Modern Japanese writer Unno Jūza 海野十三 (1897-1949) published the story “The Music Bath at Eighteen O’clock” 十八時の音楽浴 ("Jūhachiji no ongakuyoku") in 1937 that envisions a future where the use of science, utopian desires, and dystopian realities intertwine. By examining Unno’s life, the socio-political context of interwar Japan, and reading his story as dystopian fiction, I argue that “Jūhachiji no ongakuyoku” cannot only be interpreted as a propagandist story advocating for scientific progress in militarism; it is also a political satire modeled on 1930s Japan and a cautionary tale. Unno’s dystopia shows us that utopian perfection can never be realized without the devastating loss in human lives, identity, and morality.
Language and Literature, Japanese language and literature
Buried Thorns: For a Queer Politics of a Potentially Invisible Multiplicity
埋没した棘: 現れないかもしれない複数性のクィア・ポリティクスのために
Written by Shimizu Akiko
Translation by Melanie Bieber and Nathalie
Emotions in language learning are increasingly recognized as playing an important role in learner motivation and flourishing in the learning process. In consequence, much of the research published to date has focused on what happens when different emotions are experienced and the various states that these may lead to. However, studies that consider how language learners understand the importance of emotions in the context of their learning efforts as well as examine ways this understanding is experienced from the perspective of a language learner are scarce in the literature. To address this gap, the present study investigates how Japanese university language learners experienced a content and language integrated learning (CLIL) course specially designed to explore emotions in language learning, including emotional literacy, motivation, character strengths, mindsets, integrated emotion regulation, empathy, and confidence-building connected to positive and negative affect. To interpret this experience, we take a qualitative exploratory approach to analyse the final diary entries of 24 course participants, using the lens of positive psychology applied to language learning. The coding of the diaries uncovered four areas key to understanding the students’ experience, which included social capital, self-awareness of emotions, personal growth, and transformation. The findings suggest that the students profited in diverse positive ways through active engagement and reflection on the rich tapestry of emotion-related constructs connected to language learning, leading to the emergence of new perspectives, growth and transformation related to an enhanced awareness of emotions in language learning.
The structure of advertisements consists of language, images, and motion that contain words with emotions and form imagination, thus influencing the readers and listeners to act as expected by the advertisers. The diction and language style used in their food promotion advertisements is very diverse and attractive due to the persuasive effect on readers and potential consumers. The purpose of this research is to determine the stylistic elements, namely language style and persuasive technique found in the online advertisements of Izakaya (Japanese-style bar) with data sources taken from three Izakaya companies: Torikizoku, Ikkyu, and Hananomai in Tokyo, Japan. The theory used is the theory of language style and persuasive language function by Gorys Keraf. In conducting this research, the author uses a qualitative method. The analysis technique uses the literature study method. Data is obtained by documenting food advertisements on the official websites of Izakaya Torikizoku, Ikkyu, and Hananomai in Tokyo. From the analysis results, 9 data containing the language style of hyperbole identified in words or phrases such as "Nikusenda~!! Nikumatsuri", "Kokoro mo kaiwa mo uruou, kono ippai," and "Heisei no hitto menyuu hajimarimashita. Kansha no fukkatsu" and 3 data containing the language style of repetition were found, which can be seen in the words "niku," "umai," and "houdai." Furthermore, the persuasive functions found were suggestion eight times, rationalization six times, substitution four times, and conformity one time.
The purpose of this paper is to use natural language processing to explore how the terms “art,” “literature,” and “novel” were employed during the period from 1910 to 1945. In Japanese literary criticism, “art” served as the central analytical concept in the 1910s and 1920s. From the 1920s onwards, “literature” began to be used in a similar context as “art,” while the term “novel” gradually gained prominence. In the early 1930s, the meanings of “art” and “literature” became closer, but after 1935, the usage of “art” declined. Conversely, “novel” began to be used as an analytical concept more closely aligned with “literature.”The term “art” was primarily used by critics active during the late Meiji and Taisho periods. Proletarian writers considered “art” and “literature” to be nearly synonymous, while dismissing “novel” as a form of popular entertainment. However, with the novel debate as a catalyst, writers began to use “novel” as a term representing legitimate literary works, and this usage was subsequently adopted by a new generation of critics who emerged in the 1930s.
ABSTRACT The current study developed and validated a holistic and domain-specific scale for measuring the second language (L2) learning experience within the framework of the L2 Motivational Self System. Underpinned by positive psychology theories, a preliminary item pool was generated through combining insights from extant measurements, interviews with Chinese learners of various L2s (e.g. Japanese, French, German, Spanish), as well as literature L2 motivation. This L2 learning experience scale (LLES) was firstly piloted with 302 Chinese language-major undergraduates and further validated with a sample of 304 students from similar backgrounds. Both exploratory factor analysis as well as confirmatory factor analysis were conducted respectively to unravel its factorial structure and examine the model fit, validating a 28-item LLES with six dimensions (e.g. Positive emotions; Negative emotions; Engagement; Relationship; Meaning; Accomplishment). Validity and reliability analyses further established the convergent and divergent validity of the scale, exhibiting robust psychometric properties. The results revealed that the LLES is a sound scale for measuring learners’ multifaceted L2 learning experience and could add new insights into learners’ L2 motivational development.
Despite recognition that the health outcomes of Asian American subgroups are heterogeneous, research has mainly focused on the six largest subgroups. There is limited knowledge of smaller subgroups and their health outcomes. This scoping review identifies trends in the health outcomes, reveals those which are under-researched, and provide recommendations on data collection with 24 Asian American subgroups. Our literature search of peer-reviewed English language primary source articles published between 1991 and 2018 was conducted across six databases (Embase, PubMed, Web of Sciences, CINAHL, PsychINFO, Academic Search Complete) and Google Scholar, yielding 3844 articles. After duplicate removal, we independently screened 3413 studies to determine whether they met inclusion criteria. Seventy-six studies were identified for inclusion in this review. Data were extracted on study characteristics, content, and findings. Seventy-six studies met the inclusion criteria. The most represented subgroups were Chinese (n = 74), Japanese (n = 60), and Filipino (n = 60), while Indonesian (n = 1), Malaysian (n = 1), and Burmese (n = 1) were included in only one or two studies. Several Asian American subgroups listed in the 2010 U.S. Census were not represented in any of the studies. Overall, the most studied health conditions were cancer (n = 29), diabetes (n = 13), maternal and infant health (n = 10), and cardiovascular disease (n = 9). Studies showed that health outcomes varied greatly across subgroups. More research is required to focus on smaller-sized subgroup populations to obtain accurate results and address health disparities for all groups.
In building interpersonal relationships through omotenashi no kokoro (Excellent Service), Keigo is a crucial aspect to consider when communicating in Japanese. Keigo, both in terms of grammar and its usage concept, is quite complicated. Therefore, the role of instructors in delivering Keigo learning materials is expected to motivate students to improve their communication skills while mastering the art of creating interpersonal connections. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is chosen as the teaching method. This research aims to provide an alternative teaching experience focusing on omotenashi no kokoro. The research method used is descriptive with a qualitative approach. The research subjects are students of the Japanese Language Program at Universitas Teknologi Yogyakarta (UTY) taking the hospitality course. The research is conducted through observation by analyzing CLT-based learning activities using three steps: mechanical practice, meaningful practice, and communicative practice. The study results indicate that with the CLT method, students can use Keigo through word or phrase repetition, understand the meaning of words and expressions in sentences, and freely actualize themselves through improvisation and exploration of conversational contexts. A new finding from this research is that the CLT teaching method is effective when applied to the hospitality course, emphasizing building interpersonal relationships through omotenashi no kokoro.
Cross-lingual document classification aims at training a document classifier on resources in one language and transferring it to a different language without any additional resources. Several approaches have been proposed in the literature and the current best practice is to evaluate them on a subset of the Reuters Corpus Volume 2. However, this subset covers only few languages (English, German, French and Spanish) and almost all published works focus on the the transfer between English and German. In addition, we have observed that the class prior distributions differ significantly between the languages. We argue that this complicates the evaluation of the multilinguality. In this paper, we propose a new subset of the Reuters corpus with balanced class priors for eight languages. By adding Italian, Russian, Japanese and Chinese, we cover languages which are very different with respect to syntax, morphology, etc. We provide strong baselines for all language transfer directions using multilingual word and sentence embeddings respectively. Our goal is to offer a freely available framework to evaluate cross-lingual document classification, and we hope to foster by these means, research in this important area.
Given the complexity and difficulty of discourse-level grammar acquisition, narrative construction can be a challenging task for many language learners as well as for language teachers to provide guidance in classroom. This paper provides a structure for narrative production practices that are based on assigned dialogues in classroom setting by following the Japanese narrative structure of kishōtenketsu 起承転結 (introduction, development, twist, and conclusion), and William Labov’s (1972) six components of a natural narrative model—Abstract Orientation, Complicating Action, Resolution, Evaluation, and Coda. Sample narrations in Japanese are provided to discuss a selected set of discourse-level features commonly used in each phase of narrative production. As pedagogical implications, this paper provides a step-by-step instruction on how to conduct narrative rehearsals in classroom by using a dialogue from the NihonGO NOW! series (Noda, et al. 2020). It also discusses ways to provide support and opportunities for language learners’ narrative skill development.
BackgroundShinrin-yoku (experiencing the forest atmosphere or forest bathing) has received increasing attention from the perspective of preventive medicine in recent years. Some studies have reported that the forest environment decreases blood pressure. However, little is known about the possibility of anti-hypertensive applications of Shinrin-yoku. This study aimed to evaluate preventive or therapeutic effects of the forest environment on blood pressure.MethodsWe systematically reviewed the medical literature and performed a meta-analysis.Four electronic databases were systematically searched for the period before May 2016 with language restriction of English and Japanese. The review considered all published, randomized, controlled trials, cohort studies, and comparative studies that evaluated the effects of the forest environment on changes in systolic blood pressure. A subsequent meta-analysis was performed.ResultsTwenty trials involving 732 participants were reviewed. Systolic blood pressure of the forest environment was significantly lower than that of the non-forest environment. Additionally, diastolic blood pressure of the forest environment was significantly lower than that of the non-forest environment.ConclusionsThis systematic review shows a significant effect of Shinrin-yoku on reduction of blood pressure.