The purpose of this paper is to clarify the features of the sections concerning the equal opportunity of education and the equality of both sexes drafted by Beate Shirota for the human rights articles in the third chapter of the Constitution of Japan.
We investigated the circumstances under which GHQ of the Allied Powers led by the United States had the constitution drafted. Then, we compared Beate Shirota's drafts with its counterparts in the new Constitutions of Germany and Italy, Japan's Axis partners defeated in 1945.
The new Constitutions of Germany and Italy contained the passages similar to Beate Shirota's drafts on Protection of Motherhood, Abolition of Discrimination against Illegitimate Children, and Equality of Both Sexes in Work, all of which were deleted by GHQ from the new Constitution of Japan. On the other hand, the term “individual dignity” included in the passage concerning the “equality in the family... of men and women” included in Beate Shirota's drafts were not found in the two new constitutions; it is to be noted that the term in question represented the negation of Japan's old family system. In this connection, it should be pointed out that Beate Shirota's phrase, “equality in the family... of men and women, ” made its way into the Japan's new constitution as an advanced concept, in fact, more advanced than the United States.

View full abstract

This study examines the personal networks of working mothers and the support they receive thereof in child care. This research uses data obtained from a survey made in the year 2000 on 278 working mothers in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
The findings indicate that mothers rely on instrumental support more from their relatives living with or near them than from their friends. My investigation on emotional support, on the other hand, shows that they seem to rely on the relatives on their side rather than their husbands' side, and that, so far as emotional support goes, they do not seem to count on their husbands' relatives so much as on their friends whose children go to same nursery or elementary school. The degree of instrumental support they receive is related to the residential distance from relatives, while the degree of emotional support is related more to the strength of emotional ties than mere distance. The network size affects both the instrumental and the emotional support statistics. Larger support is likely to be offered to mothers in large networks than those in small networks.
Furthermore, it should be noted that the size of network of friends is related to the mothers' attributes and characteristics such as the number of children, the age of the eldest child, the number of friends their children have, and how mothers view companionship.

View full abstract

Mother was paired with her 1-year-old child. Forty-nine pairs were closely observed during their make-believe play; their behavior was videotaped and fed into computer. Then, files of 5-s segments were made to keep records of the time when respective slots appeared. Then, the script with largest varieties of slots was chosen to study comparatively the mother-and-child pairs as to the appearance of slots and the nature of slots whether they are spontaneous, receptive or imitative. Analysis was also made on the slots of child playing eating and/or drinking, which occupied the major parts of their acts, in relation to his/her mother's slots.
The following results were obtained :
1) The slots where children were playing eating and drinking were prevalent, while mothers were seen encouraging children or helping them structure the scripts.
2) It is clear that mothers had predominant influence over children in structuring the scripts.
3) It is also clear that mothers encouraged and forced the children's actions.

View full abstract

Thiaminase activity (thiamin : base 2-methyl-4-aminopyrimidine methyl transferase, EC 2.5.1.2) was detected in the silkworm, Bombyx mori. Extracts of the larvae and pupae of Bombyx mori exhibited thiaminase activity with an optimal temperature of 70°C and optimal pH value of 9.0. Bombyx thiaminase was a non-dialyzable protein with a molecular mass greater than approx. 10, 000 Da. This enzyme showed no activity towards any thiamin phosphate ester tested. Pyridoxine, several amino acids and some SH compounds were effective as a second substrate. It seems crucially important to inactivate thiaminase by heating when processing the larvae and pupae of Bombyx mori as a foodstuff.

View full abstract

The household bleaching agent, sodium hypochlorite, has been employed for bleaching, sterilization of drains and toilets, and cleaning sinks. For safe and effective use, particular attention should be given to the concentration of the agent, because the available concentration often decreases easily. According to the Japanese Industrial Standard, the concentration of sodium hypochlorite is determined titrimetrically with sodium thiosulfate and represented by the “concentration of available chlorine H.” Titrimetric methods have required a variety of agents and have been accompanied by a difficulty in detecting the end-point of the titration.
In this study, a method for measuring the available concentration was developed through the volumetric analysis of oxygen gas produced from the reaction when sodium hypochlorite and hydrogen peroxide are mixed. The method offered much saving in time, cost, and complexity. An analysis of the relationship between the amount of the oxygen gas and the concentration of available chlorine H by the JIS method showed a correlation of 0.998, indicating that this method is very useful for measuring the concentration of sodium hypochlorite in solutions. This method should enable the apparent rate constant of the reaction to be determined when the amount of the produced oxygen gas is measured at regular time intervals.

View full abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the shapes of 3-dimensional basic bodice patterns by using a 3-dimensional model.
In this paper we proposed a modified 3-dimensional model that could be applied for basic bodice patterns with different widths in front and back body parts. It was examined whether the side and the arm hole of these bodice patterns are on the same plane. Furthermore, the relationship between body width and the amount of side darts was considered in detail.
The results are summarized as follows.
1) It was found that there are 11 types (A, D, E, G, H, I, J, K, L, O, S) out of 18 basic bodice patterns which can be explained by the modified 3-dimensional model. Four types (A, E, I, S) out of 11 have the same width in the front and back body parts. Three types (D, K, L) out of 11 have wider back body parts than front body pats and the remaining four types (G, H, J, O) have narrower back body parts than front body parts.
2) Seven types (B, C, F, M, P, R, T) out of 18 basic bodice patterns were not concordant with their developed patterns of the modified 3-dimensional model. The shifting distance between the shoulder points of the front body part and the back body part is permissible to construct a 3-dimensional shell.
3) It was concluded that the modified 3-dimensional model can be used effectively when determining the height of the bust, body width, the amount of side darts and the arm hole line.

View full abstract

The effects of soybean dietary fiber (SDF) on the texture of gellan gum gel in the presence and absence of added calcium chloride or sodium chloride were examined by a sensory evaluation. The concentrations of SDF were 3%, 9% and 12 %, the calcium chloride concentration was 2 mm, and the sodium chloride concentration was 50 mm. The “color” was deeper with higher concentration of SDF. “Hardness” and “brittleness” of gellan gum gels containing 3% SDF, were affected by added calcium chloride or sodium chloride. Added SDF was found to increase “adhesiveness” of gellan gum gel. “Color, ” “ease of pulling a teaspoon from the sample after cutting, ” “odor” and “adhesiveness” in the mouth all showed marked positive correlations (r>0.97, p< 0.01) with each other.

View full abstract

The rates of biodegradation of anionic surfactants, linear alkylbenzenesulfonate (LAS), alkyl sulfate (AS), alkyl ether sulfate (AES), α-olefinsulfonate (AOS) and alkylcarbonate (Soap), were determined by a river water die-away test. River water was obtained from the basins of the Yodo River and the Yamato River. The biodegradability of the surfactants was evaluated by the methylene blue activity.
The biodegradation rate was small for LAS, and large for both AS and Soap. The rate of biodegradation was found to be enhanced in polluted river water at high water temperature. With increasing surfactant concentration, the biodegraded amount of the surfactant increased, although the biodegradation rate decreased.

View full abstract

[in Japanese]

View full abstract