Japanese Research

The Foreign Policy of Japan's Yoshihide Suga Cabinet towards the Biden Administration of the United States

ZHOU Yongsheng, WANG Shan

2023, 37(4): 1-15. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2023.04.001

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As the successor of Shinzo Abe, Japan's longestserving prime minister, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said in his congressional policy address that the JapanUS alliance is the cornerstone of Japan's diplomacy and security. It is also the foundation of freedom, peace and prosperity in the IndoPacific region and the international community. Japan will work with Presidentelect Joe Biden to further strengthen solidarity between Japan and the United States. JapanUS relations will continue to cooperate in bilateral, international, regional, and human rights political relations. There are important differences in the governing ideas and styles between Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and President Biden, but this will not lead to major differences and conflicts in the relations and policies between Japan and the United States. It is easy to form a new complementarity of relations and policies between the two countries－ from the Abe administration to induce the Trump administration in the international pattern and policies in the past, to the Biden administration to lead allies such as Japan, using various international institutions and systems around the world to safeguard the values and national interests of the United States, while the Japanese government of Yoshihide Suga followed the United States closely to realize its own national interests.

Reconstruction of Northeast Asia's Security and Development Environment: From the Perspective of Human Security Community

GE Jianhua

2023, 37(4): 16-28. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2023.04.002

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To build a human security community, we need to deal with several pairs of relations: the “sustainable security concept” that focuses on security and development, the “cooperative security concept” that coordinates ones own security and common security, the “dialectical security concept” that establishes relative security and absolute security, and the “comprehensive security concept” that advocates traditional security and nontraditional security. However, there are four shortcomings in Northeast Asias security situation, namely, the asymmetry of Northeast Asias security structure－the imbalance between the short security board and the long economic board; the instability of the security situation－the mismatch between absolute security and relative security; the vulnerability of Northeast Asian security－the lack of comprehensive security of traditional security and nontraditional security; the competition of security consciousness in Northeast Asia－the opposition between selfsecurity and common security. To this end, in view of the shortcomings, we should take cooperative security as the guide to address the imbalance of Northeast Asias security structure, take common security as the core to address the vulnerability of Northeast Asias security, take sustainable security as the driving force to resolve contradictions and eliminate the soil of insecurity and instability, and take comprehensive security as the guarantee to coordinate and promote security governance in Northeast Asia. We should foster a strategic security environment conducive to peace and development in Northeast Asia by building a community of shared future for human security.

The Effect and Enlightenment of Japans Reconstruction of “Domestic DemandOriented” Economic Development Strategy

JIN Renshu

2023, 37(4): 29-40. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2023.04.003

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In the 1970s, in order to cope with the two oil crises, stagflation, and domestic economic downturn, Japan implemented the “external demandoriented” economic development strategy, which led to the fierce trade friction between Japan and the United States. Under the internal and external pressure, Japan has been committed to the reconstruction of the “domestic demandled” economic development strategy since the 1980s. It not only formulated the strategic goal of promoting the “domestic demandled” economic development, but also implemented a series of macroeconomic policies to expand domestic demand, that is, to optimize the industrial structure through technological innovation, improve the quality of economic growth and so on. However, Japan has not been able to turn to the “domestic demandoriented” economic development because of the lagging reform of the “domestic demandoriented” economic structure, the repeated mistakes of macroeconomic regulation and control policies, and the decline of international competitiveness. Obviously, Japans economic “structural reform paradox”has important reference significance for China to build a “double circulation” development pattern.

The “Dividend First Doctrine” of Japan‘s Non-Zaibatsu Joint-Stock Companies and Its Postwar Legacy

PING Liqun

2023, 37(4): 41-51. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2023.04.004

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The choice of institutions in human evolution is influenced by collective perceptions based on historical experience. The nonZaibatsu jointstock companies were Japans initial practice of the Western jointstock company system. Non Zaibatsu jointstock companies, which rely on capital markets to raise funds, are characterized by “Dividend First Doctrine,” whether controlled by a majority shareholder who is a parttime director or by a majority shareholder who is a fulltime director and operator. The shortterm behavior of excessive dividends caused by the “Dividend First Doctrine” seriously hinders the development of the company. Public opinion attributed the shortterm behavior of “Dividend First Doctrine” to the control of major shareholders. As a result, a negative impression of shareholders control was created in Japanese society. After World War II, a consensus was formed in Japanese society to weaken the legitimacy of shareholders power by establishing a nonmarket governance mechanism based on the collective memory that “control by major shareholders is not conducive to sustainable corporate development”. The historical legacy of corporate governance practices of nonZaibatsu jointstock companies has become an important factor influencing the evolution of corporate governance in Japan.

An Analysis of the Characteristics of the Construction of Japanese Tea Ceremony Spirit

ZHANG Jianli

2023, 37(4): 52-61. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2023.04.005

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The Japanese tea ceremony is a unique and comprehensive life culture gradually formed during the localization of Chinese tea ceremony and Western cultural values. China is not only the birthplace of tea trees, but also the birthplace of tea ceremony culture. Japan, limited by its material and spiritual shortcomings in the cultural downstream, adhered to the policy of “confusion and Han marginalization” in the process of regulating and constructing its tea ceremony culture, and developed and abandoned the concept of Chinese tea ceremony. Since the 20th century, with a strong sense of self sufficiency, the Japanese tea people have explored the concepts of “democracy”, “equality”, and “freedom” in Japanese tea ceremonies, deliberately strengthening their identity with Western cultural values. The Japanese tea ceremony is a product of the development of the times. The construction of the Japanese tea ceremony spirit that keeps up with the times not only reflects some regular characteristics of Japan‘s absorption of foreign culture, but also highlights some typical characteristics of Japan’s national character.

A Comparison between China and Japans Traditions of Living in Seclusion

CAO Yongjie

2023, 37(4): 62-70. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2023.04.006

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Both China and Japan have a long tradition of withdrawing from the society and living in seclusion. Although the Japanese tradition is deeply influenced by the Chinese tradition, the two traditions differ in terms of the identity and number of hermits, the types of seclusion, and the thinking and motive for the lifestyle. In China a hermit is a scholar who chooses to withdraw from the public and political life, be it a Confucianist, who waits for a better chance or a Taoist, who aims to be true and protect himself, and there are systematic thoughts thereof. While in Japan a hermit can originally be one with royal blood, a noble, a warrior or even a civilian who realizes the vanity of life or pursues a life of refinement, and qualification is uniformly through conversion to Buddhism. Japanese thoughts upon living in seclusion find their origin in Chinese Taoism and Buddhism, and flow within the banks of Japans own tradition after merging with its local culture. Behind the scene lies the clear variation between the two nations in political system, social structure, philosophical tradition, and psychological mechanism in their ancient times.

Japan’s Experience in Safeguarding Festival-Type Intangible Cultural Heritage: An Overseas Ethnographic Study

FANG Yun 1，TIAN Zhaoyuan 2

2023, 37(4): 71-80. DOI: 10.14156/j.cnki.rbwtyj.2023.04.007

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Under the framework of international cooperation in the safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, the protection of Chinas festival heritage requires an international research perspective. The ethnography of overseas festivals is the reflection of the exchange, interaction, and construction of identity of multicultural festival spaces by placing festival heritage in an international context. The study of the Kunchi Festival in Nagasaki Japan can be conducted from the perspective of overseas ethnography of the festival, and the process of blending and interacting between Japanese local culture and traditional Chinese culture can be deeply described. Through the analysis of the core rituals, organizational practices, and constantly evolving celebration activities of the Kunchi Festival, the characteristics and functions of cultural interaction between different historical stages and regional communities can be presented clearly, thereby highlighting the function and utility of festival heritage in constructing cultural identity and national identity. The new community structure relationship, efficient operation mechanism, economic production efficiency and multidimensional cultural identity construction path formed in the practice of safeguarding festivals heritage are worth being examined about its successful experiences and models, so as to provide reference for Chinas festival heritage protection.

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