In order to make use of the response to the new the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for pandemic countermeasures due to infectious diseases that may have a serious impact on the lives and health of the people, which may occur in the future, the handling of personal information and the protection of privacy necessary to ensure the effectiveness of countermeasures against infectious diseases will be examined. This paper intends to establish to comprehensively understand the systems for the collection and publication of information related to infectious diseases based on the Infectious Diseases Control Law, and to clarify the structure and issues of the current systems and mechanisms for the collection and management of information on infected persons.

This study expands on the agency model to analyze how Japanese companies intrinsically motivate their workers. Some previous studies have considered the intrinsic motivation of agents. However, they analyze monetary motivation methods that take into account workers’ intrinsic motivation or a simultaneous analysis of monetary motivation methods and the cost of raising intrinsic motivation that also takes into account workers’ intrinsic motivation. However, while it is not always easy to change a monetary incentive system, the cost of raising intrinsic motivation is easier to change. Therefore, this study models the cost of raising intrinsic motivation as the only decision-making variable. The performance-based wage system (process-oriented pay) is regarded as a given (i.e., it is not regarded as a decision-making variable). We obtained the following results: 1. When productivity is high, it is effective to spend money to increase intrinsic motivation. 2. When the weight of process-oriented performance-based pay is small, it is effective to spend money to raise intrinsic motivation (conditionally). 3. When cost sensitivity is low, it is effective to spend money to raise intrinsic motivation.

The following research is of a documentary approach, and its objective is to analyze the cherry blossom from a social and cultural perspective, to know the importance and influence that this flower has on society and the environment. Thus, the Shinjuku Gyoen Park and Chidorigafuchi Park were taken as a reference, in this sense, it is understood that within the city of Tokyo there are parks and areas whose purpose is to provide various activities to citizens to contemplate nature, and therefore giving a great show to witness the cherry blossom in its maximum splendour. The influence of the cherry blossom is a unique symbol of Japan, however, this element has gained such popularity in other western countries that it is reflected as a symbol of universal beauty.

Since the establishment of the Long-term Care Insurance System in 2000, the promotion of the Community-based Integrated Care System has been promoted. The policy of the Long-term Care Insurance System sets in-home care services before reducing the economic burden in this country. However, this idea is not used in the latest report. The policy that individuals requiring care and terminal stage patients be sent into a large-scale accommodation in a depopulated area and live there until they die, is not adopted because of the belief or philosophy of the foundation of respect for dignity. In this study, I discuss the problems of the core concepts of the community-based integrated care system; we reconsider these problems from the standpoint of discourse ethics, which considers autonomy and solidarity as equal fundamental principles.

Mono no aware is considered to be one of the central-most Japanese aesthetics and distinctive to Japanese identity (Keene 1995; Miller 2011). This aesthetic standpoint finds wistful beauty in the transient, and is most often translated to ‘beauty in pathos’ or ‘the ah-ness of things’ (Hume 1995), as exemplified in the Heian-era classic, The Tale of Genji (Murasaki 1981). To the outside world, mono no aware is most commonly associated with cherry-blossom viewing, where the short-lived existence of the falling cherry blossom is seen as a metonym for contemplation of the beauty in the transience of life itself. Although this mode of aestheticization shares disinterested and contemplative characteristics with the Kantian pure aesthetic gaze (Hughes 2010), its focus on pathos would seem to be at odds with commonly understood platonic Western ideals of beauty and art (c.f. Clark 1972; Saito 2007). However, the current paper aims to elucidate how perceptions of beauty of the pathetic have also been an aspect of Western thought and aestheticization practices, since early Christian times, more prominently in the Romantic era and even in Hollywood cinema. This is of particular significance to the current paper as Hollywood is often seen as a global metonym for glamour–the apparent antithesis of Japanese traditional aesthetics, such as mono no aware. To this end, an examination will be made of expressions of pathetic beauty in Tom Ford’s (2009) award-winning Hollywood film, A Single Man, and how this relates to parallels in the development of aesthetic thought in the occident and Japan.

One of the basic principles of Japanese Constitution is respect for human rights. However, the Constitution stipulates “public welfare” in 4 Articles, and recognizes restrictions on human rights. From its text, it appears that human rights restrictions are widely recognized. The debate over public welfare has gone through several stages, and understanding has changed. The aim of this article is to introduce the meaning of “public welfare” in Japanese Constitution, and how it works. After introducing the flow of the theory, this article will examine how it functions as a basis for restrictions on human rights.

This study aims to apply a systems approach to analyze the development of an education system for remote asynchronous debates. Although several studies have applied a systems approach to various objects, they attempted to improve projects using the approach by intention. However, in our study, the use of a systems approach was an unintentional part of the process, with stakeholders not being explicitly aware of the concepts behind systems thinking. In the midst of the process, a variety of systems thinking methods were partially adopted, making the project more systemic; however, the project was not oriented to follow specific problem-solving techniques. An educational program and information system for education support with sufficient systemic properties was created with such a systems approach. We propose that working on a problem with significant underlying systemic properties may help one to naturally adopt a systems approach.

When, why, how, and by whom was “time” combined with “law” in Japan? This paper scrutinizes the issue based on Yoshiro Okada’s research, especially his most important works: Nihon no Koyomi and his thesis “Meiji no Kaireki: ‘Toki’ no chuo shuken-ka.” It is thus possible to understand how the political authorities used the unification of the calendar system to demonstrate their power and to govern the lives of the nation. Thereafter, “time” was used as a fundamental and important standard for judgment in the science of law, legalism, and the rule of law. In this process, “calendar (time) and law” became social capital as a public good in society.

In a previous article, the author examined the revitalization of Japanese temples, which are in a critical economic condition, from the perspective of management strategy. With the exception of prominent nationwide temples and tourist temples in metropolitan areas, temples are in a state of decline owing to a weakening Buddhist culture in metropolitan areas and low population density, among other causes. This paper, too, examines the rise of Buddhism-related businesses, focusing on the now-common tombstone dealers and funeral parlours. Then, the status quo of monk temp services, which have a close relationship with funeral parlours and its brokers, is considered, as is the advent of large ossuaries offering burial storage, specifically the locker system and automated transportation system. Further, regarding the building of large ossuaries, the actual problems on the ground in metropolitan areas are clarified. Finally, the author offers his views on temple management and Buddhism-related businesses in general and suggests an optimal state of being.

Article 1 of the Constitution of Japan stipulates a symbolic emperor system based on popular sovereignty, stating that “The Emperor shall be the symbol of the State and of the unity of the People, deriving his position from the will of the people with whom resides sovereign power.” In the post-war period, the symbolic emperor system of the Constitution of Japan developed in its own way through shrewd adaptation and harmonization with popular sovereignty, within the context of Japan’s particular political climate. Nineteenth-century European monarchies comprised several types of constitutional monarchy, such as the German-style “constitutional monarchy,” the British-style “parliamentary monarchy,” and the French-style “moderative power monarchy”. Comparable to these, the symbolic emperor system formed under the Constitution of Japan in the latter half of the 20th century can be said to present a new genre of modern monarchy that we may refer to as a “symbolic monarchy.” Based on this viewpoint, this article examines the structural shift to the symbolic emperor system of the Constitution of Japan from the Meiji Emperor system based on divine decree sovereignty, and the meaning and function of the “symbol” in the Constitution of Japan. Moreover, I will consider the origins of the symbolic emperor system and its traditional Japanese characteristics by examining the origin, acceptance, and international spread of the “symbol” provision in Article 1 of the Constitution of Japan.