Search results for ""Trans Pacific Press""

A joint publication of Trans Pacific Press and Kyoto University Press, this economic history of the early development of Thailand's railways details the rail policies of the royal government, from the end of 19th century to 1932, when the Constitutional Revolution overthrew it.It also assesses the role and impact of the railways on Thailand's economy in terms of the degree to which they reduced transport time and cost, as well as the extent to which they altered the flow of commodities and the transportation of passengers across the country.

Read more less

This is a study of a political and social movement instigated by older Korean women in Japan, beginning in the 1990s. Koreans in Japan have occupied an unique position among ethnic minority groups. Until recently they constituted the largest group of "foreign nationals". yet they have been marginalized politically, socially, economically, and culturally. Korean women are doubly-disadvantaged, treated as inferior to men by both Korean and Japanese society. Furthermore, the first generation of Korean women migrants were not educated as children, rendering them functionally illiterate and, thus, triply marginalized. Late in life, when family and work responsibilities became less onerous, local authorities created educational opportunities, which the women took up in unexpected numbers, overloading the facilities. The authorities' responses effectively re-marginalized them. The elderly Korean women took a stance and, in the process, reconstituted themselves as social and political actors. This book examines that self-transformation process.

Read more less

This book examines the interdependent relationships between the film industry and the state in East Asia, treating films as political economic products, mixtures of government policy and industrial motives, rather than mere works of art or media commodities.Chapters examine the East Asian film industries from the 1930s to the 2010s, which pursued their own economic and political goals by cooperating, negotiating, and conflicting with states. Through studies of national film policies, film industry strategies, and cultural-political influences on audience receptivity, this book reveals how films are formed by the interaction of the state, the film companies and audiences.

Read more less

Conceptualizing the Malay World explores the interrelations between the indigenization of ""colonial knowledge"" and the quest for pan-Malay identity in Malaya. In what way, to what extent, and for what purpose did the colonized accept, modify, and adapt the colonizer's worldview? To answer these questions, this study examines textbooks produced by British and Malay authors for teaching Malay history and geography to the local populace in teacher training colleges, then conducts a case study of one of these students who would go on to become a prominent nationalist activist. It shows that while the colonizers brought new concepts of Malayness to Malaya, the indigenization of colonial knowledge entailed significant reinterpretation, transformation, and appropriation.

Read more less

This book is a collection of essays on the critical subject of migration in a global context. The book offers insights into the broad range of experiences of migrants in diverse settings. It also examines multi-layered local community issues that have emerged in the light of the increasing flow of people across the globe. The key question informing the arguments in the book has to do with the relationship between nationality and citizenship.Part I of the book looks at the situation of emigrant workers, discussing the opportunities and problems they face in their experiences overseas. Part II focuses on the transformation of ethnic communities, painting a picture of various forms of migrants based on the constellation of such factors as safe and secure town planning, redevelopment, and kou (rotating savings and credit associations). Finally, Part III addresses migrant education and language, and also discusses identity formation and generational succession of minority children who live in a multicultural symbiotic society.

Read more less

As the sequel to Groups (2013) and Institutions (2017), Others is the third work produced by a collaborative research project involving primatologists and anthropologists on the evolutionary historical foundations of human sociality. This book presents cutting edge research into the meaning of "the other" and the dynamic process of "othering".Each of the eighteen chapters examines various aspects of "others" via the researchers' specialties, with subject matter ranging from the disappearance of the alpha male in a chimpanzees group to the way the other is produced amongst Canadian Inuit through their relationship with wild animals. What is generated is a unique collection of essays that is both grounded in empirical evidence and strengthened by its intricate engagement with the depth and breadth of theoretical work on the topic of "the other", as it furthers our understanding of the nature of human sociality.

Read more less

This book is a comprehensive account of the nativist movement in Japan today. Naoto Higuchi uses the life histories of activists to establish that the basis of their support for the movement is their conservativism rather than social or economic stress. He reveals the logic behind the emergence of the nativist movement by highlighting its links with developments in the existing right wing and Japan's conservative powers. A common interest in historical revisionism and conflict with neighbouring countries provides a further logic that underpins the nativist movement's particular focus on "special privileges" for permanent Koreans resident in Japan. The book examines the role of the internet in the recruitment of nativist activists and in lending a veil of historical "truth" to the falsehoods concerning these special privileges. Finally, Higuchi considers the issue of voting rights for foreign residents in the context of East Asian geopolitics and increasing securitization, and warns about the dangers of not resisting securitization.

Read more less

Japan is a rapidly ageing society with a declining birthrate and increasing lifespan. The nation's youth tend to marry late, and some never engage in this form of social contract. Further, the number of couples without children is on the rise, and the proportion of senior citizens in the age pyramid is growing at exceptional speed. Demographic change that reflects these transformations now impacts the country's system of social stratification and inequality.In this collective study, a group of leading Japanese sociologists scrutinises hidden disparities behind the demographic shifts, asking important questions: In what ways has educational inequality been enhanced? How has household composition changed and which household types are disadvantaged? What is the relationship between class and health? How do the middle-aged unemployed experience inequality? How does demographic change influence inheritance, pension acquisition, and social welfare?Using a variety of quantitative data, the contributors address these and other questions, elucidating Japan's unprecedented experience from sober sociological perspectives.

Read more less

Throughout twenty-seven years of military occupation, US public affairs activities aimed to persuade the local Okinawan public that the US administration of Okinawa should be maintained. The US maintains military bases around the globe while advocating democratic ideals, including freedom of the press. Yet, while declaring the occupation of Okinawa necessary for the defence of democracy, the US military administration vigorously repressed freedoms of speech, assembly, the media, and self-determination. This landmark study explores and uncovers the labyrinthine manipulations and mechanisms established to continue to defend the hard deployment of military forces through the soft power techniques of public relations.This research, first published in Japanese, received the 43rd Iha Fuyu Okinawa Study Award.

Read more less

Fluidity of Place presents an interdisciplinary conversation with theories of space-time, place, and globalisation at the cutting edge of social theory. Focusing on the construction of urban space in the context of hyper-mobility, it examines the social relations that form 'place' in a globalised world.The first half of the book discusses globalisation theory and looks at place in relation to the fluidity brought about by recent technological advances. The second half details the construction of understandings of Asian mega-cities, particularly Jakarta, and examines the realities behind narratives of over-urbanisation in light of globalisation and the concomitant fluidity of place.The book makes a compelling argument about the competing claims to place in a world where the nation-state has lost control of its borders.

Read more less

This study challenges the prevailing view that Thailand's democratisation process in the 1990s was led by the active middle class. It presents an alternative explanation, examining certain 'passive' forces. The author argues the need to break free from the spell of the assumption that the middle class is pro-democracy and turn attention toward anti-democratisation forces because the pace of political democratisation was slowed down by the presence of such forces.This book will emphasise the fresh point of view that democratisation was advanced by appeasement of the forces that were reluctant to democratisation.

Read more less

This study examines the role of Buddhist monks as development agents in rural Thailand. Through 20 years of field studies, and with a focus on Northeast Thailand (which is known as Isan and long classified as the poorest region of Thailand), author Pinit Lapthananon investigates development in contemporary Thailand. Although development monks form a small percentage of the monks in Isan, or in Thailand as a whole, their actions have been highly visible in Thai society for more than five decades, and they have helped to maintain a balance between modernisation and traditional culture.The book examines the role of Buddhism, investigates religious and socioeconomic activities, and probes the changing approach to development - with an emphasis on economic growth to support both social and human development, self-sufficiency, community participation and empowerment, and the revitalisation of traditional knowledge and folk wisdom. It will help in understanding the process of development and social change in Isan society.

Read more less

Preoperative therapy is used increasingly in the treatment of patients with Stages II and III breast cancer. Randomised trials have demonstrated the equivalence of preoperative therapy to standard adjuvant therapy with respect to disease-free and overall survival, with a higher proportion of women undergoing conservative surgery instead of a mastectomy. There are multiple questions about the optimal integration of preoperative system therapy into breast cancer management.This comprehensive handbook on preoperative therapy provides guidance to the clinician for patient management, and it outlines important areas of controversy that require further research.

Read more less

This book presents a wide-ranging study of widows in Japan, filtered through the dramatic and complex intersection of women with death. These experiences are portrayed as intensely personal and yet foreshadow momentous societal ramifications.The work represents years of research, numerous personal interviews conducted throughout Japan, and reflects not only historical and current perspectives, but also the diverse voices of the widows who participated in the research. These widows provide a point of focus for a multi-level analysis through the exploration of the inner-workings of the state, the family, and the social relations of gender.The lives of widows are examined as they are shaped by kinship and gender ideologies, class, transformations in language, and, most dramatically, war.

Read more less

Stratification in Cultural Contexts is a collection drawn from research results of the East Asian Division of the Center for the Study of Social Stratification and Inequality at Tohoku University.In this book, scholars who specialise in areas of East and Southeast Asia examine how the problem of stratification manifests itself in different cultural and historical contexts, discussing when and in what circumstances the problem of stratification has become more serious, and suggesting how the tension could be eased. The topics dealt with are diversified, from religion to economic concerns.The local wisdom of traditional societies is used to analyse inequality and stratification in cases such as the phenomenon of 'religious revival' following democratisation in Mongolian society, the lives of 'slaves' under the Choson dynasty in Korea, and the role of warrior-class women in early-modern Japan.This volume provides a strong step on the way to further studies of stratification and inequality in cultural contexts.

Read more less

As the plight of refugees around the world looms large as one of the central problems facing the international political community at the beginning of the 21st century, the situations facing displaced persons in Africa are both acute manifestations of this global trend, and unique in their particularities.As the powerful nations of the world are mobilised to tackle domestic conflicts and their ensuing refugee problems in the Balkans, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and elsewhere, African societies have typically been abandoned by the international community to resolving their own conflicts through their own means. The authors of this volume examine both causes and effects of displacement in terms of both local and global politics, environmental risks, socio-economic costs, and policy and identity issues. Combined, these papers provide a powerful if not comprehensive overview of the variety and complexity of circumstances concerning displaced persons.

Read more less

The rise of the new middle classes in Southeast Asia has brought about important transformations in various countries - politically, socially, economically, and culturally - while producing new 'East Asian lifestyles' that transcend national boundaries and causing the reorganisation of urban space.Based on the framework of comparative politics, this study examines the regional significance of the growth of the middle classes after the economic crisis in 1997-1998. It pays special attention to the conditions which led to the fall of Thailand's Thaksin government as a consequence of a military coup.From the international relations point of view, this collective work by Southeast Asian specialists also uses abundant data to unravel the regionalisation of the cultural industry across East Asia.

Read more less

After the Crisis looks at Southeast Asia - especially Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines - after the Asian financial crisis. This eleventh volume of the Kyoto Area Studies on Asia takes up the complex interactions and tensions among Southeast Asian states, markets and societies within the context of a regional order under American hegemony, with emphasis on individuals and collectives whose thoughts and actions actively intervene in the shaping of relations between, and among, the three realms.The book discusses the formation of the regional order, the shift in US policy from condoning to dismantling authoritarian developmentalist regimes in light of challenges posed by Asian global competitiveness, and US deployment of a multilateral, neoliberal economism mediated by the IMF as a way of imposing ""structural reforms"" on now ""democratizing"" states. The book also examines social responses which took the form of elite and popular nationalist ""backlash"" against globalization and Americanization.

Read more less

Uniquely interdisciplinary in orientation, the book joins experts in ecology, agriculture, medicine and development studies to produce this large-scale study. The authors argue that a number of qualitatively different regional types exist in the world, each comprising its own homeostasis.The book presents a fresh perspective on environmental area studies and demonstrates that the process of globalisation leads to the destruction of the coexistence of human beings and their environments.

Read more less

A chance discovery of sixty-odd works of art in a filing cabinet in Kyoto University's Department of Geography in 2014 triggered an investigation which soon morphed into a multi-disciplinary research project seeking to understand their origins and significance. The works were reproductions of sketches, watercolors, and maps produced by the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin, who had visited Kyoto in 1908, immediately after completing his third expedition exploring Central Asia. Through these works Hedin had recorded the people, temples, and landscapes of Tibet. But how they came to be reproduced, and what these reproductions were doing in Kyoto remains a mystery. Section I presents the sixty reproductions of Hedin's work, alongside the originals, where possible, as well as contemporary photographs of the sites Hedin had depicted. Section II focuses on Hedin's visit to Kyoto with a view to understanding the exchanges of ideas and values between the esteemed guest and his Japanese hosts and interlocutors, as well as investigating the mysteries surrounding the story of the reproductions.

Read more less

For more than 140 years, Japan's koseki registration system has functioned as the official means by which an individual qualifies as "Japanese". Information concerning each family is entered into one koseki register record in a system that documents the status relationship information of Japan's population based on the notion of "bloodline". Tracing the history of the koseki registration system from its inception in the Meiji era through its use in Japan's colonial holdings in the pre-war era and to the present day, The State Construction of "Japaneseness" challenges the very foundations of the system, arguing that it promotes prejudice and discrimination and fosters a divisive understanding of the "Japanese" as a people. This significant work presents conclusive evidence on how the koseki registration system has used deeply problematic understandings of ethnicity, citizenship and the family to define "the Japanese", excluding and discriminating against those unable to fit into the framework of this highly politicised bureaucratic system.

Read more less

Japan's national identity associates the 'Japanese people' with the Japanese land, making the farmer the backbone of the nation. Others in Japanese Agriculture challenges this mythology, revealing the changing faces of Japanese farmers during the colonial and post-war eras. First, it traces the tangled trail of Koreans brought into farming villages as a result of war mobilization and capitalist development. Second, it discusses the plight of those who evacuated from cities as they attempted to eke out a living on marginal land. Third, it points out that settlers repatriated from the colonies were met with hostility from villagers and indifference from authorities. Finally, it explores how those who were encouraged to emigrate for 'the good of the nation' in post-war Japan, found themselves victims of agrarian reforms, which severed their ties. In sum, despite being lauded as the 'backbone of the nation' Japanese farmers have been repeatedly marginalized and othered.

Read more less

Based on participant observation and interviews in a village in Sarawak, Ryoji Soda examines outward migration from the village, the migrants' living strategies in urban areas, their frequent moves between rural and urban areas, and kinship relations between rural and urban residents. Focusing on the Iban of Sarawak, one of the major ethnic groups, the study suggests that their movement should be comprehended as a part of their endeavours to expand their living space. With research that spans a decade, People on the Move presents a fresh ethnographic perspective on human mobility, rural-urban interactions, development policy, and family relations.

Read more less

Just within a few decades, the global dream of building a 'middle class society' has vanished almost everywhere, giving way to an emerging global nightmare: 'social exclusion'. France and Japan have been among the most successful societies, taken as examples by the rest of the world that it is indeed possible for a nation to include almost an entire population in the middle class. However, even these two countries have suffered increasing disillusion since the 1980s. The main concern of these countries is now social exclusion.This book analyses and contrasts the French and Japanese experiences of social exclusion. Although social exclusion in France and Japan are, in many respects, quite similar, in important respects, they are also quite different. Using a wide array of methodologies, the book presents a diverse range of perspectives on the problem of social exclusion and suggests various ways the problem might be resolved.

Read more less

Officially, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has a total of 54 ethnic groups, including the majority Kinh and 53 ethnic minority groups. This book examines the history of the ethnic group determination process, highlighting some of the challenges the official policies pose to both the state and the affected peoples.Vietnam has proudly embraced its multiethnic identity, seeking the equality of all ethnic groups in the interests of national unity. Yet, among other things, it appears that the total number of ethnic categories was rather arbitrarily determined initially, and then fiercely defended by influential politicians and academics. Furthermore, the extensive field surveys reveal that ethnic policies are frequently manipulated at the regional and local levels in pursuit of economic interests, and not infrequently, to the detriment of those they were intended to benefit.

Read more less

Borobudur is a 9th-century Buddhist temple site in Central Java, Indonesia. As a cultural landscape, Borobudur is a site of active discussion. Since the start of the International Field School on Borobudur Cultural Landscape Heritage, the site of Borobudur as a cultural landscape (including its mountains, fields, villages, and historic tangible and intangible items) has been considered in light of the role, and potential role, local communities and organisation have in conservation and the living environment.How can Borobudur as cultural landscape be described? How are diverse activities related? How can individuals contribute to its sustainability? This comprehensive volume considers these questions and presents discussions by academics and local community members. The book considers cultural landscape heritage - saujana heritage - and discusses the idea of 'evolutive conservation'. It presents geographical, geological, and ecological perspectives. It also investigates the ancient lake that once existed, as well as the topography and landscapes. The book looks at the regional planning system and describes the history and potential of local communities and organizations with a focus on tourism and development.

Read more less

Diversity' is a crucial concept describing the recent shift in minority studies away from its focus on social stratification and inequality. In recent times, new theories and concepts that suggest 'positive' meanings are emerging.Minorities and Diversity is a collaborative work emerging from the Division of the Study of Minorities at Tohoku University in Japan. The book's focus is on empirically analysing the mechanisms that produce alienation and discrimination, as well as normatively exploring the social conditions that connect minority groups and social diversity to creativity and dynamism.Chapters in this volume delve into: The status of women in Japan in relation to marriage and single motherhood. Gendered roles and norms in the early modern period. The Japanese American reparation movement. Korean and Muslim ethnic minorities in Japan and the UK. Mutual aid in Okinawa. The role of non-governmental organisations and non-profit organisations in fostering social diversity. This insightful work suggests that, in order to broaden our understanding of minorities, we should examine the ways in which these groups promote the enrichment of society.

Read more less

Though there is no biological validity to race, it continues to play a central role in various aspects of our daily lives. What, then, generates and reinforces the reality of race, and in what ways?In order to explore these questions, this book examines racial representations from both scientific and humanistic perspectives, taking into account both historical and contemporary views. This incisive anthology is the product of an interdisciplinary collaboration among scholars from Japan, Korea, Singapore, Germany, Israel, Iraq, and the USA. The discussion consists of studies in history, literature, sociology, cultural anthropology, and genetics, while the primary focus is on racial representations in Asia.The book elucidates issues and phenomena that have been neglected or marginalised in the literature on racial representation, and it serves to broaden our understanding, both in the theoretical and empirical realms. Looking at these phenomena, it is realised that racism has become increasingly obscure and harder to identify and articulate, thus posing the question: are we really beyond 'race' and heading towards a future of 'integration?'.

Read more less

Offers the first detailed description of 'composite swiddening', a traditional Southeast Asian upland agricultural system that combines shifting cultivation fields on the hillsides with irrigated paddy fields in the valleys.The book is a product of research over a 15-year period by natural and social scientists in Vietnam's Tat Hamlet, a Da Bac Tay ethnic minority community, and it challenges the conventional belief that shifting cultivation inevitably causes deforestation. It describes this complex agroecosystem in terms of its multiple individual components, structure, functioning, and sustainability; social and economic dimensions; adaptation to on-going demographic, economic, environmental, and policy changes; and wider use elsewhere in Vietnam's northern mountains.It will be of interest to Southeast Asian area studies specialists, agricultural ecologists, ethnologists, and upland development policymakers.

Read more less

Stratification in Cultural Contexts is a collection drawn from research results of the East Asian Division of the Center for the Study of Social Stratification and Inequality at Tohoku University.In this book, scholars who specialise in areas of East and Southeast Asia examine how the problem of stratification manifests itself in different cultural and historical contexts, discussing when and in what circumstances the problem of stratification has become more serious, and suggesting how the tension could be eased. The topics dealt with are diversified, from religion to economic concerns.The local wisdom of traditional societies is used to analyse inequality and stratification in cases such as the phenomenon of 'religious revival' following democratisation in Mongolian society, the lives of 'slaves' under the Choson dynasty in Korea, and the role of warrior-class women in early-modern Japan.This volume provides a strong step on the way to further studies of stratification and inequality in cultural contexts.

Read more less

This study investigates the impact of agrarian development programs on rural class structure in Bangladesh, and it highlights how the local administration of infrastructure affected the social stratification of villages.Re-thinking Economic Development shows how the so-called Green Revolution was conducive to the formation of the groundwater market and the emergence of the 'waterlords'. The book demonstrates the ways in which the failure of formal finance facilities contributed to the credit flow from the wealthy to the poor, with the transformation of the potato-marketing system and the structure of rural finance.

Read more less

As much of the world turns its attention to questions of the role and even survival of the nation-state formation in an increasingly globalised world, the authors of this interdisciplinary volume shift the focus of the debate by examining various sites of social action where the nation-state is still in a formative stage even as it is increasingly under threat. Challenges to emergent nation-building arise both from within multi-ethnic 'states' as well as from without, e.g., through pressure from international human rights organisations and the global capitalist marketplace.The authors demonstrate too that this betwixt and between situation is neither entirely new nor unique to the globalised world system; parallel tensions already existed between locals and migrants of regional trading networks before the European colonisers arrived on the scene to further complicate matters. Including micro level ethnographies, local histories and a macro-theoretical overview of the world-system, this volume directly engages with the complexities of globalisation in marginal and troubled states, complexities that are themselves typically marginalised in debates all too often obsessed with the plight of the most powerful and developed nations.

Read more less

In order to produce sufficient quantities of food to feed the world's growing population, we need to increase the food producing capacities of crops and to protect the environments in which they grow. Discovering untapped plant resources is an important challenge, but a haphazard increase in food production may cause environmental damage. We need foresight and must take sound appropriate actions. The sago palm is a plant that might fulfill all of these requirements. The sago palm accumulates more starch than any other plant in the world, yet, in global terms, it continues to languish in relative obscurity.The Japanese Society of Sago Palm Studies was formed in the hope of raising its profile by hosting seminars and symposiums in Japan and overseas to help it achieve the recognition it deserves. To this end, the Society's members have worked together to produce this volume, written in an easy-to-read style.

Read more less

This book is a collection of Hiroaki Sasaki's contributions to further developing the Kaleckian model of analyzing economic growth cycles and distribution. The Kaleckian model is a post-Keynesian type of growth model based on a principle of effective demand. It investigates how changes in income distribution affect microeconomic variables, such as economic growth, output, and employment. Although many discussions of the Kaleckian model focus on short-run economic growth, Sasaki's main contribution is that he also considers medium and long-runs. Sasaki also introduces a variety of factors, such as differentiating between profit-led and wage-led regimes and investigating how the wage gap between regular and non-regular types of employment affects economic growth. The earlier versions of the papers collected here have been previously published in esteemed academic journals, such as Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Journal of Economics, International Review of Applied Economics, and Metroeconomics.

Read more less

After a decade of deregulation and economic liberalisation, the high levels of unity and social harmony that had been achieved during Japan's decades of rapid economic growth are under threat. Social conflict is rapidly increasing as economic disparities continue to grow, as the economy remains stagnant, and as new generations of workers find it increasingly difficult to find positions in the lifetime employment system.Against this backdrop, this book reports on the latest social psychology research into social conflict in Japan and how it is managed. Recognising that social justice is an important factor in many forms of social conflict, each chapter of the book addresses the issue of conflict resolution from a social justice perspective. The first part of the book analyzes the growing disparities and perceptions of injustice in Japan today from the perspectives of social class, value, social principle, culture, and legitimisation. The second part includes empirical research on the mechanisms of conflict and cooperation in social relations.

Read more less

For a few decades, Yamagishi and his associates have studied the ecological and social behaviour of the rufous, a unique species of birds in Madagascar.In this volume, the team summarises the findings of their long-term research, with specific observations about cooperative breeding, sex ratio manipulation, foraging and helping behaviour. The authors demonstrate the implications of the study for theories of evolution, genetic inheritance and group formation.

Read more less