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Background: The evaluation of transition readiness is indispensable for long-term follow-ups of adolescent patients with childhood-onset chronic diseases (CCD). We developed a Japanese version of the TRANSITION-Q (TRANSITION-Q-J) and used it to assess Japanese patients with CCD., Methods: The TRANSITION-Q-J was developed through forward and backward translations followed by cognitive interviews with five adolescent patients. The field test was conducted with 125 adolescent patients, and a retest was conducted with 113 adolescent patients., Results: Confirmatory factor analysis supported the two-factor analysis model including F1 (communication and self-management) and F2 (examination behavior). Sufficient internal consistency and test-retest reliability were demonstrated among the total 14 items, F1, and F2 (Cronbach's α > 0.80, intraclass correlation coefficient > 0.85). Convergent and discriminant validity for the 14 items and F1 were acceptable; however, F2 did not correlate significantly with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Independent Consciousness Scale. Regarding known-groups validity, the older group had a significantly higher mean TRANSITION-Q-J score (50.05) than the younger group (43.28; P = 0.04). The same results were found for both F1 and F2., Conclusions: The TRANSITION-Q-J for adolescent patients with CCD was developed and its reliability and validity were verified. This scale is easy to administer. In addition to being a tool for transition period support, it could be used to verify effective factors and in program outcome evaluation, including intervention studies., (© 2020 Japan Pediatric Society.)

The Functionality Appreciation Scale (FAS; Alleva et al., 2017) is a widely adopted measure to assess appreciation for one's body and its capacity. In this study, we performed a psychometric validation of the Japanese translation of the FAS. Participants included an online sample of 750 Japanese individuals (20-70 years old), who completed the FAS and other previously validated measures of body appreciation, intuitive eating, gratitude, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. Moreover, the survey was conducted twice, 3 weeks apart, to determine test-retest reliability. Exploratory factor analyses replicated the unidimensional factor structure of the FAS, which was also verified by the confirmatory factor analysis. FAS scores had gender invariance, and demonstrated good internal consistency and test-retest reliability over the 3-week period. In addition, further analyzes indicated adequate construct, and incremental validity. These findings indicate that the Japanese version of FAS demonstrates good psychometric properties, and can be used to examine the importance of functionality appreciation for enhancing positive body image and healthy eating., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This paper analyses 'Karafuto Ainu no setsuwa'[The Tales of Karafuto-Ainu], a collection of Japanese translations of Ainu narratives by the Ainu-Japanese linguist and ethnologist Chiri Mashiho. Most of the material for Chiri's translations came from a collection of Ainu folktales, entitled 'Materials for the Study of the Ainu Language and Folklore' (1912), compiled by Polish scholar Bronislaw Pilsudski. The paper argues that Chiri and Pilsudski had unique life experiences that affected their views of the Ainu culture, and by reading Chiri's text against that of Pilsudski's, the author demonstrates how Chiri responded to the challenge of keeping alive the performative qualities of the oral Ainu tradition and thereby created a unique style of translation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the initial translation process and follow-up psychometric evaluation of the Japanese version of the Primary Communication Inventory (J-PCI). The J-PCI was developed using the committee approach to translation and then used in a study exploring Japanese couples' communication satisfaction while separated during Satogaeri Bunben - a Japanese perinatal tradition. The committee approach attends to cultural nuance and context and is especially useful when languages have dissimilar linguistic roots and cultures, such as Japanese and English. The translation process and evaluation included five steps; (i) selection of the original PCI for research; (ii) selection of translators; (iii) development of the J-PCI using a committee approach; (iv) an initial small pilot study; and (v) a larger follow-up study. The J-PCI has good initial validity and reliability, although some nuances were observed in scoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The development of cultural sensitivity is essential for health care professionals but there are few tools to measure this quality in Japan. The purpose of this study was to develop a scale of cultural sensitivity for Japanese health care professionals and examine its reliability and validity. Method: A draft scale was created through conceptual analysis and a questionnaire was completed by 515 health care professionals and 1,322 college students. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to determine suitable scale items and examine model fitness. Results: The four-factor 18-item scale showed acceptable model fitness. Cronbach's α coefficient exceeded.90 and correlation coefficients for criterion-related validity were over.29. Construct validity was confirmed by the significantly higher score of the cross-culturally experienced groups. The intraclass correlation coefficient was.642 (professionals) and.722 (students). Discussion: This reliable and valid scale for Japanese health professionals and college students may be used to evaluate training programs to increase their cultural sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the potential and problems of commercial schools as an alternative venue for training translators and publishing translations in Japan. These private-sector institutions operate on a business model in a substantial market for translator training, primarily driven by for-profit motives rather than principles of translation pedagogy. Nevertheless, they meet a demand by providing students with practical training and a de facto apprenticeship/mentoring system. They also act as an intermediary between trainees, translation agencies and publishers, although often these arrangements largely constitute a publicity tool and supplementary income stream, and the hopes of anything other than self-funded publication are illusory for many students. There is a disconnect between these institutions, which dominate the field in Japan, and the relatively small number of academic programs in translation, but it is argued here that despite the problems with certain aspects of these commercial schools, they also offer some instructive insights for academic programs in Japan and elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chii, the Japanese term for 'lichen', is widely used in contemporary East Asia. However, precisely when and by whom this term was first used to refer to lichen is not known. In addition, Japanese botanists from the 1880s to the 1950s had doubts regarding whether Chii was an accurate translation of lichen, given that Chii originally referred to moss that grows on the ground, whereas most species of lichens grow on barks of trees or on rocks. In this paper, the author shows that Li Shanlan and A. Williamson et al., in the late Qing dynasty of China, first used the term Chii to refer to lichen in Zhiwuxue, published in 1858. In Japan, Tanaka Yoshio, who was influenced by Zhiwuxue, first used the term Chii in 1872. However, further investigations led to the discovery that ITO Keisuke translated lichen as Risen in 1829. In 1836, UDAGAWA Yoan also translated lichen as Risen by using a different kanji (Chinese character) to represent sen. In 1888, in his article, MIYOSHI Manabu suggested a new equivalent term, Kisoukin, to refer to lichen (algae-parasitized fungi). In the article, he proposed the term Kyosei as the Japanese translation of symbiosis. Ever since the late 1880s, Kyosei has been used as the Japanese biological term for symbiosis.

In this paper, through a detailed comparison between a translated book on nursing and its original American source, I examine the position of nursing in the mentality of a Japanese doctor at the beginning of the Meiji Era. In 1877, Dr. Yunei Ota published a translated version of a book on nursing titled "Kango-Kokoroe." The original book, titled "A Universal Formulary, 3rd. Edition," was written by R. E. Griffith and published in 1873. Further, I show that Yunei Ota translated a part of its introduction. These two books differ in terms of their target audiences and purposes for publication. From the viewpoint of the doctor-nurse relationship, Yunei Ota described his unique mentality in his translation; that is, he stressed the importance of nursing by stating that nurses were for doctors as wings were for birds. This mentality was rarely found in the original American book. Moreover, Yunei Ota did not make a literal translation; instead, he selected, added, and deleted contents from the book in keeping with a practical standpoint. Yunei Ota recognized that nursing was an indispensable part of medical treatment and he advocated the necessity of nursing education before systematic nursing education had been established in Japan.

In order to broaden and more equitably represent the field of translation historiography, it is ethically and methodologically important to explore cultural specificities in discourses around this field. Yet we also need to recognize that the writing of history can have transcultural origins and that these external influences might, in turn, shape the fabric of translation historiography. Alongside endogenous elements, much of Japanese historiography is in fact derived from Chinese and European paradigms and methods, which were subsequently adapted to Japanese circumstances. This paper outlines those influences and explores major themes in Japanese translation historiography (both academic and popular), as well as the strengths and weaknesses of Japanese approaches. It also considers what lessons Japanese and non-Japanese translation historiographers might learn from each other today. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This research investigates the features of translated text and non-translated texts through analyzing the sentence length and constituent format in Chinese to Japanese and Japanese to Chinese translation. It uses a corpus-based methodology and sets up a model to describe translators' linguistic choice patterns. The small-scaled bi-directional, comparable and parallel corpus is constructed to facilitate a detailed investigation into the relationship between language usage of SL and TL. This study concludes that translators tend to avoid complex and unique linguistic features in SL and TL and tend to accept features of source texts with the condition that the rules of TL will not be violated. This paper intends not only to contribute to the theoretical consideration of specific features of translation, but also offer insight into translation pedagogy and practices between Japanese and Chinese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For just a few decades from the 1880s, a large number of European mystery novels were serialised in Japanese newspapers, in the form of adaptive translations (hon'an mono). The alterations to the original texts included names of characters and places, as well as tone and plot, to familiarise readers with European cultures, geographies and notions of modernity within the Japanese psychological framework. Such translations are an interesting example of how the mass media facilitated intercultural transaction in early modern Japan. One such example is Kuroiwa Ruikô's Sute obune (abandoned small boat), serialised in 156 episodes in his newspaper Yorozu chôhô (October 1894 and July 1895). This work was an adaptive translation of the Mary Braddon mystery novel Diavola, originally published in the London Journal between October 1866 and July 1867. In Sute obune, Ruikô altered characters’ names to Japanese, offering a peculiar intertexual image – characters with Japanese names thoroughly at home in a European environment. This paper will focus on an intertexual analysis of names and perspectives in Ruikô's Sute obune compared to the Braddon original, Diavola. The Japanese names chosen for characters in Sute obune are suggestive of their status, attitude and personality, as exemplified by the cold-blooded and scheming poisoner Kawabayashi, for whose name Ruikô used the Chinese characters signifying ‘skin’ and ‘forest’). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will investigate the politics of theatre translation and translation theatre at work in the recent Rakutendan productions of The Rez Sisters and Up the Ladder, in order to suggest how indigenous theatre travels and is transformed by different bodies, languages, and audiences. The essay begins with a brief historical overview of the myth of Japan's racial/cultural homogeneity and the particular issue of visibility in somatic and semantic terms. It then focuses on the two productions and considers telling aspects of their textual translations, as well as the ways in which they negotiated the fine line between translation theatre performance and cultural appropriation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a semi‐automatic ontology construction method using various resources, and an ontology‐based word sense disambiguation method in machine translation. To acquire a reasonably practical ontology in limited time and with less manpower, we extend the Kadokawa thesaurus by inserting additional semantic relations into its hierarchy, which are classified as case relations and other semantic relations. The former can be obtained by converting valency information and case frames from previously built computational dictionaries used in machine translation. The latter can be acquired from concept co‐occurrence information, which is extracted automatically from large corpora. The ontology stores rich semantic constraints among 1110 concepts, and enables a natural language processing system to resolve semantic ambiguities by making inferences with the concept network of the ontology. In practical machine translation systems, our word sense disambiguation method achieved a 6.0 per cent and 7.9 per cent improvement over methods that do not use an ontology for each Japanese and Korean translation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study aimed to translate the Japanese version of the Life Skills Scale for Adolescents and Adults (LSSAA) into Chinese, English, and Korean, simplify it, and assess its reliability and validity. Validation was performed using individual data of 9941 high-school students from China, Japan, Korea, and the United States collected by the 2021 "Survey on Experiences and Attitudes Related to the Corona Crisis" conducted by the National Institution For Youth Education. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the four-factor model of the LSSAA fit the data for all four countries. Testing of the measurement invariance of the four-factor model among the four countries supported the adoption of a weak invariance model, and the LSSAA scores were comparable across all four countries. These results suggest that the LSSAA has good reliability and validity and applies to adolescents in English-speaking countries and some Asian counties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper inquired into the situation of spread and influence of a distinguished physician of the Yuan dynasty, Hua Shou's medical books in Japan. Nippon editions of Hua Shou's medical books had been investigated. The conditions that Hua Shou's medical books were translated, annotated, studied by Japanese medical workers before Meiji, and the role of Hua Shou's medical books played on the medical education in Japan was also discussed.

The goal of cross-language voice conversion is to preserve the speech characteristics of one speaker when that speaker's speech is translated and used to synthesize speech in another language. In this paper, two preliminary studies, i.e., a statistical analysis of spectrum differences in different languages and the first attempt at a cross-language voice conversion, are reported. Speech uttered by a bilingual speaker is analyzed to examine spectrum difference between English and Japanese. Experimental results are (1) the codebook size for mixed speech from English and Japanese should be almost twice the codebook size of either English or Japanese; (2) although many code vectors occurred in both English and Japanese, some have a tendency to predominate in one language or the other; (3) code vectors that predominantly occurred in English are contained in the phonemes /r/, /ae/, /f/, /s/, and code vectors that predominantly occurred in Japanese are contained in /i/, /u/, /N/; and (4) judged from listening tests, listeners cannot reliably indicate the distinction between English speech decoded by a Japanese codebook and English speech decoded by an English codebook. A voice conversion algorithm based on codebook mapping was applied to cross-language voice conversion, and its performance was somewhat less effective than for voice conversion in the same language.

Background: Career competencies, which are the knowledge, skills, and abilities essential for career development, have been shown to facilitate career success, fulfilling both work and life goals. In dynamically changing healthcare settings, nurses' career competencies are key for successfully navigating their careers and improving their nursing practice abilities. However, limited studies have examined career competencies in the nursing profession. In particular, no research has been conducted on career competencies among Japanese nurses, which remains a major challenge as voluntary effort is the main factor promoting career and professional development. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Japanese version of the Career Competencies Questionnaire (CCQ-J). Methods: In this cross-sectional study conducted between June 2020 and August 2021, the English CCQ was translated into Japanese using back and forward translation. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted on separate samples. In the first step, item analysis and EFA were conducted with 276 nurses from one hospital. In the second step, CFA was conducted and concurrent validity and reliability were evaluated with 522 nurses from hospitals in the Tohoku region. Results: Content validity was confirmed by the back-translation report, an expert panel, and a pilot test. The EFA showed that the CCQ-J consisted of a three-factor structure that explained 66.69% of the variance. The CFA revealed that all the fit indices were acceptable [chi-square value (CMIN) = 432.26, degree of freedom (df) = 153, chi-square fit statistic/degree of freedom (CMIN/df) = 2.83, goodness-of-fit index (GFI) = 0.93, adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI) = 0.89, comparative fix index (CFI) = 0.96, and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.06]. Cronbach's α for the 21-item CCQ-J and its subscales ranged from 0.85 to 0.95. Concurrent validity was demonstrated via the positive correlation between work engagement, life satisfaction, and the CCQ-J. Conclusions: The CCQ-J is a valid and reliable instrument to assess the career competencies of Japanese nurses. We hope that the findings presented in this study will contribute to a better understanding of nurses' career competencies and their successful career and professional development in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among women, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality worldwide. After experiencing an acute cardiovascular event, a woman's physical health, the prevalence of morbidities, likelihood of being treated with coronary artery bypass graft surgery, likelihood for referral for cardiac rehabilitation are less favourable than men. The social support resources of marginality and religiousness are associated with physical and mental health outcomes following cardiovascular crises. This study aimed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the translated versions (Japanese, Ukrainian, Tagalog, Hispanic and Arabic) of the Koci Marginality Index and the Duke University Religion Index among 282 women (aged 35-92 years) representing seven cultures. Results showed that reliability and validity were strong (coefficient alpha of 0.79 and 0.84). Understanding a woman's social isolation and whether she has a connection to religious groups assists health-care professionals to identify a woman's social support resources during recovery following acute cardiovascular episodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Demotivation can negatively influence the learner’s attitudes and behaviors, degrade classroom group dynamics and teacher’s motivation, and result in long-term and widespread negative learning outcomes. 900 university EFL learners were surveyed to investigate the demotivating factors in learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in Japan, and the relationship between past demotivating experiences and present proficiencies. Affective states and capacity to self-regulate learning were compared among learners with varying academic interests, experiences, and proficiencies. Demotivating factors were grouped into three categories: external conditions of the learning environment, internal conditions of the learner, and reactive behaviors to demotivating experiences. Internal and reactive factors were shown to correlate with long-term EFL learning outcomes. Findings from this study indicated that beginning, less-proficient learners in non-English majors were least likely to control their affective states to cope with demotivating experiences. Finally, this paper discusses steps that might prevent or minimize demotivation and facilitate remotivation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: The McMaster Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3) is a generic multi-attribute, preference-based system for assessing health-related quality of life (HRQOL). This study describes the translation procedures and cultural adaptation of the Japanese HUI3 and its measurement properties in a community sample. Methods: The Japanese HUI3 was developed through forward and back translations in cooperation with the developers of the HUI. Acceptability, comprehensibility of questionnaires, and test-retest reliability were assessed. In a community survey of a total of 3860 people (age: 41 ± 14.3, male/female: 2651/1209), the Canadian scoring function was used to calculate utility scores. Construct validity was assessed by examining the relationship between 20 personal characteristics and utility scores. Results: Linear regression estimates demonstrated a significant negative relation between HUI3 utility score and low education, male gender, poor interpersonal relationships, older age, and a higher number of chronic diseases. Single-attribute utility scores were associated with chronic conditions in the manner expected. The community samples were relatively healthy. More than 90% of the respondents were distributed in levels 1 and 2 in all attributes except cognition. Interpretability of utility score was assessed by estimation of the relationship between visual analogue scale (VAS) and the self-rated health and utility score. Independence of attributes was assessed. For only 3 of the 28 possible cross-comparisons among the 8 attributes were correlations coefficients greater than 0.25. Conclusion: Translation and adaptation of the HUI3 questionnaire into Japanese was successful, but the sample size and selection bias limit the interpretation of our study conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is currently no reliable and valid multidimensional instrument for measuring psychological symptoms among Japanese university students. The purpose of this pilot study was to translate the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms‐62 (CCAPS‐62) into Japanese and evaluate its validity and reliability. Following robust translation procedures, the CCAPS‐Japanese was created. In the validation study, 2,758 undergraduate students from 11 universities (mean age = 19.08 ± 1.85 years) completed the CCAPS‐Japanese. The results of confirmatory factor analysis supported the theoretical eight‐factor structure model of the CCAPS‐Japanese with the exclusion of seven items. The decision to retain/remove items was made by evaluating factor loadings and model fit indices while considering cultural equivalence and structural validity. Using the finalized 55‐item CCAPS‐Japanese, further analyses demonstrated that the eight subscales had acceptable to good internal consistencies (α =.61–.89). Thus, the tool's validity and reliability were established. The CCAPS‐Japanese may be appropriate for assessing the psychological concerns of Japanese university students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reiki practitioners commonly claim to channel a power called reiki that is capable of physical, mental, and spiritual healing. Prior scholarship has assumed that the concept of reiki has remained similar from Reiki's founding in 1922 Japan to the present day, when it is practiced worldwide. This article presents a genealogy of reiki from Reiki's early days in Japan to its adaptations for the Japanese American community of Hawai'i in the 1930s and for white Americans in the postwar decades, and its return to Japan in the 1980s. It shows that, over time, reiki became understood as "energy," in part as an appeal to scientific authority, and as "universal," in the dual sense that it pervades the cosmos and is accessible to all people. In the back-translation of "universal energy" into Japanese, this double meaning of "universal" in English was lost but, as "universe energy" (uchū enerugii), took on new, extraterrestrial connotations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the workings of the phrase tte yuu ka used as a "repair preface" in the context of replacing one formulation with another. We show that the use of tte yuu ka in the operation of replacement self-repair instructs the recipient to hear the repair solution as an alternative that is better suited for whatever purpose the speaker may be pursuing at the moment than the trouble-source formulation, without necessarily rejecting the latter as incorrect or inappropriate. We also demonstrate how this feature of tte yuu ka is used as a resource to accomplish situated interactional work in talk-in-interaction in both ordinary and institutional settings. Data are Japanese with English translation, with a few excerpts of English data cited from published research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To empirically test the hypothesis that the 10 roles on the Revised Role Checklist are represented in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health participation areas. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Subjects: Investigators from Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States recruited a total of 295 adults from the general population. There were 103 (34.9%) male and 191 (64.7%) female participants with one participant not indicating gender. The age distribution of participants was from <25 (n = 68) to 75+ with a mode of 25–34 years. Main measure: The Revised Role Checklist Part 1 was used to assess perceived incumbency in 10 roles. In addition, subjects were asked to provide role examples. Results: Of the 7087 examples provided by participants, 6578 (92.8%) fit the original hypothesis that the roles in the Revised Role Checklist were covered in participation areas. Fit was determined when the role example was either named in the associated International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health participation area or when the criteria of: “does this example conceivably fit in the respective area as ‘a person’s involvement in life situations’ fit relative to each role.” Slight modification of the scope of three roles of the original hypothesis resulted in a 97.6% match. Conclusion: The roles in the Revised Role Checklist are well represented in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health categories of participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay’s purpose is to recover Fiskean deconstructive criticism as a means of examining the complexities of texts. Specifically, we argue thatLost in Translation’s moments of spectacle reveal that even in a text that reinforces White Orientalist views of Japan, the text’s obtuse meanings subvert, though not upturn, this dominant narrative. The film’s text reifies heteronormative masculinity and femininity with the blending of the pre- and postmodern Japan, yet obtuse meanings subvert the Western gaze and present hybrid queer spaces that complicate Western neocolonial domination. Subversion cannot completely overturn those meanings, but guerrilla opportunities allow for tactical resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Aim and objective To clarify the characteristics of sub-groups of patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease having similar approaches to daily body condition management. Background Prior literature has shed light on the experience of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and revealed that these patients engage in many activities and try different things in their daily lives to regulate and manage their body condition. The research so far has all been qualitative, comprising mostly interviews, and no quantitative studies have been performed. In this study, cluster analysis was used to show that subgroups of patients with similar characteristics undertake similar approaches to body condition management. Design Descriptive, correlational study. Methods Invitations to participate in the survey were extended to patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Cluster analysis was performed on the basis of questionnaire scores relating to nine different categories of daily body condition management actions. The characteristics of the body condition management approaches, in each subgroup, were investigated using analysis of variance and multiple comparisons. Results The cluster analysis produced six subgroups, each defined by the effort expended as part of their body condition management. The subgroups also differed depending on patient age and disease severity. Conclusion Body condition management approaches taken by patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are overall, comprehensive approaches. Relevance to clinical practice Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were subgrouped based on their engagement in body conditioning. Relationships between the subgroups and the engagement in body conditioning, age and shortness of breath severity were observed. The care of patient support should be comprehensive and depend on their age and the duration of the disease. In addition, it should be long term and recognise that the patients are living their own respective lives. Such considerations and focused perspectives are what we think will lead to an improvement in patients' quality of life and prevent their condition from worsening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives This study aimed to clarify why and how clinical nurses facilitate sitting without trunk support among patients with disorders of consciousness. Background Recent attention has focused on encouraging patients with disorders of consciousness to sit without trunk support, but no reports describe this intervention among patients with poor awareness and physical disuse. Design Qualitative research design. Methods We enrolled five clinical nurses with interventional experience in rehabilitating patients with disorders of consciousness to sit without trunk support. Participant observation and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The data were analysed by text-mining method. Results Three reasons for nursing in the sitting position were identified: to raise the patient's body to assess the recovery of activities of daily living, to adjust their circadian rhythm and encourage the will to sit, and to make it easier to breathe. Five practices were identified: moving the patient to the prone position to sit in safety and comfort, developing postural stability by improving the flexibility of the lower limbs, improving the flexibility of the hip joints, developing trunk balance and encouraging hand use for stability, and ensuring safety by terminating the sitting practice when symptoms of respiratory failure, heart failure, or excessive tiredness developed. Conclusions The rationale for nursing patients with disorders of consciousness to sit without trunk support was to establish a foundation for independent living. This was achieved by preparing patient's disused body for activity by improving the flexibility of hip joint in the prone position. This represents a new intervention for patients with disorders of consciousness that could facilitate independent living. Relevance to clinical practice This study provides empirical and practical evidence from nurses who perform novel clinical interventions that specifically promote independent living. Further accumulation of quantitative clinical results and physiological verification are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives To identify the factors that predict maternal state anxiety when mothers and their sick children visit the outpatient unit of a paediatric hospital. Background While previous studies have focused on predictors of anxiety in mothers with ill children, the existing literature is limited in study design, research timing, respondent characteristics, sample size and data analysis. Design A cross-sectional design with self-administered questionnaires. Methods Mothers were recruited from the outpatient unit of a Japanese paediatric hospital ( N = 1077). Participants' state anxiety scores were collected using the Japanese version of Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The independent variables were the mothers' and sick children's background information. Results Participants were 1077 mothers; 990 provided valid responses. Mothers' mean state anxiety score was 49·72. Significant predictors of maternal anxiety were mothers' childrearing anxiety, child age, the sick child having a fever, sick child having siblings, having a person providing childrearing support, the mother's first visit to the hospital, out-of-hours visit and severity of the child's illness. The overall model explained 21·6% of the variance (multiple regression analysis). Conclusions As various factors predicted maternal anxiety, identifying methods to address these factors may reduce maternal state anxiety. Relevance to clinical practice There is potential for improved understanding of the predictors of maternal state anxiety to aid in the development of materials that would best measure anxiety. The present findings may also suggest some means of providing appropriate information and support to anxious mothers. Our findings cannot demonstrate causation, however, and teaching methods and supportive practices were not investigated; therefore, a qualitative study on the concrete content of maternal anxiety and an intervention study to create support services for anxious mothers is required. In addition, prospective or longitudinal studies are also important for investigating causation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A recent survey of 79 countries showed that fertility knowledge was lower in Japan than in any other developed country. Given the fertility decline in Japan and the importance of fertility knowledge, we conducted an online survey to examine fertility knowledge and the related factors for effective public education. Methods: We studied people aged 18-59 years old, n = 4,328 (the “General” group), and also people who had been trying to conceive for at least six months, 18-50 years old, n = 618 (the “Triers” group). Fertility knowledge was assessed using the Japanese version of the 13-item Cardiff Fertility Knowledge Scale (CFKS-J). All participants provided socio-demographic and fertility information. Participants also completed a 14-item health literacy scale and an 11-item health numeracy scale. We asked participants who were aware of age-related decline in fertility when and where they first acquired that knowledge. Results: The average percentages of CFKS-J items answered correctly were 53.1% in the Triers group and 44.4% in the General group (p < 0.001). Multivariate linear regression models showed in the Triers group greater fertility knowledge was associated with greater health literacy and prior medical consultation regarding their fertility. In the General group greater fertility knowledge was associated with being female, younger, university educated, currently trying to conceive, non-smoking, having higher household income, having higher health literacy and having higher health numeracy. Of those who were aware of the age-related decline in fertility, around 3% first learned the fact “at school”, and around 65% first learned it “through mass media” or “via the Internet”. More than 30% of the respondents first learned it “less than 5 years before” the survey. Conclusions: Although fertility knowledge had improved since a previous study, possibly due to recent media coverage of age-related infertility, it was still low. Educational interventions, both in schools and in the community, may be needed to increase fertility knowledge in the general population because most people obtain fertility knowledge from mass media, which has been shown to often present distorted and inaccurate fertility information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Japan, where older people already make up more than 23% of the population and the proportion is still growing, the burden on those caring for people with dementia is an increasing problem. This burden is magnified by wandering behavior, a peripheral symptom. Thus, there is a need for an objective measure of wandering behavior to determine what constitutes effective care. In this study, we translated the Algase Wandering Scale - Version 2 into Japanese, and examined its reliability and validity. Ambulatory residents with dementia were selected from two nursing homes and two wards specializing in dementia care in hospitals in Japan. Nurses and care workers taking care of these residents answered questionnaires regarding the residents. From the results, the Algase Wandering Scale - Version 2, Japanese version, was examined for inter-rater reliability, stability, internal consistency, and concurrent validity. The results of the analysis in the present study demonstrated that the Algase Wandering Scale - Version 2, Japanese version, has reliability and validity, and that it can measure the presence or absence of wandering and its severity. Surveys of residents with various wandering patterns in many facilities and verification of construct validity are warranted in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how Japanese scholars as well as the public accepted Korean classical novels from the latter part of the Joseon dynasty until the 1920s. During this time, Japanese used translated and published Korean classical novels to learn and understand the Korean language and culture. The first person who transcribed Korean classical novels was Amenomori Hoshu ..., an interpreter who also learned the Korean language by transcribing classical novels such as Sukhyangjeon (The Tale of Sukhyang) and Yi Baek-gyeong jeon (The Tale of Yi Baek-gyeong). He also used Korean classical novels when he was teaching Korean to Japanese apprentices training to become interpreters. Korean classical novels were used continuously as Korean learning materials by Japanese scholars, interpreters, students, and so on. As the interest in Korean classical novels increased, Choe Chung jeon (The Tale of Choe Chung), Im Gyeong-eop jeon (The Tale of Im Gyeong-eop), and Chunhyangjeon (The Tale of Chunhyang), among others, were translated and published. Scholars such as Nakarai Tosui ..., Takahashi Toru ..., and Hosoi Hajime ... continued to translate Korean classical novels. These scholars also published several classical novels up until the 1920s. They contain a total of 15 pieces, which are representative examples of Korean classical novels. Hosoi claimed that learning Korean classical novels was important to learning more about the Joseon dynasty. After receiving Korean classical novels through the transcription, translation, and publication process, Japanese scholars studied them earnestly. This article systematically traces this early period when Korean classical novels first became the subject of study among Japanese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article combines contemporary work in social bibliography, translation theory and Buddhist studies to focus on two questions. First, what exactly does the act of 'reading' sutras entail? And second, what is the precise relation between material sign and acoustic sound in Buddhist recitation? Answers to these questions are necessarily inextricably bound to local contexts and communities. The so-called 'pictorial Heart Sutras' (Jp: esetsu Shinkyō) of early modern Japan provide the particular aperture through which I pursue these queries. Following D. F. McKenzie, I understand the pictorial sutras 'not simply as verbal constructs but as social products' (1999: 127) which may be examined to reveal patterns of textual engagement, practices of translation and particular techniques for associating the quotidian world of rice paddies and rounded bellies with the abiding realm of religious doctrine. In particular, I argue that the pictorial sutras develop a 'visual vernacular' whose lexicon evinces an abiding interest in fecundity and a belief in the apotropaic value of sutra reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Parents of children with incurable cancer face difficulties in making end-of-life decisions, and thus far, little research has been conducted on the thoughts and perceptions of these parents. Purpose: The study aims to describe parental thoughts and perceptions when they hear that their child has incurable cancer. Methods: Semi-structured, open-ended interviews were conducted with 23 parents who had lost children to cancer. A constant comparative content analysis was also conducted. Results: Regarding parental thoughts, five categories emerged: 'not allowing my child to die,' 'being compelled to continue cancer-directed/life-sustaining treatment,' 'wanting to put an end to my child's suffering and wanting him/her to be comfortable,' 'valuing my child's wish and dignity,' and 'wanting to be there for my child.' However, some parents did not mention all five categories. Regarding parental perceptions of their children's condition, six categories emerged: 'understanding change/deterioration of my child's condition,' 'recognition of my child's sufferings,' 'awareness of the possible death of my child,' 'no recognition of my child's impending death as reality,' 'avoiding facing my child's death,' and 'realizing the truth and coming to terms with the reality of death.' Conclusion: When parents were told that their child had incurable cancer, their first thought was to protect their child. Because thoughts and perceptions in such a situation vary across parents, health care professionals should support parents in realizing their thoughts and perceptions and in making decision as parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the reception of the works of Emily Dickinson in Japan. It talks about the history of study of Dickinson's work in Japan. It discusses how the works of Dickinson been introduced in Japan by Mabel Loomis Todd the editor of her works. It also discusses the translation of the works of Dickinson.

The questionnaire used for the U.S. Listening to Mothers II survey was translated and culturally adapted to measure Japanese women's experience during the period of pregnancy planning through early postpartum. Methods included expert panels and two phases of cognitive interviews with 20 postpartum Japanese adult women. The number of problems with the translated questionnaire effectively decreased in the iterative process. Most problems were found in the question-interpretation stage of cognitive processing, such as wording/tone. Culture-specific concepts and unclear items were adapted to prevent erroneous interpretations in future studies. The future use of this questionnaire to generate data sets will be useful for professionals interested in developing evidence-based practices. The knowledge from this study can be helpful in improving health-care services and education for women with diverse languages and cultural backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ease of processing of 3,969 English words for native speakers and Japanese learners was investigated using lexical decision and naming latencies taken from the English Lexicon Project (Balota et al. The English Lexicon Project: A web-based repository of descriptive and behavioral measures for 40,481 English words and nonwords, 2002) and accuracy of English word translation by Japanese university students (Takashima, H. Eigo goi chishiki no keisei [The structure of English lexical knowledge of Japanese college students], 2002). Correlations among these ease-of-processing values were all significant, suggesting substantial commonalities between native English speakers and Japanese learners. Regression analyses, however, showed that some factors differentially affect ease of processing for natives and Japanese. Comparison of the predicted and the observed values of translation accuracy revealed specific differences of lexical knowledge between native speakers and Japanese learners. Loanword effect on translation accuracy and translation errors similar to dyslexic/aphasic reading errors were observed, suggesting the possibility of insufficient orthographic/phonological activation and the possibility of the use of first language phonological representations. The implications of these results for the study of second/foreign language lexical processing are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a comparative analysis of the development of lifelong learning in England and Japan, while addressing the multi-dimensional nature of 'lifelong learning'. The article argues that 'lifelong learning' is a concept which has unusual adaptability and legitimacy, and for these reasons has been subject to multiple translations over the last twenty years in both England and Japan. These translations can be identified: a) through discourse; b) in the development of policy; and c) as the shift in the political ideology. Drawing on the insights generated from the three strands, the article concludes that lifelong learning is being translated to accommodate various agendas and has been adapted in diverse contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented regarding the papers on psychopathology written in Japanese.

This article describes some of the trends in fiction, non-fiction and translation market in Japan as of June 2005. Roughly 70,000 new book titles were published in 2004 in Japan and an estimate of 10 per cent of these titles are translated from foreign languages. In fiction, the days of high advances as a result of heated auction at fairs like Frankfurt's are gone. 'The other category, which is doing so well after a long break, is the area of thrillers and crime fiction that offers exceptional excitement. Moving on to non-fiction, topics of interest are ageing. The article also concentrates on some aspects of manga in Japan.