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Journal Name: Japanese Studies: September 2006, Vol. 26, No. 2
ISSN: 1037-1397 (Paper), 1469-9338 (Online)
Articles:
Japaneseness, multiple exile and the Japanese citizens abandoned in China (pp139-151)
Rowena Ward (University of Technology. Sydney)
Abstract:
This paper considers the case of the zanryu koji and zanryu fujin - Japanese women and children abandoned in China through war - and their lives in both China and Japan as conditions of exile. It examines how their separation from the Japanese mainland meant that they were unable to develop the markers of Japaneseness, and the consequences of this for their return to Japan, where they continue to live in a second form of exile.
Suicide, boycotts and embracing Tagore: The Japanese popular response to the 1924 US Immigration Exclusion Law (pp153-170)
Nancy Stalker (University of Texas. Austin)
Abstract:
In June 1924 popular protests over the US Immigration Exclusion Law erupted throughout Japan as individuals and groups mobilized to express their anger and resentment in a brief but potent wave of anti-Americanism. This paper traces several forms of popular protests and examines the reasons behind anti-American hysteria. I place the protests within the larger 'dispute culture' that arose under pre-war imperial democracy and identify how specific individuals and groups, especially the media, encouraged popular protest in order to further their own self-interests.
The spectre of the left: Iwanami shoten, ideology and publishing in early postwar Japan (pp171-184)
Vanessa B. Ward (Victoria University of Wellington)
Abstract:
In the 1990s neo-conservative critics of postwar intellectual discourse alleged that the progressive publishing house Iwanami Shoten and its monthly opinion journal Sekai were responsible for perpetrating leftist ideology. In this paper I examine the origins of this characterization, argue that it misrepresents the role of Iwanami Shoten and the scope of so-called 'leftist publishing' in the early postwar years, and present a more nuanced picture of the early postwar publishing industry.
Gendering the Japanese political system: The gender-specific pattern of political activity and women's political participation (pp185-198)
Hiroko Takeda (University of Sheffield)
Abstract:
In the Japanese political arena, gender equality remains elusive. To explore the reasons for that inequality, this paper analyses the gender-specific pattern of political activity in Japan in the post-war period. Building on analyses of feminist theorists, it examines three case studies before proceeding to a discussion of the issue of women's political participation in Japan. It concludes with a consideration of the double-edged nature of gender-specific political strategies which both empower and constrain the political struggles of Japanese women.
Japan's vision of an East Asian community: A Malaysian perspective (pp199-210)
Siew-Mun Tang (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia)
Abstract:
The East Asian Summit was an epochal event, galvanizing the region and offering the hope of greater political, economic and social cooperation. However, the veneer of diplomatic nicety is undermined by the divergence of opinion regarding the form and functionality of the proposed East Asian Community (EAC). This article examines the Japanese and Malaysian conceptions of EAC, arguing that there are notable differences in the perspectives of the two nations. Of particular interest is the issue of Japan's involvement in the determination of the EAC process. This article will examine Japan's level of commitment to EAC and whether it desires to take on a leadership role or prefers to take a sideline approach to community-building.
Japan's FTA with Singapore: The China factor and Regionalism (pp211-220)
Lam Peng Er (East Asian Institute)
Abstract:
Japan's Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Singapore is the very first it has forged with any country. Tokyo has at least two motivations: to avoid losing out to Beijing strategically and economically as the Chinese seek to forge an FTA with the Southeast Asian countries, and using Singapore (which lacks an agricultural sector) as the thin end of the wedge to push for FTAs with other countries. Japanese and Chinese competition to clinch and implement FTAs in Southeast Asia may well lead to a nascent East Asian regionalism.
Japan's vision of an East Asian Community: A perspective from Thailand (pp221-232)
Kitti Prasirtsuk - The author thanks the Thai Research Fund for its generous research grant (Thammasat University)
Abstract:
The article offers a Thai perspective on Japan's vision of an East Asian Community. It argues that Japan has so far earned positive responses from Bangkok on three major initiatives - economic partnership agreements (EPAs), capacity building and financial cooperation in the region. In particular the Japan-Thailand EPA and development partnership for capacity building in Southeast Asia have been well received in Bangkok. Such responses, however, are being pursued from Thailand's own perspective of national interest
(This journal is available online at: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/10371397.asp)
Posted with permission from the publisher.
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