Kinki District Of Japan Research Articles

Toyotamaphimeia cf. machikanensis (Crocodylia, Tomistominae) from the Middle Pleistocene of Osaka, Japan, and crocodylian survivorship through the Pliocene-Pleistocene climatic oscillations

Crocodylians are ectothermic animals, and their past distribution has been greatly influenced by changing climate since their Cretaceous origin. The Pliocene-Pleistocene witnessed a contraction of the crocodylian latitudinal ranges due to rapid cooling with superimposed pronounced orbital-scale climate oscillations. However, a chronologically-continuous record of the geographically marginal populations of crocodylians is yet to be provided for this time interval, and crocodylian response to such climatic changes is poorly known. This study describes a partial crocodylian skeleton from the Middle Pleistocene of Osaka, Japan, diagnosed as Toyotamaphimeia cf. machikanensis, on the basis of character comparisons, including ontogenetic skull shape change, and consideration of the reconstruction error in the holotype of T. machikanensis. Pliocene-Pleistocene record of fossil crocodylians in the Kinki, Tokai, and Kanto districts of Japan extends from ~3.5 Ma to ~0.3 Ma. The paleotemperature estimates for the crocodylian-bearing horizons indicate that late Early–Middle Pleistocene crocodylians in the Kinki district of Japan were living near their lower thermal limit. During the glacial periods, they might have moved to the southern extremity of Japan or locally became extinct from Japan, while re-expanding their range after the end of glacial periods.

Schooling Selves: Autonomy, Interdependence, and Reform in Japanese Junior High Education by Peter Cave

Reviewed by: Schooling Selves: Autonomy, Interdependence, and Reform in Japanese Junior High Education by Peter Cave Yuki Imoto (bio) Schooling Selves: Autonomy, Interdependence, and Reform in Japanese Junior High Education. By Peter Cave. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2016. x, 287 pages. $105.00, cloth; $35.00, paper; $35.00, E-book. Schooling Selves by Peter Cave examines the implementation of curricular reforms in junior high schools in Japan. It is the first and only in-depth anthropological work that studies junior high schools in Japan over a critical period of a dozen years and leaves us much to ponder on the complex notions of autonomy and individualization from a comparative educational and philosophical perspective. It demonstrates how school education is deeply related to ideas of selfhood as well as to issues of equity, democracy, and social change. The junior high curriculum reform in question was published in 1998 and implemented in 2002. The revisions were a culmination of debates continuing from the 1980s and signify the national reflexivity that emerged after rapid modernization. The reforms aimed on the one hand to promote sociality and cooperation (a pull toward traditional values) and, on the other hand, to promote autonomous learning and to develop “creative” people who could think for themselves, rather than simply acquire existing knowledge imported from the West. With the implementation of the reforms, a new curricular area called “integrated studies” was introduced; there was a significant reduction in the number of class hours for traditional subjects; and elective subjects were introduced. The reforms received criticism and were branded a failure when international testing scores uncovered a national decline in academic standards. In 2008 conventional academic subjects were increased and electives were abolished. Cave’s work is based on fieldwork at two junior high schools located in the Kinki district of Japan. The fieldwork includes one year of participant observation in the late 1990s at Tachibana Junior High School and participant observation at both Tachibana and Yoneda Junior High Schools in the 2000s after the curricular reforms were published. This diachronic perspective allows for insight into what changed and what did not as a result of the 1998 reforms. The account reveals, fundamentally, that there was less change on the ground level than one might expect from the outside. The chapters forming the body of the book are richly ethnographic and focus on specific rituals and traditions within the school’s activities (the cultural festival, the sports day, and the choral contest), group formations and their relations (the classroom and the extracurricular club), textual [End Page 245] discourses and their interpretations (content of textbooks, implementation of integrated studies), and relations of junior high school education with other institutions such as the juku and high school entrance examinations. Cave’s account and analysis is nuanced and intricate, aiming to “go beyond antimonies of individual and society, or individualism and group orientation” and “look more deeply at the diversity of discourses of self in Japan and how they interact in dynamic ways” (p. 2). Thus, the book can be seen as a complementary extension of Cave’s previous monograph, Primary School in Japan,1 which identified various discourses of the individual self. In Schooling Selves, specific attention is given to the notion of autonomy. Cave unravels its complexity, explaining how “distinguishing between individualization and autonomy shows that education that emphasizes working with others is not necessarily autonomy-limiting, while education that individualizes is not necessarily autonomy-promoting” (p. 37). In what follows, I present an overview of the book, paying attention to what the empirical findings illuminate about the notion of autonomy in Japanese education. One highlight of Cave’s ethnography is the “school fieldtrip” for first-year students at the beginning of the school year at Tachibana Junior High School, presented in chapter 2. When Cave first joined the fieldtrip in 1996, its function (evoking the company “spiritual education” or seishin kyōiku described by Thomas Rohlen2) was to strengthen group life (shūdan seikatsu) among students and teachers with emphasis on discipline, building identity, and cooperation. The fieldtrip was abandoned in 1998 due to time constraints brought on by the reduction of school teaching days. It was...

Characterization of the frayed edge site of micaceous minerals in soil clays influenced by different pedogenetic conditions in Japan and northern Thailand

Radiocesium interception potential (RIP), a quantitative index of a frayed edge site of micaceous minerals, was investigated on test clay minerals (illite, kaolinite, montmorillonite and vermiculite) and soil clays formed under different pedogenetic conditions in the Kinki district of Japan and in northern Thailand to elucidate the effect of pedogenetic weathering on the amount of frayed edge site of micaceous minerals. A frayed edge site is defined as the wedge-shaped intermediate zone between non-expansible (1.0 nm) and hydrated (1.4 nm) interlayers, on which Cs is selectively adsorbed. The test clay minerals demonstrated unique RIP values closely associated with their charge characteristics. Very small RIP in non-micaceous test minerals (0.006 mol kg−1 in kaolinite; 0.1 mol kg−1 in montmorillonite) supported the fact that negative charges in these minerals do not show selective adsorption of 137Cs. Large RIP values in vermiculite (25.9 mol kg−1) compared with illitic minerals (4.3 mol kg−1 in silt size; 11.8 mol kg−1 in clay size) suggested that the frayed edge site increased as the expanded layer formed in the micaceous minerals. In northern Thailand soil clays, the absence of a vermiculitic expanded layer was indicated. Periodic wet–dry conditions may restrict K depletion from micaceous minerals in the region. It is concluded that micaceous minerals were weathered without layer expansion and, therefore, the amount of the frayed edge site was regulated by the content of micaceous minerals in northern Thailand. In Japanese soil clays, large RIP values were found in the EB and Bs horizons of a Podzodic profile (SW1), which had large vermiculitic expanded layers like the test vermiculite. However, the RIP values drastically decreased from the Bs to E horizon, maintaining a high vermiculitic layer charge. Thus, intensive weathering in highly acidic soils in Japan might reduce the frayed edge site.

Frequency of spinocerebellar ataxia mutations in the Kinki district of Japan.

To determine the frequencies of spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) in the Kinki district, the western part of the main island of Japan. One hundred and forty-three families with dominantly inherited ataxia and 220 patients with apparently sporadic cerebellar ataxia were examined for the SCA1, SCA2, SCA3/Machado-Joseph disease (MJD), SCA6, SCA7, SCA8, SCA12 and dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) mutations. Among the dominant families, SCA1 accounted for 3%, SCA2 for 4%, SCA3/MJD for 24%, SCA6 for 31% and DRPLA for 12%. Neither SCA7 nor SCA12 mutations were detected. Among the apparently sporadic patients, 15% were found to have expanded triplet repeats. Of these, the SCA6 mutation was most frequently detected. SCA6 is the most common SCA in the Kinki district of Japan. Comparison of our results with those from other regions of Japan and different countries shows geographic and ethnic variation in the frequency of SCAs.

A survey of the inclinations of medical students towards becoming occupational physicians

We conducted a survey to investigate medical students awareness of the activities of occupational physicians and their willingness to do postgraduate courses in this field. Those surveyed were fifth grade students in six universities in the Kinki district of Japan in 1993. In analyzing the responses of 368 eligible subjects, the response rate was 68.4% and the following results were obtained. 1) Only one of the 368 subjects expressed a desire to become an occupational physician after graduation, however 24.2% of those surveyed had considered becoming occupational physicians. More female students and, males over the age of 25, had considered becoming occupational physicians. Anxiety about a possible surplus of medical doctors in the near future was a factor that led them to consider becoming occupational physicians. 2) There were few negative responses concerning the activities of occupational physicians, even among those who had not considered becoming occupational physicians. 88.3% of those surveyed complained of a lack of information regarding postgraduate courses. 3) Responses were varied concerning conditions in the practice of occupational physicians. Those who had considered becoming occupational physicians were mostly concerned with the establishment of a system for the acceptance of occupational physicians in industry, while those who had not thought of becoming occupational physicians, considered practicing as occupational physicians as a sideline to regular clinic duties. 4) Having considered the above results and those of other researchers, we concluded that supplying more information related to the activities of occupational physicians and offering further postgraduate training programs in occupational medicine would encourage more medical students to become occupational physicians.

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Dioscorea tokoro Makino, a Dioecious Climber

Dioscorea tokoro Makino is a herbaceous climber species widespread in East Asia. Genetic structure of a natural population of D. tokoro was examined employing starch gel electrophoresis of allozymes. Genotypes of seven loci were studied for 1,128 individuals. Twenty-six populations located mainly in the Kinki district of Japan were subgrouped into four large clusters by the geographical distribution of alleles. The D. tokoro population was revealed to contain greater total genetic diversity (HT=0.282) and higher intrapopulational genetic diversity (HS=0.258) than other outcrossing species for which data are available. On the other hand, interpopulational differentiation (GST=0.096) was smaller than in other outcrossers. For the heterozygosity deficiency observed (FIT=0.125), population subdivision (FST=0.096) and inbreeding within the population (FIS=0.067) were revealed to contribute to the same extent. From these F-statistics, the migration rate among subpopulations and the rate of between-relative matings were estimated. Overall results on the genetic structure of the D. tokoro population indicated a high gene flow among its subpopulations, and this may be the consequence of its life form as a climber and its habitat in a disturbed environment. During the study, the geographical cline of Pgi allele frequencies was observed. This finding was supposed to be the result of the selection imposed on Pgi by the temperature differences between localities.

Antigenic and genetic characterization of three influenza C strains isolated in the kinki district of Japan in 1982–1983

Three strains of influenza C virus (C/Kyoto/41 /82, C/Nara/82, C/Hyogo/1 /83) have been isolated from humans in the Kinki district of Japan between February 1982 and December 1983. Oligonucleotide mapping of total vRNA and antigenic analysis with anti-HE monoclonal antibodies have shown previously that they are closely similar to one another but dissimilar to any of the strains isolated in Japan before 1982. In the present study, the nucleotide sequences of the hemagglutinin-esterase (HE) genes of these three strains were determined and compared with those of the previously published strains. The results revealed that the Kinki isolates had a high nucleotide sequence homology (98.4–98.5%) with the virus isolated in 1980 in the United States (C/Mississippi/l /80). Similarity of the Kinki strains to C/Mississippi/ 1 80 was also confirmed by oligonucleotide mapping of total vRNA and antigenic comparison using a panel of 11 anti-HE monoclonal antibodies. The isolates from Kinki and Mississippi could be distinguished from the previously isolated strains in serological tests with heterogeneous sera, suggesting that they may have possessed epidemiological advantage in Japan around 1982–1983. These observations raise the possibility that the rapid spread of influenza C variant closely related to C/Mississippi/1/80 has occurred in Kinki in 1982–1983 presumably because this imported virus was largely different in antigenicity from the previously prevalent ones.

Shear-wave splitting above small earthquakes in the Kinki district of Japan

We have identified shear-wave splitting, diagnostic of the effective anisotropy induced by aligned microcracks, in the wavetrains of micro-earthquakes at four stations of the Abuyama network in the Kinki District of Japan. We find that the directions of polarization of the faster split shear-waves are nearly parallel for all azimuths of arrival, and for all angles of incidence less than the critical angle at three of the four stations. These directions of polarization are consistent with the axis of maximum compression obtained from earthquake fault-plane mechanisms, and also agree with the directions of the general trends of geological structures which represent the orientations of the cleavage or lamination. These results suggest that crack-induced anisotropy is present in the brittle upper crust beneath Japan, as has been found elsewhere, but we could not distinguish whether this reflects the distributions of cracks induced by the present stress field, or results from the general trends of surface geology. Although the delay times between faster and slower shear waves are difficult to estimate reliably, because of their high sensitivity to internal interfaces, the delay times can be interpreted as the result of a distribution of parallel vertical cracks with a crack density of about 0.04. The consistency or lack of consistency of the directions of the shear-wave polarizations at the four stations demonstrates the effects of surface topography and near surface layering on the shear-wave polarizations.

Pn velocity and moho-offset at the west of Lake Biwa in the Kinki district, Japan.

The crustal structure in the Kinki district of Japan has been investigated by means of Phinney's spectral-ratio method and the travel-time analysis of microearthquakes. The crustal thicknesses at KYOTO and HIKONE, which are situated on the west and east sides of Lake Biwa, respectively, are determined as about 32km and 38km, espectively, by means of the spectral-ratio method. The value of 32km at KYOTO agrees well with the crustal thickness determined by travel times of the Kurayosi explosions, so that the crust is almost horizontally layered in the northwestern Kinki district, and the Pn velocity is 7.6km/sec. The value of 7.6km/sec is similar to that derived in the inland area of northeastern Japan, and a few percent lower than those at the coastal regions of the Pacific side of southwestern Japan. On the other hand, the crustal thickness in the northeastern Kinki district is determined as 40km by analysing microearthquakes near the Moho discontinuity beneath Lake Biwa. Therefore, the Moho-offset amounting to about 8km seems to exist at the western coastal region of Lake Biwa. This structure can explain the pattern of Bouguer anomalies in the northern part of the Kinki district very well.