Rice acreage has decreased in the Mekong Delta, South Vietnam, a major rice-producing region. The area planted to herbs such as Houttuynia cordata has increased more than 1.5-fold in four years in Binh Minh, Vinh Long, Mekong Delta. This study focused on H. cordata, which is widely used and cultivated in the Mekong Delta, to identify specific changes in agriculture and livelihoods in the Mekong Delta by analyzing the results of interviews and questionnaire surveys that I conducted in the region in 2017–2019.

In the Mekong Delta, H. cordata is cultivated on a small scale for household consumption and on a large scale for sale. Commercial cultivation of the plant began before the 1990s and expanded in the region after the 2000s. Commercial cultivation of H. cordata is performed using chemical fertilizer. Some people use the plant four days a week, for example, consuming the leaves as a herb with pork and shrimp.

Results on the cultivation and utilization of H. cordata revealed that agriculture in the Mekong Delta has shifted on a large scale from paddy rice cultivation to commodity crop cultivation, and a distribution system for commodity crops has been established. Furthermore, changes were found in dietary habits in line with recent economic development in local communities in the Mekong Delta.

Bowlby’s attachment theory holds that an infant must form an emotional bond with a primary caregiver in order to have normal emotional and social development. The issue of multiple caretaking in the community of Pygmy hunter-gatherers has given rise to controversy over this theory, which focuses on the mother-child relationship in western society, and necessitated a re-examination of the theory. This study aimed to ethnographically describe the attachment behavior of Baka infants and caretaking by their parents with people throughout the community and to characterize this attachment behavior. The analysis indicated that when the two-year-old Baka infants in this study felt fear, pain, or sickness they showed attachment behavior primarily to their mothers. On the other hand, when mothers returned after a separation or were busy with subsistence or household activities, the infants did not show distinctive attachment behaviors to their mothers, probably because of the presence of other people around them. There was always someone in close proximity to an infant who could provide substitute care properly and flexibly because subsistence activities, household activities, caretaking, and other necessities are all traditionally group activities in Baka society. Also, the two-year-old Baka infants often showed attachment behaviors to their multiple caregivers. Therefore, the attachments of those infants in particular should be seen as a sort of a network consisting of multiple attachment figures, not just the single mother-child relationship.

Studies on waqf in modern times have focused on the reform of the waqf system, particularly the negative aspects that should be “reformed” as being unsuitable for the modern age based on the nation-state. This paper aims to critique this academic trend in waqf studies by clarifying the contributions of waqf in the field of public education in modern Egypt. It mainly relies on the statistical database on the finances of the Ministry of Waqf for the 60 years from 1897 to 1958, which is found in the Annuaire statistique of Egypt. The Ministry of Waqf was responsible for management of waqf, or more precisely, “charitable waqf,” and it was obliged to submit an annual balance report of its finances to the Ministry of Finance. Two main results emerged from analyzing the database. First, the charitable waqfs were funded by private donations, and their revenue was influenced by market trends, since most of their revenue derived from the rents of real estate such as land and buildings. Second, until the July 1952 Revolution, public education in modern Egypt, especially primary education, was widely supported by private philanthropic projects, and the waqf system funded by donations played a role in compensating for the lack of financial resources in the primary education policy of the state.

Nowadays, many countries regard that higher education as the best way to promote their national interests in contemporary international politics. Especially big powers started to pay special attention and importance to the use of education as an effective instrument/source of soft power. The foreign students after returning to their home country, often become “third party” or “effective transmitters” of the culture of their host countries, as well as they contribute their advanced knowledge and ideas which they gained from other countries on their nation’s development. This paper explores the relationship between soft power and higher education; unique characteristics of Japanese foreign policy for internationalization of higher educations and then, its contributions in shaping the bilateral relations between Japan and Nepal and hence further enhancing Japan’s soft power and public diplomacy. In this manner, it aims to contribute to broader research and policy discussions on the internationalization of higher education. Japan has also been contributing paramountcy in Nepal’s socio-economic development through its Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the forms of grant and technical and loan assistance. As financial engagement is known as a tool of Hard Power, however, Japan through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)’s technical training, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Monbukagakushō), also known as MEXT or Monbushō Scholarship, the Project for Human Resources Development Scholarship by Japanese Grant Aid (JDS), and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) fellowship programs and the Japan Foundation exchange programs has been amassing a quite big number of human resources for Nepal, which is known as Soft Power of Japan through Hard Power investment. And those Nepalese who have become acquainted with Japanese society and culture, become members of JICA Alumni Association Nepal (JAAN) and Japanese Universities Alumni Association Nepal (JUAAN) after returning to Nepal and have played a vital role in promoting cultural tides and developing mutual understanding between the people of the two countries.