The article is devoted to identification of similarities and differences in the historical memory of Japan and the Federal Republic of Germany after World War II. These issues are a relevant topic for research in the face of the enduring influence of historical grievances on Japan’s relations with its former victims, in contrast to similar relations of Germany. As a theoretical framework, the paper uses O. Malinova’s approach, which interprets historical memory as a product of social construction and a variation of symbolic politics. In addition, the author uses the classification of historical memory proposed by Matteo Dian. In the scope of the study, the author examines the impact of occupation policies on the further development of historical memory in the two countries. The paper compares the original content of the main narratives of historical memory in each country, the main mnemonic actors promoting them, and the evolution of these narratives from the end of the war to the present day. The author also highlights the reasons for the differences in the content and evolution of the narratives in Japan and the FRG.The author concludes that, despite a certain similarity of the occupation policy in the two countries, as well as the formation of two traditions (conservative and left-progressive) in each country’s historical memory, its content and evolution are substantially different. In the FRG, the conservative tradition initially included the narratives of self-victimhood and amnesia, while the progressive tradition included the narrative of contrition; over the years, however, the traditions have evolved from polarization to a consensus around contrition and elements of self-victimhood. In Japan, the conservative tradition initially included glorification of the past in addition to self-victimhood, i.e., it was more revisionist, while the progressive tradition focused on self-victimhood rather than contrition. Over time, the traditions in Japan shifted from a consensus around self-victimhood to a sharp polarization: progressives moved to a contrition narrative, while revisionists gained ground among conservatives.
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Soviet-Japanese relations were going through difficult times. The Mongolian issue and border incidents continually worsened bilateral contacts. In a state of hostility and open confrontation, the authorities of both countries detained and rummaged fishing vessels, artificially whipped up spy mania, increased pressure on left-wing elements (Japan) and arrested those who were associated with the enemy side through scientific or other work (the USSR). Limiting himself to two events from Soviet-Japanese history of this time, the author analyzes how Soviet-Japanese relations and the atmosphere of mutual perception changed in the period between the end of the Khalkhin Gol River conflict (1939) and the signing of the Neutrality Pact (1941).Using reports from employees of the USSR Plenipotentiary Mission in Tokyo as an example, the author examines how Japan’s attempt to begin building “new relations” with the USSR affected the position of Soviet diplomats and influenced the degree and quality of interaction between them and the Japanese.
The article is devoted to the Japanese drama Kanjinchō, its text being introduced into Russian scientific circulation. The translation was made with the participation of students from the National Research University Higher School of Economics as part of the project “Translation of Kabuki Theater Plays.” Kanjinchō is one of the most famous dramas in Japanese theatrical tradition. The story focuses on the valiant warrior Minamoto-no Yoshitsune (1159–1189), who is one of the most beloved characters in Japan. Yoshitsune defeated the Taira clan in the decisive Dannoura sea battle (April 25, 1185). The Genpei war ended, but his brother Yoritomo ordered to kill him. Saving their lives, the hero and his companions disguise themselves as yamabushi monks in order to pass unnoticed through the lands of Japan, blocked by special military inspection checkpoints. “Kanjinch ō ” tells the story of how the samurai crossed one of the gates, named Ataka, in the Japanese mountains. The monk Benkei, Yoshitsune’s faithful companion, used his wits to outwit the gatekeeper, named Togashi-no Saemon. The play contains famous theatrical scenes: an impromptu reading of a charity signature sheet kanjinchō, the yamabushi-mondō dialogue, Yoshitsune’s strike, the Ennen-no mai dance, the tobiroppo flying step. The play originally belonged to Noh theatrical tradition, but Kabuki also adapted it on stage. However, the Noh influence remained strong, which is also discussed in the paper. The religious aspect in the play is presented extensively, reflected both in the actors’ lines and material objects props, accessories, and costumes. This is a feature of Kabuki as a form of performing art, demonstrating deep elaboration of Buddhist symbolism. The article also presents an analysis of the main characters, their stage embodiments, analysis of the symbolism and costumes, a description of the stage details, and a description of the Buddhist aspect of the play.
The paper investigates why political representation of women in the Japanese Diet has not progressed as anticipated. Although Womenomics policies have been implemented successfully by the government in recent years in Japan, it has been argued that Womenomics policy does not adequately address
other aspects of female representation, including women’s political participation. To examine this, the current study, which is based on a qualitative research method, used semi-structured interviews with women MPs from several different political parties in Japan and with academics specializing in women’s issues and Japanese politics. Based on these interviews, it was noted that the patriarchal social structure still prevalent in Japan was the main barrier to understanding the significance of women’s political representation in Japan, suggesting that there has been no advancement in the representation of women in politics as a result of an inability to appreciate the value of women’s involvement in politics. However, an ongoing failure to remove the barriers that prevent women who are interested in politics from taking part in political life from doing so is another
reason why women’s political representation has not improved in Japan. Component investigation of this can be assessed across three stages. Women’s interest in politics is the first of these, as women specifically struggle
with issues such as a lack of family and spousal support. In the second stage, the systemic limitations that affect women’s political decisions and interests, include the extreme overworking culture in Japan and the lack of female role models in politics must be considered. The male-dominated political system and party structures that effectively prevent women from participating in politics after they have passed the first two stages of entry to the Diet must then be seen as a third set of barriers.
This paper focuses on the grammatical category of voice in the context of Japanese language teaching and aims to analyze the categories of the passive and the causative starting from the academic experience at Bologna University. The study provides a broad theoretical framework on the basis of the recent Japanese literature on linguistics (nihongogaku) in order to stimulate a double intralingual and interlingual reflection in Italian students. At a didactic level, the contribution underlines the importance of drawing on Japanese literature in order to acquire a shared metalanguage that can stimulate further research and induce teachers to keep up with the most recent outcomes in the field.
Japan has long been a country closed to Russia. According to some sources, acquaintance with its inhabitants began in the 17th century, and we received the first direct information about the way of life of the Japanese from the descriptions of those who explored the Far East in the 18th century, as well as from Russian sailors. A particularly invaluable contribution to the question of understanding Japan at the initial stage was made by captain V.M. Golovnin, who was captured by the Japanese. Studying a country means not only focusing on political or economic relations, but also on the psychological perception of the inhabitants of the other country. This level – the level of soft power – is also important for building long-term good neighborly relations, affecting the mentality and the ability to perceive each other in a tolerant way. The purpose of this article is to analyze various sources, both academic and everyday ones, to characterize the image of Japan that has developed in the minds of Russian citizens. To achieve this goal, a phenomenological approach is used in the context of the “perception of the other”. The authors consistently prove the dominance of historical memory in the development of relations, which proceeded according to the type of non-military rivalry and conflict resolution. The logic and structure of the article is a movement from the analysis of relations between the inhabitants of our countries, starting with the notes of navigators of the 19th century, towards the analysis of the dynamics of current relations, and, finally, the discussion of the attitudes and perceptions of Japanese culture by the Russian youth. The authors conclude that the image of Japan in the minds and mentality of Russian citizens is formed according to the agonistic type, which implies the acceptance of the other, and not rejection, as is the case of the “perception of the other” according to the polemos type.
The paper presents an analysis of the current state of green energy in Japan. The study showcases that Japan’s energy strategy focuses primarily on eliminating energy deficit and secondly on greening the sector. After the Fukushima accident, Japan recognized renewable energy as a solution to the energy security problem and intensified government policies to stimulate investment in renewable energy. Policy incentives, primarily the introduction of feed-in tariffs, and massive investments have led to an increase in the share of renewable energy sources, especially solar PV, in the structure of electricity generation, and contributed to CO2 emissions decline after 2013, as well as the improvement in the energy efficiency of the economy. By the end of the second decade of the 21st century, Japan was among the top-five countries based on installed renewable power capacity (excluding hydropower). However, the costs of electricity have been rising and the costs associated with installing renewables in Japan are very high comparing with other countries. Meanwhile, Japan is among the top-five economies with the highest CO2 emissions, 90% of which are energy-related, and has been criticized by the international community for its ongoing support for fossil fuels. In 2020, Japan has announced an ambitious plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 by speeding up the development of key technologies such as next generation solar batteries and carbon recycling. The promotion of ‘hydrogen society’ is called one of the most important steps towards a low-carbon economy in Japan. Achieving the goal will require a significant revision of the current energy plan, according to which, by 2030, more than half of the country's energy will continue to be produced by fossil fuel plants. Japan has made some progress in its green energy policy, but whether it is sustainable remains to be seen. In addition, in light of low oil prices and the COVID-19 recession, the future of renewable energy sources remains uncertain.
On the 11th of March 2011, a giant earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 hit the east coast of northern Japan and triggered a tsunami which caused massive destruction in the Tōhoku region. This event and its nuclear aftermath led to severe psychological stress for the victims. How should one deal with this type of traumatic experience? What can be done to prevent or treat mental disorders like PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)?
Based on the concept of poetry therapy and its Japanese counterpart shiika ryōhō, this paper examines the possibility of dealing with and overcoming trauma by reading and writing literature. The case analysis of Asahigaoka, a district of Minamisanriku in Miyagi Prefecture, illustrates how these theories can be applied. About one month after the threefold catastrophe, survivors gathered together at the local community center to exchange their thoughts about the disaster. They not only talked to each other, but also chose senryū, a classical Japanese short poetic form that consists of seventeen morae, to express themselves.
This study shows that in the case of Asahigaoka, daily collective reading, presenting, and writing of senryū was not only a stabilizing factor in the everyday life of the people, but also helped them to open their hearts to others. This led them to talk about their feelings, which resulted in the opportunity to experience a special form of emotional healing.
Language and Literature, Japanese language and literature
(Title: Idiom ‘Saru’ as a Reflection of Japanese People Thinking Concept Towards Monkey ). This research is an anthropological linguistic study that is conducted by examining the idioms that use the word "saru" (monkey) as the object of study. This study aims at analyzing the basic concepts of people's thought about the word "saru" (monkey) through the use of its idioms. The researcher collected the data of the idioms that use the word "saru" through literature studies that cover the literature containing Japanese idioms and interviews of Japanese people living in Yogyakarta. The focus of this research is the correlation between literal meaning and metaphorical meaning in idioms that contain the word "saru". The correlation of the meaning is traced using a diachronic perspective to see the concept of Japanese people's thought towards monkeys. According to the results of the study, the researcher found 11 idioms that use the word "saru", namely Sansaru, Sarugi, Sarugutsuwa, Sarushibari, Sarutsunagi, Sarujie, Sarugashikoshi, Sarumane, Sarushibai, Saruboo, and Saruni. From the relationship between the literal meaning and the metaphorical meaning of the 11 idioms, the result shows that Japanese people have 3 concepts towards monkey, which are as a holy and sacred animal, as an animal that possesses the magical power to make something quiet, and as an animal resembling the human being.
Song is an expression which has a strong connection with someone's feeling, which can also be a hint to understand how Japanese society thinks and feels in general (Kanemoto 2006). Expression on song lyrics is quite different from the usual expression used in daily conversation. To convey emotions and feelings of the songwriter, the style of language is important to touch the listener's feelings. This research analyzed the style of language in the lyrics of Japanese and Indonesian love song, by using contrastive analysis method and review it from cognitive linguistics. 13 Common Source Domains that Kovecses exposes is used to identify the style of love expression in the song lyrics. The purpose of this study is to explain what language styles and expression are used in the lyrics of Indonesian and Japanese songs, accordance with theory of the seven metaphors of love in cognitive linguistics, contrasting the love phrases contained in both languages, and the corresponding theory of the seven metaphors of love in cognitive linguistics with the Common Source Domain by Kovecses. As the results, there are 8 types of 13 types of Common Source Domain used in the lyrics of both languages in the 1970s. Besides the 13 Common Source Domains, is also found domain that are used both languages called Colour. Meanwhile the song lyrics in 2000 year, there are 10 types of 13 types of Common Source Domain used in both languages lyrics. Another domain that is used in both language lyrics is Music.
Based on World Investment Report 2015 that has been released on 25 June2015 by an organization under United Nation (UN) named United Nations Conference Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Indonesia is a country that is experiencing the highest investment growth in Southeast Asia as much as 20%, with Japan as the biggest investor. Japanese investment rate is directly proportional with the number of requiring workers who can speak Japanese. On working life communication and language as one of the communication tool is really necassery. Language has many varieties, in Japan there are 28 kinds of dialect. Kansai Dialect with 1: 6 of using ration, is the secondnumbermost uses in Japan after standard Japanese. Based on that fact this reasearch is to find is there any miscommnication that occure due to the-do-not-know about Kansai dialect on Detective Conan anime episode 651 with work life is the background. By using descriptive research method ascertainable that the-do-not-know about Kansai dialect can cause miscommunication that lead to misunderstanding. Biggest miscommunication occurred because the-don-not-now that jibun in Kansai dialect can be translated as me and amechan means candy. Beside that we also know that salty in Kansai dialect is karai and using Kansai dialect in poor way can make Kansai people angry due to their pride and appreciate toward Kansai dialect.
The aim of this article is to understand who the Ianfu are via a social-historical and socio-cultural study. I set out to contextualise the reality of the women’s lives as Ianfu and as surviving Ianfu through the inclusion of recollections of former Korean Ianfu and official histories. Who are the Ianfu, what did they do, where did they go, why were they created, and what happened to them? These are the questions that I sought to answer in order to frame the Ianfu experience through a retelling of their past. Furthermore, there are several reasons why Korean women came to comprise the majority of Ianfu which I endeavour to explain in this article.