Preface.

This issue of Japanese Journal of Political Scienceis devoted to the fruits of the latest AsiaBarometer Survey that was completed in 2006. The AsiaBarometer is a regional survey project that focuses explicitly on the daily lives of ordinary people in Asia. The first three waves of the survey were carried out in more than 30 countries in East, Southeast, South, and Central Asia. The wave examined here is focused on seven societies that fall into the ‘Confucian’ zone of world politics: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Most of the comparative papers that constitute this journal were first presented at the AsiaBarometer Workshop and Open Symposium in Tokyo on 14 and 15 December 2006. A separate volume containing country profile chapters will appear at a later date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]