http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/japan Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Sun, 10 May 2026 16:11:36 -0400 Sun, 10 May 2026 16:11:36 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1768/trauma-and-silence-in-no-no-boy-an-interdisciplinary-reading By Yuxin Zheng - Depicting the rugged reintegration of Ichiro Yamada, a no-no boy imprisoned during WWII, Japanese American author John Okada presents a traumatized and conflicted Japanese American community during the mid-1940s in his novel No-No Boy (1957). Applying Dan McAdams’ psychological theory to their literary study of the novel, Floyd Cheung and Bill Peterson demonstrate that an interdisciplinary approach can “provide inspiration for different disciplines in the academy to view Asian American experience in new and exciting ways” (213). Using an interdisciplinary approach as Cheung and... Thu, 03 Oct 2019 08:09 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1768/trauma-and-silence-in-no-no-boy-an-interdisciplinary-reading http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1760/discourse-public-space-and-the-politics-of-korean-comfort-women-implications-for-east-asian-relations By Ann W. Kim - The issue of “comfort women,” sex slaves utilized by the Japanese army during World War II, is treated in this paper as a collective memory in the consciousness of South Koreans. Differing narratives of this historical event, and the emphasis placed on it, serves as the underlying basis for increased present tensions between the governments of South Korea and Japan. To understand the complexity of these painful experiences as a collective memory requires a discussion on the impact of colonization as well as contemporary problems regarding a whitewashing of history and the utilization... Wed, 20 Feb 2019 08:23 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1760/discourse-public-space-and-the-politics-of-korean-comfort-women-implications-for-east-asian-relations http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1729/japan-at-work-in-the-21st-century-an-analysis-of-developing-labor-practices-in-japan-and-institutional-barriers-to-reform By Gregory A. Fedorov - Devastated by an economic collapse at the end of the 20th century, Japan’s economy entered a decade long period of stagnation. Now, Japan has found stable leadership, but attempts at new economic growth have fallen through. A combination of public desire for economic security through lifetime employment, reliance on “economic bureaucracy” of large corporations and pressure from international powers have left Prime Minister Shinzo Abe few options for fulfilling his “Abenomics” dream. Japanese leaders have continuously attempted to restructure the economy in an effort... Thu, 08 Mar 2018 09:44 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1729/japan-at-work-in-the-21st-century-an-analysis-of-developing-labor-practices-in-japan-and-institutional-barriers-to-reform http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1650/alienating-ethnic-kin-assessing-immigration-integration-policies-for-the-brazilian-nikkeijin-in-japan-and-joseonjok-marriage-migrants-in-south-korea By Kenneth Lee - In recent decades, Japan and South Korea have become hosts to ethnic return migrants who have returned to their ancestral homeland after once emigrating overseas. Since the 1980s, the Brazilian nikkeijin, or members of the Japanese diaspora, have returned to Japan as labor migrants. From 1992, joseonjok, or ethnic Korean Chinese, migrant women traveled to South Korea to marry Korean men. Japan and South Korea have targeted these groups for their ethnic affinities – the attraction and kinship between the homeland population and returning migrants – on the presumption that they would... Mon, 22 May 2017 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1650/alienating-ethnic-kin-assessing-immigration-integration-policies-for-the-brazilian-nikkeijin-in-japan-and-joseonjok-marriage-migrants-in-south-korea http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1369/women-in-meiji-japan-exploring-the-underclass-of-japanese-industrialization By Saarang Narayan - The state was not the only capitalist in Japan. A new class of capitalist families emerged—the Zaibatsu (=‘financial clique’). They ran most of the banks and owned most of the prefectures’ factories. In most cases, the Zaibatsu families were present inside the Meiji administration as bureaucrats and officials and even as the governors of many prefectures. Many of the erstwhile merchant houses like the Mitsui and the Sumitomo took up their new identities very well, as they had been well experienced in trade and capital handling. Others like the Mitsubishi came up as novel... Wed, 24 Feb 2016 03:14 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1369/women-in-meiji-japan-exploring-the-underclass-of-japanese-industrialization http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/953/opportunities-and-challenges-of-allocation-of-alternative-energy-resources-in-japan By Karin Snyder - In the case of Japan, which lacks any significant fossil fuel reserves (Gasparatos & Gadda, 2009, pp. 4038-4048) some alternative forms of energy production have been implemented. Japan has implemented alternative energy options such as nuclear power, photovoltaic power, hydroelectric power, and other various energy alternatives and renewable resources. These alternatives have the potential to lessen climate change. Japan is becoming an example of the economic and environmental outcomes associated with alternative energy sources. Following the Fukushima disaster, the Japanese government addressed... Fri, 19 Dec 2014 08:47 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/953/opportunities-and-challenges-of-allocation-of-alternative-energy-resources-in-japan http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/836/anime-from-cult-following-to-pop-culture-phenomenon By Samantha Nicole Inëz Chambers - This study examined the scope of influence that Japanese anime had on American people born in the '80s and '90s. Relying on secondary research and a survey using a convenience sample of 107 students and young adults, this study found that anime conveys a negative image associated with violence and fringe culture, but people see anime as more of an art form than tasteless violent film. The study also found that piracy, though not overly common, was still practiced in the case of Japanese media, but some major studios are not impeding these fansubbing (fan-made subtitles) movements. They believe... Sat, 14 Dec 2013 11:24 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/836/anime-from-cult-following-to-pop-culture-phenomenon http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/797/overcoming-modernity-in-yukio-mishima By Joseph Verbovszky - Following the disaster of the Second World War, these issues of Modernity confronted Japanese culture; issues that the now recently fallen Imperial government had attempted to overcome through the welding together of eastern and western sensibilities in the form of the Empire of Japan. Even before this, the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa periods had themselves severely Westernized Japan. That dream however, now lay amid the smoldering ruins of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the war, most of Japan accepted the new American domination of their society. A few, however, including some writers and intellectuals... Wed, 20 Nov 2013 04:02 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/797/overcoming-modernity-in-yukio-mishima http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/793/visual-persuasion-the-medias-use-of-images-in-framing-people-groups By Caitlin O'Donnell - This article compares the media's framing of five groups in response to a societal catalyst that propelled them into the public and media spotlight: Native Americans during the Indian Wars; women during the suffrage movement; African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement; Japanese Americans following the attacks on Pearl Harbor; and Muslim Americans after 9/11. A tipping point forced each group outside the "status quo," leading to pointed and biased coverage, usually in conjunction with dominant prejudices of the era, with the goal of protecting the ruling majority. While the target may have... Mon, 18 Nov 2013 05:29 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/793/visual-persuasion-the-medias-use-of-images-in-framing-people-groups http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/638/examining-the-foundations-of-documentary-film-through-the-cove By Lucien J. Flores - Directed by Louie Psihoyos, The Cove (2009) is an Oscar-winning documentary that follows Psihoyos and a crew of devoted dolphin activists as they fight to stymie and bring attention to dolphin hunting in the small coastal village of Taiji, Japan. Psihoyos’ film is unusual for documentaries in that it combines his activist stance with “dramatic arcs and suspense one would expect in a James Bond or Hollywood action movie” (Rohter). Film critic Larry Rohter writes that The Cove “seems destined to generate an emotional and contentious debate” and the film does just that... Tue, 01 May 2012 09:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/638/examining-the-foundations-of-documentary-film-through-the-cove http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/527/the-japanese-number-system By Nicholas P. Leveillee - Borrowing heavily from the Chinese, Japan abandoned their own numerals many years ago and used the ones from China. When written and spoken, numbers are broken down into their key components, multiples of powers of ten. The Japanese combine the number with ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, and so on to create the desired number (Menninger 450). To understand Japanese numbers, one must first understand the language variants. Then, there are different symbols for each numeral, depending on the form of the writing (Ifrah 273, 276). Cultural taboos and a desire to avoid ambiguity also mean... Fri, 13 May 2011 08:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/527/the-japanese-number-system http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/296/the-liberal-democratic-party-in-japan-explaining-the-partys-ability-to-dominate-japanese-politics By Michael J. Norris - Structural factors conducive to clientelism included fiscal centralisation, the pre-1994 electoral system and electoral malapportionment. Fiscal centralisation provided a context for the commoditisation of votes for material gains. The pre-1994 electoral system, Single Non-Transferable Vote in Multimember Districts (SNTV/MMD), encouraged the proliferation of koenkai networks and money politics, entrenching clientelistic behaviours in elections. Electoral malapportionment was a result of the pre-1994 electoral system and encouraged politicians to appeal to segments of the population through pork... Wed, 06 Oct 2010 06:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/296/the-liberal-democratic-party-in-japan-explaining-the-partys-ability-to-dominate-japanese-politics http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/286/women-in-ancient-japan-from-matriarchal-antiquity-to-acquiescent-confinement By Mallary A. Silva - These spiritual attitudes can be found in the literary works of the time. The thirteenth century Buddhist morality tale The Captain of Naruto emphasizes the concept of female submission and male dominance. In the tale a wife of a captain is the object of the emperor’s desire.[xv] The captain orders his wife to go to the emperor and she agrees, illustrating an act of submission. The Tale of Genji also provides examples of Buddhist values. Genji imitates the Buddhist credence of the time, Heian Japan, by stating, “If they were not fundamentally evil they would not be born a woman at... Wed, 15 Sep 2010 06:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/286/women-in-ancient-japan-from-matriarchal-antiquity-to-acquiescent-confinement http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/261/japans-multilateral-gambit-leading-the-charge-toward-an-east-asian-community By Michael J. Norris - If Japan was a person, it would be an exceptionally wealthy yet rapidly aging individual, who, for two decades, had been struck by illness. One might therefore find it unexpected for this person to be busily working on constructing the new face of Asian regional economic cooperation. This, nevertheless, is exactly what Japan is doing. Since the Democratic Party of Japan crushed the dominant Liberal Democratic Party in the August 2009 elections, the new Japanese administration, led by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, has been articulating its vision for a new, integrative regional economic body in... Thu, 24 Jun 2010 08:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/261/japans-multilateral-gambit-leading-the-charge-toward-an-east-asian-community http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/253/exploring-japanese-popular-culture-as-a-soft-power-resource By Michael J. Norris - This essay argues that Japan does not derive soft power from its popular culture. After defining soft power, the essay assesses the attraction of Japanese cultural export to audiences. The essay gauges such attraction through a consideration of the levels of cultural export, the rise of otaku sub-culture and the increase in foreign Japanese language students. By investigating these three factors, the essay attempts to quantitatively measure evidence of attraction to Japan. However, Japanese popular culture does not provide Japan with soft power; the quantitative attraction to Japanese cultural... Mon, 17 May 2010 08:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/253/exploring-japanese-popular-culture-as-a-soft-power-resource http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1265/human-trafficking-the-japanese-commercial-sex-industry-and-the-yakuza-recommendations-for-the-japanese-government By Amanda Jones - Both the UN and the U.S. Department of State conduct global reviews of state actions to prevent human trafficking. Both reports indicate that human trafficking, especially that related to sexual exploitation, continues to be an issue in Japan. Their reports indicate that Japan implemented some of the policies required by UNTIP and that it has the resources with which to carry out these policies, but the reports suggest that Japanese officials lack the will to carry out these policy initiatives to combat human trafficking. This lack of will by government officials appears to be related to three... Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1265/human-trafficking-the-japanese-commercial-sex-industry-and-the-yakuza-recommendations-for-the-japanese-government http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1274/for-japan-better-late-than-never By William Gerding - The Japanese general election on August 30, 2009 ousted the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which had governed almost uninterrupted for 54 years. In its place rose the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and its leading man Yukio Hatoyama. What follows is a brief profile of the DPJ’s main economic challenges and policies, succeeded by the chief points of contention in the DPJ’s interpretation of Japan’s alliance with the US, the invariable focus of which is military. Now, Japan finds itself at a crucial junction to reassert itself as a regional leader in Asia, whether military or... Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1274/for-japan-better-late-than-never