Japanstudien Band 18 2006

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Japanstudien. Band 18/2006

Author : René Haak
Publisher : IUDICIUM Verlag
ISBN 13 : 389129381X
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (912 download)

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Book Synopsis Japanstudien. Band 18/2006 by : René Haak

Download or read book Japanstudien. Band 18/2006 written by René Haak and published by IUDICIUM Verlag. This book was released on 2006 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Die Arbeitswelten in Japan bilden ein weites und zugleich differenziertes Feld, das nicht nur aus einer Perspektive und Disziplin erschlossen werden sollte. Heute gibt es wohl kaum einen Bereich der japanischen Gesellschaft, über den so viele abenteuerliche, verklärte und häufig überzogene Ansichten, falsche Dokumentationen und populärwissenschaftliche Schlussfolgerungen im Umlauf sind, wie über das Phänomen Arbeit in Japan. Ausgangspunkt für den vorliegenden Band 18 der Reihe „Japanstudien" des Deutschen Instituts für Japanstudien war daher ein weites Begriffsverständnis von Arbeit, das sowohl Erwerbsarbeit als auch die Vielfalt unentgeltlicher Arbeitsformen einschließt. Kreative und künstlerische Ausdrucksformen von Arbeit zählten bewusst zum Themenkomplex „Japanische Arbeitswelten". Das Anliegen dieses Bandes war es, die Entwicklung und die Veränderung von Arbeitswelten in Japan aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven und Disziplinen heraus zu untersuchen.

The SAGE Handbook of Modern Japanese Studies

Author : James D Babb
Publisher : SAGE
ISBN 13 : 1473908795
Total Pages : 673 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (739 download)

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Book Synopsis The SAGE Handbook of Modern Japanese Studies by : James D Babb

Download or read book The SAGE Handbook of Modern Japanese Studies written by James D Babb and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2014-12-15 with total page 673 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A welcome addition to any reading list for those interested in contemporary Japanese society. - Roger Goodman, Nissan Professor of Modern Japanese Society, University of Oxford "I know no better book for an accessible and up-to-date introduction to this complex subject than The SAGE Handbook of Modern Japan Studies." - Hiroko Takeda, Associate Professor, Organization for Global Japanese Studies, University of Tokyo "Pioneering and nuanced in analysis, yet highly accessible and engaging in style." - Yoshio Sugimoto, Emeritus Professor, La Trobe University The SAGE Handbook of Modern Japanese Studies includes outstanding contributions from a diverse group of leading academics from across the globe. This volume is designed to serve as a major interdisciplinary reference work and a seminal text, both rigorous and accessible, to assist students and scholars in understanding one of the major nations of the world. James D. Babb is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology at Newcastle University.

Japanstudien. Band 19/2007

Author : Peter Backhaus
Publisher : IUDICIUM Verlag
ISBN 13 : 3891293828
Total Pages : 285 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (912 download)

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Book Synopsis Japanstudien. Band 19/2007 by : Peter Backhaus

Download or read book Japanstudien. Band 19/2007 written by Peter Backhaus and published by IUDICIUM Verlag. This book was released on 2007 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Der aktuelle Band der Japanstudien beschäftigt sich mit dem Thema Familie. Er besteht aus zehn themenrelevanten Beiträgen und sechs Buchbesprechungen, von denen jeweils die eine Hälfte in deutscher und die andere Hälfte in englischer Sprache verfasst ist. Zusammengenommen möchten die hier versammelten Beiträge einen vielfältigen und detaillierten Einblick in japanisches Familienleben ermöglichen, der dazu anregen soll, das Thema Familie und die ihr derzeit unterstellte Krise differenziert und aus unterschiedlichen Blickwinkeln zu betrachten.

Home and Family in Japan

Author : Richard Ronald
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 113688887X
Total Pages : 305 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (368 download)

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Book Synopsis Home and Family in Japan by : Richard Ronald

Download or read book Home and Family in Japan written by Richard Ronald and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-12-04 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Japanese language the word ‘ie’ denotes both the materiality of homes and family relations within. The traditional family and family house - often portrayed in ideal terms as key foundations of Japanese culture and society - have been subject to significant changes in recent years. This book comprehensively addresses various aspects of family life and dwelling spaces, exploring how homes, household patterns and kin relations are reacting to contemporary social, economic and urban transformations, and the degree to which traditional patterns of both houses and households are changing. The book contextualises the shift from the hegemonic post-war image of standard family life, to the nuclear family and to a situation now where Japanese homes are more likely to include unmarried singles; childless couples; divorcees; unmarried adult children and elderly relatives either living alone or in nursing homes. It discusses how these new patterns are both reinforcing and challenging typical understandings of Japanese family life.

Lovesick Japan

Author : Mark D. West
Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 0801461502
Total Pages : 273 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis Lovesick Japan by : Mark D. West

Download or read book Lovesick Japan written by Mark D. West and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2011-08-15 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Lovesick Japan, Mark D. West explores an official vision of love, sex, and marriage in contemporary Japan. A comprehensive body of evidence—2,700 court opinions—describes a society characterized by a presupposed absence of physical and emotional intimacy, affection, and personal connections. In compelling, poignant, and sometimes horrifying court cases, West finds that Japanese judges frequently opine on whether a person is in love, what other emotions a person is feeling, and whether those emotions are appropriate for the situation. Sometimes judges’ views about love, sex, and marriage emerge from their presentation of the facts of cases. Among the recurring elements are abortions forced by men, compensated dating, late-life divorces, termination fees to end affairs, sexless couples, Valentine’s Day heartbreak, "soapland" bath-brothels, and home-wrecking hostesses. Sometimes the judges’ analysis, decisions, and commentary are as revealing as the facts. Sex in the cases is a choice among private "normal" sex, which is male-dominated, conservative, dispassionate, or nonexistent; commercial sex, which caters to every fetish but is said to lead to rape, murder, and general social depravity; and a hybrid of the two, which commodifies private sexual relationships. Marriage is contractual; judges express the ideal of love in marriage and proclaim its importance, but virtually no one in the court cases achieves it. Love usually appears as a tragic, overwhelming emotion associated with jealousy, suffering, heartache, and death.

Small Firms and Innovation Policy in Japan

Author : Cornelia Storz
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134207514
Total Pages : 178 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (342 download)

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Book Synopsis Small Firms and Innovation Policy in Japan by : Cornelia Storz

Download or read book Small Firms and Innovation Policy in Japan written by Cornelia Storz and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-01-16 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new book discusses the extent to which the Japanese economy encourages entrepreneurship and innovation. Although Japan has a strong reputation as an innovator, some people argue that this reputation is misplaced. Contrary to earlier expectations, the USA rather than Japan emerged as the leader in the biotech industries in the 1990s, and also many small firms in Japan supply only a few – or just one – other company, thereby limiting their view of the marketplace and the commercial opportunities within it. Despite the increase of international patents, international scientific citations and a positive technology trade balance, the Japanese innovation system is weak in giving birth to radical innovations. The book explores fully these issues, making comparisons with other countries where appropriate. It concludes that the Japanese innovation system has both advantages and disadvantages and contributes to a better understanding of how policy changes take place.

The Modern Murasaki

Author : Rebecca L. Copeland
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231137753
Total Pages : 419 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (311 download)

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Book Synopsis The Modern Murasaki by : Rebecca L. Copeland

Download or read book The Modern Murasaki written by Rebecca L. Copeland and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 419 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first anthology of its kind, The Modern Murasaki brings the vibrancy and rich imagination of women's writing from the Meiji period to English-language readers. Along with traditional prose, the editors have chosen and carefully translated short stories, plays, poetry, speeches, essays, and personal journal entries. Selected readings include writings by the public speaker Kishida Toshiko, the dramatist Hasegawa Shigure, the short-fiction writer Shimizu Shikin, the political writer Tamura Toshiko, and the novelists Miyake Kaho, Higuchi Ichiyo, Tazawa Inabune, Kitada Usurai, Nogami Yaeko, and Mizuno Senko. The volume also includes a thorough introduction to each reading, an extensive index listing historical, social, and literary concepts, and a comprehensive guide to further research. The fierce tenor and bold content of these texts refute the popular belief that women of this era were passive and silent. A vital addition to courses in women's studies and Japanese literature and history, The Modern Murasaki is a singular resource for students and scholars.

China's Digital Nationalism

Author : Florian Schneider
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190876824
Total Pages : 297 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (98 download)

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Book Synopsis China's Digital Nationalism by : Florian Schneider

Download or read book China's Digital Nationalism written by Florian Schneider and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-08-16 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nationalism, in China as much as elsewhere, is today adopted, filtered, transformed, enhanced, and accelerated through digital networks. And as we have increasingly seen, nationalism in digital spheres interacts in complicated ways with nationalism "on the ground". If we are to understand the social and political complexities of the twenty-first century, we need to ask: what happens to nationalism when it goes digital? In China's Digital Nationalism, Florian Schneider explores the issue by looking at digital China first hand, exploring what search engines, online encyclopedias, websites, hyperlink networks, and social media can tell us about the way that different actors construct and manage a crucial topic in contemporary Chinese politics: the protracted historical relationship with neighbouring Japan. Using two cases, the infamous Nanjing Massacre of 1937 and the ongoing disputes over islands in the East China Sea, Schneider shows how various stakeholders in China construct networks and deploy power to shape nationalism for their own ends. These dynamics provide crucial lessons on how nation states adapt to the shifting terrain of the digital age and highlight how digital nationalism is today an emergent property of complex communication networks.

Shimaji Mokurai and the Reconception of Religion and the Secular in Modern Japan

Author : Hans Martin Krämer
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
ISBN 13 : 0824857216
Total Pages : 249 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (248 download)

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Book Synopsis Shimaji Mokurai and the Reconception of Religion and the Secular in Modern Japan by : Hans Martin Krämer

Download or read book Shimaji Mokurai and the Reconception of Religion and the Secular in Modern Japan written by Hans Martin Krämer and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2015-06-30 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Religion is at the heart of such ongoing political debates in Japan as the constitutionality of official government visits to Yasukuni Shrine, yet the very categories that frame these debates, namely religion and the secular, entered the Japanese language less than 150 years ago. To think of religion as a Western imposition, as something alien to Japanese reality, however, would be simplistic. As this in-depth study shows for the first time, religion and the secular were critically reconceived in Japan by Japanese who had their own interests and traditions as well as those received in their encounters with the West. It argues convincingly that by the mid-nineteenth century developments outside of Europe and North America were already part of a global process of rethinking religion. The Buddhist priest Shimaji Mokurai (1838–1911) was the first Japanese to discuss the modern concept of religion in some depth in the early 1870s. In his person, indigenous tradition, politics, and Western influence came together to set the course the reconception of religion would take in Japan. The volume begins by tracing the history of the modern Japanese term for religion, shūkyō, and its components and exploring the significance of Shimaji’s sectarian background as a True Pure Land Buddhist. Shimaji went on to shape the early Meiji government’s religious policy and was essential in redefining the locus of Buddhism in modernity and indirectly that of Shinto, which led to its definition as nonreligious and in time to the creation of State Shinto. Finally, the work offers an extensive account of Shimaji’s intellectual dealings with the West (he was one of the first Buddhists to travel to Europe) as well as clarifying the ramifications of these encounters for Shimaji’s own thinking. Concluding chapters historicize Japanese appropriations of secularization from medieval times to the twentieth century and discuss the meaning of the reconception of religion in modern Japan. Highly original and informed, Shimaji Mokurai and the Reconception of Religion and the Secular in Modern Japan not only emphasizes the agency of Asian actors in colonial and semicolonial situations, but also hints at the function of the concept of religion in modern society: a secularist conception of religion was the only way to ensure the survival of religion as we know it today. In this respect, the Japanese reconception of religion and the secular closely parallels similar developments in the West.

Mutual Perceptions and Images in Japanese-German Relations, 1860-2010

Author :
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 9004345426
Total Pages : 463 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (43 download)

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Book Synopsis Mutual Perceptions and Images in Japanese-German Relations, 1860-2010 by :

Download or read book Mutual Perceptions and Images in Japanese-German Relations, 1860-2010 written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2017-06-06 with total page 463 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mutual Perceptions and Images in Japanese-German Relations, 1860–2010 examines the mutual images formed between Japan and Germany from the mid-nineteenth to twenty-first centuries, and the influence of these images on the development of bilateral relations. Unlike earlier research on Japanese-German relations, which focused on the similarity of these countries’ historical trajectories, this publication presents a more nuanced picture. It relativizes perceptions of a special “spiritual relationship” between Japan and Germany as well as their commonalities of “national character” through an exploration of previously untapped historical visual and textual sources. With essays by sixteen leading scholars in the field, this collection is an invaluable contribution to the historiography of modern Japan and Germany, and to the field of international relations. Contributors are: Hans-Joachim Bieber, Fukuoka Mariko, Hakoishi Hiroshi, Iwasa Takurō, Katō Yōko, Kawakita Atsuko, Gerhard Krebs, Kudō Akira, Heinrich Menkhaus, Danny Orbach, Peter Pantzer, Sven Saaler, Satō Takumi, Volker Stanzel, Suzuki Naoko, Tajima Nobuo, Tano Daisuke, and Rolf-Harald Wippich.

Hitler's Fatal Miscalculation

Author : Klaus H. Schmider
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108890326
Total Pages : 615 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (88 download)

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Book Synopsis Hitler's Fatal Miscalculation by : Klaus H. Schmider

Download or read book Hitler's Fatal Miscalculation written by Klaus H. Schmider and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-01-28 with total page 615 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hitler's decision to declare war on the United States has baffled generations of historians. In this revisionist new history of those fateful months, Klaus H. Schmider seeks to uncover the chain of events which would incite the German leader to declare war on the United States in December 1941. He provides new insights not just on the problems afflicting German strategy, foreign policy and war production but, crucially, how they were perceived at the time at the top levels of the Third Reich. Schmider sees the declaration of war on the United States not as an admission of defeat or a gesture of solidarity with Japan, but as an opportunistic gamble by the German leader. This move may have appeared an excellent bet at the time, but would ultimately doom the Third Reich.

Networks and Mobilization Processes: The Case of the Japanese Anti-Nuclear Movement after Fukushima

Author : Anna Wiemann
Publisher : IUDICIUM Verlag
ISBN 13 : 3862050491
Total Pages : 298 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (62 download)

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Book Synopsis Networks and Mobilization Processes: The Case of the Japanese Anti-Nuclear Movement after Fukushima by : Anna Wiemann

Download or read book Networks and Mobilization Processes: The Case of the Japanese Anti-Nuclear Movement after Fukushima written by Anna Wiemann and published by IUDICIUM Verlag. This book was released on 2018-05-14 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Environmental disasters or other large-scale disruptive events often trigger the emergence of social movements demanding social and/or political change. This study investigates mobilization processes at the meso level of the Japanese anti-nuclear movement after the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent tsunami waves on March 11, 2011. To capture such meso level movement dynamics – which so far have played only a minor role in research on social movement mobilization – the study presents an analytical model based on premises from political process theory, network theory, and relational sociology. This model is then applied to the case of the Japanese anti-nuclear movement after Fukushima by looking at the relational dynamics of two coalitional movement networks engaged in advocacy-related activities in Tōkyō. The first case study is e-shift, a network-coalition working for nuclear phase-out and the promotion of renewable energy; the other is SHSK (Shienhō Shimin Kaigi), a coalition pushing for the rights of people affected by radioactive contamination and/or evacuation from contaminated areas. The study traces the mobilization processes of these two networks by analyzing data gathered in 2013 and 2014 in the form of participant observation of movement events, semi-structured interviews with movement organization representatives, and documentary data.

Family Life in Japan and Germany

Author : Uta Meier-Gräwe
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3658266384
Total Pages : 297 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (582 download)

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Book Synopsis Family Life in Japan and Germany by : Uta Meier-Gräwe

Download or read book Family Life in Japan and Germany written by Uta Meier-Gräwe and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-05-22 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume addresses the family situation in Japan and Germany. Gender-segregated labor markets and precarious employment patterns bear detrimental consequences for the socioeconomic capacity to maintain family households and to have children. By applying a gender-sensitive approach, this volume’s focus is on the impact of family law, family policy , and family support measures. Scholars from Japan and Germany examine differences and characteristics of social security legislation, intergenerational support systems, single-parent families, inequality among households and poverty situations, local domestic and care service provision, female labor market participation, parental leave systems, organization of child care, domestic violence, historical developments of housework as an institution, and labor market policies.

Dissenting Japan

Author : William Andrews
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 184904919X
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (49 download)

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Book Synopsis Dissenting Japan by : William Andrews

Download or read book Dissenting Japan written by William Andrews and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-08-15 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Conformist, mute and malleable? Andrews tackles head-on this absurd caricature of Japanese society in his fascinating history of its militant sub-cultures, radical societies and well-established traditions of dissent Following the March 2011 tsunami and Fukushima nuclear crisis, the media remarked with surprise on how thousands of demonstrators had flocked to the streets of Tokyo. But mass protest movements are nothing new in Japan and the post-war period experienced years of unrest and violence on both sides of the political spectrum: from demos to riots, strikes, campus occupations, faction infighting, assassinations and even international terrorism. This is the first comprehensive history in English of political radicalism and counterculture in Japan, as well as the artistic developments during this turbulent time. It chronicles the major events and movements from 1945 to the new flowering of protests and civil dissent in the wake of Fukushima. Introducing readers to often ignored aspects of Japanese society, it explores the fascinating ideologies and personalities on the Right and the Left, including the student movement, militant groups and communes. While some elements parallel developments in Europe and America, much of Japan's radical recent past (and present) is unique and offers valuable lessons for understanding the context to the new waves of anti-government protests the nation is currently witnessing.

Japan’s Industrious Revolution

Author : Akira Hayami
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 4431551425
Total Pages : 145 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (315 download)

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Book Synopsis Japan’s Industrious Revolution by : Akira Hayami

Download or read book Japan’s Industrious Revolution written by Akira Hayami and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-05-14 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explains in fascinating detail how economic and social transformations in pre-1600 Japan led to an industrious revolution in the early modern period and how the fruits of the Industrious Revolution are what have supported Japan since the eighteenth century, improving living standards and leading to the formation of the work ethic of modern Japan. The arrival of the Sengoku Period in the sixteenth century saw the emergence and domination of government by the warrior class. It was Tokugawa Ieyasu who unified the realm. Yet this unity did not give rise to an autocratic state, as the shogun was recognized merely as a main pillar of the warrior class. Economically, however, from the fourteenth century, currency payments for shōen nengu (taxes paid to the proprietor) became standard, and currency circulation began, primarily in the central region. Under Tokugawa rule, organized domestic coinage of currency began, opening the way to establishing a national economic society. Also, agricultural land was surveyed through cadastral surveys known as kenchi. Land values were converted in terms of rice, so the expected rice yields for each village were assessed, and the lords used this as a benchmark for imposing taxes. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Japan experienced a “great transition,” and conditions for peasants, agriculture, and farming villages underwent great changes. Inefficient traditional agriculture using peasants in a state of servitude was transformed into highly efficient small-sized farming operations which relied on family labor. As production yields increased due to labor-intensive agriculture, the profits obtained by the peasants improved their living standards. The stem-family system became the norm through which work ethics and even literacy were transmitted. This very change was the result of the “industrious revolution” in Japan. The book thus presents the framework of the facts of pre-industrial Japanese history and depicts pre-modern Japan from a macroscopic point of view, showing how the industrious revolution came about. It is certain to be of great interest to economists and historians alike.

Pan-Asianism in Modern Japanese History

Author : Sven Saaler
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134193793
Total Pages : 370 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (341 download)

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Book Synopsis Pan-Asianism in Modern Japanese History by : Sven Saaler

Download or read book Pan-Asianism in Modern Japanese History written by Sven Saaler and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-01-24 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Regionalism has played an increasingly important role in the changing international relations of East Asia in recent decades, with early signs of integration and growing regional cooperation. This in-depth volume analyzes various historical approaches to the construction of a regional order and a regional identity in East Asia. It explores the ideology of Pan-Asianism as a predecessor of contemporary Asian regionalism, which served as the basis for efforts at regional integration in East Asia, but also as a tool for legitimizing Japanese colonial rule. This mobilization of the Asian peoples occurred through a collective regional identity established from cohesive cultural factors such as language, religion, geography and race. In discussing Asian identity, the book succeeds in bringing historical perspective to bear on approaches to regional cooperation and integration, as well as analyzing various utilizations and manifestations of the pan-Asian ideology. Pan-Asianism in Modern Japanese History provides an illuminating and extensive account of the historical backgrounds of current debates surrounding Asian identity and essential information and analyses for anyone with an interest in history as well as Asian and Japanese studies.

Portals to the Past and to the Future

Author : Jürgen Seefeldt
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9783487155630
Total Pages : 173 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (556 download)

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Book Synopsis Portals to the Past and to the Future by : Jürgen Seefeldt

Download or read book Portals to the Past and to the Future written by Jürgen Seefeldt and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The advent of the digital era has raised questions on the future course of library development. The challenge of maintaining a balance between their educational, cultural and service roles has presented libraries with new challenges - challenges which their rich and varied media holdings, modern technical infrastructure and information specialist competence well equip them to face. This fourth revised and updated English edition of "Portals to the Past and to the Future" by Jürgen Seefeldt and Ludger Syré, now in its fifth German edition, is an in-depth state-of-the art report on current German librarianship. Lavishly illustrated, the book traces the history of libraries in Germany, portrays the various types of library and cites many examples of the outstanding achievements of nationwide library cooperation in the Federal Republic of Germany. The reader will gain both a revealing insight into the cultural and educational policy underlying the German library system and an outline of the profession. Special attention has been paid to current developments such as the preservation and presentation of the common cultural heritage and the emergence of the digital library. This book has been translated not only into English but also into Arabic, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Russian and Turkish and is now the standard work on libraries and librarianship in Germany. Because of the interest it has generated internationally, it was decided to publish the German and English versions of this new edition simultaneously. The book provides trainee librarians and non-librarians alike with a clear picture of the way in which libraries were able to cooperate in the aftermath of the Second World War to overcome the vagaries of the federal system and create an effective decentralized library network more than a match for the challenges of the third millennium.