Cleanliness is widely regarded as a virtue in many cultures, but in Japan, it is deeply woven into the fabric of everyday life and education. The Japanese approach to cleanliness extends beyond personal hygiene—it reflects a societal norm that emphasizes respect, discipline, and communal responsibility. This paper explores how Japan effectively trains its children to be clean through a combination of school practices, cultural traditions, and family upbringing. These methods have contributed to the country’s international reputation for orderliness (...) and clean public spaces. (shrink)

The starting point for the considerations in the article is the statement of Keiko Yamanaka that the Japanese know nothing about resistance to the bacterium represented by another human being. In the article, however, we put forward the thesis that Japanese culture has developed a collective immune system resulting not from individual but from shared systemic immunology in connection with the performance of family, professional and social functions. The analysis of Japanese ‘cultural immunology’ includes an examination of the ways of (...) functioning of the body in contemporary Japanese culture. To this end, we first discuss the relationship between humans and nature in Japanese religious-ethical tradition. Next, we examine the Japanese relationship to the body as a special part of nature. Then we analyze the tension in the Japanese culture between individual and sociocultural bodies. In conclusion, we show what the sociocultural body is and how it functions in the system of ‘cultural immunology’ in contemporary Japan. (shrink)

“This paper reconstructs the structure of ethical judgment in modern society as a reciprocal system between individual and society. Traditional ethical theories—utilitarianism and deontology—have defined morality in terms of either consequences or principles. However, within today’s complex institutional and cultural networks, neither framework alone can adequately guide human action. This study redefines ethics as a dynamic circulation in which society safeguards the goodwill of individuals, and individuals uphold social order through ethical reasoning. By integrating utilitarian and deontological insights, the paper (...) proposes the theory of Reciprocal Ethical Structure, clarifying the foundation of moral trust in modern Japan and Western societies.”. (shrink)

What is a disaster? This paper explores the different hermeneutic levels that need to be taken into consideration when approaching this question through the case of Japan. Instead of a view of disasters as spatiotemporal events, we approach disasters from the perspective of the milieu. First, based on the Japanese «dictionaries of disasters», the Japanese vocabulary of disaster is described. Second, this paper reviews briefly the Japanese interdisciplinary disaster-management tradition. To highlight the human-made aspect of disasters, the idea of (...) fūdo 風土 is introduced. This concept allows us to see disasters as a phenomenon of the milieu, which emerges from the co-constitutive relations between individuals, communities, and the local environment. The final part debates the narratives by some national and international political actors that link «Japanese identity and culture» to disaster management and sometimes include nationalist claims rooted in the essentialization of the «Japanese exception». Given the cruciality of sociocultural and political representations of disasters tied to identity politics, and the increasing frequency and intensity of disasters, a long-term, local people-focused and culturally sensitive perspective on disasters might be better adapted to the climate change era. (shrink)

The recent controversy about misinformation has moved a question into the focus of the public eye that has occupied philosophers for decades: Under what conditions is it appropriate to assert a certain claim? When asserting a claim that x, must one know that x? Must x be true? Might it be normatively acceptable to assert whatever one believes? In the largest cross-cultural study to date (total n = 1,091) on the topic, findings from the United States, Germany, and Japan (...) suggest that, in order to claim that x, x need not be known, and it can be false. However, the data show, we do expect considerable epistemic responsibility on the speaker’s behalf: In order to appropriately assert a claim, the speaker must have good reasons to believe it. (shrink)

قراءة وتعليق لكتاب (فهم الإسلام في اليابان) للأستاذ الدكتور سمير نوح. يقع الكتاب في 256 صفحة من القطع المتوسط، ويتألف من مقدمة ومدخل وستة فصول، تتناول في مجملها طبيعة فهم اليابانيين للأديان بصفة عامة، وللدين الإسلامي بصفة خاصة، وفعاليات العلاقات العربية الإسلامية اليابانية منذ بدايتها وحتى وقتنا الراهن في معية المتغيرات الدولية المؤثرة، وطبيعة حياة المسلمين في اليابان: قضاياهم ومشكلاتهم وطموحاتهم، فضلاً عن أنشطة الجامعات اليابانية ومراكز البحوث والأكاديميين اليابانيين في مجال التعريف بالإسلام وبثقافته وحضارته. وتكمن أهمية الكتاب في كونه (...) يمثل مصدرًا ثريًا للقارئ العربي المهتم بالشأن الياباني مقارنة بالوضع الحضاري للعالم العربي – الإسلامي، بالإضافة إلى ما يحمله بين جنباته من إجابات لتساؤلات تؤرق بالضرورة كل من سمع أو عايش أو قرأ عن التجربة اليابانية. (shrink)

The origins and consequences of warfare or largescale intergroup violence have been subject of long debate. Based on exhaustive surveys of skeletal remains for prehistoric hunter-gatherers and agriculturists in Japan, the present study examines levels of inferred violence and their implications for two different evolutionary models, i.e., parochial altruism model and subsistence model. The former assumes that frequent warfare played an important role in the evolution of altruism and the latter sees warfare as promoted by social changes induced by (...) agriculture. Our results are inconsistent with the parochial altruism model but consistent with the subsistence model, although the mortality values attributable to violence between hunter-gatherers and agriculturists were comparable. (shrink)

Whenever fellow humans suffer due to natural catastrophes, we have a duty to help them. This duty is not only acknowledged in moral theory, but also expressed in ordinary people’s reactions to phenomena such as tsunamis, hurricanes, and earthquakes. Despite being widely acknowledged, this duty is also widely disputed: some believe it is a matter of justice, others a matter of charity. Although central to debates in international political theory, the distinction between justice and charity is hardly ever systematically drawn. (...) To fill this gap in the literature, I consider three accounts of this distinction, the ‘Agent-based’, the ‘Recipient-based’, and the ‘Mixed’ View, and argue that they are all unsatisfactory. I then offer a fourth alternative, the ‘Autonomy’ View, which successfully overcomes the difficulties affecting its rivals. I conclude by considering the implications of this view for the moral grounds of disaster relief in earthquake-stricken Haiti, New Zealand, and Japan. (shrink)

According to a popular account, epistemic reparations are intentionally reparative actions in the form of epistemic goods that perpetrators ought to give back to their victims in order to acknowledge the wrong and as a way to redress it. This account, due to Jennifer Lackey (2022), conceives of reparations as fundamentally transactional obligations—i.e., obligations regulating epistemic exchanges between victim and perpetrator. In this paper, I look at the case of the military ‘comfort system’ in Japan during World War II (...) to argue for an extension of Lackey’s framework to include epistemic reparations as structural obligations—i.e., obligations regarding the organisation and management of the resources and the background epistemic conditions that regulate interpersonal epistemic exchanges between agents. The upshot is the formulation of an account of structural epistemic reparation. If I am right, the notion of structural epistemic reparations becomes a fundamental theoretical tool for understanding (i) what’s at stake in major violations of human rights cases, like that of colonialism, and (ii) what we should do to take up our responsibility to right these wrongs. (shrink)

The objective is to analyse the cultural, social and political conditions of a decisive period of Japan’s modernity known by the slogan of “overcoming modernity” (kindai no chokoku). This slogan is the title of a colloquium, which took place in Tokyo in July 1942, eight months after Pearl Harbour, and associated influential and respected intellectuals. This colloquium and slogan signalled a deep and pervasive cultural, political and societal syndrome, conducive in the case of Japan to fascism and ultra-nationalism. (...) But this syndrome is not an experience unique to Japan. It is observed in every modern society, as a step in ofits past but also present evolution. This syndrome signals therefore an ambiguous and highly dangerous period. It expresses the collective experience of a society at a given moment. This experience conditions its relation to the past, its understanding of theits present situationand also the capacity of individuals and groups to respond to theiris present situation. TBut this collective experience is expressed in metaphysics subjective experience and inter-subjective bond reinforcing a community under intense pressure. In Japan, “oOvercoming modernity” expressed a deep disenchantment with toward modernizsation’s effects and sequels, along with grea deep individual anxiety and collective confusion. The case of Japan provides us with a unique knowledge of a major societal syndrome. The goal is to construct a theory capable of identifying today similar periods of deep political and cultural instability in nations like China, France, Russia and others, with the goal to analyse these cases and evaluate the resulting risks and potential responses. (shrink)

The causes of prehistoric inter-group violence have been a subject of long-standing debate in archaeology, an- thropology, and other disciplines. Although population pressure has been considered as a major factor, due to the lack of available prehistoric data, few studies have directly examined its effect so far. In the present study, we used data on skeletal remains from the middle Yayoi period of the Japanese archipelago, where archaeologists argued that an increase of inter-group violence in this period could be explained (...) by a population-pressure hy- pothesis. We quantitatively examine the effect of population pressure on the frequency of inter-group violence by compiling an exhaustive data set. We collected demographic information based on burial jars (kamekan) and the frequency of violence based on the ratio of injured individuals. The results are consistent with the hypothesis, i. e., high population density can promote inter-group violence. (shrink)

In August 2021, Froese et al. published survey data collected from 2,543 respondents on their subjective experiences living under imposed social distancing measures during COVID-19 (1). The questionnaire was issued to respondents in the UK, Japan, and Mexico. By combining the authors’ expertise in phenomenological philosophy, phenomenological psychopathology, and enactive cognitive science, the questions were carefully phrased to prompt reports that would be useful to phenomenological investigation and theorizing (2–4). These questions reflected the various author’s research interests (e.g., technology, (...) grief, time). Between April 7th and July 31st, 2021, a second questionnaire with the same question set was issued to respondents of the original who had agreed to do a follow-up. This was intended to capture subjective reports of life under social distancing measures a year after the initial survey. By this time–depending on their country of residence and health status–respondents had potentially lived with repeated and prolonged lockdowns and a variety of other restrictions on their social lives. When taken together, Survey I and Survey II provide a cross-cultural and longitudinal dataset that allows for analysis of longer-term impacts of imposed social distancing measures on people’s experiences. For researchers working in diverse disciplines, this dataset offers a rich resource that reflects people’s reactions to the imposition of different social restrictions in different countries and over different time periods. (shrink)

Whether man is predisposed to lethal violence, ranging from homicide to warfare, and how that may have impacted human evolution, are among the most controversial topics of debate on human evolution. Although recent studies on the evolution of warfare have been based on various archaeological and ethnographic data, they have reported mixed results: it is unclear whether or not warfare among prehistoric hunter – gatherers was common enough to be a component of human nature and a selective pressure for the (...) evolution of human behaviour. This paper reports the mortality attributable to violence, and the spatio-temporal pattern of violence thus shown among ancient hunter–gatherers using skeletal evidence in prehistoric Japan (the Jomon period: 13000 cal BC–800 cal BC). Our results suggest that the mortality due to violence was low and spatio-temporally highly restricted in the Jomon period, which implies that violence including warfare in prehistoric Japan was not common. (shrink)

It has been commonly claimed that prehistoric warfare in Japan began in the Yayoi period. Population increases due to the introduction of agriculture from the Korean Peninsula to Japan resulted in the lack of land for cultivation and resources for the population, eventually triggering competition over land. This hypothesis has been supported by the demographic data inferred from historical changes in Kamekan, a burial system used especially in the Kyushu area in the Yayoi period. The present study aims (...) to examine the previous claim by using an expanded dataset of human skeletal remains and Kamekan. First, in order to quantify the intensity of warfare, we developed a database of injured individuals found in the middle phase of the Yayoi period in two large populations in the northern Kyushu area, the Fukuoka plain and the upperand middle-stream of the Homan River. Second, we collected Kamekan data from site reports published after 1990 and constructed a comprehensive database to infer the demography in these areas. Finally, we compared the frequency of injured individuals and the inferred demography. The results suggest that the frequency of injured individuals and the population increase tended to be higher at the upper- and middle-stream of the Homan River than on the Fukuoka plain. Different assumptions of the lifetime of each type of Kamekan can produce mixed results on the relationship between demography and the frequency of injured individuals. They were positively correlated under the traditional assumption of constant time intervals, while there was no correlation using time intervals based on carbon dating by the National Museum of Japanese History. Thus, our results are partially consistent with the previous claim that the population increase and the lack of land and resources due to the introduction of agriculture were causes of warfare in the northern Kyushu area in the middle phase of the Yayoi period. (shrink)

The objective of this paper is to contribute to the international discussions on life and scientific technology by examining the images and concepts of life in contemporary Japan. In English the word Inochi can be rendered as "life". However, the nuances of the Japanese term differ in certain cases, and therefore I have chosen to use the term much as is. I first discuss the linguistic meanings of the word, and then consider several important features of the images of (...) inochi that have appeared in publications and responses from questionnaires on this topic. Some philosophical and metaphysical interpretations of the concept of inochi are then proposed. Finally a brief outline of the study of life is presented, suggesting a new way to approach bioethics and discussions on environmental issues. (shrink)

Various disciplines, including evolutionary biology, anthropology, archaeology, and psychology, have studied the evolution of rituals. Archaeologists have typically argued that burial practices are one of the most prominent manifestations of ritual practices in the past and have explored various aspects of burial practices, including burial directions. One of the important hypotheses on the cultural evolution of burial practices in Japan is the kitamakura hypothesis, which claims that burial directions (including Kofuns and current burials) were intended to be oriented toward (...) the north after the Kofun period under the influence of Confucianism or Buddhism. This hypothesis would be more plausible if burial directions were not oriented northward before the Kofun period. This research focused on the burial directions in the northern Kyūshū area of the Yayoi period, i.e., the directions of the kamekan jar burials. The results are almost consistent with the hypothesis, although one notable exception is found, and its possible interpretations and implications are discussed. (shrink)

This paper refutes that the first written document in which the name "Kyoto school" is found corresponds to the article written by Tosaka Jun (1900-1945) and published in 1932 with the title "The philosophy of the Kyoto school". It will be shown that it was another thinker, Tsuchida Kyōson (1891-1934), who in his Contemporary Thought of Japan and China, a book originally written in Japanese in 1926 and then in English in 1927, includes Nishida and Tanabe under the name (...) "Kyoto school", thus years before Tosaka's text. The inclusion of this unnoticed source contributes to the question about the historical significance of the designation of the "school" in the lifetime of its most famous members. Paper at XXV World Congress of Philosophy - Philosophy across Boundaries, Rome, 1st-8th august 2024. (shrink)

In Japan, from the pre-war to the post-war period, unique indigenous philosophizing cultures have been nurtured outside academism. The contemporary new philosophical practices which have been recently imported from Europe and North America are welcomed and widespread in Japan because of this indigenous traditional cultural soil cultivated by those local forerunners in the past. In this paper, the 'Life Experience Writing Movement', which was popular from the late Taisho era until the early Showa era, as well as the (...) Science of Thought journal, which was founded by Shunsuke Tsurumi and the other six coteries in 1945 and continued to be published for fifty years until 1996, are discussed. (shrink)

This short article is based on my special lecture entitled "Aristotle and the Philosophy of Education" at Tamagawa University Research Institute in Tokyo on September 19, 2015, through a recording of the spoken language transcribed in written form with some corrections. The lecture delivered on that day consists of two parts: referring to historical research and a statistical survey, the first half focuses on uncovering the fact that the philosophy of education has been slighted both in Japanese and Western academia (...) and that this fact is valid for both Aristotle's and contemporary studies on the philosophy of education; the second half endeavors to describe two possible research projects - namely, a classical-philosophical and interpretative study of Aristotle's philosophy of education and a contemporary-philosophical and Aristotelian study of the philosophy education. Some of these topics have been published but others have not. This short article concerns the first half of the lecture and measures the gap between philosophy and the philosophy of education in Japan through a statistical survey of the largest competitive research funding database in Japan: KAKEN. (shrink)

The teikei movement is a Japanese version of the alternative food movement, which emerged around the late 1960s and early 1970s. Similar to now well-known Community Supported Agriculture, it is a farmer-consumer partnership that involves direct exchanges of organic foods. It also aims to build a community that coexists with the natural environment through mutually supportive relationships between farmers and consumers. This article examined the history of the teikei movement. The movement began as a reaction to negative impacts of mechanized (...) and chemically intensive agriculture promoted by the Japanese government. The movement experienced a rapid expansion in the early 1980s, and then gradually declined thereafter. The organic market expansion and certification system intersected with both cultural and gender role changes, impacting the teikei movement negatively. Consequently, the membership of teikei consumer groups has shrunk. Furthermore, the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident caused unprece dented damage to organic farmers in the affected regions. Despite the scientific uncertain about the safety level of radiation exposure, the organic farmers and the teikei consumer groups managed the situation and found a way to inspect radiation contamination. They did so with the support by networking with other teikei-related actors. This response to the nuclear power plant accident suggests that although the level of embeddedness presumably varies among teikei actors, ethics guided by the teikei principles are effective in forging a resilient partnership between farmers and consumers and in keeping the teikei system alive as an agent for social change. (shrink)

This paper addresses the paradox of excessive drug regulation in Japan, with a focus on sleeping pill policies. While intended to curb misuse and illegal resale, these restrictions have paradoxically deprived patients of necessary treatment and fueled black market alternatives. By analyzing Japan’s case, the study highlights a universal contradiction: the more rigid the regulation, the more resilient and widespread illegal circulation becomes. The paper calls for a fundamental reconsideration of drug policies worldwide to avoid the harmful feedback (...) loop of overregulation. (shrink)

Abstract This paper presents a comparative analysis of how children are taught in Japan and the Philippines, with the goal of identifying opportunities for reform in the Philippine educational system based on universally balanced principles. Drawing from observed practices, values, and institutional structures in both countries, this paper outlines key contrasts and proposes educational reforms grounded in a holistic framework aligned with the universal law of balance in nature. -/- .

Mutual funds are common investments because they provide a cost-effective and effective means to vary your investments (or possess an assortment of securities -- stocks, bonds, etc.) without having to make a huge starting investment.

This paper analyzes the sociopsychological and philosophical implications of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s declaration to “abandon work-life balance” follow- ing her historic victory in Japan’s 2025 Liberal Democratic Party leadership race. The statement, while seemingly rhetorical, reveals a deeper continuity between Japan’s wartime ethics of self-sacrifice and the postwar culture of labor devotion. Drawing on theories of emotional governance, this study identifies the emergence of a new form of Digital Yokusan-kai —an online community united by affective consensus rather (...) than rational discourse. (shrink)

Whether man is predisposed to lethal violence, ranging from homicide to warfare, and how that may have impacted human evolution, are among the most controversial topics of debate on human evolution. Although recent studies on the evolution of warfare have been based on various archaeological and ethnographic data, they have reported mixed results: it is unclear whether or notwarfare among prehistoric hunter–gathererswas common enough to be a component of human nature and a selective pressure for the evolution of human behaviour. (...) This paper reports the mortality attributable to violence, and the spatio-temporal pattern of violence thus shown among ancient hunter–gatherers using skeletal evidence in prehistoric Japan (the Jomon period: 13 000 cal BC–800 cal BC). Our results suggest that the mortality due to violence was low and spatio-temporally highly restricted in the Jomon period, which implies that violence including warfare in prehistoric Japan was not common. (shrink)

This study of mine examines how India influenced East Asian Nations like Thailand, China, Korea and Japan through Socio-cultural exchanges by the origin and expansion of Buddhism. By doing this, I believe it will be easier for us to comprehend and study how and why Buddhism became so entrenched in these nations that it became their official religion. I strongly believe that this research will enable us to retain a bond that is stronger than it was in the beginning. (...) I believe we may march together into the future as partners to achieve universal well being by eradicating the dark age of racism and selfishness, enlighten humanity with the spirit of Non-violence and continuing to live as close cultural cousins by strengthening our shared spiritual resources. (shrink)

This paper explores the enduring influence of Ja-Ha-Kyu (序破急), a traditional aesthetic and structural principle derived from Japanese arts like Noh theatre, on contemporary urban life in Japan. Ja-Ha-Kyu, which translates roughly to "beginning, break, and rapid," provides a framework for understanding the dynamic pacing and evolving experiences within Japanese cities. This study examines how the Ja-Ha-Kyu concept manifests in various aspects of urban living, including the design of public spaces, the rhythm of daily routines, and the evolving nature (...) of cultural trends. By analyzing these elements, the paper argues that Ja-Ha-Kyu offers a valuable lens through which to interpret the unique character and adaptable nature of Japan's urban lifestyle, revealing a deep connection between traditional aesthetics and modern urban experiences. Furthermore, this research considers how the principles of Ja-Ha-Kyu contribute to the resilience and cultural identity of Japanese cities in the face of globalization and rapid social change. (shrink)

RESUMEN En el año 1965, Dale RIEPE realizó una cronología de obras de Filosofía Japonesa en la que encontramos referenciada la tesis doctoral de KISHINAMI Tsunezo, aceptada el año 1914 en la Universidad de Princeton y publicada en el 1915 con el título The Development of Philosophy in Japan. En la disertación de Kishinami encontramos varios aspectos que consideramos interesantes para analizar la recepción de un tipo de conocimiento, la filosofía, que en principio se entendió como “importado” de Occidente (...) y que durante los años siguientes a la publicación de su tesis se desarrolló buscando la originalidad e identidad japonesa propia. Este texto pretende analizar ese proceso de “desarrollo”, asimilación o yuxtaposición de la historia intelectual japonesa frente a la irrupción de lo “occidental” personificado en este caso por la filosofía. (shrink)

The Church seeks to be inclusive; one that opens her doors to everyone. For many Filipino Catholics (FCs) in Japan, their ecclesial existence is marked by a history of negotiation as “guests” hosted by the Japanese Catholics (JCs). Within this field of host–guest interplay, this paper explores the dynamics of sociospatial seclusion by employing the ideation of marginality pro ered by Loic Wacquant’s study on urban ghettos. The paper argues that the guest-identity of FCs must not be understood as (...) a unilateral action imposed upon by the dominant hosts against the former’s subjugated narrative as powerless victims. Instead, its maintenance is perpetuated by FCs’ elective and chosen ethnic clustering. In attempt to obtain better analytical clarity of this dynamics, this paper employs the functional value of the Cartesian plane as a mapping device in plotting historical events of interplay within a spatial field. The techne inherent in the Cartesian plane is embedded with the episteme of Wacquant’s ideation. Fused together, its utility as a heuristic device is herewith proposed. It is hoped that this theoretical construct can also be useful to any analysis of marginality contained within a host–guest interplay. (shrink)

Although the tradition of the Buddhist logic in India had been developed through the debates with non-Buddhists, that in pre-modern Japan hardly had such experiences. The applications of inmyō were limited to the disputes between the Hossō school (Japanese transmission of Yogācāra school) and another Buddhist schools. During the rapid modernization and westernization after the Meiji restoration, however, Buddhist logicians also encountered the non-Buddhist cultures including the deductive and inductive logics, Christianity, democracy and republicanism imported from Western countries. A (...) part of them, such as Kira Kōyō, regarded inmyō as useful for the democratic discussion, and promoted it to the politicians and the legal professionals. Their introductory books about inmyō included many sample expressions which criticized the existence of God and the authenticity of republicanism, as well as the unequal treaties forced by Europe and America. In spite of those efforts, inmyō did not become popular in modern Japan. In addition, it also lost the scholars' interest in the twentieth century, because of the introduction of the scriptures of Indian logic in Sanskrit and Tibetan. But the inmyō studies in Meiji period should not be ignored, since they were regarded not only as one of the intellectual refutations to the West in East Asia, but also as the previous researches which were studied by East Asian scholars of the Buddhist logic. (shrink)

The Japanese Transplantation Law is unique among others in that it allows us to choose between "brain death" and "traditional death" as our death. In every country 20 to 40 % of the popularion doubts the idea of brain death. This paper reconsiders the concept, and reports the ongoing rivision process of the current law. Published in Hastings Center Report, 2001.

It’s never too late to start getting smart about money. -/- Maybe you’ve made it this far with few problems … you’ve done pretty well all alone just by winging it. Good for you. -/- But retirement planning isn’t about the past 30 years of your life — it’s about the next 30. And that’s harder. There are decisions you can’t undo, and mistakes are tougher to recover from when you don’t have a paycheck to back you up.

Originally published as 「明治の哲学界：有機体の哲学とその系譜」in 井上克人編『豊饒なる明治』, Kansai Daigaku Shuppannbu, 2012, 3–22. Translated by Morisato Takeshi. German Idealism was introduced to Japanese intellectuals in the middle of Meiji era and was mainly received from a mystical or religious perspective, as we see in Inoue Tetsujirō’s “harmonious existence,” Inoue Enryō’s “unity of mind and body,” and Kiyozawa Manshi’s “existentialism.” Since these theories envisioned true reality as a unified and living whole, I group them under the label “philosophy of organism” and from there argue (...) that their conviction that “all is truth and truth is all” was shaped in large part by the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana. The understanding of Buddhist concepts by Meiji philosophers was philosophical in its content, and those who devoted themselves to the study of Western philosophy were encouraged to describe Eastern thought in Western philosophical terms. As a result, the philosophical world of the Meiji era developed an original standpoint that unified Eastern and Western perspectives by means of a logic of “phenomena-in-reality.”. (shrink)

In this review, I argue that Chōmei’s hermitism can be another realistic strategy to respond to Nagasawa's argument that only transcendentalism can constitute a potentially successful response to the problem of impermanence. Chōmei lived in a small house in the remote mountains and interacted with the surrounding nature. His lifestyle is considered a good example of reconciling one’s finite life with the impermanence of the world and human sufferings. I conclude that Nagasawa’s interpretation of hermitism might be one-sided.

Japan has been one of the nations where music education is not grounded on its own indigenous music. The universal slogan that school music education should be based on each country's own music has mainly remained unpracticed here. This essay is to clarify the exing questions raised by the above discussion--why Western music is still the core of public music education in Japan and how this came to be so. I then offer my views on the future of (...) Japanese public music education: how Japanese traditional music should be dealt with in school music education. The responsibility of Japanese music educators might be concerning this issue. (shrink)

Conservadurismo y dogmática constitucional en Japón. Conservatism and the dogmatic part of constitution in Japan.

This paper critically examines Japan's approach toward the adoption of Generative AI such as ChatGPT in education via studying media discourse and guidelines at both the national as well as local levels. It highlights the lack of consideration for socio-cultural characteristics inherent in the Japanese educational systems, such as the notion of self, teachers’ work ethics, community-centric activities for the successful adoption of the technology. We reveal ChatGPT’s infusion is likely to further accelerate the shift away from traditional notion (...) of self, which has been ongoing during past educational reforms, towards active and self-directed learning. The current discourse on Generative AI’s infusion in education is driven by neoliberal agendas aimed at increasing employability and individualism. Moreover, the introduction of ChatGPT in the context of Japan's educator culture offers potential solutions to address issues of overwork but also necessitates considerations regarding increased responsibilities for teachers and the preservation of their central role in student education. Finally, the irreplicable social growth fostered by community-centric activities in the Japanese educational system highlights the limitations of ChatGPT in replicating dynamic social interactions, emphasizing the importance of holistic approaches to education beyond technological integration. (shrink)

The objective of this paper is to contribute to the international discussions on life and scientific technology by examining the images and concepts of life in contemporary Japan. In English the word Inochi can be rendered as "life". However, the nuances of the Japanese term differ in certain cases, and therefore I have chosen to use the term much as is. I first discuss the linguistic meanings of the word, and then consider several important features of the images of (...) inochi that have appeared in publications and responses from questionnaires on this topic. Some philosophical and metaphysical interpretations of the concept of inochi are then proposed. Finally a brief outline of the study of life is presented, suggesting a new way to approach bioethics and discussions on environmental issues. This paper is a republication of Morioka (1991) in "Japan Review" under the permission of "Japan Review" and "Global Bioethics.". (shrink)

This paper examines the paradoxical dynamics of political leadership and mass reception in contemporary Japan. Specifically, it highlights how factions such as the Aso group strategically utilize the symbolic legacy of former Prime Min- ister Shinzo Abe to promote Takaichi Sanae, despite simultaneous criticisms of religious–political collusion that were central to Abe’s era. Through an analysis of Yahoo! Japan comment sections (Yafukome), this study demonstrates how online masses accept and even embrace internal contradictions: condemning the Unifica- tion Church (...) while praising Abe as a heroic figure. This contradiction reveals the mechanism by which populist energy is absorbed into the party system. The comparative perspective further situates this phenomenon alongside Ger- man cases of digital populism, showing that, in both contexts, social media spaces function as ”pseudo-consensus machines.” These machines allow contradictory sen- timents to be mobilized without resolution, thus reproducing the structural logic of prewar organizations such as Japan’s Taisei Yokusankai. Ultimately, this paper ar- gues that in the age of social networks, masses are not only controlled by top-down propaganda, but also by the affective circuits of self-reinforcing digital populism. (shrink)

Abstract -/- In 1998, the Council for Science and Technology established the Bioethics Committee and asked its members to examine the ethical and legal aspects of human cloning. The Committee concluded in 1999 that human cloning should be prohibited, and, based on the report, the government presented a bill for the regulation of human cloning in 2000. After a debate in the Diet, the original bill was slightly modified and issued on December 6, 2000. In this paper, I take a (...) closer look at this process and discuss some of the ethical problems that were debated. Also, I make a brief analysis of the concept “the sprout of human life.” Not only people who object to human cloning, but also many of those who seek to promote research on human cloning admit that a human embryo is the sprout of human life and, hence, it should be highly respected. I also discuss the function of the language of utilitarianism, the language of skepticism, and religious language appeared in the discussion of human cloning in Japan. (shrink)

This paper analyzes how the presence or absence of direct war experience shaped the structure of postwar Japanese literature, and integrates the philosophical implications of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s “80-Year Reflection on the Postwar Era.” The study di- vides writers into two primary lineages: those who saw the war (Waterfield realists like Mizuki Shigeru and Ooka Shohei) and those who imagined it (postwar constructors like Mishima Yukio and Ishihara Shintaro). By juxtaposing testimony and imagination, this paper argues that the ethics (...) of narration in Japan is inseparable from the metaphysics of memory, and that Ishiba’s reflection reactivates the very question: “Who has the right to speak after silence?”. (shrink)

This article briefly summarizes the key characteristics and social philosophies in Japan’s vision of Society 5.0. Then it discusses why Vietnam, as a developing country, can learn from the experiences of Japan in establishing its vision for an AI-powered human-centric society. The paper finally provides five concrete recommendations for Vietnam toward a harmonic and human-centric coexistence with increasingly competent and prevalent AI systems, including: Human-centric AI vision; Multidimensional, pluralistic understanding of human-technology relation; AI as a driving force for (...) socio-economic development; Bottom-up, participatory approach for building the vision; and Sustainability and inclusion in the adoption of AI. (shrink)

Marxist historiography interprets history as a linear progression from feudalism to capitalism to communism. However, numerous cases show regression, cyclicality, or stable non-civilizational soci- eties. This paper introduces the Theory of Environmental Cyclicality (“Kankaron”), which explains the emergence and persistence of states as a function of environmental conditions. Through examples from Japan, China, Egypt, and the Inca Empire, as well as Inuit, Abo- riginal, Maasai, and Amazonian tribes, this study presents a mathe- matical model and proposes a new perspective: (...) history is not linear progress, but cyclical adaptation. (shrink)

In this article, I reflect on why Japan, a country steeped in beautiful, functional simplicity and wabi-sabi aesthetics, has so many websites that appear cluttered and difficult to read. Drawing on examples from architecture, design, and everyday culture, I consider how this sublime sense of simplicity has not translated to Japanese web interfaces. I suggest that cultural resistance to change may be one reason, and argue for web design that unites Japan’s Zen-inspired traditions with contemporary web practices.