In the Bakumatsu period (1853-1868), Japan experienced many changes and challenges. One of these challenges was regarding how to learn from the West and how to use that knowledge in the building of Japan. One of the most important institutions for such Western learning was the Bansho Shirabesho, an institution created by the Tokugawa government in 1856 to translate Western materials, provide a school for Japanese scholars, and to censor the translations of Western works. This institution eventually gave language instruction in Dutch, English, French, German, and Russian and it also gave instruction in many other practical subjects such as military science and production. This thesis examines in detail how the Shirabesho was founded, what some of the initial difficulties were and how successful it was in accomplishing the tasks it was given. It also assesses the legacy of the Shirabesho in helping to bridge the transition between the Tokugawa periods emphasis on feudal rank and the Meijis emphasis on merit. The legacy of various scholars at the Shirabesho, including Katsu Kaishu, Katõ Hiroyuki, Nishi Amane and Tsuda Mamichi is also addressed. Finally, the thesis summarizes the evolution of the Shirabesho during the tumultuous early Meiji Period into the University of Tokyo by 1877. In addition to the thesis, in the appendix there is a full translation of a previously untranslated speech delivered by Katõ Hiroyuki in 1909 concerning the Bansho Shirabesho.

Hikikomori, a phenomenon which exists to date mostly in Japan, are people who seclude themselves in their bedrooms for an extended period of time and reject most forms of contact with the outside world. These are usually males and young people in their twenties who may comprise nearly a million Japanese citizens. Since Japanese and foreign media as well as scholars express different opinions on potential causes of hikikomori, one of the focal points of my work is to show that causal explanations of the phenomenon, especially those involving multiple causes, that are provided by different authors are not in conflict. I do so by arguing that social withdrawal may be a consequence of each cause on its own, but also the result of interactions between them. To demonstrate it, I analyze discourses of media and scholars and show linkages between the three most salient causes of hikikomori: conformity to Japanese society, the pressure of the educational system, and a problem of communication between parents and children. These factors represent the three distinct categories of my analysis Society, School and Parents. The second issue I address in my work is hikikomori as a form of resistance against the social order in Japan. My study shows that social withdrawal does not have to be an extreme form of behavioral deviation as such, but rather that it could be perceived as a radical manifestation of resistance in the society of Japan originating from within Japanese culture. This argument explains why hikikomori do not decide to choose an active form of resistance. Through a cross-category discussion, the thesis is one of the first to expound on interrelations of hikikomori causes originating from different spheres of life, such as society, school and parents. Moreover, the work elaborately explains the correlations between causes which makes it distinct from other authors publications. My study is also one of the first summaries of all potential factors mentioned by media and scholars that result in the problem of hikikomori, which will supply a better understanding of the phenomenon in the English language literature.

This paper examines Chinas ambitious Campaign to Open the West and its impact upon Han and ethnic minority populations in Xinjiang. It focuses on analyzing the components of the campaign that are being implemented to develop Xinjiang through the intensification of agriculture, exploitation of energy resources, and reforms to Xinjiangs education system, revealing that the campaign, rather than alleviating poverty, is leading to greater asymmetry between Han and ethnic minority populations within Xinjiang. Rather than a plan for bridging the gap of economic disparity between the eastern and western regions of China, as construed by Beijing, the plan fits into a greater strategy for integration and assimilation of Xinjiangs restive ethnic population by Beijing.

This thesis studies the perceived tension between classes in contemporary urban China using the 1992 urban survey data. By investigating people¡¯s class identification and perceived class tension, I find that middle class identification exists widely in urban Chinese society and the perceived class tension is not strong enough to threaten the existing political regime and social stability, or to push further reforms and the progress of democratization. My findings provide some explanations to the two puzzles that have confused researchers of China studies: persistence of non-democratic political institutions despite robust economic development, and persistence of regime stability despite increasing social inequality.

The aftermath of the performance by the Japanese delegation at the Worlds Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 has been well documentedit marked the beginning of the Wests introduction to Japanese Buddhism. What has been less well documented is the intellectual background and influences that went into producing that performance, in particular the performance of the man who would eventually emerge as the delegations most historically prominent member, Shaku Soen (1859-1919). This paper attempts to use Soen as a case study to examine the intellectual and political milieu which Japanese Buddhism helped to inform, and was informed by, during the Meiji Era (1868-1912). It draws upon established research, as well as primary sources (including Soens own Parliament addresses, writings, and journals) in order to support this examination.

National sentiment and identities are affective orientations of diffuse political support toward political communities. Language choice is suggested be a reliable indicator of community identity in Tibet for theoretical, historical, and practical reasons. Tibetan, Mandarin, and English are three language choices that are used to indicate three identities and three political communities in this paper. By using the language orientations of Tibetan high school students as the indicators of their community identities, I demonstrate the patterns of identity of Tibetan students with survey data. I also use empirical evidence to test the attitudinal and demographic sources of the students¡¯ variation in their community identities. The results reconfirm that the constructivist theory of the identity construction, which includes the primordialist and circumstantialist factors, has a fairly good explanatory power regarding the community identities of students in Tibet. And policy implications are offered from the educational perspective.

This paper examines the major thematic elements, or motifs, that allow the folktale Momotarô (The Peach Boy) 桃太郎to undergo changes in plot and usage as it moves from the oral tradition to nationalist literature. My research traces written motifs from a variety of classical and medieval documents to the emergence of Momotarô during the Muromachi period (1392-1573) 室町時代. I identify and compare these motifs within different versions of the tale to determine its change and continuity up through World War II. The paper groups the various versions of Momotarô chronologically into four time periods, researching the social, political, economic, and artistic histories of each to determine what overarching influences change or maintain plot and other details in the story. At the same time, I identify changes in political and social climate. By connecting this popular folktale with its origins, we gain a greater understanding of Momotarôs importance in Japanese history and culture. While the story has received recent modest attention in Japanese studies due to its usage in World War II propaganda, an exploration of the tales development is lacking. This paper seeks to shine some light on the growth of Momotarô and how it became the most recognized folktale in Japan.

Since the founding of the United Nations and the establishment of the Security Council there have been no changes to the makeup of the permanent membership. Indeed, with the exception of one amendment to increase the size of the rotating membership from six to ten the Security Council has continued unchanged. In the fifty-plus years since the founding of the world body and the victory over the Axis Powers that served as the impetus for its creation, the world has changed dramatically. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics has ceased to exist; the Republic of China has been exiled to Taiwan and undergone remarkable economic and democratic changes; the British Empire has morphed into the Commonwealth and the French Empire has collapsed. New states have come to the forefront to challenge the post-war status quo. Some, like Egypt and India, were colonial possessions of the imperial powers. Others, like Germany and Japan, were the defeated powers of the Second World War. Japan in particular has a unique economic, financial, political and military history that deserves special consideration as it relates to its ambition for a permanent United Nations Security Council position. Furthermore, the motives and justifications for why it pursues such a seat and the opposition it has received deserve just as much attention. This thesis traces the views of the leading figures in Japanese politics from the founding of the United Nations to the present and demonstrates that from the beginning Japan realized that the UN was a legitimizing force for their new place in the new post-war world. It also demonstrates clearly that lacking a clear definition of what a permanent UN Security Council contender looks like aspirant states are forced to create their own portfolios. Therefore Japan relies heavily on its strengths as an undisputed economic and financial power. Furthermore, it shows that despite strict Constitutional constraints on the use of the military Japans force is modern, well-funded and well-maintained. Finally, it catalogues opposition to expanding the Security Council into three distinct categories and explains them in their modern geopolitical context.

The famous cross-dressing heroine Mulan is a symbol of filial piety, a role model of female heroism in Chinese culture. However, most people do not know the story as well as they think they do. Besides the ballad of Mulan, there are at least four versions of the Mulan story. My discussion will be a comparison of various versions of the Mulan story and an investigation of the development of the Mulan story. Through the study of the zaju drama Ci Mulan tifu congjun (A Female Mulan Replaces Her Father and Goes to War) by Xu Wei(1521-1593), I question the commonly-held idea that Ming zaju were not written with an eye to performance. I argue that Xu Wei created scenes that were very entertaining for Ming audiences. This zaju play was not only widely read and may have been staged by household troupes for male audiences in the Ming literati world, but may also have appealed to common people. Though the story of Mulan was familiar to every household, authors in the Qing dynasty continued to add new twists to this old story and create more complex and intriguing images of Mulan. In the novels Sui Tang yanyi (Romance of the Sui and the Tang) and Mulan qinüzhuan (Biography of Extraordinary Mulan), Mulan commits suicide either to avoid unwanted marriage or display her loyalty to the ruler. The novel Beiwei qishi guixiao liezhuan (An Amazing Tale of a Filial Woman in the Beiwei Period Who Has Been Through Extraordinary Ordeals) challenges the audience by an explicit depiction of Mulan having sex with her husband. I examine the significance of the authors in the Qing dynasty depicting Mulan as a chaste or a licentious warrior. I argue that Mulan could be a symbol of filiality, chastity, loyalty and sexuality, or even a symbol of a mixture of all above. Her complex image may fulfill male authors' fantasies of a woman who has it all.

This study examines the advertising appeals delivered, and the cultural values reflected in Chinese advertisements in newspaper and on TV. It proved that the most frequently used advertising appeals are 'technological', 'status', 'enjoyment', 'vain', 'natural', and 'healthy' for print ads, 'effective', 'youth', 'enjoyment', 'technological', 'vain', 'healthy', 'traditional', 'family', and 'status' for TV ads. Most of them are product category related, but others, such as 'enjoyment', 'healthy', 'status', are universal for any products. The origin of brands makes a difference only on some appeals. Local Chinese brands tend to use more 'traditional', 'community', 'cheap' and 'morality' which are inherent in traditional Chinese culture. However, global and local brands are becoming similar on the choice of most advertising appeals. Among cultural values, group/consensus appeals are significantly more than individual/independence appeals; soft-sell appeals are significantly more than hard-sell appeals; modernity/youth appeals are significantly more than traditional/veneration of elderly appeals; product merit are significantly more than status appeals; symbolic values are significantly more than utilitarian values. Cultural values differ by product category but not by country of origin. Between global brands and local Chinese brands, there is no significant difference on cultural values except that local brands' TV ads keep more group and traditional values. The elements of 'Chinese culture' are broadly used by both local and global brands. Symbolic visuals are preferred to only literal visuals. Website addresses are shown in most print ads. Corporate image, new product ideas and life style are also given attention to. TV ads convey more group/consensus, soft-sell, traditional/veneration of the elderly, oneness of nature and symbolic values, but less hard-sell and status values than print ads. The implications of this research are: 1. Advertisers in China need to consider all the related variables-product category, origin of brands, media type, target market and culture-when choosing advertising appeals and cultural values. 2. Cultural adaptation is necessary and helpful. The issue is not what advertising appeals to pick, but how much Chinese culture to be added in delivering them.