{"title":"Correction to: Sengo nihon no ‘kakushin’ seiryoku—teikō to suibō no seijishi (Reformists in Postwar Japan: A Postwar History of Opposition and Decline)","authors":"","doi":"10.1093/ssjj/jyad017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ssjj/jyad017","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44320,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Japan Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73122221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Detecting Air Pollution Clusters in Japan: A Spatial Analysis Approach","authors":"Alvaro Dominguez","doi":"10.1093/ssjj/jyad013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ssjj/jyad013","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 We rely on satellite data to study the spatial distribution of air pollutants and economic activity for 1,650 municipalities of all four main islands of Japan: Honshu, Kyushu, Hokkaido, and Shikoku. Specifically, we analyze atmospheric particulate matter and ozone concentrations, as well as population density, accessibility to cities, and night lights for the above islands. We then make use of principal component analysis, spatial dependence analysis, and methods of regionalization to endogenously classify the municipalities based on their similarity in attributes and geographic location. The spatial dependence analysis provides results which show us the specific sites where the high-value clusters (hot spots) and low-value clusters (cold spots) are located. These show a high positive correlation between economic activity and air pollution. Additionally, we perform a regionalization analysis of the variables under consideration, which specifies how the four main islands can be regionalized into six to nine geographical regions or structures, each. The regionalization takes into consideration both pollution levels and economic activity. We then conclude by discussing how these different analyses can complement each other, and how they contribute in finding the locations where policies related to air quality can help in improving the quality of life of the population.","PeriodicalId":44320,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Japan Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89400703","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Setting Down the Skewer: Japan’s Brazilian Food Businesses During the COVID-19 Pandemic","authors":"Rumika Suzuki Hillyer","doi":"10.1093/ssjj/jyad009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ssjj/jyad009","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Drawing from fieldwork conducted from September 2020 to August 2021, this qualitative, interview-based research note explores how Japan’s Brazilian food industry was uniquely affected by the COVID pandemic and the Japanese government’s counter-virus measures. Most Brazilian food establishments in Japan are churrascaria, which include a buffet-style setting and waiters who carve skewered grilled meat directly at patrons’ tables. Given the active discouragement of in-person dining generally and buffet-style specifically by the Japanese government, Brazilian churrascaria had to adjust their operations and menus to meet new dining norms. Moreover, many workers in the Brazilian food industry are immigrants working part time, whose vulnerability was compounded by limited Japanese proficiency and lower socioeconomic statuses. Data derived from interviews with 20 individuals working in Japan’s Brazilian food industry, including owners, chefs, servers, and suppliers, show specifically how this more ‘niche’ industry and its workers were uniquely affected by the pandemic. This research note can therefore serve as an abbreviated case study for future social scientific inquiries that analyze inequality in Japan’s restaurant industry stemming from COVID-19 and the Japanese government’s varied approach to protecting the food industry and its workers.","PeriodicalId":44320,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Japan Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76843063","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Health Insurance Politics in Japan: Policy Development, Government, and the Japan Medical Association by Takakazu Yamagishi","authors":"Susanne Brucksch","doi":"10.1093/ssjj/jyad010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ssjj/jyad010","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44320,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Japan Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85056780","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sengo nihon no ‘kakushin’ seiryoku—teikō to suibō no seijishi (Reformists in Postwar Japan: A Postwar History of Opposition and Decline)","authors":"Romeo Marcantuoni","doi":"10.1093/ssjj/jyad006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ssjj/jyad006","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44320,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Japan Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-06-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74768439","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sengo nihon no kankei shūfuku gaikō: Kokusai seiji riron ni yoru rekishi bunseki (Postwar Japanese Relations Restoration Diplomacy: Historical Analysis Through International Political Theory)","authors":"M. Itayama","doi":"10.1093/ssjj/jyad007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ssjj/jyad007","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44320,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Japan Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-06-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75545333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Japan in the Heisei Era (1989–2019): Multidisciplinary Perspectives","authors":"Annette Schad-Seifert","doi":"10.1093/ssjj/jyad008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ssjj/jyad008","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44320,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Japan Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-06-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79865681","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Flexibly Maintained Inequality in Workplace Flexibility: Absolute and Relative Shifts in Telework Under Covid-19","authors":"S. Araki","doi":"10.1093/ssjj/jyad004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ssjj/jyad004","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Recent research argues that the availability of flexible work arrangements (FWA) is unequally distributed among workers. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic has drastically transformed the way we work, including the abrupt introduction of telework. However, we know little about how workers are stratified in telework usage under the global crisis and how it differs from pre-pandemic times. This study leverages the nation-wide longitudinal survey data in Japan to investigate (a) who are more/less likely to be excluded from telework and (b) how the structure changes from 2019 to 2022, with close attention to both absolute and relative shifts. The analysis shows (a) the absolute amount of telework opportunities has increased in the wake of the pandemic; but (b) the relative inequality among workers has rather been intensified since 2020, with the probability of non-telework ranging from 0.6 to 0.9 across their socio-economic attributes and (c) labour stratification in telework use persists over time despite its fluctuating magnitude. One may call this social phenomenon ‘flexibly maintained inequality (FMI)’ in that relative inequalities remain via adjusting their absolute thresholds across worker segments. Examining the mechanism of FMI and its impact on individuals, organisations, and societies is crucial for future research and relevant policy/practice.","PeriodicalId":44320,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Japan Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85978411","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Policy, Society, and Immigrants in Japan","authors":"Deborah J Milly","doi":"10.1093/ssjj/jyad005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ssjj/jyad005","url":null,"abstract":"Journal Article Policy, Society, and Immigrants in Japan Get access Imin to nihon shakai: dēta de yomitoku jittai to shōraizō. (Immigrants and Japanese society: Realities and a vision for the future as seen through data), By Nagayoshi Kikuko. Tokyo: Chūō Kōron Shinsha, 2020, 304 pp., ¥900 plus tax (ISBN 978-4121025807)Help (Not) Wanted: Immigration Politics in Japan, By Michael Strausz. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2019, 214 pp., $32.95 (ISBN 978-1438475523)Immigrant Japan: Mobility and Belonging in an Ethno-Nationalist Society, By Gracia Liu-Farrer. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2020, 276 pp., $39.95 (ISBN 978-1501748622)Immigrant Incorporation in East Asian Democracies, By Erin Aeran Chung. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020, 270 pp., $34.99 (ISBN 978-1107616967) Deborah J Milly Deborah J Milly Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA She can be reached by e-mail at djmilly@vt.edu https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6887-4121 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Social Science Japan Journal, jyad005, https://doi.org/10.1093/ssjj/jyad005 Published: 01 June 2023","PeriodicalId":44320,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Japan Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136169670","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Disability Prestige and Perceived Disability Disadvantage: Intersubjective Structure of Disability as a Social Disadvantage in the Japanese Metropolitan Area","authors":"Kenjiro Sakakibara","doi":"10.1093/ssjj/jyad012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ssjj/jyad012","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper explores disability disadvantage in Japanese society by analyzing the structure of people’s perceptions. Following in part the occupational prestige ranking, a random-sampled postal survey conducted in 2018 in the Southern Kanto District of Japan measured the extent to which respondents thought 33 different bodily conditions were an impediment to aspects of social life (e.g. work, school, and marriage) on a six-point scale. There were 248 valid cases (24.8%) out of the sample of 1,000 persons. Based on the mean scores for each bodily condition, physical and sensory conditions ranked high, psychiatric conditions ranked in the intermediate range, and disfigurements ranked low, as confirmed by multidimensional scaling using Euclidean distance. Alternatively, based on correlations of response patterns as similarity, some clusters of disability types emerged: physical/mental incapacity, mental/physical disorders, and disfigurement. These results indicate the residual social disadvantage for some disability types according to perception in Japan, while suggesting diversity among disabilities both quantitatively and qualitatively. The latter point also implies different corporal meanings attached to different aspects of body function and structure.","PeriodicalId":44320,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Japan Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135142764","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}