Japanese Innovation Research Articles

Design Method of Zen-Style Bracket Sets Recorded in the Japanese Carpentry Manual Kamakura Zoei Myomoku (Part 1): A Comparative Study with the Chinese Manual Yingzao Fashi – A Secondary Publication

Through a comparison with the traditional Chinese manual Yingzao Fashi (Technical Treatise on Architecture and Craftsmanship), this paper analyzes the composition and design methods of Zen-style bracket sets described in the Kamakura Zoei Myomoku, a technical document inherited by the Kawachi family of carpenters at the Kenchoji Temple in Kamakura, Japan from the 13th to 19th century. As a result, the paper suggests that there were some similarities between Chinese and Japanese modular designs, which both used the cross-section of Gong as the basic unit, while other techniques like the use of a baseline for equal spacing and the rafter size as the basic unit, are considered to be Japanese innovations.

The Japanese Government's Science and Innovation Policy

The Japanese Government's Science and Innovation Policy

Japanese educational innovation and its impact on institutional, socio-economic and national aspect – A review of university members for the national university corporation system

ABSTRACT This paper aims to discover the extent to which university members in Japan support the National University Corporation (NUC) system, a higher educational reform introduced in 2004. In particular, it analyzes the perception of university members, as institutional key actors, on the performances of NUCs at the institutional, socio-economic and national levels. Our approach, informed by new science perspective, draws upon two questionnaire surveys which, in contrast to positive assessments from the government, NUC presidents, and media reports, show that many key actors found NUC performance to be unsatisfactory. The results will be of concern not only to subsequent education reforms in Japan but to East Asian countries as well.

Japanese tradition and Western innovation in the work of Nakahara Chūya

The subject of the study is the poetics of the Japanese poet Nakahara Chūya. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that there is very little research on the poet’s oeuvre in general, and in Ukrainian Japanese studies there is none at all. And despite the fact that Nakahara Chūya is one of the key figures of the Japanese avant-garde in the early twentieth century, there is no edition of translations into Ukrainian, just as there is not a single publication in Russian, except for a few amateur translations on the Internet. The novelty is due to an attempt to fill the gap and to present a number of translations of key texts by Nakahara Chūya into Ukrainain, as well as to present the translations of studies devoted to Chūya’s oeuvre, taking into account a lack of commentary materials. The interest in the poet is due to the fact that despite a rather limited period of his creative activity (only one collection of works during his lifetime) Nakahara Chūya absorbed the current trends of Western modernism and combined them with the Japanese poetic tradition — this is a problem that our article is devoted to. The aim of the study is to show how traditional Japanese poetics with its norms constituted as far back as the 9th – 10th centuries was able to go beyond the limits of constraint in form and content, particularly under the influence of avant-garde experiments of Dada. The study revealed that the cultural and social processes, which Western avant-garde artists reacted to by absurdism, violation of the form, an attempt to go beyond the word order, destruction the image, abandoning mimetic principles of art, is a trend inherent not only in the Western tragic worldview of the late 19th — early 20th centuries, but it is also intrinsic to Japanese art as well. A feature of Nakahara Chūya’s artistic practice is interweaving methods of traditional Japanese poetics to the Western forms, and thus his poetry may be described as allegory of the conflict between westernization and preservation of old foundations.

International Perspectives on Translation, Education and Innovation in Japanese and Korean Societies ed. by David G. Hebert

Reviewed by: International Perspectives on Translation, Education and Innovation in Japanese and Korean Societies ed. by David G. Hebert Hansol Woo (bio) and Gerald LeTendre (bio) International Perspectives on Translation, Education and Innovation in Japanese and Korean Societies, edited by David G. Hebert. Springer International Publishing AG, 2018. 347 pages. $119.00 hardcover, $89.00 eBook. This book attempts to provide a new perspective on East Asian societies in a globalized world. In line with works like Okano and Sugimoto (2018), chapters in this book confront the problem of applying social theory derived in the “West.” The authors also attempt to move beyond national society perspectives to provide a contextualized view of East Asian society by including chapters on Korea and Japan. The authors examine a wide range of topics centered on language and culture, with a focus on issues of translation, language research, and language education. The inclusion of such diverse topics is thought-provoking, but the various sections of the book are not well integrated. The volume consists of twenty-one chapters divided into six sections. The first section on cultural change and the final chapter attempt to integrate this diverse collection but otherwise there is little that holds the book together. For example, chapter 2 provides a “deep dive” into how the word “shizen” has come to be the standard translation for both “environment” and “wilderness,” but no connections are made with chapter 4, which analyzes how a popular novel on pollution translated obscure scientific discourse into “ . . . a language that was accessible to the general reader . . . ” in Japan. The issues of “cultural translation” in Part I, would ideally inform the major issues of translation in literature which is the focus of Part II. Instead, chapter 5 moves on to describe the characteristics of Western languages in Japanese novels, and the last chapter of this section explains the emotional discourse analysis methods by analyzing Japanese literature. Part III focuses on key linguistic features of Korean and Japanese. These chapters identify the varying levels of definiteness in the use of articles and plural forms in Korean and Japanese, as well the influence of local dialectics on contemporary language use. Part IV presents a couple of [End Page 157] cases of language education in Japan. Chapter 11 examines the theory and practice of Japanese language education, focusing on the use of the modal verb, while chapter 12 analyzes the common mistakes of Swedish learners attempting to master Japanese. All interesting studies, to be sure, but the reader is left craving a synthesis that would unpack the potential insights that such a diverse assemblage of scholarship must hold. Part Vexplores the use of language in the professions using specific examples from contemporary Japanese law, Japanese trials, and urban planning in Korea. Finally, Part VI concludes with chapters as diverse as essays on learning the shakuhachi, and the aesthetics of the image of “spring rain” in haiku. The range of scholarship in this book is impressive. Each chapter presents a narrow scope of study and attempts to substantiate its conclusions based on empirical evidence. Some of the chapters are under-researched (e.g., the chapter on changing images of masculinity fails to cite major works on gender identity like a study by Borovoy (2005), but there is plenty of creative scholarship on display). For example, Barbara Hartley illustrates the issues and challenges to translation raised by Ariyoshi Sawako’s novel, Fukugô osen (Compound Pollution). While the translated book had a significant impact on environmental problems in Japan, the book suffered harsh criticism from some environmental scientists. Such harsh reception as seen in this case shows a specific dilemma of language transition in the field of science and encourages us to understand its challenges better. Such chapters echo the broader theme that language and translation are a font of innovation in East Asian society. This is a provocative idea, and the book does identify some tantalizing evidence. David G. Herbert, the editor, attempts to integrate these ideas into a new perspective on East Asian countries (although the synthesis does not include China, Taiwan, Singapore, and North Korea). This work goes beyond traditional, geographical, and demographic characteristics, to examine the effects of global interchange...

ВЛИЯНИЕ ТЕХНОПОЛИСОВ НА УСКОРЕНИЕ ИННОВАЦИОННЫХ ПРОЦЕССОВ В ЯПОНИИ

The article is devoted to the study of the Japanese experience of strengthening innovation development by promoting the activities of technopolises. An interpretation of the concept of "technopolis" is presented. Features of formation and development of the Tsukuba technopolis are shown. The features of Japanese innovation policy are investigated. The effectiveness of innovative development in Japan is evaluated. The importance of technopolises in the country's innovative development is shown. The possibilities of developing an economy that suffered from the inflated financial bubbles of 1991 based on the financing of technopolises are investigated. The experience of Japan, where individual regional entities were able to develop completely independently by engaging in innovative activities, without requiring centralized funding is demonstrated.

Japan's Lost Decade: Lessons for Other Economies

Japan has suffered from sluggish economic growth and recession since the 1990s, a phenomenon dubbed "Japan's Lost Decade." The People's Republic of China, many countries in the eurozone, and the United States may face similar problems in future and they have been concerned by Japan's long-term recession. This paper will address why Japan's economy has stagnated since the bursting of its economic bubble. Our empirical analysis challenges the beliefs of some western economists, such as Paul Krugman, that the Japanese economy is in a liquidity trap. We argue that Japan's economic stagnation stems from a vertical IS curve rather than a liquidity trap. The impact of fiscal policy has declined drastically, and the Japanese economy faces structural problems rather than a temporary downturn. These structural problems have many causes: an aging demographic (a problem that is frequently overlooked), an over-reliance by local governments on transfers from the central government, and Basel capital requirements that have made Japanese banks reluctant to lend money to startup businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises. This latter issue has discouraged Japanese innovation and technological progress. The paper will address all these issues empirically and theoretically and will provide some remedies for Japan's long-lasting recession.

International Perspectives on Translation, Education and Innovation in Japanese and Korean Societies, ed. by David G. Herbert

Book Review International Perspectives on Translation, Education and Innovation in Japanese and Korean Societies, edited by David G. Hebert. Springer International Publishing AG, 2018. 347 pages. $119.00 hardcover, $89.00 eBook. This book attempts to provide a new perspective on East Asian societies in a globalized world. In line with works like Okano and Sugimoto (2018), chapters in this book confront the problem of applying social theory derived in the “West.” The authors also attempt to move beyond national society perspectives to provide a contextualized view of East Asian society by including chapters on Korea and Japan. The authors examine a wide range of topics centered on language and culture, with a focus on issues of translation, language research, and language education. The inclusion of such diverse topics is thought-provoking, but the various sections of the book are not well integrated. The volume consists of twenty-one chapters divided into six sections. The first section on cultural change and the final chapter attempt to integrate this diverse collection but otherwise there is little that holds the book together. For example, chapter 2 provides a “deep dive” into how the word “shizen” has come to be the standard translation for both “environment” and “wilderness,” but no connections are made with chapter 4, which analyzes how a popular novel on pollution translated Korean Studies © 2019 by University of Hawai‘i Press. All rights reserved. 1 obscure scientific discourse into “ . . . a language that was accessible to the general reader . . . ” in Japan. The issues of “cultural translation” in Part I, would ideally inform the major issues of translation in literature which is the focus of Part II. Instead, chapter 5 moves on to describe the characteristics of Western languages in Japanese novels, and the last chapter of this section explains the emotional discourse analysis methods by analyzing Japanese literature. Part III focuses on key linguistic features of Korean and Japanese. These chapters identify the varying levels of definiteness in the use of articles and plural forms in Korean and Japanese, as well the influence of local dialectics on contemporary language use. Part IV presents a couple of cases of language education in Japan. Chapter 11 examines the theory and practice of Japanese language education, focusing on the use of the modal verb, while chapter 12 analyzes the common mistakes of Swedish learners attempting to master Japanese. All interesting studies, to be sure, but the reader is left craving a synthesis that would unpack the potential insights that suchadiverseassemblageofscholarshipmusthold.PartVexplorestheuseof language in the professions using specific examples from contemporary Japanese law, Japanese trials, and urban planning in Korea. Finally, Part VI concludes with chapters as diverse as essays on learning the shakuhachi, and the aesthetics of the image of “spring rain” in haiku. The range of scholarship in this book is impressive. Each chapter presents a narrow scope of study and attempts to substantiate its conclusions based on empirical evidence. Some of the chapters are underresearched (e.g., the chapter on changing images of masculinity fails to cite major works on gender identity like a study by Borovoy (2005), but there is plenty of creative scholarship on display). For example, Barbara Hartley illustrates the issues and challenges to translation raised by Ariyoshi Sawako’s novel, Fukugô osen (Compound Pollution). While the translated book had a significant impact on environmental problems in Japan, the book suffered harsh criticism from some environmental scientists. Such harsh reception as seen in this case shows a specific dilemma of language transition in the field of science and encourages us to understand its challenges better. Such chapters echo the broader theme that language and translation are a font of innovation in East Asian society. This is a provocative idea, and the book does identify some tantalizing evidence. David G. Herbert, the editor, attempts to integrate these ideas into a new perspective on East Asian countries (although the synthesis does not include China, Taiwan, Singapore, and North Korea). This work goes beyond traditional, 2 Korean Studies 2019 geographical, and demographic characteristics, to examine the effects of global interchange in science, literature, music, and the politics and policies of the countries described. In the global...

Impact of Chinese, Korean and Japanese Innovation Spillover on Labour Productivity in South African Manufacturing

Open economy endogenous growth theories consider physical intermediate imports as a channel through which innovation spreads across international boundaries. We build from this literature and contribute by considering trade in services as the channel through which innovation from China, Korea and Japan influences labour productivity in South Africa’s manufacturing sector between 1995Q1 – 2017Q4. Unlike previous studies, we also compute a composite innovation index using the principal component analysis. Results from the autoregressive distributed lag model are supportive of open economy endogenous growth theories for Japan and Korea. However, for China, the effect is significantly negative adding further concerns over its predatory presence in South Africa.

International transmission of risk factor movements: The case of developed markets

ABSTRACTUnder the Carhart four-factor system, this study examines the international transmission mechanism among country-specific risk factors by focusing on the cross-border transmission of factor innovation. We find that international stock markets are interrelated with respect to market, size, value and momentum factors, and developed countries play different roles in each factor system. Moreover, the United States (US) plays a dominant role in the market factor system, with US innovations in terms of size and momentum factors being significantly transmitted to other markets, whereas its influence on the value factor seems marginal. The United Kingdom is found to be the most influential market in the size factor system. Finally, Japanese value factor innovations better explain Hong Kong variance than US value factor innovations. Our results indicate that international exposure to risk factors can be exploited to implement effective hedging strategies and manage globally diversified portfolio risks.

Overview of the Japanese Innovation Systems vs. the American Innovation System

Overview of the Japanese Innovation Systems vs. the American Innovation System

Japanese Innovation in Adaptable Homes

By the late 1960s, Japan's postwar housing boom had resulted in supply exceeding demand. But these buildings were poor quality and short‐lived. Since then, the country has seen various initiatives – both public and private – to improve the building stock and make it sustainable. Ranging from construction guidelines, to tax incentives, to technical innovations, they have achieved considerable success. Kazunobu Minami – Professor of Architecture at the Shibaura Institute of Technology in Tokyo, who has worked as an architect for the Japanese government since 1981 – tells their story.

Comparing a spatial structure of innovation network between Korea and Japan: through the analysis of co-inventors’ network

This study clarifies the relationship between spatial proximity and innovation networks by analyzing and comparing Korean and Japanese innovation systems. These systems have their similar backgrounds, but different innovation policies. The structural features of these innovation networks include hubs, sub-groups, and islands with pipeline linkages. The innovation network is formed by mixing of organizational proximity and geographical proximity within urban systems. Therefore, innovation policy should consider these network structure and urban system patterns, with flexible network governance. In addition, the innovation network can be successfully fostered through promotion policies within a single region rather than as distributions across regions.

An analysis of Japan’s connectivity to the global innovation system

PurposeIn the modern knowledge-intensive economy, a nation’s competitiveness depends on the ability of its constituent firms to innovate. Extant research in national systems of innovation highlights institutions and public policies toward innovation as key determinants that affect firms’ innovation activities. This paper aims to widen the investigation by arguing that co-inventor connectivity allows firms to access the most tacit knowledge within global innovation systems. Therefore, it is one of the key factors that underpin a nation’s ability to develop and sustain its competitiveness.Design/methodology/approachUsing a data set of 406,168 patents from US Patent and Trademark Office during the period of 1975-2004, this study analyzed the Japanese system of innovation through co-inventor networks.FindingsSurprisingly, the authors found that compared to other advanced countries such as Germany and Denmark, the Japanese innovation system is quite closed.Originality/valueThe dimension of tacit knowledge is crucial in the current environment of rapid cycle time, short product lifespans and increasing emphasis on exploratory innovation. Hence the authors speculate that closedness to global innovation systems could be one of the reasons why many of Japan’s traditionally powerful multinational enterprises exhibit weak performance in recent years.

The puzzle of Japanese innovation and entrepreneurship

Exploring how Japan's unique mixture of social, educational, and corporate practices influence entrepreneurial activity.

Social Shaping of Technological Trajectories of Shinkansen

IntroductionThe Shinkansen, or bullet train, is a world-class Japanese innovation. The Tokaido Shinkansen began operating in 1964 and generated speeds exceeding 200 kmph, which were unheard of at that time for electric trains. This made it a global breakthrough. However, progress on the Shinkansen stagnated thereafter. After running on a provisional schedule for the first year in operation, the Shinkansen schedule was revised in November 1965. The service connected Tokyo and Shin-Osaka stations in 3 hours and 10 minutes at a top speed of 210 kmph. Because the Shinkansen competed with aircraft, speed improvements were essential. Despite this, the speed of the Shinkansen did not improve further until just prior to the splitting and privatization1 of Japan National Railways (JNR) in 1987.First, this paper overviews changes in various types of speed indicators for the Shinkansen. These speed indicators include maximum speed, scheduled speed, and test car maximum speed. The former two speeds are related to actual operations, whereas the latter is a proxy indicator of the technical limits. The maximum speed refers to the fastest speed logged within an operating section; the scheduled speed is calculated by dividing the number of kilometers travelled within an operating section by the time required to travel that distance (including the time required to stop at stations).Upon beginning operation in 1964, the Shinkansen ran on a provisional schedule in a wait-and-see approach; the scheduled speed was quite refrained, so even the express Hikari service between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka stations required 4 hours. The scheduled speed significantly improved in the following year with changes in schedule; subsequently, no changes were observed in both maximum and scheduled speeds until 1985. One may think that the reason for this is the lack of technological developments. However, according to Shinkansen professionals, increasing the speed itself was a simple matter. This can be verified by examining the transition of maximum speeds of test vehicles during the public railways era. Figure 1 provides a summary changes to these three speed indicators.Please note the trend indicated in the circle. We can discover the lack of increases until mid-1980s in scheduled and maximum speeds despite the maximum speed of test vehicles. The changes in schedule in 1985 and 1986 slightly improved the scheduled and maximum speeds; subsequently, these speeds rose dramatically in the first half of the 1990s. Given this, the following two research questions are considered.RQ1: no parallel efforts were made to improve speed related to speed improvements of test cars and operation?RQ2: How were factors preventing the incorporation of technical progress into operations eliminated?This paper responds to these research questions in order.Factors Preventing Technical ProgressThis section considers the first research question, Why no parallel efforts were made to improve speed related to speed improvements of test cars and operation? Primarily inhibiting factors that were uncovered in the study include 1) environmental issues and 2) labor issues.1. Environmental issuesBecause the Shinkansen operates at speeds exceeding 200 kmph and sprints through Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, and other areas, which are dense in population, noise pollution is a serious problem. Similar to air and water pollution that became an issue in Japan in the 1970s, noise pollution was considered to be an emerging issue. Thus, regulations were set for noise pollution in 1975 based on Basic Law for Environmental Pollution Control. During that time, noise pollution levels were set at 70 dB or less when passing through residential areas, with a goal of achieving this level by 1985. When measuring the noise of the Tokaido Shinkansen in 1973, levels varied widely by location but were generally in the range of 80 to 100 dB. …

National context and early phase project organization: survey evidence from Japan and Germany

Japanese and German innovation projects are embedded in distinct organizational contexts. Transferring practices between such contexts without careful adaptation may lead to mismatches. We look at ...

Does an extrinsic reward for R&D employees enhance innovation outcomes? Evidence from a Japanese innovation survey

This paper examines the effects of extrinsic rewards for R&D employees on innovation outcomes based on evidence from a Japanese innovation survey. Theoretical and empirical studies present conflicting findings regarding the relationship between extrinsic rewards and innovation outcomes. This article seeks to shed light on the relationship between rewards and outcomes, as represented by the development of new products and services and their technological superiority and profitability. The analysis produced the following findings. First, companies that have introduced an evaluation system based on R&D performance are more likely to develop new products and services. The introduction of the evaluation system brings about success in product innovation with greater technological superiority. Second, monetary compensation has a negative impact on the development of new products and services and technological superiority. Third, these effects vary with the company size. Small‐ and medium‐sized companies achieve higher technological superiority with performance‐based evaluations. Large companies tend to adversely impact the development of new products and services and their technological superiority with monetary compensation.

Erratum: "An Empirical Study on the Impact of KIBS Innovation in Japanese Manufacturing Corporations"

International Journal of Innovation and Technology ManagementVol. 12, No. 01, 1592001 (2015) ErrataFree AccessErratum: "An Empirical Study on the Impact of KIBS Innovation in Japanese Manufacturing Corporations"is erratum ofAN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF KIBS INNOVATION IN JAPANESE MANUFACTURING CORPORATIONSShuo She and Akio NagahiraShuo SheSchool of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, Hubei, 430074, P. R. China and Akio NagahiraManagement of Science and Technology Department (MOST), Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11-804, Aza-Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai City, Miyagi 980-8579, Japanhttps://doi.org/10.1142/S0219877015920017Cited by:0 PreviousNext AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsRecommend to Library ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail [Int. J. Innovation and Tech. Management, Vol. 8, No. 4 (2011) 501–520]. FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsRelated articlesAN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF KIBS INNOVATION IN JAPANESE MANUFACTURING CORPORATIONS6 Apr 2012International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management Recommended Vol. 12, No. 01 Metrics History PDF download

Plant Factory Engineering Strategy of Japanese Manufacturer and Agri-Business Innovation

These days, some manufacturing enterprises which are forced to diversify management enter Agri- Business and plant factory business, make an Innovation utilizing high research and development ability and enough capital. As Agri-Business Innovation in Japan, this study examinedNK Agri, a subsidiary company of Noritsu Koki, which is a motion picture producer and machinery maker, based on Industrial Cluster Theory and Diamond Model by Michael E. Porter. The important points to enter Agri-Business of manufacturing enterprises were summed up as below. 1) New coming manufacture enterprises can form Industrial Cluster with farmhouse and foods makers, and enhance productivity and competitiveness. 2) New coming manufacture enterprises can enhance productive efficiency by collaborating with orthodox farmhouses as important partners. 3) Re- search institutions such as universities and local government should support for forming and development of Agri Industrial Cluster by manufacture enterprises. Agri Industrial Cluster by manufacture enterprises can improve local economy, so local government should prepare for the system to expand support as a policy.