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Based on Realism theory, this paper provides an explanation of the importance of power in International Relations, by analyzing the behavior of China and Japan in the East Asian region, and also the behavior of the United States of America towards them as the dominant superpower under the current international system. It answers the problem of the transfer of power from the West to the East, and in return supports the assumption that the Great Powers seek to possess relative power as much as possible. The paper also emphasizes that the State should not undermine or renounce its offensive power, as with Japan, because that will put it in front of a dilemma of the growing the power of neighboring States that seek to achieve regional hegemony, such as China. Therefore, all of these transformations show that international relations are a complex field and should not be reduced to a specific ideal field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the shift in career strategies among Japanese women due to the globalization of Japan's economy since the 1980s. It highlights how economic changes led to a gender‐based division of labor, propelling women to seek opportunities abroad. The research draws on interviews with 81 women who moved to financial centers in East Asia, mainly in Hong Kong and Shanghai, examining their experiences in the workforce, the impact of human resource agencies in their migration, and the challenges and opportunities they encountered. The study reveals a complex landscape where Japanese women navigate gendered expectations and discrimination both in Japan and abroad in pursuit of career advancement. The conclusion emphasizes three points. First, women found opportunities abroad to do what they wanted, even if it was not what they initially expected before leaving Japan. Second, although supportive and subordinate to male managers, their work was indispensable to the management of Japanese companies abroad. Their contribution has long been underestimated but needs to be considered. Third, the experience abroad gave them direct interaction with various clients and colleagues and a view of rapid societal change in Hong Kong and China, contributing to choosing their diverse career trajectories and life plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much attention has been focused on the moss family Mniaceae over the past 50 years, yet new discoveries continue to be made. Plagiomnium decursivum joins P. floridanum as the second new species of Plagiomnium Section Plagiomnium described in the past ten years. Careful morphological and anatomical studies, coupled with evidence from isozymes and gene sequencing, reveal that a species from Japan referred to in an earlier paper (Wyatt & Odrzykoski 1998) as "P. acutum" is actually new to science. In addition, the taxon referred to in that paper as "P. acutum-J" is in fact P. acutum, and the taxon referred to as "P. cuspidatum-F" is now named P. floridanum (Wyatt & Odrzykoski 2012). The new species, P. decursivum, is compared to its closest relative, P. acutum, and to the other four species of Section Plagiomnium. It differs in having smaller leaves with long, broad decurrencies, longer leaf cells with corner thickenings, and shorter teeth composed of a single cell. Based on isozyme data, it is concluded that allopolyploid P. cuspidatum has P. decursivum as one haploid progenitor and that P. floridanum is most likely the other. Moreover, sequencing of two regions of chloroplast DNA (rps4 and rpL16) suggests that P. floridanum may have been the maternal parent in crosses that launched the allopolyploid. The relative isolation of P. drummondii and P. japonicum within the section is apparent from both morphology and genetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interruption of Japan's foreign relations, which has lasted since the beginning of the 7th century, was interrupted by the signing of the treaty of Kanagawa and the seizure of power by the emperor Mutsuhito, who called his reign the Meiji period, or „Enlightened rule.” It was during this period that the foundations for modernization of today's sophisticated Japan were laid. Japan begins to open up to the world, but it retains its independence, combining tradition and modernism in all segments. The journey and the exchange of ideas that have inspired many literary works, not only by the French writer Pierre Loti, on whose work this paper is partially based, then artistic ideas and artefacts, aim to explore the author of this paper, which focuses on the presentation of elements of Japanese art and culture at the Exibition Universelle in Paris, 1867.The analytical-comparative method used in this paper shows the remarkable place of Japan in the cross-section that transported silk from the Mediterranean to East Asia, which has become a symbol of the connection between East and West and metaphors for various myths and legends from previous periods, and today the link between western and eastern cultural development models, whose proximity and distance are constantly changing, leaving a strong mark on all societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the largest freely available EcoPlate dataset for Japan, comprising data collected from a network of 33 natural forest sites (77 plots) in regions of East Asia ranging from cool temperate to subtropical. EcoPlate is a 96‐well microplate that contains three repeated sets of 31 response wells with different sole carbon substrates. The utilization of each carbon substrate by the microbial community is quantified by the color density of the well during incubation. EcoPlate can provide a multifunctional index of a soil microbial community. Soil properties (water content, carbon [C] and nitrogen [N] contents, the C/N ratio, and pH) that are essential for interpreting the EcoPlate results were also measured. The network is part of the Forest and Grassland Survey of the Monitoring Sites 1000 Project established by the Ministry of the Environment. Using a standardized protocol, soil was sampled between September and December 2020. A preliminary principal component analysis was performed on the temporal integration of color density using 31 substrates. For the temporal integration, we calculated the cumulative amount of color development by integrating the color density development curve. PC1 contributed 55.6% and is thought to represent the magnitude of the overall absorbance of all substrates. The model of environmental factors including elevation and the model of soil properties, including water content and pH, were selected as the best‐fit models for variation in PC1. EcoPlate data enable the meta‐analysis of comparative studies among forest types and testing community ecology and ecosystem function hypotheses at broad spatial scales. The complete data set for this abstract published in the Data Paper section of the journal is available in electronic format in MetaCat in JaLTER at http://db.cger.nies.go.jp/JaLTER/metacat/metacat/ERDP‐2022‐01.1/jalter‐en. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of AMS radiocarbon dates, accumulated since the 1990's, reveal that ceramic technology first developed among non-agricultural, hunter-gatherer societies in the late Pleistocene of East Asia. Specifically, on the Japanese Archipelago the radiocarbon chronology indicates a diverse trajectory of pottery adoption. The earliest adoption of pottery here was by mobile hunter-gatherers, regardless of region and climatic event. On the other hand, pottery culture suddenly started to flourish later along the warmer Pacific coastline region of southwestern Japan just after the onset of climatic warming of the Late Glacial, and spread throughout the archipelago by the onset of the Holocene. Climatic amelioration, therefore, did not induce the 'beginning' of pottery use, but prompted the 'development' of sedentary lifestyles accompanying intensified use of pottery. This complicated situation clearly means that motivation and context of pottery adoption do not follow a simple explanation. However, recent studies of chemical and isotope analyses of charred residues on pottery indicate similar use of early pottery throughout the archipelago in the late Pleistocene and the early Holocene. This paper critically re-evaluates these issues through examining synchronic and diachronic archaeological contexts. Existing data indicate that there is great inter-regional variability in technology, subsistence, paleoenvironment, and adaptation associated with pottery, therefore the motivation for the adoption of pottery is distinct within various geographical, environmental, and temporal contexts in the archipelago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impacts of carbon pricing policies on firms' greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We include two carbon pricing policies: carbon tax and emission trading scheme (ETS) at national and sub-national (province) levels, measured as policy existence (binary variable) and carbon price (continuous variable). Firms' GHG emissions are measured as total emissions and emission intensity. Using unique recent firm-level data from 2010 to 2021 from three East Asia countries (Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and the People's Republic of China (PRC)), we obtain the following key findings. First, the national carbon pricing policy significantly reduced firms' GHG emissions and GHG emission intensity in Japan and the ROK. The greater the carbon price, the greater the impact. Second, the subnational carbon pricing policies implemented in two provinces of Japan (Saitama and Tokyo) decreased firms' GHG emissions. Third, heavy industry sectors such as energy, utilities, and industrials experienced a substantial decrease in GHG emission intensity due to the carbon pricing policy. Finally, our main results are robust to different model specifications and various measures of firms' GHG emissions. Although literature studying the ex-post impact of carbon pricing on emissions at country and sector-level is abundant, this paper contributes to the existing literature providing empirical evidence of the impact of carbon pricing policies on firms' emissions using firm-level data, which is highly limited especially in Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the different relationships between the two types of South Asian highs (SAH)—the southern mode of the SAH (SSAH) and the traditional SAH in its entirety (ESAH)—with respect to the variations in summer rainfall over East Asia. The ESAH is closely related to summer rainfall over northeastern China, whereas the SSAH is closely linked to summer rainfall over the Yangtze River valley, northern China, and Japan. Above‐normal rainfall tends to occur over northeastern China in strong ESAH years, whereas strong SSAH years tend to yield above‐normal rainfall over the Yangtze River valley and Japan together with below‐normal rainfall over northern China. The westerly jet and the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) shifts northward associated with a strengthened ESAH. The related anomalous southwesterly winds to the northwestern side of the WPSH transports abundant water vapour to northeastern China and leads to above‐normal rainfall there. In contrast, the westerly jet shifts southward and WPSH shifts southwestward to the South China Sea associated with a strengthened and southeastward‐shifted SSAH. Accordingly, a cyclonic anomaly appears over Northeast Asia and mid‐latitude western northern Pacific and an anticyclonic anomaly occurs over subtropical western North Pacific. The associated southwesterly wind anomalies over the Yangtze River valley and Japan contributes to above‐normal rainfall over these regions via transporting sufficient amount of water vapour. In addition, the anomalous northerly winds to the western flank of the cyclonic anomaly results in below‐normal rainfall over northern China via carrying drier air southward. Furthermore, the preceding winter ENSO events may play a more important role in the SSAH variation via modulating India Ocean SST. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the political implications of aesthetic mimicry in the popular mobile game, Onmyoji. Created by the Chinese company, NetEase, Onmyoji takes advantage of the expansive network of signifiers revolving around the historical Japanese figure, Abe-no-Seimei, and co-opts this network to display a recognizable Japanese popular aesthetic. By remixing elements of Japanese culture, Onmyoji presents a commodifiable and mediated image of Japanese cultural authenticity that is recognizable globally. Mimicry and the co-opting of another nation's cultural signifiers initiates a negotiated process of ambivalent national self-empowerment that has since resulted in shifting labor flows within the digital entertainment industries in East Asia. The malleability of cultural signifiers allows for the purposeful framing of global media texts. Such multivalent encodings of recognizable symbols emerge from the provocative slippages between media boundaries. This, in turn, engages with the dialectical processes of nation branding within the framework of transnational co-production models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of democratisation, it is expected that a former dominant party, at least one which abides by the rules of electoral contestation, will transition into a 'catch-all' party. A catch-all party aims to attract the votes of all social cleavages and classes of voters outside what would be considered their traditional voter base. As part of the wider debate about democratisation in East Asia, this paper examines how two of East Asia's liberal democracies-Japan and South Korea, the LDP and GNP/Saenuri, respectively, have adapted to electoral defeat and in what ways they have transitioned into catch-all parties in the Kircheimer mould. This paper finds that while intra-party reforms which could fit a catch-all model have yet to be institutionalised, data from the Comparative Manifesto Database shows that there has been a significant change in which policies both parties promote and that these are designed to appeal to a broad base of voters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, with a focus on Japan and Thailand, we outline a relational environmental and economic history of East Asian economic integration (EAEI) and its implication for the commons in both places. We draw attention in particular to global commodity chains as relational processes not only of trade and investment, but also geopolitics and aid, to argue that these transborder processes have connected together commons in distant localities resulting in their simultaneous enclosure, dispossession and (re‐)commoning with implications for community vulnerabilities in positive and negative ways. To demonstrate this argument we analyse three periods of EAEI: the late nineteenth century until World War II, when Japan and Thailand both began to modernise and new trade and geopolitical relations emerged in the context of colonialism; the post‐World War II recovery until the Plaza Accord in 1986, during which time Japan rapidly industrialised, as did Thailand to a lesser extent and regionalism was largely defined by US hegemony; and the post‐Plaza Accord period, when Japan deindustrialised its labour intensive manufacture and heavy industry and Thailand rapidly industrialised and EAEI became defined by new and intensified global commodity chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the first half of the 20th century, Japan launched an imperialist project in East Asia that transformed the region in many ways. By means of a historical and comparative analysis, this paper describes the economic activities of the Japanese in that period, directed not only to the mere extraction of resources, but also to the construction of infrastructure, the training of technical personnel and the creation of institutions and long-lasting international links. It also shows how all this was used favorably as a driving force in the industry of the region, and even in cases of economic growth that emulated the "Japanese miracle" after the Second World War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why is the East Asia region so important for the European Union? What are its interests and what challenges does it face? How it approaches its main strategic partners in the region, the People's Republic of China and Japan? The current paper is trying to answer these questions providing an analysis of the foreign policy of the EU in the region as it has formed throughout the last decade. It focuses mainly on a brief review of the literature and the research progress which has been accomplished so far with the purpose of identifying new challenges, weaknesses and factors that need to be included in future research. In the first part, there will be an effort to describe the interests, priorities and challenges of the Union. In the second part, there will be an analysis and description of the EU foreign policy towards its two major partners in East Asia, highlighting the main elements of their bilateral relationships. Lastly, there will be an effort to provide the future trends and possible actions to be taken by the EU, in order to further consolidate its presence in the area via a multifaceted strategy as presented at the EU Global Strategy of 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper considers new and little-known species of the genus Tetracanthella distributed in the Far East of Russia and in Japan. Sensillar chaetotaxy and labial palp, two less known morphological characters for the genus, are discussed. Two new species T. annulata sp. nov. and T. tardoki sp. nov. are described; T. manschurica Kutyreva, 1980 and T czernovae Kutyreva, 1980 are redescribed. For the latter species a lectotype and paralectotypes are designated. Remarks are provided for T. sylvatica Yosii, 1939. A second undescribed species is recorded for Japan. New records for T. orientalis Martynova, 1977 and T. sibirica Deharveng, 1987 are listed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The brackish-water calanoid copepod known as Pseudodiaptomus inopinus in the mainland of Japan consists of two genetically separate species. One is P. japonicus, which was once synonymized with P. inopinus but was recently revived. This paper describes the other species as Pseudodiaptomus yamato n. sp., which is confirmed to have morphological differences from P. inopinus s.s. based on specimens from the type locality (Lake Taihu, China) of the latter. We also redescribe P. japonicus and P. inopinus s.s. for comparative purposes. The three species are distinguishable by the combination of the following morphologies: 1) weak or prominent posterior round projections of the female last pediger; 2) relative length of posterior processes of the female genital operculum; 3) presence or absence of medial spinules on the first exopodal segment of the female leg 5; and 4) the size of spinules at the center of the ventral surface of the male second urosomite. Significant inter-population variation is observed in some spinules of P. japonicus. The past and present records indicate that Pseudodiaptomus yamato n. sp. is endemic to Japan and confined to the coasts affected by the warm Kuroshio Current from western Kyushu to the middle of Honshu, while P. japonicus is widespread in northern East Asia without overlapping the range of P. yamato n. sp. The range of Pseudodiaptomus inopinus s.s. most certainly does not extend to those of P. yamato n. sp. and P. japonicus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: There is no questioning the immensity of change in Tokyo’s urban landscape over the last few decades, despite the difficulties faced by the Japanese economy. This transformation results from a vigorous promotion of urban restructuring by the state and a keen uptake by corporations. The question examined here is the extent to which Tokyo fits into a palette of policies generally seen as neoliberal and, more generally, how and where Tokyo fits into global narratives of urban change. In order to put some perspective on the nature of urban change in Tokyo, three themes are pursued here that are generally considered to indicate a neoliberal policy turn: a territorial rescaling designed to concentrate energies on places of economic strength; a relaxation of regulations facilitating urban restructuring; and housing and other social policies resulting in residential segregation and producing greater social inequality which finds a spatial expression. In doing this, the paper reviews recent debates in the literature on Tokyo, debates that suggest a difference in view between those who see urban life-spaces as conditioned increasingly by a neoliberal policy approach and others for whom the pattern and spaces of life in Tokyo are colored by a more distinct set of policies molded by the (neo-) developmental state. The paper concludes by arguing that only some elements of a ‘neoliberal urban inventory’ are present in the urban landscape of Tokyo, that they exist within a recognisably neoliberal discursive framework, and that this is best conceptualized within a wider East Asian framework. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of recent transformations in East Asian welfare regimes, applying a 'real-typical' perspective, based on the 'productivist welfare capitalism' thesis of Ian Holliday (2000). Unlike Western welfare-state regimes in which the politics of austerity has dominated, the politics of welfare expansion has been noticeable in East Asian welfare regimes. This paper will analyse whether these changes have fundamentally dismantled the productivist feature where social policy is subordinate to economic objectives. While the trajectories are different depending on different political institutional contexts, this study shows that there are two strong signs that these states are moving out of their productivist nature and also that they are in the process of establishing their own welfare states. Japan seems to still be a productivist welfare-state regime struggling to accommodate rapid socio-economic changes, whereas Korea is a welfare state regime with strong liberal characteristics via modern welfare politics. Since the needs for social policy expansion in China correspond to economic and political needs, the productivist feature has been significantly weakened. However, this study argues that these transitory welfare regimes are in critical stages of formulating their new welfare regimes and that welfare politics based on contingent events could affect the future trajectories of these regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the early 1980s, multiple transnational clashes have been generated by some Japanese right-wing scholars' attempts to omit or downplay Japanese war crimes during World War II in history textbooks. The most recent dispute in 2001 brought another flood of reactions from Chinese, Korean, and some Japanese scholars as well. Instead of criticism of the right-wing textbooks per se, some historians called for a more nuanced understanding of history and the necessity of compiling an alternative textbook to fit the changing international environment. A new association for progressive East Asian intellectuals was organized in 2002 with the aim of compiling a joint history textbook for promoting peace and human rights. After three years of intensive discourse involving conferences and papers, the first joint textbook of modern East Asian history was released in May 2005, first in Japanese, then in Korean, and finally in Chinese. Despite a number of problems and issues, this project is an unprecedented step forward for peace and reconciliation in East Asia. As valuable as it is as a textbook, it has even more symbolic meaning as a tri-national effort for promoting peace and human rights in East Asia. This paper examines the historical background, purpose, process, and significance of this joint textbook and offers some suggestions for revision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, characteristics of mathematics classrooms in the East Asian countries1 of Hong Kong and Japan are discussed based on an analysis of the data of the TIMSS 1999 Video Study. The data shows that although students in these East Asian countries did not talk a lot in the classroom, they were exposed to more instructional content. The mathematics problems they worked on were set up mainly using mathematical language, and compared with the problems solved by students in other countries, the problems took a longer duration to solve and more proof was involved. According to the judgement of an expert panel on the Hong Kong lessons (Japan did not participate in this part of the study), more advanced contents were covered and the lessons were more coherent. The mathematics presentations were more developed, and the students were more likely to be engaged in the lessons. In sum, the overall quality of the teaching in this East Asian country was judged to be high. The findings show that high quality teaching and learning can take place even in a teacher directed classroom. It is argued that these East Asian classroom practices are deeply rooted in the underlying cultural values of the classroom and the wider society. The paper ends by drawing some implications of the study for the mathematics education community in other cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is rising as the fastest growing largest economy and thereby leading a market-driven economic integration in East Asia. At the same time, nationalism is also rising and constraining East Asian countries from forming a state-driven regional community. This paper examines the political economy of interdependence and nationalism that is taking place in East Asia. Simply put, its central theme is that the degree of interdependence, especially between China and other countries, is deepening, and as a result, is pulling East Asia toward regional integration, but due to the rising tide of nationalism, it is far short of forming an actual community. In order to build a community, therefore, such economic trend must be propelled by political leadership and will. In elaborating on this thesis, the paper analyzes the trade and production networks centered on China, the efforts to promote regional integration in ASEAN + 3, the nationalist rivalry between Japan and China in negotiating FTAs, and the difficulties in achieving Sino-Japanese reconciliation. Finally, the paper proposes a Northeast Asian Forum among Japan, South Korea and China while the US remains as a stabilizing force in East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is obvious that the security environment in East Asia is more unstable and unpredictable. In the South China Sea, tensions over disputed islands initiate a more severe Sino–American rivalry. In the East China Sea, China disputes the control over the Senkaku Islands, and is escalating military activities around those islands. North Korea continues provocative activities including launching of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons tests. This naturally leads to the idea that Japan needs to play a larger role to restore stability in the international order. This paper explores the challenges facing East Asian security in the face of the passage of Japan's new security bills in 2015 and how they impact the future of Japanese security policy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines A. G. Frank's views about 15th-19th Korea (Joseon Dynasty) in his Reorient. A. G. Frank recognized that Korea might have played a great role in the international relations of East Asia, but he did not write systematically about it and he did not treat Korea as an independent player in the history of East Asia. I think the greatest limitation to his reinterpretation of East Asia is in that he depends too much on China's and Japan's perspective. In order to overcome Frank's shortcomings regarding the history of Korea, first I examine what Frank recognized about the Joseon dynasty between 1400 and 1800. Next I compare Joseon's development to that of China and Japan between 1400 and 1800. Frank compared Europe and East Asia (mainly China and Japan) from three aspects of quantities (population, production, productivity, and trade), qualities (science and technology), and mechanism (economic and financial institutions). With this research we insist that Joseon should not be dismissed in 15th-19th East Asia. The reasons are as follows. First, Joseon between 1400 and 1800 had developed economically as much as China and Japan. Second, Joseon had played a great role in connecting China and Japan and had a positive influence on the development of Japan. So we need to reappraise Reorient's view about East Asia. Only when role of Joseon can be correctly estimated, the dynamics and diversity of East Asia can be properly understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To evaluate the quantities of 137Cs from past nuclear tests being transported to and deposited in Japan by naturally-occurring phenomena, the authors developed long-range transport models for 137Cs considering Asian dust. The simulation using these models backed the observed recent increase of 137Cs deposition along the coast of the Sea of Japan in early spring. For the sake of public safety, it is vital to ascertain whether an increase of radioactive deposition is caused by natural phenomena or a nuclear accident. The observations in recent years have suggested that dust and soil containing 137Cs is transported from the regions around Inner Mongolia to Japan by the wind. In this paper, using observation data from the early spring of 2002 and 2006, the authors have found good agreement between the simulations and the measurements. The simulations reproduced the entrainment of 137Cs and subsequent transport to Japan caused by strong winds associated with low pressure areas around the Inner Mongolian grasslands. The most likely cause of high-level 137Cs deposition over northern Japan during March 2002 was 137Cs associated with particles transported at low-altitude (1 km) and subjected to precipitation on the 22nd to 24th. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Although economically interdependent, political rivalry between Japan and China have brought about the inability of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Plus Three (APT) process to transform itself into an East Asia Summit (EAS) as originally envisioned. The existence of the APT and the EAS as two separate entities not only reflected the politico-security rivalry between the two neighbours but more importantly affected the direction and progress of East Asian regionalism as a whole. Aiming to provide a historical account of the EAS process and examine Japan's role in the development of the EAS framework, this paper argues that Japan has put greater attention on the EAS and made numerous unilateral initiatives to develop it. While Japan does not seek ultimate power, it considers the EAS as an excellent opportunity to: (i) raise its influence in the region vis-à-vis China; (ii) elevate the status of the EAS in region-building and (iii) check Chinese advances by fulfilling its long-held policy of having other Asia Pacific countries, primarily Australia and New Zealand, join. Nevertheless, the decision to expand the EAS to include the USA and Russia will have some adverse effects on Japan's unilateral ambitions and the furtherance of regionalisation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global financial crisis of 2008-09 presented a critical challenge to East Asian regional financial cooperation. Over a decade of efforts to reduce regional vulnerability to financial crisis and contagion were confronted with the worst global economic crisis since the 1930s. The results for East Asia were mixed. On the one hand, no economies were forced to submit to IMF-led bailouts, as had happened so painfully in 1997-98. On the other hand, the most highly-developed component of the project of ASEAN+3 financial regionalism - the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI), which set up a system of emergency liquidity provision - appeared irrelevant, as the central banks of South Korea and Singapore prioritized the establishment of new swap agreements with the United States as a means of ensuring dollar liquidity instead of relying on their Chiang Mai partners. Nonetheless, in May 2009, the ASEAN+3 finance ministers agreed to a substantial expansion and 'multilateralization' of the initiative. This paper critically addresses whether CMI has been transformed into an 'Asian Monetary Fund' and argues that the events of 2008-10 make substantial additional movement in that direction unlikely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are two approaches to questioning the 100th anniversary since Japan's annexation of Korea. One is to seek ways of overcoming colonialism by duly understanding the process of colonial domination from its outset through the present. Another approach is to position Japan's annexation of Korea in current circumstances. This study has opted for the second approach. Over the past 100 years, conditions surrounding the matter of Japan's colonial domination have noticeably changed. Above all, changes in the circumstances defining the relationships between Korea and Japan made inevitable the mention of colonial domination amidst other issues. From the Korean perspective, the fact that what was a single entity 100 years ago has been divided into two is the most fundamental change that has occurred. With this as a starting point, the current paper proposes to address three factors present in the 100 years following Japan's annexation of Korea. First, the Japanese government's apologetic statement for colonial domination is combined with the conception of an East Asian community. Second, the framework of perceiving the Korea-Japan relationship and the East Asian community should have a common ground. Lastly, the author also viewed the emergence of China as an essential reason for changes in order of the region in East Asia and the principal condition in defining the present state of affairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates achievements to settle the issues of the past in South Korea and its possible contributions to the East Asian history. Japanese colonial policy was dependent on compelling force, and the imperial policy was justified as the policy to make civilized East Asian nations. As for a look back at the 100 Years of Japanese annexation of Korea, this research is composed widely of two parts: first, the problem of imperialistic consequences such as the relationship between a colonized nation and its colonizer, which still remains today. In the context of the East Asian history, the colonized nation has a right to require compensation and apology for damages received from the colonizer. However, the hegemonic power of the United States over Japan and Korea has made this difficult. Second, the efforts of South Korea to solve the issues of the past created some achievements but have limitations because of the current government-level policy and their attitude for its people. Today, education for history and examination of the true history appear as issues. For peace in East Asia, the role of South Korea in rectifying East Asia's history has a great significance. At the end, this paper describes the role of South Korea as recognizing the characteristics of the East Asian Cold War history of the nations such as Taiwan, Okinawa, and Vietnam based on the identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese feminist philosophy has in the last 15 years focused on the theme of ‘sexual slavery’, especially on the issue of ‘comfort women’. The issue of ‘comfort women’ was not only a highly charged social and political issue, but also the turning point in conceptualizing the category of ‘the other’ from the viewpoint of East Asian feminist philosophy. It enabled Asian women philosophers to rethink the feminine solidarity and also to create a new forum for a transnational feminist philosophy in East Asia. For this purpose of feminist philosophy in networking, a group of East Asian women philosopher is working together on the task of Asian philosophy of gender as well as on a new line in the philosophy of ‘the other’. In my paper, I would like to describe the conceptual framework of this feminist philosophy in networking and want to try to redefine the concept of gender from East Asian feminist philosophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we report the phylogeographic history of Clintonia udensis Trautv. & Mey. (Liliaceae) inferred from two types of chloroplast DNA markers, polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and DNA sequences. Eighty samples were collected from 20 natural populations, 19 located in China and one in Japan, across the entire range of the species in East Asia. High genetic diversity (h T(PCR-RFLP)=0.972, h T(sequencing)=0.874) and significant differentiation (N ST(PCR-RFLP)=0.893, N ST(sequencing)=0.988 and G ST(PCR-RFLP)=0.777, G ST(sequencing)=0.978) were detected at the species level. These findings are consistent with a scenario of clonal reproduction and locally restricted gene exchange. The level of diversity of tetraploid populations was slightly greater than that of diploid populations. Significant molecular variation was found between tetraploids and diploids. Tetraploids may be autopolyploids and may have formed repeatedly in different locations. At least three regions of origin could be recognized. Twenty-six distinct haplotypes were identified. Haplotype frequency distributions were strongly skewed, with most haplotypes (n =25) represented by only one sample each and thus restricted to a single population. Non-overlapping distributions of cpDNA haplotypes and strong genetic differentiation among populations and/or different ploid level were consistent with the findings of a nested clade analysis, which inferred long-distance colonization as the major process influencing the spatial haplotype distribution of this species. Nested clade analysis showed that the 26 haplotypes formed two 3-step, four 2-step and eleven 1-step clades, with twelve clades showing significant geographical associations. Higher N ST than G ST (P <0.05) suggested a distinct phylogeographical pattern. Based on mismatch distribution analysis and neutrality tests, we found no evidence of population expansion in the species. Our analyses indicate that the history of C. udensis involved both long-distance migration and the tectonic events of Mountains in East Asia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines, at the aggregate level, the relationship between cost of children and number of children (as measured by the total fertility rate) in Japan and other East Asian countries, using a new methodological approach called National Transfer Accounts (NTA). The private and public direct costs of children are measured by private and public transfers flowing into the 'child' age groups from older age groups. The estimated elasticity between cost and number of children is high, and the elasticity between the human capital component of the cost of children, i.e. education and health costs, and number of children is even higher. This is consistent with the widely held view that in the highly success-oriented societies of East Asia, human capital is a very important factor in parents' family-size decisions. The estimated elasticities are measures of the trade-off between quality and quantity of children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the 1920s Tokyo transformation of hanamatsuri (the celebration of the Buddha's birthday) from a local observance to a mass public spectacle. The Lumbini Festival was a performance of Buddhist modernity orchestrated to promote links between Japan and Asia and present Japan as leader of Asia. The Lumbini Festival appeared in 1925, the same year as did the Young East, an English language journal published in Tokyo to promote the trans-Asian Buddhist fellowship. Neither was a state initiative, but both nevertheless contributed to the formation and naturalisation of links between Japan and its Asian neighbours and the development of the Japanese empire. The Lumbini festival naturalised Buddhist brotherhood in Tokyo; the Young East, by reporting it through Asia and the West, promoted ideas of their shared Buddhist heritage, and of a Buddhist basis for social reform and Asian modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has examined how the people of Joseon understood East Asia as depicted in its old maps. A great majority of Joseon maps of the world and foreign countries were made from imported source maps. Naturally, the consciousness of the original cartographers was transplanted along with the in formation in the maps. Once they were copied and used in Joseon, however, East Asia came to be understood from the Joseon perspective. The most important factor seems to have been their Sinocentric worldview. While Gangnido presents an excellent overview of all the continents, Matteo Ricci's World Map gives a panoramic view of the vast world, comprehensive enough to include even the New World. We should pay close attention to this. The sizes of Joseon and Japan give some clues to understanding the stance of fifteenth-century Joseon. Quite a few Joseon intellectuals did not see that the vast world presented in Matteo Ricci's map conflicted with the Sinocentric geographical notion. Inverted maps of Japan were very popular among Koreans from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. And Ryukyu was remembered as a commerce state in the minds of Joseon people. Many Joseon intellectuals believed that the Netherlands was a country in Far Southern Sea and actively engaged in trade with Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examines variations in summertime (July–September) tropical cyclone (TC) activity over East Asia during the period 1951–2003. To represent TC activity, a total of 853 TC best tracks for the period were converted to TC passage frequencies (TPFs) within 5° × 5° latitude–longitude grids; TPFs are defined as the percentage values obtained by dividing the number of TC appearances in each grid box by the total number of TCs each year. Empirical orthogonal function analysis of the TPF showed three leading modes: two tropical modes that represent the long-term trend and the relationship with ENSO and one midlatitude mode that oscillates between south of Korea and southeast of Japan with an interannual time scale. The latter proved to be the most remarkable climatic fluctuation of summertime TC activity in the midlatitudes and is referred to as the East Asian dipole pattern (EADP) in this paper. Anomalous atmospheric flows directly connected to the EADP are an enhanced anticyclonic (cyclonic) circulation centering around Japan when the TPF is high south of Korea (southeast of Japan), thereby showing an equivalent barotropic structure in the entire troposphere. This regional circulation anomaly varies in conjunction with the zonally oriented quasi-stationary Rossby wave train in the upper troposphere. This wave train is meridionally trapped in the vicinity of the summer-mean jet stream; therefore, the mean jet stream alters its internal meandering structure according to the phase of the wave train. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores permanent, unanticipated shocks in the yen-dollar exchange rate in a perfect-foresight, infinite-horizon, representative-agent model for an open, semismall economy that produces a single good, imports intermediate inputs and investment goods from Japan and competes with Japan in external markets. Therefore, the model captures some of the features of the developing countries of East Asia. External debt is constrained by a country-risk premium that depends on the level of external debt. The capital stock is maintained and incremented by an endogenous mixture of Japanese and home goods. An appreciation of the dollar against the yen is neutral for external indebtedness and the trade account in the long run, but raises the capital stock, consumption and hence welfare in the long run; the home currency depreciates against the dollar but appreciates against the yen. Whether a cycle of current account surpluses followed by current account deficits or vice versa is generated depends on the initial response of the shadow value of external debt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Red yeast rice has been used to produce alcoholic beverages and various fermented foods in China and Korea since ancient times; it has also been used to produce tofuyo (Okinawan-style fermented tofu) in Japan since the 18th century. Recently, monacolin K (lovastatin) which has cholesterol-lowering effects, was found in some strains of Monascus fungi. Since statins have been used world-wide as a cholesterol-lowering agent, processed foods containing natural statins are drawing attention as materials for primary prevention of life-style related diseases. In recent years, large-scale commercial production of red yeast rice using traditional solid-state fermentation has become possible, and various useful materials, including a variety of monascus pigments (polyketides) that spread as natural pigments, in addition to statins, are produced in the fermentation process. Red yeast rice has a lot of potential as a medicinal food. In this paper, we describe the history of red yeast rice as food, especially in Japan and East Asia, its production methods, use, and the ingredients with pharmacological activity. We then review evidence of the beneficial effects of red yeast rice in improving lipid metabolism and the circulatory system and its safety as a functional food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In community ecology, trait‐based approaches have been strongly recommended in recent years to understand the responses of community functions against environmental changes. Trait‐based approaches have been used to solve the mechanistic rules in the relationship between soil animal communities and environmental change. However, databases of functional traits of soil animals are still lacking. Collembola is one of the most abundant and diverse group in land ecosystems, with more than 400 identified species in Japan. This data set provides taxonomic information, geographic, habitat distributions and 13 morphological trait items of 407 species of Japanese Collembola: described in Japanese literature. The workshop of Japanese Collembola, supported by the Japanese Society of Soil Zoology, summarized the taxonomy for the Japanese Collembola species. The data set presented here is mainly based on their work. The spatial coverage of this data set is in the land area of Japan. Suborder, superfamily, family, subfamily, genus and species names, as well as common Japanese names, are listed in this paper. The species distributions of Japanese Collembola in each global ecozone and in each area within Japan were described. Habitat preference for soil, cave, seashore and tree trunk habitats was recorded. The 13 morphological traits of Collembola species, which are body length; body weight of adult individual; body form; antenna length; furca length; body pigmentation; pairs of ocelli (eyes); post‐antennal organ; pseudocelli; body scale; anal spine; mandible and molar plate are listed in this dataset. These 13 morphological traits in this dataset are covered the most of trait items which have been internationally used in Collembola study. Trait‐based studies of Collembola have mainly been for European species, most of which are not found in Japan or East Asia. These data sets may provide an important first step to incorporating community data from the Asian region to the trait‐based global ecology. Data files are stored in the Ecological Research Data Archives at http://db.cger.nies.go.jp/JaLTER/ER_DataPapers/archives/2019/ERDP-2019-03. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Late Glacial, hunter-gatherers began using ceramic cooking containers in three separate geographic regions of East Asia: China, Japan and in the Russian Far East. While recent research has clarified the use of early pottery in Japan, very little is known about what led to the emergence of pottery in the other two areas, including the likely environmental, economic or cultural drivers. In this paper we focus on a series of key sites along the Amur River in the Russian Far East, where early pottery has been recovered from securely-dated contexts that span ca. 16,200 to 10,200 years ago (cal BP). Interpreting how these ceramic vessels were used has been difficult because the region's acidic soils make palaeo-economic reconstructions challenging. To address this gap in knowledge we undertook lipid residue analysis of 28 pot sherds from the sites of Khummi, Gasya, and Goncharka 1 on the Lower Amur River, and the Gromatukha site on the Middle Amur. Our results indicate that pottery was employed to process aquatic oils at sites on the Lower Amur, a pattern of use that aligns closely with studies conducted in Japan, and suggests that fishing – probably of salmonids and freshwater fish – was becoming increasingly important during this period. In contrast, the results from the Middle Amur show a significant contribution of lipids from ruminant animals, indicating that these vessels were being used in different ways. Interestingly, these regional differences in pottery use also map onto contrasting manufacturing techniques, with vessels from the Middle and from the Lower Amur forming distinct pottery-making traditions. These combined insights appear to indicate a greater degree of variability in the development and use of early pottery in East Asia than has hitherto been indicated. • First organic residue analysis of the earliest pottery in the Russian Far East. • Early pottery in Osipovka culture in the Lower Amur was used for intensified processing of aquatic resources. • In contrast, results from the Middle Amur indicates the high contribution of ruminant fats. • There might be variability in the emergence of early pottery with different traditions emerging in different locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]