Language and disability in Japan

Language relating to disability in the public arena has been a sensitive issue in Japan as elsewhere. Since the 1970s and 80s, major media organisations have replaced words considered derogatory with more acceptable equivalents; laws, statutes and other legal documents have likewise been revised. This article examines how the language used to portray people with disabilities has changed, how the changes came about and how they were received. The debate has largely been played out in four public spaces, which to some extent intersect and overlap: the media (both print and visual), the laws, literature and, increasingly now, the Internet. I argue that while the laws were rewritten primarily as the result of external international trends, such as the International Year of Disabled Persons, disability groups achieved media compliance mainly by exploiting the keen desire of Japanese media organisations to avoid public embarrassment resulting from vocal protests over infractions.

Guadalupian algae-sponge reefs in siliciclastic environments - the reefs at Lengwu (South China) compared with the reef at Iwaizaki (Japan)

Guadalupian reefs occur locally in Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan and Western Zhejiang, South China. Two types of Guadalupian reefs can be recognized, one is developed in carbonate platforms, e.g. those in the juncture areas of Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou; the other occurs in a littoral clastic shelf. The Lengwu reef in Western Zhejiang is a representative of the latter type, which is a major topic of this paper. Lengwu algae-sponge reef, more than one hundred meters in thickness, are composed mainly of sponges, hydrozoans, algae, bryozoans, microbes and lime mud. Reef limestones sit on the mudstone interbedded with fine sandstone of the proximal prodelta facies and are overlain by coarse clasts of the delta front sediments. Lengwu reef displays a lens-shaped relief, dipping and thinning from the reef core, which is remarkably different from the surrounding sediments, showing a protruding relief. Sponges and microbe/algae form bafflestone, bindstone and framestone of the reef core facies. Fore-reef facies is characterized by lithoclastic rudstone and bioclastic packstone. Reef limestone sequence is composed of three cycles and controlled by sea level changes and sediment influx. Such reef is unique among the Guadalupian reefs in South China, but seems similar in some aspects to lwaizaki reef limestones of south Kitakami in Japan. Algae and microbes growing around sponges to form rigid structure in Lengwu reef are a typical feature, which is distinctly different to Guadalupian reefs in a stable platform facies of Guizhou, Yunnan and Guangxi, South China.

Perceptions of younger, middle-aged, and older adults in Australia and Japan: Stereotypes and age group vitality

This study investigated the perceptions of young adults in Japan and Australia about their own age group, as well as middle-aged and older adults. Using a self-administered questionnaire, 155 Japanese and 171 Australian students rated people in the three age groups on traits of personal vitality and benevolence, and also rated their age group vitalities. Results indicated that Australians perceived both middle-aged and older adults in more positive terms than did Japanese and also perceived the vitality of these age groups as higher. On the other hand, both Japanese and Australian young people judged the vitality of their own group as lower than that of middle-aged adults. These results suggest that norms of filial piety, especially its respect dimension, in Japan may be eroding, whereas older Australians may be gaining in social stature.

Displaying the future: Techno-nationalism and the rise of the consumer in postwar Japan

This paper explains how, in the aftermath of World War II, a type of techno-nationalism emerged that linked being Japanese to science and technology and the increased consumption of electrical appliances. By closely examining official exhibitions, we can see how the state and private sector strongly encouraged this techno-scientific dreaming. Dazzling displays highlighted how the peaceful atom would help lead the nation to achieve high economic growth. At the same time, through the judicious purchase of labor saving appliances, consumers could reconcile the need to spend with the need to save.