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.

Political Life in Japan

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

Get Book

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.

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.

Media and Politics in Japan

Media and Politics in Japan PDF Author: Susan Pharr
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824817619
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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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.

The Logic of Japanese Politics

The Logic of Japanese Politics PDF Author: Gerald L. Curtis
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231108435
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 335

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Book Description
Widely recognized both in America and Japan for his insider knowledge and penetrating analyses of Japanese politics, Gerald Curtis is the political analyst best positioned to explore the complexities of the Japanese political scene today. Curtis has personally known most of the key players in Japanese politics for more than thirty years, and he draws on their candid comments to provide invaluable and graphic insights into the world of Japanese politics. By relating the behavior of Japanese political leaders to the institutions within which they must operate, Curtis makes sense out of what others have regarded as enigmatic or illogical. He utilizes his skills as a scholar and his knowledge of the inner workings of the Japanese political system to highlight the commonalities of Japanese and Western political practices while at the same time explaining what sets Japan apart. Curtis rejects the notion that cultural distinctiveness and consensus are the defining elements of Japan's political decision making, emphasizing instead the competition among and the profound influence of individuals operating within particular institutional contexts on the development of Japan's politics. The discussions featured here -- as they survey both the detailed events and the broad structures shaping the mercurial Japanese political scene of the 1990s -- draw on extensive conversations with virtually all of the decade's political leaders and focus on the interactions among specific politicians as they struggle for political power. The Logic of Japanese Politics covers such important political developments as • the Liberal Democratic Party's egress from power in 1993, after reigning for nearly four decades, and their crushing defeat in the "voters' revolt" of the 1998 upper-house election; • the formation of the 1993 seven party coalition government led by prime minister Morihiro Hosokawa and its collapse eight months later; • the historic electoral reform of 1994 which replaced the electoral system operative since the adoption of universal manhood suffrage in 1925; and • the decline of machine politics and the rise of the mutohaso -- the floating, nonparty voter. Scrutinizing and interpreting a complex and changing political system, this multi-layered chronicle reveals the dynamics of democracy at work -- Japanese-style. In the process, The Logic of Japanese Politics not only offers a fascinating picture of Japanese politics and politicians but also provides a framework for understanding Japan's attempts to surmount its present problems, and helps readers gain insight into Japan's future.

Japanese Politics

Japanese Politics PDF Author: Takashi Inoguchi
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Japan
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
As a former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations and academic, Inoguchi (Chuo U.) is considered one of the foremost political scientists in Japan. In this treatment of the political issues facing modern Japan, he makes sure readers receive the correct background needed to understand the complexities of political behavior ...

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.

Politics in Japan

Politics in Japan PDF Author: Bradley M. Richardson
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers
ISBN: 9780673394729
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 484

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Book Description


Modern Japan

Modern Japan PDF Author: Elise K. Tipton
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780415185387
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
Ranging from the Tokugwa period to the present day, this text provides a concise and fascinating introduction to the social, cultural and political history of modern Japan. Tipton covers political and economic developments and shows how they relate to social themes and developments. Her survey covers traditional political history as well as areas growing in interest: gender issues, labor conditions and ethnic minorities.

Thought and Behaviour in Modern Japanese Politics

Thought and Behaviour in Modern Japanese Politics PDF Author: Masao Maruyama
Publisher: London : Oxford University Press
ISBN:
Category : Japan
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
The author analyzes the Japanese political scene in terms of the general cultural context and the pattern of inter-personal relationships with particular attention to the impact of non-political behaviour and activities on politics. He describes the underlying value-systems of the Japanese, especially those of the ruling elites, and their effect on the political leaders and their discussions. He also sets out to show how contemporary ideological tensions have been aggravated by the refusal of both sides to recognize that there are political features common to all societies which, in a given situation and irrespective of ideology, make certain patters of behaviour inevitable.--

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.