Japanese Research

The Enhancement of Japans Regulatory Power in the Formulation of International Digital Trade Rules: Motivation, Practice, and Limitations

XIE Xiaoguang, HUANG Baoyi

2024, 38(6): 1-20. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2024.06.001

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Under the trend of fragmented global digital governance, developed economies are vying for the power to formulate global digital trade rules, and the regulatory power in the process of international digital trade rule making has become a key arena for great power competition. As one of the pioneering countries in the global digital economy, Japan, out of the historical, economic and political triple motivation of realizing“full normalization”, reshaping regional digital economic and trade rules, and seizing the opportunity in the digital game of great powers, has reacted positively in the digital era, and has been relentlessly pursuing the enhancement of the rule-based power in the stage of creation of international digital trade rules. The Japanese government has promoted Japans digital trade rule system through a series of macro national strategies serving the domestic e-commerce industry, actively participating in free trade agreements that include high standard digital trade rules, leading multilateral e-commerce negotiations, and actively engaging in digital trade cooperation and assistance to emerging economies. By Promoting its digital trade rules system through regional multilateral trade agreements and cooperation frameworks, Japan has achieved certain regulatory powers in the first thirty years of digital globalization. However, with the deepening of globalization of the digital economy, Japan still faces limitations in enhancing its regulatory power in international digital trade rule making due to three factors: its strength in digital economy development, its ability to develop the digital economy, and its partnership in digital trade cooperation.

After the “Fifth Five-Year System”: The Realistic Dilemma and Root Causes of Japans Liberal Democratic Party

WANG Jun, CUI Ziyu

2024, 38(6): 21-38. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2024.06.002

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Japans Liberal Democratic Party is a long-term ruling party in Japan. After the end of the “Fifth Five-Year System”, the party faces various challenges including election competition, internal governance, administration, and inter-party cooperation. Faced with the dramatic changes in Japans political environment, the Liberal Democratic Party has both the advantage of being a major party and the possibility of being powerless. On the one hand, the change in the competition mechanism between political parties has put higher demands on the Liberal Democratic Party, and the increase in “mobile voters” has led to greater uncertainty in the election results; on the other hand, the complex situation of domestic and foreign affairs highlights the limitations of the Liberal Democratic Partys comprehensive governance ability, and the stability of the cabinet is being tested.

Analysis of the Form of Regime Rule Before and After the Conquest of Mutsu ——Taking the Master-servant Dependency Relationship as a Clue

ZHENG Liquan, LIAN Degui

2024, 38(6): 39-49. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2024.06.003

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Unlike the historical process of gradual monarchical absolutism in mainland countries, medieval Japan was in a stage of unclear ownership of exchange items for a long time, which increased the degree of master-servant dependence within and between social classes, leading to the long-term dominance of the expansionist compound regime in the entire society. Among them, the social stratification caused by the expansion of the composite regime dominated by the court led to the gradual abandonment of the exchange system dominated by the court and the active creation of its own dominant exchange circle by the samurai class with highly consistent “aspirations and identity”. Its external political manifestation is that the expansion of the composite regime dominated by the samurai initially became the social dominant form after the land and the conquest of Mutsu, which blocked the exchange channels between the middle and lower class samurai and the court, causing the court to lose the support of the emerging samurai class, and gradually fell behind in the confrontation with the shogunate. The Chengjiu Rebellion is a strong proof.

The origin, Development and Challenges of Japanese Studies in the Period of the Republic of China

LI Wei

2024, 38(6): 50-59. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2024.06.004

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Chinese publications specializing in the study of Japan first appeared in the early Republic of China and gradually flourished thereafter. Among them, the Japanese Studies, founded in Shanghai in January 1930, can be regarded as the first regularly published Chinese magazine dedicated to studying Japan. Through a comprehensive analysis of factors such as the founding opportunity, publication process, content characteristics, and reasons for suspension of the journal, we can not only reproduce the historical background of the birth of Japanese research journals, examine the overall characteristics and academic level of Japanese research in China at that time, glimpse the time limitations and development difficulties of Japanese research journals, but also reflect on the status and significance of Japanese Studies in Chinese academic history.

The Depiction of Morbid Personality and “Personalism” in Soseki Natsumes Literature

WANG Ruifang

2024, 38(6): 60-69. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2024.06.005

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“Personalism” is a modern Japanese cultural ideological trend that emphasizes the pursuit of a sound and independent personality, manifesting across various fields such as philosophy, sociology, ethics, and literary studies. Soseki Natsume was an explorer, founder, and architect of “personalism”. His ideas are not only reflected in his literary theory and civilization theory but also in his literary works, particularly in the “late trilogy”. In sharp contrast to the idealistic depiction of personality in the literature of Japans “Shirakaba school”, Soseki portrays the opposite: selfish, dark, narrow-minded, hypersensitive, divided, abnormal, petty, hypocritical, and cowardly personalities—those are unsound. By focusing on such characters, Soseki aims to reflect the discomfort, pathology, struggle, and distortion experienced by ordinary Japanese people during the transition from traditional to modern personalities, set against the backdrop of the Meiji eras “Culturalization” and the clash between Eastern and Western cultures. However, within the stark portrayal of pathological personalities lies an implicit positive pursuit of the ideals and values of “personalism”. More importantly, through the depiction of such pathological personalities, Soseki elevates his critique and healing of the national character. Examining Sosekis works from the perspective of “personalism” not only transcends the limitations of pure literary studies but also reveals the philosophical, ethical, and sociological values embedded within his literature.

Analysis of Shibusawa Eiichis Concept of Family

MAEKAWA Yuta

2024, 38(6): 70-80. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2024.06.006

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Shibusawa Eiichi is hailed as “the father of modern Japanese capitalism”, and his “theory of the unity of economy and morality” that he advocated with all his might has attracted worldwide attention. Examining Shibusawa Eiichis concept of family from a micro-empirical perspective helps to comprehensively understand and recognize the multiple aspects of Shibusawa in promoting modern Japans transformation onto the path of economic modernization. As a leading figure in leading the economic development trend in the Meiji era, how Shibusawa Eiichi handled the relationship among family, clan and country has become one of the important microcosms for examining and observing the trend of modern Japanese society from the family level as the basic unit of society. Shibusawa was engaged in handling issues such as setting up an independent household from the “Shibusawa main family”, abolishing and appointing family heirs, formulating family laws and precepts and establishing a clan association, aiming to promote the “homologous structure of family and country” development model in which the Japanese family system and national progress go hand in hand. At the same time, on issues such as abolishing family heirs, Shibusawa also fell into an awkward situation where it was difficult to effectively deal with the complex emotions among family ethics, social ethics and political ethics. Shibusawa Eiichi family is one of the representative families in modern Japan, and its concept of family reflects that in the process of transforming from a feudal society to a modern society, the traditional family system underwent evolution and replacement under the impact of the modernization trend of “the wests influence spreading eastward”.

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