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On the Okinawa Island, the largest of the island chain, the Kingdom of Shuri was established around the 15th century A.D. Its political ideology was characterized by a Sun ritual, and the king was worshiped as a child of the Sun. Women had a sacred role on these islands, and priestesses had the role of introducing sacred power from the Sun to the royal palace. In the religious thought of this kingdom, Kudaka-jima Island was the most sacred. This tiny island in the southeastern sea off the shore of Okinawa Island occupied an important position in royal rituals, including an enthronement ceremony of the highest priestesses who were close kin of the king. In the Urasoe Dynasty, predecessor of the Shuri Dynasty, it was possible to see the rising Sun of the December solstice behind the Kudaka-jima Island, and the ritual on the December solstice was probably performed for the re-birth of the king. During the proceeding Gusuku Period between the 13th and the 14th centuries, several castles were constructed there with gates that opened toward the June solstice. This custom was meant to introduce the strongest power of the Sun into the sacred place of the castle. On Kudaka-jima Island facing these castles, there is a folk belief in celebrating both June and December solstices. This paper traces the process in which a primary folk belief of the Sun had been transformed into a political ideology in which the king himself became the Sun, radiating the land and the people.

Policies for stimulating technological development and innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises can be divided into three groups. Supply-side policies aim at increasing firms' incentives to invest in innovation by reducing costs. Demand-side policies are public actions to induce innovation and/or speed up the diffusion of innovation. Systemic policies focus on strengthening interactive learning between actors in innovation systems. Policies can be implemented through various instruments comprising tax incentives, grants or direct subsidies, low-interest loans, and the government's direct equity participation. These instruments have pros and cons. The experiences of four late-industrializing East Asian economies - Taipei,China; Singapore; Malaysia; and Thailand - provide key lessons. Firms at different levels of technological and innovative capability need different policy instruments. The more successful economies have a higher level of flexibility and policy coordination and learning. The amount, duration, and continuity of government supporting schemes are crucial. Policy makers must have a deep understanding of what constitutes innovations and innovation systems, and how they evolve over time. Innovation financing policies require other corresponding policy initiatives to make them successful. Lastly, institutional factors do shape the choices and effective implementation of these policies.

Taking the growth & recent crisis of the Thai economy as an example, explored are the implications of globalization -- the integration of world markets -- for a small open economy. Globalization allowed Thailand & other Asian economies to escape from poverty & grow rapidly. However, a small open economy is vulnerable to the large flows of capital that are first attracted to this growth & then overreact to perceived structural weaknesses in the economy. Institutional & policy reforms can remove these weaknesses, but such reforms are often politically contentious & take time. While capital flows can be overwhelmingly large & fast, Thailand & other countries in the region need to reform their policies & institutions, but they require the stability to do so. There is a need to control capital flow so that small open economies can remain open & continue to benefit from globalization. 3 References. Adapted from the source document.