Multimodal synthesis and the voice of the multimedia author in a Japanese EFL context

This paper examines a powerful potential of multimodal design: meaning that transcends the total semiotic contribution of a text's constituent parts. With reference to data drawn from the digital storytelling practices of Japanese university students, the author argues and demonstrates that in the current semiotic climate, characterised by the increasing availability and complexity of communication tools and ready appropriation of available designs, practices of multimedia authorship truly can evince expression that is authentically multiplicative. However, this sort of meaning making does not automatically come about. Controlling the inherent polysemy of multimodal texts, in the author's view, is a matter of recognising points of semantic correspondence among co-deployed images, language, etc. and creating syntheses of potential meaning that cut across these semiotic modes. The author further argues that it is in this way that the voice of the multimodal author can most clearly be heard, particularly in cases in which a language learner–author integrates elements within a multimedia text that encode meaning in the L2.

Japanese lesson study : teacher professional development through communities of inquiry

Japanese Lesson Study has come under increasing attention from educators in the West and throughout South-East Asia since it was revealed outside Japan through the release of the TIMSS Video Study. In this paper we argue that Japanese Lesson Study provides a model for large scale, sustainable professional development. In particular, we draw on our own experience of Japanese Lesson Study and the research literature to describe its characteristic features and examine some of the cultural assumptions that underpin its implementation.

Cultural influences on body dissatisfaction, body change behaviours and disordered eating of Japanese adolescents

We administered a paper-and-pencil questionnaire to 133 female and 99 male Japanese high school students 13–18 years old (M = 15.9, SD = 1.57) from the Kansai area to examine cultural influences on their body image and body change behaviours. Our aim was to ascertain the independent and combined influences from traditional Japanese, modern Japanese, and Western values. Cluster analyses identified four ‘acculturative’ groups: ‘anti-modern’, ‘traditional’, ‘pro-modern/anti-traditional’, and ‘pro-Western/anti-Japanese’. Pro-modern and pro-Western adolescents were most dissatisfied with their bodies, and pro-Western adolescents were also most likely to attempt weight loss. The results demonstrate the value of assessing cultural interactions in Japan along three dimensions.

Japanese beef market in transition

Reports on changes in Japanese beef market following removal of import quotas.

Impacts of currency fluctuations on Japanese foreign direct investment

The Japanese currency has appreciated substantially against most other currencies over the last two decades. During the same time Japan has become one of the world's largest providers of FDI. Japan's share of total FDI outflows increased from about 6 percent during the late 70's to 21 percent in 1990 while its share of the total stock of FDI in the world increased from less than 1 percent in 1960 to more than 13 percent in 1993. Not surprisingly, Japan's role in international business in general and its FDI activities, in particular, have attracted considerable attention from researchers world wide. However, much of this attention has been directed towards the patterns and determinants of Japanese foreign direct investment, in particular to the United States. The impact of changes in the value of the Yen on Japanese FDI has been largely overlooked. Thus, this paper fills an important gap in the literature by focusing on the influence of changes of the exchange rate on Japanese foreign direct investment. A comprehensive simultaneous equa-tion model of Japanese FDI is developed on a regional level to gauge the extent to which currency fluctuations affect Japanese FDI activities. The results suggest that the exchange rate is an effective mechanism through which to influence FDI. Thus, the exchange rate should not be overlooked by the World Trade Organisation in its efforts to further liberalise investment through the Multilateral Agreement on Investment.

An analysis of household beef consumption of Japanese expatriates in U.S.: implications for future beef consumption in Japan

This paper uses a novel approach to investigate how food consumption in Japan may change as Japanese consumers become more westernised in their tastes and preferences for food. It is widely believed that as food prices in Japan fall to international levels and as Japanese consumers become more westernised in their taste and preferences for food, their meat consumption patterns, in particular, will approach those of western countries. The approach undertaken in this paper involves a comprehensive survey of Japanese expatriates in Los Angeles, California, regarding their food consumption habits. The findings are interesting as they shed some light on the changing nature of food consumption of accultured Japanese faced with competitive food prices. The results indicate that although household meat consumption of Japanese expatriates have changed, it remains debatable, however, that their food consumption habits will approach those of western consumers in the foreseeable future. The findings have important implications for food marketeers in Japan and elsewhere, particularly as further liberalisation of food import in that country gains momentum.

Developments in the Japanese beef market following import liberalisation

Over the last several years there has been increasing pressure on most western industrialised countries to liberalise trade for food and agricultural products and yet the full implications of freer trade are not always well understood. This paper attempts to fill this gap by reviewing the developments in the Japanese beef market following import liberalisation. We conclude that the Japanese beef market has experienced major structural changes over a relatively short period as a result of liberalising beef imports. The most apparent impact has been on Japanese consumers who have benefited from lower retail beef prices and a greater variety of beef cuts to choose from. The types and quality of beef imported have also changed and consequently major suppliers have adapted their production systems and their products to the changing taste and preferences of Japanese consumers. Beef exporters to Japan, on the other hand, have experienced declining wholesale prices but have, nevertheless, benefited from the growing size of the market. Developments in the wider economy, such as changes in the retail distribution systems and the exchange rate have also influenced the beef sector.