This paper presents some of the initial results of a research project investigating the reception of China by Japanese thinkers and their European contemporaries. First, I will elaborate on certain challenges of comparative intercultural analyses (1) and introduce my methodological approach of ‘comparative reception history’ (2). Then, I will use the comparative analysis of Fukuzawa Yukichi’s 福沢諭吉 (1835-1901) and Karl Marx’s (1818-1883) views on China in an experimental application of this methodology (3). The examination is grounded on the resemblance between Fukuzawa’s and Marx’s views on Asian ‘stagnation’ but, as I will argue, it is the differences of their interpretation that help us to interpret their ideas from innovative perspectives, as well as shedding light on how differently the ‘same’ notions appear in different cultural backgrounds and contexts.

Japanese business management practices and philosophies are famous for the way they have influenced global business strategies, determining over time the creation of a series of unique concepts, such as "kaizen", "just-in-time", "lean manufacturing", TQM, the Ringi system, the practice of "genchi genbutsu", and "Hoshin Kanri". These practices stimulate the efficiency and quality of business management, contributing to the overall success of Japanese companies on a global scale, as a result of international commercial and financial investments. In this sense, it is necessary to study and, respectively, research the economic opportunities that Japanese companies can identify in the global market, to make decisions regarding possible economic expansions. Thus, at the regional level, starting in 2019, the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) entered into force, an agreement that created significant opportunities in the developed economic relations, facilitating a substantial increase in trade by eliminating tariffs and trade barriers. Subsidiarily, at the national level, the Strategic Partnership between Japan and Romania was signed in 2023, which presents numerous opportunities, especially in areas such as political-security dialogue, economic and development aspects, as well as culture, science and technology, research and development, innovation, and human contacts. As in any real economic market, international financial and commercial investments are made under conditions of competition, but are also influenced by the geopolitical competition between developed states. Thus, regionally, both China and Japan are in both economic and geopolitical competition, intending to make investments in other countries (especially in Asia and Africa, and more recently in Europe. The competition between the two states shapes the global economic models, both countries offering distinct models of economic engagement and consequently, an analysis of the respective competitive environment can further clarify the identification of the best opportunities in the economic relations developed at the national level with the Japanese state.

Graphic magazines published during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) incorporated a growing number of contributions from special correspondents, some of them soldiers in active duty, who were encouraged to submit rough sketches of their immediate reality. These sketches include a variety of animal representations and are a rich resource for understanding the daily life on the battlefront: from the bond between humans and their nonhuman companions (horses, dogs), to the food culture behind the lines (hunting wild boars, growing chicken), to the incessant fight against pests (rats, flies, bedbugs). This paper looks at text-and-image sets that feature animals, shedding light on how they work to expose a less well-known side of war.

Japan is regarded as the most favourable country globally for its robotics and high-tech technology. The country's economy impacts Japan's global market for sustainable higher education. Because the current international market relies on highly trained and knowledgeable labour, Japan's higher education system regularly produces skilled and knowledgeable personnel in various working areas. However, specific significant challenges have turned into roadblocks in how countries progress, both in the global economy and Japan's higher education system. Such obstacles are the nation's ageing population, which has become the leading cause of concern since the 1990s. The administration and the students talk a lot about the university entrance exam. The administration periodically implements reasonable reforms and policies to enhance the nation's higher education system. What is the duration required to get past them? What counter-strategies are needed to maintain the entire education system, and how can a developed country like Japan advance towards providing a sustainable education system for all? This study will attempt to focus on important educational reforms and policies taken after the Edo Era to the end of the 20th Century, the main obstacles that Japanese students encountered in reaching higher education, and the concern about improving the quality of higher education.

In modern Japanese, the verb kikoeru denotes involuntary auditory perception. However, until the 19th century, it also conveyed “comprehension,” equivalent to the modern verb wakaru. This study elucidates the mechanisms behind the emergence of three types of comprehension: auditory comprehension usage, general comprehension usage, and conviction usage. Results indicate that auditory comprehension arises from inferential interpretation of perceived stimuli, realized through the cognitive process of simulation in the 10th century. General comprehension developed in the 13th century via superschematization of inference, while conviction usage emerged in the 17th century through instantiation of general comprehension usage in a synecdochic relationship.

This paper is a multidisciplinary approach (business and anthropology) to the analysis of a Japanese enterprise closely associated with the sacred: Ise Dai Kagura, an itinerant group of artists who at the same time perform sacred rituals, and who are currently a designated intangible cultural property in Japan. The current study looks at the Ise Dai Kagura group from the business model perspective, attempting to analyze the mechanism that ensured the economic survival of these groups across centuries. How did they develop a business model starting from prayer and performance? What type of profit generation does their business follow? How is it sustainable in the 21st century—is it self-supporting or is it based on government support? These are some of the questions that are addressed (and hopefully answered) in this paper, using both ethnographic and business model tools.

The institutional conditions for financial capitalism are first established in Japan during the Meiji period. Fukuzawa Yukichi, an Enlightenment ideologue of that period, is the first advocate of financial capitalism and the pursuit of profit from the purchase and sale of financial products such as stocks or futures. This paper examines the reasons for his defense of financial capitalism. He insists on the material and mental independence of each person. Each one should be able to live materially and mentally without depending on someone else. Each one should learn knowledge and skills for their material independence. And Japan should be developed as a commercial society, because such a society allows each person to use their knowledge and skills to be independent materially. This is why he advocates financial capitalism.

This paper reassesses Confucianism's role in shaping women's lives in early modern Japan. It starts with an analysis of the most common misconceptions found in Anglophone feminist scholarship, then introduces other socio-religious factors that also contributed to the development of the danson johi mentality beyond (Neo-)Confucian morality/thought. It next questions the modern view that Confucianism was uniquely and uniformly detrimental to women’s education and intellectual agency by foregrounding notable female Confucian scholars of the Edo period and the context of their intellectual development. The paper argues that, within the socio-cultural landscape of Edo Japan, Confucianism was not monolithically patriarchal/detrimental to women; rather, it played a complex and at times empowering role. Ultimately, the paper invites a re-evaluation of Confucianism’s historical impact on Japanese women.