in Japan and Korea .... 414 1. Roots of Racial Discrimination in Japan ........ 416 2. Roots of Racial Discrimination in Korea ........ 419 B. The Ineffective Legal Protections against Racial Discrimination ...................................................... 421 * Juris Doctor Candidate 2017, Columbia Law School; Bachelor of Arts 2014, Waseda University. The author would like to thank Todd Densen, as well as the staff of the Columbia Journal of Race and Law, for their tireless editing contributions and substantive feedback. The author would also like to thank Professor David Waters of Waseda University for his significant contribution to the shaping of this Note. No. 4:410] THE STATUS QUO OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION 411 1.