Japan's Living Politics

Japan's Living Politics PDF Author: Tessa Morris-Suzuki
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108804993
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 392

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Book Description
The first two decades of the twenty-first century have witnessed a rise of populism and decline of public confidence in many of the formal institutions of democracy. This crisis of democracy has stimulated searches for alternative ways of understanding and enacting politics. Against this background, Tessa Morris-Suzuki explores the long history of informal everyday political action in the Japanese context. Despite its seemingly inflexible and monolithic formal political system, Japan has been the site of many fascinating small-scale experiments in 'informal life politics': grassroots do-it-yourself actions which seek not to lobby governments for change, but to change reality directly, from the bottom up. She explores this neglected history by examining an interlinked series of informal life politics experiments extending from the 1910s to the present day.

Japan's Living Politics

Japan's Living Politics PDF Author: Tessa Morris-Suzuki
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108804993
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 392

Get Book

Book Description
The first two decades of the twenty-first century have witnessed a rise of populism and decline of public confidence in many of the formal institutions of democracy. This crisis of democracy has stimulated searches for alternative ways of understanding and enacting politics. Against this background, Tessa Morris-Suzuki explores the long history of informal everyday political action in the Japanese context. Despite its seemingly inflexible and monolithic formal political system, Japan has been the site of many fascinating small-scale experiments in 'informal life politics': grassroots do-it-yourself actions which seek not to lobby governments for change, but to change reality directly, from the bottom up. She explores this neglected history by examining an interlinked series of informal life politics experiments extending from the 1910s to the present day.

Political Life in Japan

Political Life in Japan PDF Author: Takako Kishima
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400862426
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 159

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Book Description
To understand how change occurs in politics, we should turn from concentrating on intentional political actions to exploring everyday life, especially marginal frames of mind in which people are open to questioning existing ideas and institutions. In so contending, Takako Kishima offers fresh understandings of contemporary Japanese politicians and the Japanese political process, while she also proposes an innovative method of looking at politics in general. Kishima points out that taken-for-granted values and beliefs are revealed as arbitrary when people experience intrusions of the marginal, or "liminal." Social marginals, such as outcastes or so-called misfits, are the most likely people to invoke these intrusions, but more ordinary folk are also subjected to them under special conditions ranging from the seemingly trivial--daydreaming, dancing, or getting drunk--to the more profound--war, natural disaster, or ecstatic ritual. During an intrusion the flow of ordinary time seems to stop, and the utilitarian principles of commonplace existence are invalidated--as described by the chapter on Nakasone, "Shedding Tears: Suspension of Politics." Drawing on insights from phenomenology, symbolic anthropology, and post-structuralism, as well as from political science, Kishima shows that the prevalence of liminal experiences in society prevents the reification of authority, allows the transcendence of formal political differences, and permits political change over time. Originally published in 1991. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

New Worlds from Below

New Worlds from Below PDF Author: Tessa Morris-Suzuki
Publisher: ANU Press
ISBN: 1760460915
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 291

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Book Description
In Asia today, the grand ideologies of the past have lost their power over the popular imagination. Even in many of the region’s democracies, popular engagement in the political process faces profound challenges. Yet amidst this landscape of political disenchantment, groups of ordinary people across Asia are finding new ways to take control of their own lives, respond to threats to their physical and cultural survival, and build better futures. This collection of essays by prominent scholars and activists traces the rise of a quiet politics of survival from the villages of China to Japan’s Minamata and Fukushima, and from the street art of Seoul and Hong Kong to the illegal markets of North Korea. Introducing an innovative conceptual framework, New Worlds from Below shows how informal grassroots politics in Northeast Asia is generating new ideas and practices that have region-wide and global relevance.

Media and Politics in Japan

Media and Politics in Japan PDF Author: Susan Pharr
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824863550
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
Japan is one of the most media-saturated societies in the world. The circulations of its "big five" national newspapers dwarf those of any major American newspaper. Its public service broadcasting agency, NHK, is second only to the BBC in size. And it has a full range of commercial television stations, high-brow and low-brow magazines, and a large anti-mainstream media and mini-media. Japanese elites rate the mass media as the most influential group in Japanese society. But what role do they play in political life? Whose interests do the media serve? Are the media mainly servants of the state, or are they watchdogs on behalf of the public? And what effects do the media have on the political beliefs and behavior of ordinary Japanese people? These questions are the focus of this collection of essays by leading political scientists, sociologists, social psychologists, and journalists. Japan's unique kisha (press) club system, its powerful media business organizations, the uses of the media by Japan's wily bureaucrats, and the role of the media in everything from political scandals to shaping public opinion, are among the many subjects of this insightful and provocative book.

A Different Kind of Luxury

A Different Kind of Luxury PDF Author: Andy Couturier
Publisher: Stone Bridge Press
ISBN: 1611725224
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
11 portraits from rural Japan to inspire choices in meaningful work, art, and sustainable living

Power and Pork

Power and Pork PDF Author: Aurelia George Mulgan
Publisher: ANU E Press
ISBN: 1920942335
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
Aims to tell the 'inside story' of a Japanese politician - Matsuoka Toshikatsu - one of the more controversial members of Japan's national Diet, and who's behaviour has been the subject of much speculation and commentary in the media.

Political Women in Japan

Political Women in Japan PDF Author: Susan J. Pharr
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520309979
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
Drawing on interviews with one hundred young Japanese women engaged in a spectrum of voluntary political groups, Susan J. Pharr explores how politically active women overcome the constraints that bar or limit the political participation of the average woman. The book treats political volunteers as agents of social change in a process of role redefinition by which prevailing concepts of women's roles gradually adjust to accommodate political behavior. Tracing developments that led to the grant of suffrage and other political rights to women during the Allied occupation, Pharr sets the stage for an analysis of that process as it unfolds in the experience of individual women. She uses women's images of self and society and issues of political and gender role socialization, career and life expectations, and political role and participation to develop a three-fold typology for looking at political women in Japan. She examines both the satisfactions of political volunteerism—from the exhilaration of addressing a crowd from a sound truck to the pleasure of speaking "men's language"—and the psychological and social costs associated with it. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1981.

Just Enough

Just Enough PDF Author: Azby Brown
Publisher: Stone Bridge Press, Inc.
ISBN: 1611729572
Category : House & Home
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
How the mindset of traditional Japanese society can guide our own efforts to lead a green lifestyle today. If we want to live sustainably, how should we feel about nature? About waste? About our forests and rivers? About food? Just Enough is a book of stories and sketches that give valuable insight into what it is like to live in a sustainable society by describing life in Japan some two hundred years ago, during the late Edo period, when cities and villages faced many of the same environmental challenges we do today and met them beautifully and inventively.

Introduction to Japanese Politics

Introduction to Japanese Politics PDF Author: Louis D. Hayes
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315289431
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 405

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Book Description
This classic introduction to the Japanese political system has been revised and updated to take the account of a time of turmoil in the country's political life. It incorporates new coverage of the end of the Koizumi era, the brief and troubled premiership of Abe, and the selection of Fukuda as prime minister. This edition also includes expanded material on "bubble" and "post-bubble" economic developments, as well as all-new coverage of health care policy.The text opens with an overview of Japan's geographical setting and history. The next group of chapters covers political institutions, processes, and actors. Two sections then address the country's distinctive social order and economy, educational, healthcare, and public safety systems. Part five looks at the increasingly contentious realm of foreign relations and security issues, including China's expanding role and the issue of North Korea. A concluding section considers dynamics of change in Japanese politics.

Japan the Art of Living

Japan the Art of Living PDF Author: Amy Sylvester Katoh
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 1462906486
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
Gain insight into both modern and Japanese styles with this stunning Japanese interior design book. The Japanese traditional house defines Japanese style. The Japanese, however, being a practical and resourceful people, do not so limit themselves. They know that there are times when the spirit breaks the bounds of quiet simplicity. In more than 300 beautiful photographs of the homes of both Westerners and Japanese, this book presents the art of living with Japanese style, offering exciting new ideas and inspiration for all. Exquisite homes in the Tokyo area, focusing on original and attractive use of Japanese antiques and folk crafts, are showcased. Also included is the latest information on antique markets and hints for where to see the art of living—in galleries, textile and craft shops, and restaurants.