Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Japan faces new security challenges due to the rise of China, the potential nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and the distraction of the United States forces caused by the "War on Terror". This will mean that, increasingly, Japan must take care of its own defense requirements. Unfortunately, this will not be an easy transition for a country with a past of militarism and colonial expansion, an aversion to nuclear weapons, and a political structure that has purposely limited the role and resources of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (JSDF). This thesis examines the legacies of the past - militarism, colonialism, the aversion to nuclear weapons, and the political structure that emerged after 1945, and assesses how those legacies impact the adaptation of the JSDF to the new security requirements of the 21st Century. The basic conclusion is that Japan needs to emerge from under the security umbrella of the a military power commensurate with its economic power. / Lieutenant, United States Navy

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / Military change has been a persistent characteristic of Japan's re-emergence from World War II. However, most studies focus on Tokyo's 'evolutionary-like' and 'incremental' efforts, rooting them in a host of structural impediments to change. Nonetheless, Japan continues to strengthen its reliance on the U.S. 'sword' while building a broader more effective 'shield.' Through three case studies (U.S alignment in the 1950s/1960s, the 1981 expansion to a 1,000nm defense perimeter, and post- Cold War BMD cooperation with the United States) this thesis shows that despite pervasive pacifism, deeply riven domestic politics, and apparent inflexibility on military security policy, Japan has nonetheless been capable of initiating significant military change. While international systemic factors and U.S. pressure have played a role, Japan's security policies have formed under the political, institutional, legal, and societal norms infused in the postwar environment. This has required political elites to subordinate national security interests to the influence of Japan's evolving domestic political environment. Ultimately, these barriers have diminished as Japan's domestic political environment has consolidated resulting in an ability to quicker react to external events. This thesis suggests that U.S. policy toward Japan, while important, overlooks the core issue of Japan's domestic politics in shaping its security policy. / Outstanding Thesis

The kind of diseases affecting Japanese people and the causes of death in Japan have changed a great deal in the last several decades due to various factors, most notably the advancement of medical technology and changes in life style. The number of people who die from life style diseases such as cancer, which are chronic and possibly need long-term hospitalization, increases every year. In the 1970s the hospice philosophy was introduced to Japan from the West. It encourages patients and their families to affirm life and to regard dying as a normal process, and offers a support system to help patients live as actively as possible and sustain a sense of selfhood, autonomy, and dignity until they die. In practice, however, the dying process is still not regarded as normal in contemporary Japan and many patients fail to die in the way proposed by the hospice philosophy. There is also disagreement between the patients and the medical professionals regarding their respective idea of good death. Hospices and PCUs, which were initially developed in order to provide humane care, have become places which provide a new form of institutionalized death, and consequently constrain the patients' dying patterns. In this thesis, I investigate the above issues from the perspectives of the anthropology and the ethnography of Japan. I demonstrate how the framework of van Gennep's rites of passage and Turner's concept of liminality can be used to analyze the current situation in Japanese hospice settings. I also perform an ethnographic analysis of Japanese attitudes towards health, illness, and death in order to illustrate the reasons why some Japanese patients fail to die a good death as proposed by the hospice philosophy.

Denna uppsats är en teoristyrd litteraturstudie om japansk nationalism under perioden 1853-1939. Syftet med studien är att tillämpa fyra nationalismteorier på utvecklingen av nationalismen i Japan, för att undersöka vilken av de fyra nationalismteorierna som bäst stämmer överens med det japanska exemplet.

The purpose of this thesis is to show the influences of the European and Anglo-American law, also called "western law", on the Japanese constitutional system. Even though the theme is rich and interesting, there is a lack of written works in Czech language on this topic, so I decided to produce a work that could offer an overview and serve as a guide to this subject. The thesis combines topics of constitutional law and legal history, while taking note of current circumstances as well. The thesis is divided into two chapters. First chapter examines The Constitution of the Empire of Japan, also known as Meiji constitution, the second chapter explores The Constitution of Japan, the postwar constitution from 1946. These chapters are further divided into smaller parts. First parts of both chapters deal with historical circumstances in Japan that resulted in the adoption of the constitutions, and the dramatic changes in political situation that called for new constitutional documents - be it the fall of the shogunate and unequal treaties in the case of Meiji constitution or Japan losing in the Second World War in the case of the postwar constitution from 1946. Second parts analyze the content of the constitutions and point out sections with western inspiration, or incongruities between the inspirations,...

The Japanese robotics industry stands out in both its scale and its diversity of innovations. No other country has put so much effort in research and development of humanoid robots. This phenomenon has been widely discussed in academic scholarship, and cultural, religious and socio-economic influences are widely cited as contributing factors to the shaping of robotics in Japan. This work is focused on a specific and relatively new product of this industry: the robot in human image, the android. The main feature that separates androids from humanoid robots is external appearance, a design aspect that has no operational function. This work attempt to offer a holistic theory for the existence of an entire field of study dedicated to creating robots that look just like humans. / Graduate / rita.livshits@gmail.com

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University / The present paper is an analytical study in which an attempt is made to evaluate the Japanese administration on Korea through a comparison with the concept and philosophy of democratic administrative institutions which prevail in the United States and an assessment of the extent to which the Japanese administrative system did meet the needs of the Korean people, thereby determining what elements of the two administrative systems may prove most valuable in the future development of Korean public administration. One assumption must be made for the purpose, namely, that democratic institutions are best adapted to the needs of the Korean people at this time.

Japan holds unique historical significance as the first non-Western nation to win recognition by the West as a modern 'civilised' society and a major imperial power. This dissertation examines the significance of this rise for ideas of human difference and world order in British intellectual life and beyond in the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 198-208). / Progress on women's equality in Japan is found to be constrained by state intervention in the women's movement. This intervention takes the form of regulations that limit the independence of women's group, as well as resources that aid and influence their activities. The result is a relationship between women and the state that is more cooperative than conflictual. For this reason, social change is necessarily slow, as it is achieved through constant consultation and compromise. These findings were reached through an examination of women's organizations, women's centers, and women's policy in Japan. Data collected on 889 women's organizations shows a vibrant and diverse women's movement. But Japanese government policies make it difficult for grassroots civic groups to gain legal recognition and develop beyond part-time voluntary associations into full-time professional organizations. At the same time, the Japanese government actively intervenes to aid women's organizations by providing various resources, such as direct funding, government offices for women's policy, and public women's centers. Data collected on 623 women's centers and analysis of various women's programs show how the provision of these resources allow the government to influence the women's movement. In this way, cooperation between the state and women's movement is institutionalized, minimizing social conflict and slowing social change. / by Miriam Y. Murase. / Ph.D.

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