In modern Japanese society, many people are concerned about the safety of food, and are demanding social control to deal with this problem effectively. Social control of food varies with social conditions and historical changes. In this paper I consider how the historical aspects of Japanese Social World have changed the social control of food after the Second World War. I divide the historical changes into three stages: the first period is 1945-1960 and its main concern was how the shortage of food was controlled and how a new culture of western style food was accepted by the Japanese. The second period is 1960-1990, in this time Japanese industries developed rapidly and society became affluent. In this period, national policy of food - control was not only to rationalize the food production and distribution system, but also to protect rice farmers that could not competed with low price imported food. The third period is from 1990 to today. During this period many people have come to fear food contamination, biotechnology-utilized produce and BSE. The main concern of control of nowadays is how a safe and reliable food system can be constructed. Many consumers have tried to avoid buying low-safety food and some citizens have participated in social movements to enact safety laws concerning food and institutional reform. Some of these people are choosing new life styles such as enjoying "slow" food, or natural food, and purchasing non-agricultural chemicals food directly from producing districts. The safety of food is important to both consumers and providers in order to maintain health and to do business well. However, the excessive push for social control of food-safety is resulting in the neglect of many cultural meanings of food. Food and eating have many meanings such as enjoyment, self-expression, friends, adventure and cultural creation. If we neglest these cultural meaning of food in order to keep safety, our social lives will be restricted and become poverty of spirit.

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The amendment to the Juvenile Law in 2000 came about through legislation by House members after vigorous debate about the temperaments and responsibilities of children. House members cited juvenile crime when pointing out the necessity of overcoming current social crisis, and proposed the amendment. The increasing viciousness of crimes and the increasingly younger age of the offenders were highlighted and people's fear was in a sense politically exploited. During the amendment process, House members did not sufficiently discuss: (1) the necessity of the amendment, (2) the anticipated social impact caused by more severe punishment, and (3) the reality of children's lives. Essentially, as an issue is deliberated, it should be clarified that the person who is proposing legislation is responsible for the primary effects thereof. In addition, the data supporting the proposal should be made public in line with people's right to know the legislation process. The legislation process behind this amendment needs to be examined. During discussion leading to the amendment, the term "child crime" was used and the child's responsibility was pointed out; debate focused on "skepticism toward specialization and specialists" in juvenile crime, thereby belittling the social influence of the family court; emphasis was placed on the necessity to create a safe environment free of crime, giving the police greater control over society. Deliberation of the broader use of punishment and greater severity of the punishment is closely linked to the decline in social resources and motivation for preventing delinquent behavior. During the five-year review of this legislation, a check must be carried out to determine whether the amended Juvenile Law is achieving the expected goals.

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Sexual harassment came to general attention as a problem in Japan at the end of the 1980's. Ten years later, in 1999, a law that requires employers to establish a policy against sexual harassment was enacted as a part of an amendment to the Equal Employment Opportunities Law. Every workplace, including universities and colleges, now has a policy requiring that the office or campus be free from sexual harassment. If examined, however, the development and institutionalization of the sexual harassment regulation is problematic in several ways, especially on campus. Firstly, the policies at workplaces and universities tend to stereotype the harasser and harassee, and to make women more vulnerable to sexual harassment and discrimination. Secondly, the concept of sexual harassment is easily mixed up with that of sexual crime so as to obscure and cover up the distinct problem. Sexual harassment has been seen as problematic only for a decade in Japan, thus it is not surprising that related policies are not yet working efficiently. It is understandable, or it might seem reasonable, to stress the evilness of the harassment and harasser to seek quick remedies. However, stereotypical understanding of the problem would obstruct future development for not only sexual harassment policies but also for abolishing discrimination against women in society.

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At present, a tendency to reconsider traditional culture like folk performing art is attracting concern nationwide. If we summarize the reason of such concern from the standpoint of the local community, it could be said that local traditional culture contributes to the construction of the identity of a community of people, while prompting an opportunity for community planning as an important tourism resource. Gujo Odori (Gujo Bon Festival Dance) in Hachiman Town, Gifu Prefecture, which is the case examined in this paper, is representative of such traditional culture. However, the response of the community to their own the Orthodox Bon Festival Dance is indifferent, and they do not actually dance it themselves. Furthermore, some people have created and are performing an alternative Bon Festival Dance. Therefore, this paper aims to clarify what kind of meaning the community attaches to the alternative Bon Festival Dance. After the historical factors that have caused the community not to dance their own the Orthodox Bon Festival Dance are pointed out, I will pay attention to the following phenomenon in this paper. Comparing the alternative Bon Festival Dance with the Orthodox one which has become for tourists, the community talks about the "fuzei (taste)" of the former, and speaks of its aesthetic reality together. Furthermore, some people who maintain this reality have created a "dance which is desirable fundamentally" in place of the Orthodox Bon Festival Dance. In conclusion, I point out that a series of movements by the community have been brought about through reflections on tourism, that the community's sense of everyday life, like "fuzei," is important for the theory and practice of community planning as it utilizes traditional culture.

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The work unit system in urban areas of China has evolved with the development of open-reform policy. In this transition it can be seen that administrative functions, with the exception of economic functions, were previously separate from the local community work unit. Thus, the central government adopted the policy of community-building, and gave the Resident Committee an important position as an agent of the community-building process. Consideration regarding how to spread out administrative functions into urban society continues. However, the community-building program met a turning point in November 2000. After the Proposal of Civil Ministry in Promoting the Community Building All over the Nation was officially announced by the central government, the community policy concerning control over urban society underwent great change. The regulation of urban community policy included the resizing and reorganization of the Resident Committee, renamed the Community Resident Committee. This article will analyze the process of community-building which is going on in present urban society in China, focusing on the reorganization of urban community policy and the Resident Committee. Three Community Resident Committees in the city of Changchun, northeast China, are considered as examples. It is shown that the government is attempting to promote urban administrative functions through mobilizing local resident grassroot activities.

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After the repeal of martial law in 1987, and the advance of democracy in Taiwan, writers have inquired into the identity of history and culture of Taiwan. It is remarkable that they try to reflect voices from various standpoints, such as different ethnic groups, gender and classes, for the purpose of reconstructing cultural identity and historical memories. However, much study has not yet done on these writers and their writings in Japan. The purpose of this paper is to throw light on the meaning and present situation of post-colonial discourse in Taiwan, mainly based on the writings of Chen Fang Ming, which examined postcolonial literature in Taiwan.

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