The purpose of this article is to investigate the cohesiveness or communality of Myanmar village society in comparison with Japan and Thailand. The village societies are considered from three viewpoints: a village as a group or organization, a village as a sphere of cognition, and a village as an outcome of the political power.

The first section will review conceptualizations of village societies in Japan, Thailand, and Myanmar. Two strains can be discovered in the theories of village societies in Japan and Thailand. One is the thesis of group or organization, which includes group accumulation theory and household alliance theory in Japan, and multi-household compound theory in Thailand. The other thesis is that of subjective recognition, which includes village spirit theory in Japan and family circle theory in Thailand. The two strains are often at odds. This article will try to connect the two to formulate a new theory on Myanmar village society.

The second section will compare characteristics of intra-village groups in Myanmar and in Japan. The prototype of Japanese villages was shaped by the Tokugawa feudal government in the beginning of the 17th century. Joint production activities -such as agricultural cooperative movements, irrigation management, rice procurement, land consolidation, and reduction of rice acreage -have been conducted by each village as a unit up to the present date. In contrast, in Myanmar each village has not been organized as a unit for joint production. These historical configurations made Japanese villages tight and Myanmar villages loose. However, various groups-namely consumer cooperatives, congratulatory or condolence associations, fire brigades, pagoda committees, and drinking water committees- have been set up in Myanmar villages for purposes of living together.

The third section will synthesize theories of group and recognition in order to illuminate how the above-mentioned groups are created and arranged. Firstly, multi-household compounds extend to neighbouring household clusters after a compound is divided by inheritance. A Myanmar village is composed of these compounds and clusters, with non-kin households residing in the empty spaces between them. Secondly, the villagers meet and visit each other’s households following close kinship ties. Open house structures and encounters in various ceremonies and labour arrangements enable these frequent meetings and visits. Thirdly, the “frequent contact” creates an elaborate mesh of dyadic networks in the village. Both sides of the dyad refer to each other in kinship terms even when they are not blood relatives. If one cannot determine the familial relationship, the one calls the other Yat Swe Yat Myo or “relatives of the place.” This cognition leads to the identification of a fellow villager as a family member. Fourthly, when “catalysts,” such as orders from the state, assistances of NGOs, money, competent leaders, crises, or the maintenance of pagodas and monasteries, impinge on these close-knit networks and social circles, the groups and organizations mentioned above are formed in this loosely structured society.

Such groups and organizations based on dyadic networks can be effortlessly set up and become active by the presence and mediation of good catalysts, but they can be easily broken up with waning catalysts or personal disputes among the members. These groups are constituted not for collective production as seen in Japan but for various purposes of living together. Myanmar villages are communities for living, lacking in production.

In most of the Khmer temples, constructed during the reign of Jayavarman VII (1181-1218 CE), there are Dhyāna Mudrā Buddha images represented on the decorative bas-reliefs around the doorways. This paper analyzes the representations of the images, focusing on the images of the lintels in Preah Khan’s temple complex. The analysis makes it clear that the lintels with the images can be classified into two groups mainly from the viewpoints of the stylistic features and the representations, and the tendencies of their arrangement in the central part of this temple complex, and that the difference between the two groups results mainly from the construction chronology of the temple complex, in other words the difference before and after the dedication of the principal image Lokeśa to the central main shrine. Then the paper attempts to analyze the symbolic meaning of Dhyāna Mudrā Buddha images and its chronological change, making reference to some old Khmer inscriptions engraved on the doorjambs and the descriptions of the foundation stele. The attempt shows us that the change of their meaning may be related to the change of the worldview represented in this temple, that is to say, the process of religious legitimation of Jayavarman VII’s kingship before and after the foundation of Preah Khan temple.

This paper analyzes the process and outcome of the anti-Chinese Dayak Demonstration (Demonstrasi Dayak) of 1967 in West Kalimantan, taking into account Dayak politics and their social circumstances.

Since the early 1960s, the Chinese communist guerillas from Sarawak who resisted the formation of the Federation of Malaysia had been also active in West Kalimantan. President Sukarno supported them in the context of his confrontation policy against Malaysia. However, after the September 30th Incident of 1965, Suharto’s anti-communist army intended to destroy them by pushing all the Chinese communities from the hinterland into larger cities near the coast. The army provoked the indigenous Dayak people to carry out these violent evictions.

Chinese in West Kalimantan had lived harmoniously with Dayak people from the middle of the18th century, but in their daily lives, Dayak people were aware of the economic inequality between themselves and the Chinese, and were often frustrated by this inequality biased against them. Moreover, a competition between two Dayak leaders, Oevaang Oeray and Palaoensoeka in the 1960s, saw Oeray lose influence on Dayak society after the 1965 Incident, since he had led the leftist party, Partindo. However, he still harbored a desire to regain political power and establish territories where Dayak people had privileges over Chinese. Thus, he cooperated with the Indonesian army in the Dayak Demonstration.

At first, the provocation of the Indonesian army brought no reaction from Dayaks. But, in October 1967, Oeray issued a “declaration of war” against the Chinese. The red bowl (mangkok merah), a signal of preparing for war, was circulated in the Dayak villages. Dayaks subsequently started to drive the Chinese away, quickly and drastically.

After this incident, however, in the absence of Chinese traders, the economic conditions declined in the hinterland, and Dayaks themselves suffered from the lack of food and other basic necessities.

In the national context, this incident marked the completion of the establishment of Indonesian state authority through military occupation in West Kalimantan, which earlier had enjoyed independent order.

Finally, this paper emphasizes the continuity of violence in the Dayak society. After the expulsion of the Chinese, the same pattern of protests had been on the rise against the Madurese, until the culmination of the Dayak-Madurese conflict in the latter half of the 1990s.

This paper aims at assessing the religious policy in the Republic of Vietnam from 1955 to 1963, with a focus on separation of church and state in Cao Dai religion. Ngo Dinh Diem, the president in this era, is notorious as a dictator. However, it is obvious that empirical research has been too scarce to consider his policy. To overcome these problems and to understand the South Vietnamese history more objectively, this study clarifies the intent and outcome of Diem’s religious policy by using provincial government’s and religious documents.

After WWII, Cao Dai formed an autonomous area with a private army which the government could not interfere with. The purpose of Ngo Dinh Diem’s reform was to correct this situation. Even if the government could intervene in religious personnel affairs, the purpose of government was not to manipulate the religions. In other words, the result of the reformation was introduction of westernized concept by force, and there was neither protection nor suppression of the religions. Although all religions had to obey the Republic’s order like anti-communism, religious activity itself did not attract government’s attention at all.

In Central Java a number of religious foundations were built from the 8 th to 10th centuries. Inscriptions which originated from the 9 th and early 10th centuries mention that kings or officials with the titles Rake or Samgat founded a sīma. A sīma was a village or part of a village whose tax status was changed; for example, tax on artisans and traders was exempted. Previous studies suggest that the establishment of a sīma could have been a means by which the king controlled a Rake or Samgat and a temple.

This paper focuses on King Balitung’s reign and his attempts, in order to explain the process of the consolidation of royal authority and its historical background based on the analysis of the Old Javanese inscriptions. The paper also discusses the function of sīmas in Balitung’s reign with regard to this process.

The analysis of the inscriptions leads us to the conclusion that in Balitung’s reign there existed Rakes or Samgats who were acting on their own authority and initiative. This compelled Balitung to consolidate his authority. During Balitung’s reign establishing sīmas was one of the important means not only to control Rakes or Samgats and temples, but also to provide disaster relief and to increase trade activities. The means of the consolidation of royal authority are as follows: ( 1 ) legitimating himself as a rightful successor to previous kings, ( 2 ) ordering that all religious foundations in Java should be free of financial obligations, ( 3 ) proclaiming that he was superior to previous kings, ( 4 ) incorporating Hindu deities’ names into his title, and ( 5 ) choosing his successor during his reign. Apart from Balitung himself, only his successor Dakṣa was allowed to use a Hindu deity’s name in the title. By deciding on his successor, he was attempting to ensure stability in royal authority. The result of these attempts by Balitung may have been reflected in an increase in his establishment of sīma.

This study aims to discuss the possibility of pramurukti as one form of support for elderly people through the process of training pramurukti, who are occupational caregivers, in urban Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

The pramurukti are the people who care mainly for elderly people. By Indonesian standards, no designation has been formed for the occupational group that provides elderly care. In this paper, I consider the positioning of pramurukti in Yogyakarta and the possibility for future Indonesia.

In 1980, a private Yogyakarta hospital started pramurukti training. The elderly people who suffered from illness sought care service by pramurukti at the time when care needs increased. However, the pramurukti have not been able to support the needs of the elderly and their families. As a factor, there is an inconsistency between the elderly and pramurukti related to the operation of duties and contents of the work.

Households which had elderly people in acute phases of illness or at end- of- life used services only when it was necessary, and pramurukti worked according to their desire. In contrast, households that had elderly in long-term care regarded pramurukti who learned the knowledge of nursing care as the people who helped with the IADL (instrumental activities of daily living) of elderly people. The pramurukti plays a role to bridge the gap for elderly people who are managed under medical care and nursing in the medical domain by providing knowledge to families in traditional elderly care through care work.

I argue that pramurukti have a possibility to become collaborators with the family in the realm of household as one of the forms of support for the aging society. However, the pramurukti have a marginal presence in medicine and welfare. The occupational caregivers called pramurukti might be firmly established through a training system. However, the social recognition is still insufficient.

For future Indonesia, “those who accompany the elderly,” such as pramurukti, have a major role to consider the realm of household for which there is lack of policy. It would be important to note individual conditions to affect the labor form of the caregiver. It is necessary to pay attention to the role of the caregiver in social changes of Indonesia.

This paper treats the letters which Cambodian court exchanged with the Edo-Shogunate in the early 17th century. Copies of six letters in Khmer and twelve letters in Chinese from Cambodia, and fourteen letters in Chinese from Japan, including the replies to the former, are contained in the compilations of diplomatic documents named“Gaikoku-Kankei-Shokan 外国関係書簡,” “Gaiban-Shokan 外蕃書翰” and “Gaiban-Tsusho 外蕃通書,” which were edited by Kondo Juzo 近藤重蔵 by the beginning of the 19th century, and in “Tsuko-Ichiran 通航一覧” which were edited by order of the Shogunate around 1853. Among the thirty-two letters, five in Khmer and twenty-three in Chinese are of the early 17th century, and the others are of the early 18th century. Unfortunately, the locations of their originals are unidentified. The Chinese letters are thought to have been hand-copied with considerable accuracy, but as for Khmer, the characters are corrupted remarkably and hard to make out. The only exception is a letter of 1742, written in beautiful Aksor Mul (round characters of Khmer) which Kondo Juzo sedulously hand-copied by himself from the original which a family of To-Tsuji 唐通事 (interpreter of Chinese language) had reserved in Nagasaki.

In the Khmer letters, Cambodia is called Krong Kamvuchéa Thipadei and Japan is called Ñipon Kakacho (possibly Koku-Shu 国主). Expressions as Preah Reach Sar Pi Ñipon (royal letter from Japan) suggest that Cambodian court recognized Japanese Shogunate as something similar to the kingship of Cambodia. They assume an attitude of Metrei (friendship) between kings on even ground, in contrast to the Chinese letters which adopt humble expressions. The authors of the Khmer letters might be experts called Smien (clerk), because some marks of handsome script of Aksor Mul are recognized among deformed characters of the reproductions. As for the Chinese letters, probably some Chinese merchants were the authors and significant differences are recognized in the skill of rhetoric. Their contents are gratitude for presents, order of commodities, request of the limitation of the number of commercial ships, complaints about Japanese who committed robbery around Cambodia, and so on. The notable thing is that Cambodian court regarded the Chinese and Japanese merchants who carried the letters as their subjects, and required Japan to let them return to Cambodia as soon as the mission would be finished.