Suchergebnisse

At a moment when the population is declining, marriage and birth rates are down, one-third of people live alone while one-fourth are sixty-five or older, and reports of "lonely death" (of solitary people whose bodies are discovered days, or weeks, after death) are commonplace, the social ecology of existence is undergoing radical change in twenty-first-century Japan. While long-term bonds—to company, family, locale—were once the earmarks of its "group-oriented society," today living and dying alone mark Japan's new era of "single-fication" and "disconnected society" (muen shakai). How the rise of single-fication affects the management of death—both those already dead and those at risk of dying in/from solitude—is the subject of this article. Looking at new mortuary practices, new trends in both single and solitary lifestyles, and new initiatives in dealing with suicide, this article examines how the neoliberal shift to self-responsibility plays out in the everyday rhythms of being with/out others for postsocial Japanese. It also considers the implications of these shifts for the concept of the social itself.

In the aftermath of the bursting of the Bubble economy in 1991, a turn to more flexible labor since the late 1980s, and the recent disaster (of earthquake/tsunami/nuclear reactor accident) of March 11th, the socioeconomic equilibrium in Japan has been shaken. In contrast to the post-war era of high economic growth when lifelong jobs and a middle-class lifestyle were the norm, today these staples of "good living" have become undermined or unobtainable for more and more Japanese. Not only are more workers irregularly employed (called the "precariat" or precarious proletariat by activist Amamiya Karin), but there are signs of a more pervasive precarity—experienced by more than just the precariat—at the level of an evisceration of social ties, connectedness with others, and a sense of security. Taking the example of "net café refugees"—young working poor who live in net cafés—as paradigmatic of what has been called the "refugeeization" of Japan as a place no longer materially or socially secure for many of its citizens, the essay studies the condition of "social precarity" in post post-war Japan. This is looked at through the lens of affect: not only the state of precarity as it is experienced affectively (as a pain and longing for what still gets assumed to be "ordinary"), but also the affects deployed in practices adopted by the socially disenfranchised and economically precariat to survive. Seeing in these extra-economic networks of survival a glimmer of social change—a recalibration of human life and relationality in a new direction—I consider them to be a biopolitics of life from below, constituting new zones of (post post-Fordist) social possibility for Japan/ese.

This paper considers the operation of "soft power" in the currency of made-in-Japan youth goods as they achieve the popularity of a new fad in US pop culture. This craze of "J-cool" is mainly a youth phenomenon which, less likely to be shared or understood by adults, trades in products for & about youth. Questioned here is what meaning or impact do these "Japanese" goods have on or for "American" kids. In other words, what is the construction of "Japan(ese)" in J-cool & does this stand (or not) for a Japan that actually exists? Adapted from the source document.

Japanese Images of Nature: Cultural Perspectives. Pamela J. Asquith and Arne Kalland. eds. Richmond Surrey, UK: Curzon, 1997. 290 pp.

Situated Meaning: Inside and Outside in Japanese Self, Society, and Language. Jane M. Bachnik and Charles J. Quinn Jr. Women, Media and Consumption in Japan. Lise Skov and Brian Moeran

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Japan's Possible Futures -- 1.Demography as Destiny: Falling Birthrates and the Allure of a Blended Society -- 2. Precarity and Hope: Social Connectedness in Postcapitalist Japan -- 3. Risk and Consequences: The Changing Japanese Employment Paradigm -- 4. The Future of Gender in Japan:Work/Life Balance and Relations between the Sexes -- 5. After Fukushima: Veto Players and Japanese Nuclear Policy -- 6. Japan'sMegadisaster Challenges: CrisisManagement in theModern Era -- 7. Fiscal Survival and Financial Revival: Possible Futures for the Japanese Economy -- 8. Manufacturing in Japan: Factories and National Policy -- 9. Integrated Solutions to Complex Problems: Transforming Japanese Science and Technology -- 10. Military Cooperation and Territorial Disputes: The Changing Face of Japan's Security Policy -- 11. Economic and Strategic Leadership in Asia: The Rivalry between China and Japan -- 12. Possible Futures of Political Leadership: Waiting for a Transformational PrimeMinister -- 13. State Power versus Individual Freedom: Japan's Constitutional Past, Present, and Possible Futures -- About the Contributors -- Index

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 earthquake off Japan's northeast coast triggered a tsunami that killed more than 20,000 people, displaced 600,000, and caused billions of dollars in damage as well as a nuclear meltdown of three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Japan, the world's third largest economy, was already grappling with recovery from both its own economic recession of the 1990s and the global recession following the US-driven financial crisis of 2008 when the disaster hit, changing its fortunes yet again. This small, populous Asian nation--once thought to be a contender for the role of the world's number one power--now faces a world of uncertainty. Japan's economy has shrunk, China has challenged its borders, and it faces perilous demographic adjustments from decreased fertility and an aging populace, with the country's population expected to drop to less than 100 million by 2048. In Japan: The Precarious Future, a group of distinguished scholars of Japanese economics, politics, law, and society examine the various roads that might lie ahead. Will Japan face a continued erosion of global economic and political power, particularly as China's outlook improves exponentially? Or will it find a way to protect its status as an important player in global affairs? Contributors explore issues such as national security, political leadership, manufacturing prowess, diplomacy, population decline, and gender equality in politics and the workforce, all in an effort to chart the possible futures for Japan. Both a roadmap for change and a look at how Japan arrived at its present situation, this collection of thought-provoking analyses will be essential for understanding the current landscape and future prospects of this world power.