Japanese Perceptions Research Articles

Japanese Perceptions of Papua New Guinea: War, Travel and the Reimaging of History. By RyōtaNishimo. London, UK: Bloomsbury. 2022. Pp: xvi + 248. Price: USD$120.00

Japanese Perceptions of Papua New Guinea: War, Travel and the Reimaging of History. By RyōtaNishimo. London, UK: Bloomsbury. 2022. Pp: xvi + 248. Price: USD$120.00

Japanese Perception of Brain Death and Implications for New Medical Technologies: Quantitative and Qualitative Social Media Analysis.

Brain death has been used to decide whether to keep sustained care and treatment. It can facilitate tissue, organ, and body donation for several purposes, such as transplantation and medical education and research. In Japan, brain death has strict diagnostic criteria and family consent is crucial, but it has been a challenging concept for the public since its introduction, including knowledge and communication issues. We analyzed data across YouTube and Twitter in Japan to uncover actors and assess the quality of brain death communication, providing recommendations to communicate new medical technologies. Using the keyword "" (brain death), we collected recent data from YouTube and Twitter, classifying the data into 5 dimensions: time, individuality (type of users), place, activity, and relations (hyperlinks). We employed a scale to evaluate brain death information quality. We divided YouTube videos into 3 groups and assessed their differences through statistical analysis. We also provided a text-based analysis of brain death-related narratives. Most videos (20/61, 33%) were uploaded in 2019, while 10,892 tweets peaked between July 3 and 9, 2023, and June 12 and 18, 2023. Videos about brain death were mostly uploaded by citizens (18/61, 27%), followed by media (13/61, 20%) and unknown actors (10/61, 15%). On the other hand, most identified users in a random sample of 100 tweets were citizens (73/100, 73%), and the top 10 retweeted and liked tweets were also mostly authored by citizens (75/100, 75%). No specific information on location was uncovered. Information videos contained guides for accreditation of the National Nursing Exam and religious points of view, while misinformation videos mostly contained promotions by spirituality actors and webtoon artists. Some tweets involved heart transplantation and patient narratives. Most hyperlinks pointed to YouTube and Twitter. Brain death has become a common topic in everyday life, with some actors disseminating high-quality information, others disseminating no medical information, and others disseminating misinformation. Recommendations include partnering with interested actors, discussing medical information in detail, and teaching people to recognize pseudoscience.

Disputes over Burial Mountains

This article examines legal decisions in lineage property disputes from the Korean Empire period (1897–1910) to the first two decades of the Japanese colonial rule to trace the effect of Japanese efforts to implement property rights reforms in colonial Korea. Lineage properties were heavily concentrated in the mountains in the form of communal burial sites; thus, to ease acceptance of colonial rule, such Japanese objectives as forest cultivation needed to accommodate long-established Korean practices of mountain burial. In addition, Japanese perceptions of Koreans as primitively collective in their property relations led to initial suppression of the rights of heirs over lineage property. The colonial court's subsequent gradual and uneven invocation of the principle of exclusive individual property rights became a source of both legal and physical conflicts. The case of how lineage property rights were reorganized in colonial Korea shows the compromised nature of the colonial property regime as it sought to balance traditional claims and modern concepts of property ownership, with long-term consequences for property rights in Korea.

Japanese Perception of Organ Donation and Implications for New Medical Technologies: Quantitative and Qualitative Social Media Analyses.

The Rapid Autopsy Program (RAP) is a valuable procedure for studying human biology and diseases such as cancer. However, implementing the RAP in Japan necessitates a thorough understanding of concepts such as good death and the integration of sociocultural aspects. By revising perceptions of organ donation on social media, we bring attention to the challenges associated with implementing new medical research procedures such as the RAP. This study aims to examine YouTube and Twitter/X to identify stakeholders, evaluate the quality of organ donation communication, and analyze sociocultural aspects associated with organ donation. Based on our findings, we propose recommendations for the implementation of new medical research procedures. Using the term "" (organ donation), we collected data from YouTube and Twitter/X, categorizing them into 5 dimensions: time, individuality, place, activity, and relationships. We utilized a scale to evaluate the quality of organ donation information and categorized YouTube videos into 3 groups to analyze their differences using statistical methods. Additionally, we conducted a text-based analysis to explore narratives associated with organ donation. Most YouTube videos were uploaded in 2021 (189/638, 29.6%) and 2022 (165/638, 25.9%), while tweets about organ donation peaked between 2019 and 2022. Citizens (184/770, 23.9%), media (170/770, 22.0%), and unknown actors (121/770, 15.7%) were the primary uploaders of videos on organ donation. In a sample of average retweeted and liked tweets, citizens accounted for the majority of identified users (64/91, 70%, and 65/95, 68%, respectively). Regarding Japanese regions, there were numerous information videos about organ donation in Hokkaido (F2.46,147.74=-5.28, P=.005) and Kyushu and Okinawa (F2.46,147.74=-5.28, P=.005). On Twitter/X, Japan and China were the most frequently mentioned countries in relation to organ donation discussions. Information videos often focused on themes such as borrowed life and calls to register as donors, whereas videos categorized as no information and misinformation frequently included accusations of organ trafficking, often propagated by Chinese-American media. Tweets primarily centered around statements of donation intention and discussions about family consent. The majority of video hyperlinks directed users to YouTube and Twitter/X platforms, while Twitter/X hyperlinks predominantly led to news reports from Japanese media outlets. There is significant potential to implement new medical research procedures such as the RAP in Japan. Recommendations include conceptualizing research data as borrowed data, implementing horizontally diversified management of donation programs, and addressing issues related to science misinformation and popular culture trends.

From “Defilement” to “Modernity”: How Japan's Encounter with the West Brought Beef to the Table

The long Tokugawa – Meiji transition (1850s – 1880s) is arguably one of the most profound socio-economic transitions that Japan underwent in its history. This paper uses beef consumption in Japan as a lens to further investigate the players involved in this transition. Historically more eschewed than other types of meat and tightly associated with the notion of the “other,” beef became an embodiment of progress and modernity during the Meiji Period. Through tracing the historical shift in the Japanese perception of beef, this paper argues that the evolution of beef consumption corresponds to the radically shifting attitudes of the Japanese towards the West. To address the current research gap in the reception and integration of beef into Japanese cuisine, this paper starts the investigation from the late Tokugawa period. The early story of a “beef culture” reflects that a large part of Japan's modernization efforts was initiated by pioneering merchants and curious individuals in the late Tokugawa treaty ports. The paper also examines the diverse reactions of common Japanese toward beef, an essential part of the larger “westernization” campaign during the early Meiji period. Through popular folk literature and artworks, journals from western visitors, and an array of sources on Japanese food market, this paper illustrates that as Japan encountered Western culture in the nineteenth century, her people simultaneously resisted and adapted to it, creating a unique blend of tradition and modernity that was embodied in dishes like gyūnabe (beef stew).

‘義利’와 ‘興利’의 사이

The purpose of this study is to examine the meaning of a word, ‘benefit (利)’, used by intellectuals in the Edo period to reveal how the difference between the justice (義) and benefit (利) was criticized in Japan and how the value of using benefit (利) for people’s livelihoods developed.
 The evaluations of ‘benefit (利)’ are divided depending on whether you view 利 as ‘利 of liyog (利欲)’ or ‘利 of limul (利物)’. In Neo-Confucianism, ‘利’ was interpreted as ‘利 of liyog (利欲)’, so it was used in a negative sense. However, intellectuals in the early Edo period viewed ‘利’ ambiva- lently, which served as an opportunity to look at the Neo-Confucian view of justice and benefit critically. In the middle of the Edo period, Ogyu Sorai criticized the Neo-Confucian view of justice and benefit thoroughly, which significantly changed the Japanese perception of ‘利.’ He thought that both ‘justice (義)’ and ‘benefit (利)’ came from striving on social duties and defined those engaged in giving benefit (利) as ‘the superior man (君子)’ and those engaged in receiving benefit (利) as ‘the mean man (小人)’. He believed that both the superior and mean should endeavor for ‘pacifying the people (安民)’ and ‘making livelihoods (營生)’ so as to keep the society stable. Furthermore, Ogyu Sorai argued that 『Mencius (孟子)』’s view of justice and benefit was a discourse presented in the context of Baekgajaengmyeong (百家爭鳴) in which there was a lot of dispute between schools, and it did not make sense for posterity to imitate this discourse as it is. Japanese intellectuals influenced by him recognized that the saint as a ruler who gave benefit (利) to the people, not a moral person who rejected benefit (利), and argued that to carry out ‘flourishing benefit (興利)’ at the policy level conformed to the will of the old saint.

A Comprehensive Study of Chinese Beginners' Perception of Learning Japanese and Effective Strategies for Teaching Chinese-Japanese Homograph

Japanese-Chinese homographs are an essential topic in Japanese education research. This study focuses on Japanese-Chinese homographs in both the Chinese and Japanese languages. It analyzes the perception of Japanese beginners, learning difficulties, and teaching strategies using data collected from questionnaires. The study finds that as Japanese learning progresses, students gradually improve their understanding of Japanese-Chinese homographs, but misuse still occurs. Students generally perceive learning Japanese-Chinese homographs as challenging and deserving of attention. Regarding teaching strategies, students prefer self-summaries and Japanese-Japanese translations for learning Japanese-Chinese homographs. Based on these findings, the study proposes Japanese teaching and learning suggestions.

Dreams of Socialism Reflected in a 1947 North Korean School Textbook

In 1945, with the participation of the Soviet Union, which sent naval forces to the northern coast of the Korean peninsula as well as paratroopers to Pyongyang, Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule. A limited contingent of Red Army units was dispatched in the northern part of the Korean peninsula to accept Japanese surrender and maintain law and order until the establishment of the national administration. From 1945 to 1948, Soviet citizens who worked in North Korea and the new North Korean authorities both made efforts to propagate a positive image of Soviet socialism. Their efforts would be successful among the lower classes of Korean society. The middle school textbook the “Kugŏ (Native Speech 국어),” published in 1947 in North Korea, provides a clear example of how the positive image of the USSR, when it came to village development, was presented to the Korean younger generation in the framework of traditional dreams about the lives of peasants. In particular, the Korean language textbook broke down the Japanese perception of the socialist village where, according to the former Japanese colonial authorities, peasants have no private property. The “Native Speech” textbook stated that the “peasants who choose socialism will own their land themselves and will be able to have private property.”

Visual-auditory perception of prosodic focus in Japanese by native and non-native speakers.

Speech communication is multi-sensory in nature. Seeing a speaker's head and face movements may significantly influence the listeners' speech processing, especially when the auditory information is not clear enough. However, research on the visual-auditory integration speech processing has left prosodic perception less well investigated than segmental perception. Furthermore, while native Japanese speakers tend to use less visual cues in segmental perception than in other western languages, to what extent the visual cues are used in Japanese focus perception by the native and non-native listeners remains unknown. To fill in these gaps, we test focus perception in Japanese among native Japanese speakers and Cantonese speakers who learn Japanese, using auditory-only and auditory-visual sentences as stimuli. Thirty native Tokyo Japanese speakers and thirty Cantonese-speaking Japanese learners who had passed the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test with level N2 or N3 were asked to judge the naturalness of 28 question-answer pairs made up of broad focus eliciting questions and three-word answers carrying broad focus, or contrastive or non-contrastive narrow focus on the middle object words. Question-answer pairs were presented in two sensory modalities, auditory-only and visual-auditory modalities in two separate experimental sessions. Both the Japanese and Cantonese groups showed weak integration of visual cues in the judgement of naturalness. Visual-auditory modality only significantly influenced Japanese participants' perception when the questions and answers were mismatched, but when the answers carried non-contrastive narrow focus, the visual cues impeded rather than facilitated their judgement. Also, the influences of specific visual cues like the displacement of eyebrows or head movements of both Japanese and Cantonese participants' responses were only significant when the questions and answers were mismatched. While Japanese participants consistently relied on the left eyebrow for focus perception, the Cantonese participants referred to head movements more often. The lack of visual-auditory integration in Japanese speaking population found in segmental perception also exist in prosodic perception of focus. Not much foreign language effects has been found among the Cantonese-speaking learners either, suggesting a limited use of facial expressions in focus marking by native and non-native Japanese speakers. Overall, the present findings indicate that the integration of visual cues in perception of focus may be specific to languages rather than universal, adding to our understanding of multisensory speech perception.

Cross-cultural comparison of soundscape evaluation between Japanese and Vietnamese using standardized attributes

The Soundscape Attributes Translation Project (SATP) was initiated to translate English standardized perceptual attributes of the ISO/TS 12913-2:2018 into various languages. This paper outlines the translation and utilization of Vietnamese and Japanese attributes in standardized listening experiments and evaluates their effectiveness in assessing specific sound environments in Vietnam and Japan. The study was conducted in two parts: (1) a listening evaluation experiment, in which Vietnamese and Japanese participants listened to 27 binaural recordings provided by the SATP project to examine the differences in subjective evaluations of the same sound environment between Japanese and Vietnamese; and (2) a survey on Vietnamese and Japanese perceptions of sound environments in public spaces using the standardized attributes and scales proposed by the SATP project. For part 2, twelve study sites were selected in Japan and Vietnam based on their distinct landscape and acoustic characteristics. The research methodology involved analyzing physical indices of each soundscape context from the recording data and subjective evaluation experiments. The results revealed cultural differences in soundscape evaluations between Japanese and Vietnamese, which could potentially impact people's perception of soundscapes. These findings provide a basis for proposing soundscape designs that align with the values and perceptions of residents in specific environments.

Japan's Remilitarization Struggle Since the Shinzo Abe’s Leadership

This article discusses Japan’s struggle to push its military capabilities to become more active in security issues since the reelection of Shinzo Abe in 2012. During this time, Japanese defense policy faced great challenges due to the restriction of the Japanese constitution of pacifism (Article 9) and the fact that the Japanese opposed the idea of militarism or ‘remilitarization’ initiated by Japanese political leaders, mainly Abe. However, the Chinese military presence in the region with overwhelming military capabilities and aggressive behavior, particularly around Diayou/Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, threatens Japan. This uncertainty has engendered a grim perception of China among the Japanese which forces Japan to fortify its security by reforming its defense policy to strengthen its military capabilities. In this essay, I argue that the remilitarization of Japan is stimulated by the Japanese perception of the threat of Chinese aggressiveness. By utilizing Robert Jervis's theory, the analysis is focused on a structural level to trace the incentive of Japan’s remilitarization. This security phenomenon will be enlightened by two imperative concepts of the security dilemma and perception of threat. Other domestic aspects like public opinion and elites are discussed to show the veracity of the main argument.

The Evolution of Japanese Perceptions of China since 1945

This essay is an examination of how Japanese perceptions of China have changed over time, paying particular attention to issues of political economy. It will examine relations both before and after the 1972 normalization of relations between the two countries.

Students' Perceptions of Global Jinzai: A Comparative Study of University Students in Malaysia, Japan and Vietnam

In recent years in Japan, the term Global Jinzai has frequently appeared for the human skills development through soft skills programs in higher learning institutions which bridges the competency and human capital necessary for the economic development. This study aims to explore the Global Jinzai skills set practiced by the Japanese companies by exploring the perception of Japanese, Malaysian and Vietnamese students who will be the future employees in companies. This study utilized a quantitative approach where participants’ views of Global Jinzai have been obtained via Google Form surveys delivered to 216 university students from Malaysia, Japan and Vietnam. The surveys include 13 demographic questions, 79 likert scale questions ranging from 1-strongly disagree to 5-strongly agree, 5 likert scale questions ranging from 1-not at all important to 5-very important and lastly is 5 ranking questions with 1-having highest priority to 5-having lowest priority. This paper provides the students perceptions on Global Jinzai and suggests recommendations to improve students’ perceptions towards Global Jinzai.

占領改革と戦後国民意識

The purpose of this paper is to clarify how the information program provided by GHQ influenced Japanese perceptions or attitudes regarding the notion of democracy during the Occupation period. In this period, many political changes including constitutional reform were implemented to democratize Japan. Further, to make Japanese people understand democratic ideology, GHQ actively disseminated information by using radio, movies newspapers, magazines, and other media. How was such information program accepted by the Japanese people and to what extent did it affect them? This study tries to answer these questions with historical archives as well as quantitative data from the representative social survey. The results revealed that the information program had a certain impact on Japanese people’s perceptions or attitudes related to democratic thinking. Especially, newspapers had the greatest impact. On the other hand, the strengths of the effects of the information on the individuals were not uniform, but diverse, probably because of the respective prior ideology or thoughts. The institutional reform and social conditions may also have played an important role whether Japanese people’s perceptions or attitudes related to democratic thinking persisted or not.

Polymedia Model on the Information-Seeking of Young Urban Indonesian on Fashion and Their Perception on Japanese and Indonesian Brands.

In the digital era, urban youth face various media – including conventional media – to seek information related to fashion. Fashion items are one of the top three things Indonesian people buy, and Japanese fashion is one of the foreign brands they can mention. The media and information exposure affect their reaction and response toward the information. This study explored and compared Indonesian urban youth's information-seeking behavior about fashion and their perceptions of Japanese and Indonesian fashion brands. Data were collected through paper and pencil questionnaires administered to 291 students at four educational institutions in two major cities, with a diversity of age, gender, place of residence, religion, and education level. This study suggested that (1) young people used various media (polymedia), both conventional and new media. Digging up information directly to fashion brand outlets was a crucial choice, (2) information-seeking behavior was related to fashion brand perceptions. Perceptions of Japanese brands were better than their Indonesian counterparts, although it varied on different demographic characteristics and diversity of information-seeking patterns. This research has several implications: (1) fashion information must be conveyed to consumers as a unique person rather than as a collective person; (2) fashion information must be delivered either through conventional media – including direct shop visits, as well as new media, (3) Need to build a product as a global brand image.

The Shaping of Japanese Discourse on Nuclear Energy Technology in the Early Post-War Period

This article explores Japanese perceptions of nuclear technology from 1945 to 1956, the early stage of the introduction of nuclear technology, by using discourses of the government and of antinuclear civil movements. It is based on the theoretical framework that discourses construct social perceptions of science and technology. For this purpose, statements such as official documents of the Japanese government and declarations made by the antinuclear movement were used as main resources of analysis. This article finds that various technological aspects influenced the formation of the Japanese nuclear technological system. In addition, the Japanese government tried to keep open the possibility of developing nuclear weapons. It tried to justify its ‘peaceful use of nuclear power’ by portraying itself as the sole victim of nuclear weapons while hiding its intention to develop nuclear weapons. Moreover, the nuclear safety myth was formed at the beginning of the introduction of nuclear technology. As a result, we can see that in Japan, the nuclear safety myth was growing from the beginning of the introduction of nuclear technology amid a dichotomous understanding of good and bad uses of nuclear power and the desire to enter an advanced state of science and technology.

Focus perception in Japanese: Effects of lexical accent and focus location.

This study explored the contexts in which native Japanese listeners have difficulty identifying prosodic focus. Using a 4AFC identification task, we compared native Japanese listeners’ focus identification accuracy in different lexical accent × focus location conditions using resynthesised speech stimuli, which varied only in fundamental frequency. Experiment 1 compared the identification accuracy in lexical accent × focus location conditions using both natural and resynthesised stimuli. The results showed that focus identification rates were similar with the two stimulus types, thus establishing the reliability of the resynthesised stimuli. Experiment 2 explored these conditions further using only resynthesised stimuli. Narrow foci bearing the lexical pitch accent were always more correctly identified than unaccented ones, whereas the identification rate for final focus was the lowest among all focus locations. From these results, we argue that the difficulty of focus perception in Japanese is attributed to (i) the blocking of PFC by unaccented words, and (ii) similarity in F0 contours between lexical pitch accent and narrow focus, including in particular the similarity between downstep and PFC. Focus perception is therefore contingent on other concurrent communicative functions which may sometimes take precedence in a +PFC language.

Hiroshima and Manila: Experiences and Memories of Loss in World War II

Hiroshima and Manila were both severely damaged during World War II. While Hiroshima is known around the world as a city destroyed by an atomic bomb, the damage done to Manila is less well-known internationally and also in Japan, despite the deaths of one hundred thousand civilians. The atrocities perpetrated on civilians by Japanese soldiers during the Battle of Manila cast a dark shadow over postwar views of Japan in the Philippines. But why has the battle been forgotten in today’s Japan? This article traces the history of the battle and examines Japanese perceptions of it. It also analyzes how the Japanese atrocities escalated and additionally discusses Filipino views on the atomic bombings. The article considers how to deal with memories of “negative history” through a case study.

The perception of Japanese among teachers and learners in Kenya: A case of tertiary institutions

Japanese is one of the foreign languages taught in tertiary institutions in Kenya. Though the language is offered at basic as well as at advanced levels, most of its learners do not pursue it beyond the basic level. One of the contributing factors to the low progression could be how the teachers and the learners perceive the language. This paper examined the perception of teachers and learners of Japanese in tertiary institutions. Data was collected through administering questionnaires and interviews to the teachers and learners of the language. The data was then analyzed using statistical software. The study revealed that learners’ perceive the language as a tool for communication and socialization, as well as a means for professional advancement. It was also found that some teachers do not consider it necessary to teach the logographic scripts (Kanji) scripts, and that some institutions do not teach Kanji at all. The lack of emphasis on Kanji scripts, perceived difficulty of the language and the perception that the language is a tool of socialization of which basic level is sufficient, were seen to be among the main factors that hinder learner progression to advanced levels.

Proposal for method to generate knowledge on Japanese subconscious toward casino legalization

In 2022, Japan is working to attract integrated resorts that include casinos; despite the COVID-19 pandemic's impact, work is already underway to promote legal casinos as tourist attractions in Japan. However, there is still opposition to the introduction of casinos in Japan, which highlights the negative perception of many Japanese of the gambling industry and, in particular, of casinos. In this study, a questionnaire survey was conducted with 400 people living in Japan and an exploratory factor analysis of the acquired data was performed to obtain information regarding Japanese perceptions on casinos. This study describes three main aspects of Japanese people's perceptions regarding the introduction of casinos: (1) expectations, (2) concerns, and (3) psychological distance.