Japanese Construction Research Articles

Nondestructive Near-Infrared Spectroscopic Analysis of Oils on Wood Surfaces

The further use of wood resources is expected in an environmentally conscious society. Added-value, such as durability enhancement and preservation by painting, are needed to expand the applicability of wood. Assessment of wood properties such as surface and coat adhesion can be made by studying perviousness to liquid oils, with the aim of developing wood products that deter insects and are weather-resistant; hence, discriminant analysis of oil type is important. Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is a powerful tool for nondestructive characterization of organic materials and has been widely used in many industries. Here, NIR detection of oil on wood surfaces is applied for the distinguishing of three different types of oil (hereafter, “Oil_1”, “Oil_2” and “Oil_3”) via soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA). Oil_1 was antiseptic vehicle or cutting oil. Oil_2 was used as a motor oil for an oil pressure machine. Oil_3 was plant-derived oil. Two types of wood that are commonly used in Japanese construction (Cryptomeria japonica and Chamaecyparis obtuse) were analyzed after applying oil. The NIR spectra measured after the oil was applied were greater in the ranges 1700–1800 nm and 2300–2500 nm than spectra for the bare wood sample. As SIMCA analyses were performed by using spectral data that included the moving average, baseline correction and second derivatives, good results were obtained for Oil_3 for both wood samples. However, the correct classification percentages were low for Oil_1, and the percentage of samples classified within several categories was high. If the components are very different, such as those for Oil_3, NIRS can be a powerful non-destructive method for identifying oil in the context of wood products testing.

A systematic form of Japanization in Okinawa: Japanese identity construction through a Japanization discourse in textbooks and a textbook guide

ABSTRACTThis research examines some modes of Japanization through education in Okinawa where Japanese influences on education have permeated after Japan’s annexation. I investigate how a book excerpt entitled Mizu no Tōzai, included in high school textbooks in Okinawa, constructs Japanese identity. Mizu no Tōzai functions as nihonjinron discourse, which is characterized by ‘Japanese culture,’ ‘Japanese uniqueness,’ and ‘Japaneseness.’ The ‘East-West’ dichotomy, depicted in this nihonjinron discourse, induces students to choose ‘Japan’/‘Japanese culture’ and become ‘Japanese.’ Practice sections of Mizu no Tōzai in textbooks as well as a textbook guide operate to be complicit in this Japanese identity construction. Through a critical analysis of discourse, I reveal that the nihonjinron discourse operating as official knowledge, in collusion with the other discursive texts, produces a position subjected to the discourse of Japanization within which Okinawans become ‘Japanese.’ I problematize these discursive texts as a systematic form of Japanizing Okinawans’ minds through education.

On so-called “gapless” constructions in Japanese

AbstractIt has been claimed (Inoue, Kazuko. 1976.Henkei Bunpō to Nihongo. [Transformation grammar and Japanese]. Tokyo: Taishūkan.; Kuno, Susumu. 1973.The structure of the Japanese language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.; Saito, Mamoru. 1985.Some asymmetries in Japanese and their theoretical consequences. Cambridge, MA: MIT dissertation.) that Japanese “gapless” topic constructions and relative clauses are derived by base-generation. Evidence in favor of the base-generation analysis comes from the observation that there does exist any derivational source of the “gapless” construction. Contrary to this widely accepted view, this paper argues that the Japanese “gapless” construction is derived in terms of movement enforced by labeling. Under the proposed analysis, obligatory raising of a phrase to the topic/relative head position, which is required by labeling, accounts for the fact that there does not seem to exist any derivational source of the “gapless” construction at first sight. It is shown that our movement analysis is supported by island, reconstruction, and parasitic gap facts. If our analysis is on the right track, it gives further support for the Free Merge coupled with a labeling algorithm approach (Chomsky, Noam. 2013. Problems of projection.Lingua130. 33–49. and Chomsky, Noam. 2015. Problems of projection: Extensions. In Elisa Di Domenico, Cornelia Hamann & Simona Matteini (eds.),Structures, strategies, and beyond: Studies in honor of Adriana Belletti, 1–16. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.).

The fine structure of clausal right-node raising constructions in Japanese

We examine the fine structure of clausal right-node raising constructions in Japanese, and argue that there are sentences in which a tensed verb is right-node-raised out of coordinated tensed clauses as well as sentences in which a verb stem is right-node-raised out of coordinated tenseless phrases. In the latter case, the tense morpheme has to be assumed to take a tenseless complement clause, and we note that the existence of such a structure contradicts the so-called lexicalist hypothesis, according to which a verb stem and the tense morpheme immediately following it always form a morphosyntactic constituent.

Dose Estimation in Recycling of Decontamination Soil Resulting From The Fukushima NPS Accident For Road Embankments.

Since the Fukushima nuclear power station accident, large quantities of radiocesium-contaminated soil generated from decontamination activities have been stored in Fukushima prefecture. To complete the final disposal of decontamination soil, reducing the disposal volume through recycling can prove effective. The Ministry of the Environment of Japan has developed a policy of handling low-activity decontamination soil as recycled materials under the management of public authority. The recycling is limited to civil engineering structures in public projects, such as road embankments and coastal levees. However, there has been no practical review or safety assessment of decontamination soil recycling. In this study, to contribute to guideline development for decontamination soil recycling by the Ministry of the Environment, dose estimation was considered as a way of ensuring that the use of recycled decontamination soil for road embankments was safe. First, based on Japanese construction standards, additional doses to workers and the public in construction and service (e.g., use of a road embankment) scenarios were evaluated. From the result, the radioactive cesium concentration level of recycled materials that would result in all additional doses meeting the radiation criterion of 1 mSv y was derived to be 6,000 Bq kg. Then, construction conditions were reviewed to reduce additional doses to the public in a service scenario. To confine doses to the public to below 10 μSv y based on the derived radioactivity level, an additional layer of soil slope protection of 40 cm or more was needed. Finally, additional doses expected in a disaster scenario were confirmed to be below 1 mSv y based on the derived radioactivity level, an additional layer of soil slope protection of 40 cm or more was needed. Finally, additional doses expected in a disaster scenario were confirmed to be below 1 mSv y based on the derived radioactivity level.

Quality Control Acceptance Criteria Improvements for Pre-Stressed High Strength Concrete Pile Driving Operations in Japanese Building Construction

The current practice in Japan for most driven pre-stressed high strength concrete (PHC) piling sites utilizes an ″energy formula″ approach involving the ″set-penetration test.″ In its current state, driven PHC piles in the Japanese construction industry are at increased risk of being damaged due to inferior driveability evaluation procedures leading to an increased probability of damaged piles remaining undetected after installation. This study presents two case studies in Okinawa, Japan which utilized dynamic analysis as the primary piling quality acceptance criteria and compares results to the energy formula approach which is more common to Japanese construction sites. Based on the observations of these two case studies, the applicability of dynamic testing, particularly the high-strain dynamic test, the low-strain integrity test, and wave equation analyses is analyzed. In conclusion, a case is presented that Japan′s over reliance on an energy formula approach should be augmented by additional QC procedures. A combination of wave equation analysis, dynamic testing and simple visual inspection of post-driven PHC pile conditions is recommended to better protect the integrity of driven PHC piles throughout Japan.

청일전쟁기 일본 육군의 조선 내 군용 전신선 가설

청일전쟁기 일본 육군의 조선 내 군용 전신선 가설

Heat Strain and Hydration of Japanese Construction Workers during Work in Summer.

The aim was to ascertain hydration and heat strain of construction workers in Japan during the summer who are at the highest risk of heat-related disorders. The subjects were 23 construction workers, whose average age was 41, average weight was 69 kg, and average height was 170 cm. We measured thermal working conditions with a wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) measurement instrument affixed to the helmet of each worker, at fixed points outdoors in the sun and indoors. Heat strain was evaluated for water intake, urine specific gravity (Usg), urine temperature (UT), heart rate (HR), and body weight during work. The average WBGT measured on the worker helmets over 3 consecutive days was 28.0 ± 0.7, 27.6 ± 0.8, and 27.6 ± 1.1°C. The average water intake was 2.6 l during a work shift. The average Usg, UT, and % HR reserve were the highest in the first half of afternoon work. Seventy-eight percent of the subjects exceeded at least one of the ACGIH TLV physiological guidelines for heat strain in terms of HR and weight loss or a clinically dehydrated level of Usg. Heat strain was the highest in the first half of afternoon work. The number of dehydrated workers increased during this shift because of insufficient water intake. Adequate hydration is required to decrease the risk of heat-related disorders among construction workers in the summer.

On the unified analysis of three types of relative clause construction in Japanese, and on the “salient reading” of the internally headed type. A reply to Erlewine & Gould (2016)

In this reply, we argue against two proposals made by Erlewine & Gould (2016), and in favor of the following two theses:[i] Japanese internally headed relative constructions disallow an interpretation that is crucially based on contextual salience, and allow only an interpretation that reflects the content of their (explicit or implicit) internal head(s).[ii] None of Erlewine & Gould’s attempts to provide independent support for their unified analysis of internally headed, externally headed and doubly headed relative constructions of Japanese is tenable. Therefore, these writers failed to provide convincing justification for abandoning the approach developed by Grosu & Landman (2012) and Landman (2016) with respect to the analysis of the internally headed relatives of Japanese, an approach which moreover yielded explicit accounts of two types of data for which Erlewine & Gould have no obvious analysis.

Tense intervention effect in negative emphasis: A case study in Japanese

This paper investigates two types of predicate emphasis constructions in Japanese: the Affirmative Negative Emphatic Construction and the Emphatic Iterative Construction. It observes that a negative predicate cannot be in past tense in these constructions, and claims that a locality constraint holds between Emphasis and Negation. It suggests that a special property of a past tense form of negation in Japanese can be attributed to a morphological reanalysis.

A Contrastive Study of Resultative Constructions in English, Japanese and Chinese

Researching on resultative constructions has become a hot topic in linguistic field in recent years, because it plays an important role in illuminating the nature of lexical semantics and its relationship with syntax. This paper simply contrasts resultative constructions in English, Japanese and Chinese from the perspectives of their syntactic structures and Washio’s (1997) semantic distinctions, that is, strong resultatives and weak resultatives. I mainly discuss their similarities and differences to deepen our understanding of resultative constructions among these three languages. This paper is organized as follows: section 1 simply introduces types of resultative constructions in English, Japanese and Chinese; section 2 introduces Washio's analysis of strong and weak resultatives; section 3 compares V-V compound resultatives in Japanese and Chinese to illustrate their differences; section 4 compares resultative constructions in three languages which are based on Washio’s (1997) semantic analysis to identify the differences on resultatives in these three languages and furtherly explain why Japanese has only weak resultatives, according to Washio’s analysis; section 5 is the conclusion of this paper.

Representational Space in the Prince Asaka Residence

Jun’ichirô Tanizaki’s In Praise of Shadows (1933) describes a theory of aesthetics based on shadows. He suggests that contrary to Western ideas of highly visible space, ambiguity and darkness are distinct characteristics of Japanese interiors. Kazuo Nakajima describes this condition as the blending of social practices and interior elements in indeterminate spaces of the vernacular Japanese home, and suggests the decline of such interiors has threatened the psychological stability of Japan since Western engagement, from the Meiji restoration of 1868. Almost as affirmation of Nakajima’s fears, the same year Tanizaki’s essay was originally published in Japan, the Art Deco Residence of Prince Akaka was completed in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Now a house museum, this assemblage of interiors is credited room-by-room to either the French interior designer Henri Rapin or the Japanese Construction Bureau of the Imperial Household, confirming for Nakajima a division between Western and Japanese concepts of space. This paper questions Nakajima’s dualist reading of the Residence’s interiors by unpacking the complexities of Western engagement in the Japanese interior since the Meiji restoration until the 1930s. Additionally, this paper examines parallel concepts of interior space that directly influenced the Residences conception, from the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris and the 1920s Culture Life movement in Japan. From these historic and contextual examinations, this paper demonstrates a fundamental shift from the concept of space in the Japanese interior described by Tanizaki and Nakajima. It suggests that Western engagement displaced how value was attributed in the interior, from things that were unseen to things that were seen.

History of focus-concord constructions and focus-associated particles in Sinhala, with comparison to Dravidian and Japanese

This study traces the historical development of the focus concord construction of Sinhala from the language of the pre-second millennial graffiti on the Mirror Wall at Sigiriya to the modern colloquial language, with comparison to the historical development of focus concord constructions in the south Dravidian languages Malayalam and Tamil, as well as the focus concord (kakari-musubi) construction of Japanese. I argue that the Sinhala focus concord construction originated as one particular usage of impersonal verbal nominalisations in Old Sinhala, developed into a predicative clefting construction in Classical Sinhala, and in the modern colloquial language has become a phenomenon involving verb forms showing a sort of agreement with focussed elements.

Analisis Kontrastif Konstruksi Kalimat [kaverba] dalam Bahasa Sunda dengan [-rareru] dalam Bahasa Jepang

Basa Sunda and Japanese language have so many similiratity in terms of passive expressions. Both language recognize direct passive utterance and indirect passive utterance. This paper analyzes indirect passive construction of basa Sunda and contrast them to similar construction in Japanese. This paper show that from four of the basa Sunda’s indirect passive construction functions, only two of them comply to the Japanese indirect passive construction semantically. These functions are spontaneus clause (jihatsu) and potential clause (kanou). Despite of the semantic similarity, this paper also show that these type of indirect passive can be constructed from intransitive verbs in both language.

“Silk Road” as foreign policy discourse: The construction of Chinese, Japanese and Korean engagement strategies in Central Asia

Through analysis of the evolution of the Japanese, Chinese and South Korean narratives of the Silk Road, this paper argues that the content and the nature of these Silk Road strategies changed with time and the international environment. Thus, this paper claims that, the notion of the Silk Road has changed from a static concept of a historical trade route into a product of social construction of a number of powerful states – strategies that are constantly shaped, imagined and re-interpreted. In this sense, the Silk Road is not a foreign policy doctrine but rather a discursive strategy of engagement that largely exists in the realm of narration. This narration is also a matter of social construction that is subject to change depending on the international environment of the country (China, Japan, Korea, etc.) that produces such narratives, context of a receiving region, the alternative narratives that compete for wider international acceptance and the country's vision of “self” and the “other” in the international context.

Practical study on Japanese building construction management by avoiding risk to environment and safety

It is essential in building construction management to prevent risk from the viewpoint of both environment and safety. This study suggests the significance of building construction management which places emphasis on risk prevention for the sake of environment and safety, with the introduction of Japanese efficient operation methods to simultaneously conduct environmental management, safety management and risk management, in addition to practical measures for heatstroke which is a serious summer issue of building construction management.

渡辺拓也著『飯場へ―暮らしと仕事を記録する―』

渡辺拓也著『飯場へ―暮らしと仕事を記録する―』

A Comparative Study of Inanimate Subject Expressions in Japanese Novels' English Translated Versions and Their Original Japanese Constructions

A Comparative Study of Inanimate Subject Expressions in Japanese Novels' English Translated Versions and Their Original Japanese Constructions

Aging Society and Migrant Workers in Transition : A Case Study on the Transnational Labor Market of the Japanese Construction Industry

Aging Society and Migrant Workers in Transition : A Case Study on the Transnational Labor Market of the Japanese Construction Industry

Empirical analysis of R&D in the Japanese construction industry based on the structure conduct performance model

This study examines the reasons for research and development (R&D) inactivity in Japan’s construction industry. Specifically, it considers the structure of the construction industry in Japan and id...