COMMONS
Online ISSN : 2436-9187
Volume 2023, Issue 2
Commons vol.2
Displaying 1-19 of 19 articles from this issue
Special Issue: Margins
Essays
  • The art of reading, thinking, and writing
    Takamitsu Yamamoto
    2023 Volume 2023 Issue 2 Pages 5-12
    Published: 2023
    Released on J-STAGE: April 06, 2023
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    If you look back on the history of reading, you may find numerous examples of “marginalia”. The word “marginalia” can be loosely described as a note written in the margins of a book. In this essay, I look at such marginalia as the traces of the work of the reader’s mind: feeling and thought. These points of view help us better understand our state of reading, thinking and writing in the digital world.
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  • Fumihiko Omori
    2023 Volume 2023 Issue 2 Pages 13-36
    Published: 2023
    Released on J-STAGE: April 06, 2023
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    The purpose of this paper was to investigate the possible existence of "margin" in urban spaces. In order to cover urban spaces where margins are likely to be found, actual cases were referred to on the topics of public, private and suburban areas. We extracted the elements necessary to find margins in cities.
    First, as a prerequisite, we qualitatively understood the factors that lead to the establishment of cities from both economic and political perspectives. Next, we analyzed the factors and processes of the establishment of the city by identifying (1) Public space; road, park, public facility, and urban river, (2) Private space; store, residence, and public bathhouse, and (3) Suburban area; residential complex, urbanization restricted area, and sprawl residential area.
    As a result, the following factors were identified: (1) margins can be established only in the context of multiple relationships between those who provide them and those who use them, (2) margins are a "process" that always seeks to change the current situation, (3) margins are "willing" to continue leaving possibilities for the future, and (4) a certain level of "attachment" to the area is a necessary component, which is unique to the space. In order to create some kind of margins in actual urban spaces, it is necessary to work with these elements.
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Peer-reviewed Articles
  • The "Japanization" of Daoyuan-World Red Swastika Society under the Sino-Japanese War and the "Greater East Asian War"
    Bunya Tamaoki
    2023 Volume 2023 Issue 2 Pages 95-131
    Published: 2023
    Released on J-STAGE: April 06, 2023
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    This paper focuses on and clarifies the background and the activities of the Supporters' Association of World Red Swastika Society as a "legacy" of the Second Oomoto Incident.
    The Supporters' Association "supports" the Chinese religious and charitable organization Daoyuan-World Red Swastika Society. The Daoyuan was officially established in China Jinan in 1921. The core activities of the Fu-ji (Automatic writing) and meditation, and it advocated the "unity of the five religions" and "salvation" through charity.
    In 1923, the Red Swastika society formed an alliance with Oomoto-kyo and developed the "Cooperation Movement" (1923-1935). In this process, the two organizations, influencing each other in both organization and doctrine, and engaged in various activities such as the movement to establish the "Manchukuo" state.
    After the destruction of Oomoto-kyo by the incident, the Cooperation movement also disappeared, but then the Supporters' Association appeared. The group included former followers of Oomoto-kyo, psychic researchers, military personnel, politicians, and various others, and their activities were subsidized by Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, amidst a mixture of their own agendas. They were involved in donating money to the Red Swastika Society in mainland China, introducing the Society, and conducting psychic experiments. These activities, however, had little to do with the Red Swastika Society in mainland China and eventually merged with the Shinto circle "Kodo-Daikyo".
    In other words, it is thought that these activities were an attempt to "revive" the Cooperation Movement left behind by the incident through the "Japanization" of the Red Swastika Society.
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  • Parenthood through Assisted Reproductive Technology
    Maho Tamaki
    2023 Volume 2023 Issue 2 Pages 132-152
    Published: 2023
    Released on J-STAGE: April 06, 2023
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    This is a study aimed to ask what "parent and child" and "family" mean from a legal point of view, and to consider the rights of a "child" born from assisted reproductive technology involving a third party. Specific issues of "the right to know one's origin" in Japan and all issues that might arise from the perspectives of the parent–child relationship and family law have been examined. "The right to know one's origin" is defined as the right of the child to know "how he/she was conceived and who the parents are." There are currently no laws regarding "the right to know one's origin" in Japan. Based on the above, in the final chapter, it is shown that "the right to know one's origin" of children born from assisted reproductive technology is seen as being a "benefit to the child," and considered necessary for the child's protection. As a research method, we conduct a literature survey and analyze the "right to know one's origin" of children born from assisted reproductive technology involving a third party, and the "right not to know one's origin", which is a related right. In conclusion, in order to the importance of the "interests of the child," clarify the relationship between the "right to know one's origin" and the "right not to know one's origin" and the need for public management of information are stated.
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  • deconstruction from dominance / subordination
    Koki Ono
    2023 Volume 2023 Issue 2 Pages 153-180
    Published: 2023
    Released on J-STAGE: April 06, 2023
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    This paper discusses the fan inner practice by Johnny's male fans from the perspective of sociology and gender.
    Three informants who loved the male idols mainly in their 20s were interviewed. The results show that they considered the male idols as "cute." In general, it is uncommon for men to rate other males as "cute," but we found that the fans love the "flirty" relationships between idols, characters of "princesses," and behaviors that do not fit into the normative masculinity. In this paper, these social backgrounds are discussed quoting liquid modern theory with related with difficulties to live of males.
    When the practice of evaluating Johnny's idols as "cute" by the male fans is focused on, it is turned out that through gazing at the idols, they approve their own "out-of-masculinity" as a male identity which is not located in normative masculinity and deconstructed from hierarchy of dominance/subordination in hegemonic masculinity. The approval practice of "out-of-masculinity" can be classified into two categories: "approval of out-of-masculinity through the gaze from femininity in oneself," or looking at Johnny's idols as male from an inherent feminine perspective, and "approval of out-of-masculinity through the gaze at femininity in others," or looking at the femininity in Johnny's idols from male perspective.
    From the above research, this paper points out the existence of femininity in male which isn't discussed within social constructionism and the detail and approval practice of "out-of-masculinity" which the Connell's theory of hegemonic masculinity as a framework of dominance / subordination didn't capture.
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  • Rikako Kashima
    2023 Volume 2023 Issue 2 Pages 181-210
    Published: 2023
    Released on J-STAGE: April 06, 2023
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    This study analyzes the "experience" of phantom limbs held by upper limb amputees and paraplegics, in line with the subjective perceptions of the parties involved collected during fieldwork. A phantom limb is a sensation in the hand that is not supposed to exist, but is still felt by the subject after the amputation or paralysis of the upper limb. Despite the fact that phantom limbs are extremely subjective sensations that have no physical counterparts, there are few studies that analyze the experiences of the patients involved. Previous studies on phantom limbs are largely divided into two categories: those that focus on numerical values such as electrical activity of the brain or changes in muscle potentials as the subject of treatment, and those that discuss only the continuity with the past body as a specific representation of "feeling a missing arm," and have not focused on phantom limbs as an experience accompanied by change.
    In this paper, we take the phantom limb from the temporal perspective of "experience," and clarify what kind of "hand" the phantom limb is for the person concerned, in line with its specificity. As a result of repeated VR rehabilitation, which has been shown to be partially effective in alleviating phantom limb pain, the memory of the former hand fades, and the hand that can be moved for the person concerned is replaced by the "image hand" of the VR. In other words, the phantom limb that the party has is never a permanent "lost hand," even cognitively. Of course, it is not completely disconnected from the hand that once physically existed. For example, there were cases of paraplegics who were faced with the "conflict" of whether to consider the paralyzed limb or the shapeless phantom limb as the "real hand." The difference in the distance to the re-embodied body, which the paralyzed limb was considered to be the "real hand," was manifested in the difference in the hand that was reacquired as "my hand."
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  • introducing the analogy of Francis Bacon's "seedlings"
    Yoshimi Takuwa
    2023 Volume 2023 Issue 2 Pages 211-227
    Published: 2023
    Released on J-STAGE: April 06, 2023
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Historical materials as well as the museums and archives that preserve them have an altruistic aspect. At the Future of Humanity Research Center, terms like "margins," "vessels," and "corridors" have been mentioned as analogies for the systems in which altruism resides. However, these analogies do not convey the nuance of the fragility which is peculiar to historical materials. In order to explore a new analogy of altruism, this paper refers to Francis Bacon to describe historical materials as "seedlings," places of preservation as "nursery gardens", and historical descriptions as "gardens". Typical cases to show the fragility of the historical materials are records that convey "negative history" such as weapons development, environmental pollution, and research misconduct. As an example of missing records, the author discusses the war experiences of people related to the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Based on the author's experience, the following three patterns to trace missing records are introduced: (a) objects left behind when they should have been erased, (b) objects left behind inconspicuously, and (c) objects that have been rewritten. These case studies confirm the validity of the analogy of "preserving seedlings in a nursery and waiting for gardens to be built" for the preservation of historical materials. Finally, the author introduces her practice in preserving the "seedlings" of records for the future, during the activities of a course of "Transdisciplinary studies: Getting familiar with Tokyo Tech campuses".
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  • 2023 Volume 2023 Issue 2 Pages 228-229
    Published: 2023
    Released on J-STAGE: April 06, 2023
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Download PDF (492K)
  • 2023 Volume 2023 Issue 2 Pages 230-231
    Published: 2023
    Released on J-STAGE: April 06, 2023
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Download PDF (478K)
  • 2023 Volume 2023 Issue 2 Pages 232
    Published: 2023
    Released on J-STAGE: April 06, 2023
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Download PDF (69K)
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