Japanese Research

The Changes and Unchanges of the Liberal Democratic Partys Factional Politics from the Presidential Election

ZHANG Bo-yu

2022, 36(1): 1-8. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2022.01.001

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Factional politics used to be synonymous with Japanese politics, and the Liberal Democratic Party was also known as “factional coalition”. During the longterm independent ruling of the Liberal Democratic Party (1955 to 1993), the presidential election was conducted by faction. Factions were tools for presidential candidates to canvass votes or win the majority. It is an “abnormal state” for a nonfactional leader to serve as president—emergency temporary measures by the Liberal Democratic Party. Under the parallel electoral system of proportional representation in small electoral districts, the factional politics of the Liberal Democratic Party shows different characteristics from those under the electoral district system—the function of factions and their binding force are significantly weakened. Especially in the presidential election, the faction has been reduced from “the protagonist” to “a supporting role”. It has become a “new normal” for a nonfactional leader to become president, and a faction leader to become president is an anomaly. Regardless of the future development trend of LDP factional politics, its invariable logic is it is still governed by the rules of the invisible political game.

Analyzing the Motivation of JapanVietnam Defense Cooperation: The Case of Maritime Security Capability Enhancement Project

ZHENG Yu-long, ZHOU Yong-sheng, CUI Pu-ge

2022, 36(1): 9-18. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2022.01.002

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Since the second Abe cabinet, Japan and Vietnam have conducted defense cooperation in many aspects, such as highlevel military visits, security cooperation in many fields, and Japan maritime selfdefense force visiting Cam Ranh Bay. JapanVietnam defense cooperation is in line with Vietnams “comprehensive diplomacy” diplomatic policy and Japans IndoPacific strategy. The motives of JapanVietnam defense cooperation are mainly geostrategic motives (the common interests of Japan and Vietnam, and the needs of the IndoPacific strategy ) and economic motives. However, due to the huge differences in ideology and the huge pressure of public opinion inside and outside Japan, the prospects for defense cooperation between the two countries are uncertain.

Regional Disparity and Structural Decomposition of Carbon Emissions in Japan

ZHANG Ying1, HONG Ling-hua2

2022, 36(1): 19-30. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2022.01.003

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Japan has announced that it will achieve carbon neutrality in 2050. Based on the data of Japan’s carbon emissions in CEADs database, this paper decomposes regional disparities in Japan’s total countylevel carbon emissions, per capita carbon emissions, and carbon emission intensity from 2007 to 2015 by Dagum Gini coefficient, and explores the contribution of different carbon emission sources to the regional gap of carbon emissions from the perspective of carbon sources by using Variance Analysis. It is found that the carbon emission indicators of Japan show obvious regional differences, and there is an expanding trend over time. This means that although Japan’s lowcarbon transformation is effective, the processes of lowcarbon development of regions are not harmonious. The regional gap of total carbon emissions mainly comes from the differences among the eight regions, and the unbalanced lowcarbon development level among county units in different regions is the main factor leading to the regional gap of per capita carbon emissions and carbon emission intensity.

The Internal Logical Relationship Between Environmental Problems and Environmental Movements in Japan

CHEN Xiang

2022, 36(1): 31-40. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2022.01.004

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Japan’s environmental problems and environmental movements have caused a series of related social problems, which needs us to study from the perspective of long-term environmental history, in order to supplement the previous study of Japans problems from the perspective of politics, military and economy. The anti pollution campaign of Japanese people started from the tinge of class struggle before World War II, to the pollution struggle during the period of rapid economic growth after the war, and then developed into an environmental movement participated by local residents. After the mid1990s, a new movement mode was formed aiming at “environmental regeneration”, which led to the change of Japanese people’s environmental movement into more attention to the construction of social system. This change of environmental movement is mainly reflected in the different structure of the subject relationship of environmental movement in each period. This paper will start from this perspective to clarify the evolution characteristics of environmental movement in Japan and the logical relationship between environmental movements in each period.

Research on the Portrayal of Epidemic Diseases in Modern Japanese Literature

SUN Yan-hua

2022, 36(1): 41-48. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2022.01.005

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Modern Japanese literature is closely related to epidemic diseases. The relationship between tuberculosis and typhoid fever and literature is fully reflected in Hirotsu Ryuurous Decaying Chrysanthemum, Mori Ougais Persona and Natsume Souseki's Henceforth, Heart and Door. Among the works with the theme of Spanish flu pandemic, the symptoms and pains are recorded in the form of diaries, letters or essays in Akutagawa Ryuunosuke, Akita Ujyaku, Nagai Kafu, Kishida Kunio and other scholars works. These personal records are far more vivid and intuitive than official records, and can also arouse the resonance of future generations, which are quite enlightening for epidemic prevention. The novels play an irreplaceable role in deeply excavating peoples inner changes when challenging the pandemic of infectious diseases. Shiga Naoya's Influenza, Kikuchi Kans Mask and Miyamoto Yuriko's Nobuko are the extraordinary ones of such works. These works not only reached into the inner world of the characters, but also revealed the social issues, such as violence against others, lack of health concept, psychological comfort for foreign infected people, thereby reflecting the profundity of the works. Epidemic literature reproduced the aura, emotion and life of individuals swallowed by the tide of infection, which is the practical significance of epidemic literature. In terms of criticism of civilization and reality, Yosano's From the Sickbed with a Cold and The Fear of Death are thoughtprovoking. On the other hand, Japanese modern literature on the epidemic situation also exposed its limitations. It only paid attention to the living conditions and psychological states of individuals, and rarely dived deep into the community and society. Lacking a macro perspective and a grand framework, it was unable to grasp the situation of the whole society and the mental world of the Japanese population through the works when the infectious disease is prevalent.

A Study of The Setting Sun from the Perspective of Body Narration

FAN Jing-xia

2022, 36(1): 49-54. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2022.01.006

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The Setting Sun, the representative work of the famous modern Japanese writer Dazai Osamu, uses the body as the medium of expression and completes the narrative text on the body dimension. The body is a core element of The Setting Sun and an important driving force of plot development. From the perspectives of body narration and the sociology of body, this paper tries to interpret the body narrative characteristics of The Setting Sun by comparing the body narrative lines of the heroine and the other three main characters, and reveals the theme of selfidentity establishment and individual spiritual reconstruction through body struggle.

Experience, Knowledge and Politics: The Understanding of Mount Fuji by Chinese Intellectuals in the Late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China Era

XIANG Qing, GUO Wen

2022, 36(1): 55-68. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2022.01.007

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In the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China era, Chinese scholars understanding of Mount Fuji constructed multiple images and meanings of Mount Fuji as a representative of Japan, a symbol of nation and national spirit, a sacred mountain, a superb view, and a summer resort. It also endowed it with multiple faces, including “the mountain in a foreign country”, “a place in East Asia” as well as “the mountain of civilization”, thereby overall manifesting a shift from “objective narration and praise” to “the coexistence of praise and criticism”. This understanding was a formative process of knowledge and emotional connection between the subject and the object based on experience in a certain time and space. It was not only based on the experience and knowledge of the Chinese literati about Mount Fuji, but was also influenced by various factors such as views of modern civilization and changes in SinoJapanese relations. At the same time, it also exerted an impact on the selfknowledge of the Chinese people and the Japanese knowledge of Mount Fuji.

Diet, Culture and National Identity: The Formation and Change of Japanese Cuisine from the Perspective of Social History

SHI Chao

2022, 36(1): 69-80. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2022.01.008

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Food has the value of expressing collective consciousness and cultural identity. It can also be used as a judgment and explanation of “who I am”. From traditional Diligence Cuisine and Kaiseki Cuisine in the middle ages to the eclectic cuisine in modern times, military diet system in wartime, and modern “WesternJapaneseChinese” multiple cuisine, the Japanese diet system has been subject to the impact of conjunct moulding by driving forces such as national politics, knowledge and technology, imperialism and economic expansion. As a model of national cuisine, modern Japanese cuisine has inherited the core of food culture traditions in various historical periods since the middle ages. Japanese cuisine also become the basis and tool for identity by the discussion and guidance of industrial and cultural policies, and finally achieved the purpose of establishing collective consciousness and national identity internally and building the national brand and image externally.

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