Japanese Research

Impact of COVID19 and Japanese Economy in PostEpidemic Era

ZHANG Ji-feng

2020, 34(4): 1-14. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2020.04.001

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Since the economic bubble burst in the early 1990s, Japan has not achieved real economic recovery. After 2013, Japan has a low level of longterm economic boom, but in the second half of 2019, Japanese economy began to take a downward turn. The sudden severe COVID19 pandemic has seriously damaged Japans economy, and made it even worse. The direct impact of COVID19 on Japans economy is that it has important negative effects on Japan's tourism industry, air transport, hotel, catering industry and exhibition industries; the indirect impact is that the the contraction of global economy and the break of industry chain cause the reduction of foreign demand and the stagnation of domestic production in Japan. With COVID19 epidemic waning, Japans domestic economy is on the mend, but it is still in an extremely serious situation. Moreover, the UScentric epidemic spread is still very grim, and is far from over. The world economy is expected to continue to decline. Looking to the future, Japans economy in postepidemic era is facing many challenges, and the prospect is not bright. Japans economy will shrink by about 5% in 2020, and it will fully recover to the level before the epidemic after 2022. In the medium and long term, with the progress of superaging society, the fiscal position will continue to deteriorate, labor shortage will increasingly become a restriction factor, the hopedfor potential economic growth may not arrive, and slow decline of Japanese economy is difficult to change.

East Asian Regional Economic Cooperation and Japan’s Policy Orientation under COVID19

PEI Gui-fen，WANG Xin-ying

2020, 34(4): 15-23. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2020.04.002

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With the WTO multilateral mechanism stalled, regional economic and trade agreements have been progressing rapidly. CPTPP, JapanEU EPA, and USMCA have been in effect worldwide. Before the epidemic of COVID19, East Asia regional economic cooperation has also entered the fast lane; RCEP has entered the final stage; China, Japan, and South Korea also promised to accelerate ChinaJapanKorea FTA negotiations after RCEP. The outbreak of the epidemic has spawned cooperation in some issues such as epidemic prevention and public health in East Asian countries or regions, but it has cast a shadow over the established process of regional economic cooperation in East Asia. After the epidemic, the switching of Japans economic policy will greatly increase the uncertainty of signing RCEP during this year.

The Impact of the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia on Japanese Society: The Trend of Japanese Society in the “PostCorona”Era

HU Peng

2020, 34(4): 24-33. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2020.04.003

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The new coronavirus pneumonia outbreak poses the biggest challenge to the world since the end of World War II, and its impact has far exceeded the epidemic itself. Since the spread of the epidemic in Japan in February 2020, it has many impacts on Japans economy and society. The outbreak of the epidemic has spawned new ways of working; it has highlighted the lagging of information and communication technology in the education sector; the epidemic has had a greater impact on lowincome groups; the relationship between men and women has been challenged again;the degree of “no contact” has increased. The epidemic is like a magnifying glass, highlighting the potential social problems in Japan. At the same time, the epidemic is like an accelerator, accelerating the pace of social change in Japan. It seems difficult for Japanese society in the “post corona” era to go back to the past.So, where will Japanese society go?

The “Corona Divorce” in Japan from the Perspective of Generation and Evolution of New Social Risks

WANG Zan-wei

2020, 34(4): 34-42. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2020.04.004

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At the beginning of 2020, the global spread of CoVID19 had serious impacts on human society, and the phenomenon of “corona divorce” appears in many countries around the world.In order to relieve family pressure, Japanese government, enterprises, and social organizations have carried out different levels of governance.In terms of its root cause, “corona divorce” is the exposure of new social risks in the process of Japans transition to a “deindustrialized” society.In this process,under the influence of the subreplace ment fertility, the status of Japanese women has been improved, which has led to the transformation of the family, and profound changes have taken place in the form of family and the image of “home”. However, due to the influence of traditional labor and family concepts, the “worklife”status caused by gender differences is still unbalanced. The new social risks will intensify under the combined influence of many factors. In order to avoid risks, the actual divorce rate in Japan will not increase significantly in the short term.

The Initial Construction of Japan’s Modern Public Health Epidemic Prevention System

WANG Yu-kun

2020, 34(4): 43-53. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2020.04.005

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Since the Meiji period, cholera has been rampant in Japan several times. The Ministry of Internal Affairs adjusted the health administration, and the initial construction was quite effective, but the epidemic situation was handled slowly, and the police intervened to assist in handling it. After the formation of path dependence, lazy political thinking appeared in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, unwilling to explore more preventive measures. Although the local epidemic prevention system is gradually improved, the effect is not good due to the mismatch between the power of affairs and the power of finance. The health police model launched by Tokyo gradually penetrated into the local area. The health administrative department adjusts measures at any time according to the development of the epidemic situation and the operation of the department. With the efforts of Nagayose, local health trade unions work in concert with the police and epidemic prevention infrastructure projects to form a complete epidemic prevention system.

Research into the Essential Problem of Japanese “MUEN Death”

LI Shu-qin

2020, 34(4): 54-64. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2020.04.006

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In 2010, when “MUEN death” broke out in Japan, the Japanese academics almost regarded the essential problem of it as disintegration of the traditional community. Admittedly, since 1980s, Japanese single and solitude population has increased. It seems that the conclusion made by the Japanese scholars is absolutely right. However, an indepth analysis of the data will reveal that the Japanese singles do not originate from divorce, but from being unmarried. If the establishment of a marriage relationship means the rebirth of the family community, then being unmarried does not mean the disintegration of the family community, but that the family community is not reborn. In addition to blood ties, the Japanese traditional community based on geographical and industrial ties also exposes the problems it faces because of the phenomenon of “MUEN death”, but whether it can be called disintegration needs to be reconsidered. Disintegration or regeneration? Through analysis of Japanese official data, this paper finds that the fundamental problem reflected in the phenomenon of “MUEN death” in Japan is not the disintegration of the traditional community, but the dilemma of community regeneration.

An analysis on the Adjustment of the Policy Toward China in the Later Period of Satos Cabinet

YANG Yu-xiang, CHENG Ya-yun

2020, 34(4): 64-73. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2020.04.007

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With completion of the Okinawa negotiations between Japan and the United States and the easing of SinoUS relations, Satōs cabinet began to adjust its policy toward China, intending to achieve the strategic goal of “resuming diplomatic relationship with China”. However, Satōs cabinet can not break the shackles of the United States, and also refused to change the wrong policy about Taiwan, which led to the failure of his policy adjustment and also signified the complete failure of the Japanese principle of “Separation between Politics and Economy”. Under the historical background of the normalization of SinoJapanese diplomatic relations, Satōs failure made the Japanese public understand Chinas adherence to the principle of resumption of diplomatic relations. Besides, its policy adjustment objectively eased the tension between China and Japan, and recovered bilateral relations partly.

Soko Yamagas Kogaku and the Mencius Thought: Focusing on the Ideas of Tianming and Minben

ZHANG Xiao-ming

2020, 34(4): 74-80. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2020.04.008

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In the early Edo Period in Japan, with the rise of Zhuxi's Philosophy, the Ancient Studies scholars headed by Soko Yamaga were opposed to it and advocated returning to the primitive Confucianism. Generally speaking, Confucianism is referred to as the ways of Confucius and Mencius, namely, the thoughts of Confucius and Mencius, but what Soko Yamaga advocated is a retreat into primitive Confucianism professed by Zhou Gongdan and Confucius. Thus it is worth studying Soko Yamagas way of looking at the thoughts of Mencius. To figure out this, the author made very detailed analysis on relevant texts, including the Hiradoshi Yamagake manuscripts collected in the Yamaga Sekidobunko of National Institute of Japanese Literature, Yamaga Soko Zenshu published by Iwanami Hyoten, and Interpunction of Four Books published by Yamaga Soko Sensei Zenshu Kankokai.Based on the above text analysis, the Mencius image in Soko Yamagas philosophical thought was clarified. Then, the author made a further comparison between the thoughts of Soko Yamaga and Mencius, focusing on their ideas of Destiny and Minben Thought, which is of great meaning in understanding the revision and criticism made by the scholars in early Edo Period in their acceptance of Confucianism.

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