Since the collapse of the socialist state, it has been common for Mongolians to engage in commercial activity. In the socialist era, however, commercial activity was thought to be immoral, and people who engaged in business were condemned as "resellers." A drastic change in morality regarding commercial activity has occurred, and this poses certain questions, for example: has the socialist-era conception of morality regarding commerce disappeared completely? How has the introduction of the free market economy influenced the understanding of commerce in Mongolia? By analyzing the life story of one trader, I illustrate the state of commerce in the socialist period and the transfiguration of ethical discourse that has occurred in contemporary Mongolia. My findings show that the moral justification for contemporary commerce takes the form of historical interpretations that reconfigure traders' reputed notoriety, and that furthermore, there is a discourse of cursing traders engendered by envy.

View full abstract

Japanophilia in Taiwan, which arose since the late 1990s, refers to a passion for Japanese culture products. People who actively practice Japanophilia by consuming products with "Japaneseness" or getting involved with Japanese popular culture are called Japanophiles. They share in common the characteristic of relating themselves to Japaneseness in daily life. In this paper I focus on the life story of one Japanophile girl to clarify a specific mode of relation with Japaneseness. I trace her life story to illustrate how she enjoys her life which is filled with Japanese idols and animations, and how she creates the "feeling of realness" arising from the gap between the real and the virtual, while constantly constructing fantasies of such Japaneseness from afar. Her case implies a specific practice of Japanophilia, that is, she uses her imagination and interpretation to construct a paradoxical pleasure from the representation of Japaneseness by combining a fluctuating but close relationship with it.

View full abstract

This paper focuses on the anniversary of the death of a peasant soldier and his mother, called Senzo-ki, observed by Urara-Sha Reading Group in Kitakami city, Iwate prefecture, and reveals how local feminists question the relationship between war and women in Iwate by analyzing the life stories of two local feminists in the reading group; Obara Reiko and Ishikawa Junko. They consider that wartime sexual violence against women is linked to peacetime gender inequality, and reinterpret women's experiences of war in Iwate from a feminist perspective. Senzo-ki is neither an event to honor the spirits of the war dead nor a peace movement characterized by maternalism like many other women's movements in Japan. Succeeding to the history of postwar peace movements in this area critically, it objects to the militarization of women.

View full abstract

In the Arakawa-Shiroku area (located in the City of Chichibu, Saitama prefecture), there is an old kagura (local Shinto-based folk performing art), called "Shinmeisha-Kagura". Because of the lack of documentation, it is difficult to understand this kagura's history. "Sankanza", one of the Kagura repertoires, depicts a legend in which Jingiakogo conquered the ancient Korean peninsula (so-called "Sankan-seibatsu"). Interestingly, this musical program "Choren" includes a melody from the drum and fife corps from the late Edo period, for example, a melody in "Oranda-Gakutai" (from Chiba prefecture). In addition, under international influence after World War II, this program was reorganized by Hamanaka Yadenji, a mentor of the successors of this Kagura. In this paper, I would like to clarify the process of the development of Shinmeisha-Kagura in modern times through the analysis of "Sankanza".

View full abstract

This article aims to examine the succession of 'sui' which is an important aesthetic idea and has played an important role in the geisha community. The article is based on the life story by a former domestic worker who used to work in Kamishitiken, one of the five geisha communities of Kyoto during the period of high economic growth in Japan. Japan achieved an unexampled high level of economic growth from the 1950's through the 1970's. But some suspect that Japanese people may have lost a high cultural standard of living after the economic growth. Geisha streets located in the Kyoto city border are appreciated nowadays since they are clearly contrasted with the changed urban areas due to the economic growth. According to the worker's narratives she had to work hard as a part of the geisha community and the 'sui' had been lost its cultural value during the period of rapid changes but it seems that 'sui' had been not succeeded even in the geisha streets by the end of the economic growth.

View full abstract

It has been 100 years since the POW camp for German soldiers was established in Marugame during WWI. It is no longer possible to hear the stories directly from those who were involved in the war. However, in order to get closer to the historical truth, it is not a perfect way to rely only on the recorded information. The unclear points in the archives could be clarified by the oral history. To this end we have interviewed the grandchildren of the person concerned. Though there is no way to contact the grandfather himself, we can hear the stories from the grandchildren instead, even though they have never met their grandfather.

View full abstract