KJC Korea
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Chûtôkyôikukubuntokuhon (中等敎育國文讀本) is a Japanese textbook for secondary education published by the Government-General of Korea since 1930. A unique feature of this textbook is that it contains many Japanese literary works, unlike the previous textbooks. Furthermore, the content is often re-quoted from texts published in Japan at that time, not from the original texts of the Japanese literary works. Volume 8 of the Chûtôkyôikukubuntokuhon contains part of The Pillow Book (枕草子), a Japanese classic essay, and criticisms of it. The original text of this chapter is a book by Motoomi Kaneko called The Pillow Book Commentary (枕草子評釈). However, this part of the Chûtôkyôikukubuntokuhon is not from the original text, but from the Chûtôkokugotokuhon (中等國語讀本) textbook published in Japan at that time. This can be seen from the fact that the contents of the two texts are very similar, from words to sentence selection. However, despite the fact that the two texts are very similar overall, some texts published by the Government-General of Korea were omitted. For example, the Heian-era waka poems about the scene where men and women exchanged love in front of “Kami” (god, 神) were omitted. This is because the meaning of “Kami” in Heian period literary works is different from the word “Kami” that the Japanese Empire seeks in colonial Korea. The GovernmentGeneral of Korea has cited many Japanese classical literary works in textbooks to show Japan’s superiority. However, when the worldview of classical literary works conflicted with the worldview that the Japanese Empire wanted to plant in colonial Korea, some scenes in literary works were deleted.

In this study, it has been analyzed how competitive structure between major commercial banks and regional financial institutions is changing, alongside the changes in policy idea of Japanese Financial Administration after collapse of Convoy-fleet system from the perspective of Neo-institutionalism, and thus provide implications for the outlook of ‘New Capitalism’ by Kishida. ‘New Capitalism’ proposed by Kishida cabinet seems a rather prompt change of policy, but from the perspective of Neo-institutionalism, it is necessary that change in ‘Japanese capitalism’ is understood in context of institutional change. Features of ‘Japanese capitalism’ includes market intervention by government based on the policy idea of prevention of excess competition, and it can be identified principle of cooperation is crucial, as much as the principle of competition. Koizumi cabinet promoted structural reform based on Neoliberalism, but henceafter, going through global economic crisis, the Great East Japan Earthquake, and COVID-19, policy idea of ‘prevention of kato kyoso (excessive competition)’ is once again being held high. Since the collapse of Convoy-fleet system (especially from 2010), Japanese Financial Administration (bureaucrats in Financial Service Agency) still holds policy idea of prevention of kato kyoso. This is because inhibition of excess competition satisfies the motive of major Commercial Banks and Regional financial institutions to promote private benefit. As Kishida cabinet is emphasizing implementation of ‘New Capitalism’, there is possibility of expanded intervention by the Financial Administration with the goal of restraining kato kyoso in the financial business. Financial administration, especially, can promote reinforcement of financial reform among Regional financial institutions to overcome overbanking in Regional financial institutions.

This study analyzes the changes in the Japanese government’s network diplomacy with neighboring countries amid the outbreak of COVID-19 and intensifying U.S.-China strategic competition. Japan confirms its position between the U.S. and China and redefines its identity in relation to neighboring countries. While strengthening cooperation with the U.S., Japan is actively sending Japanese contexts online/offline through its expanded networks, including subtle relationships with China and Taiwan and the issue of North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens. The network diplomacy between South Korea and Japan has not been working smoothly due to the worsening relations between the two countries. For Japan, South Korea is not categorized as a like-minded countries, but Japan calls for cooperation among South Korea, the U.S., and itself regarding the North Korean issue. While Japan and Taiwan are moving toward strengthening solidarity by emphasizing shared values, a pattern remains of emphasizing and managing relations with mainland China. Japan’s policy toward neighboring countries is quite similar to the United States’ Asia policy, but the Japan-led network diplomacy with China and the Korean Peninsula also operates in conjunction with the United States. This paper discusses the changed characteristics and the dilemma of Japan’s network diplomacy, which links its position on neighboring countries internally and externally amid intensifying international competition between the U.S. and China.

The Abe cabinet, which was launched under the goal of a crisis breaking cabinet, has promoted comprehensive national reforms such as economic revitalization, social safety, and security reform. However, as Prime Minister Abe mentioned in his resignation speech, the abduction issue remained unresolved, and the North Korean policy continued to change between sanctions, dialogue and pressure. What factors determined the Abe cabinet’s North Korea policy? This study examines how the abduction issue and the North Korean nuclear threat were linked to Japan’s domestic politics and affected North Korea policy. There are three main arguments of this study. First, while the US and the international community’s response to the Kim Jong-un regime was delayed, Abe’s cabinet politicized the abduction issue and approached North Korea. Second, as the North Korean nuclear issue worsened after 2016 and the Trump administration responded with maximum pressure, the Abe cabinet used the North Korean nuclear threat as a constitutional amendment strategy. Third, changes in the Abe cabinet’s strategy toward North Korea, such as “dialog and pressure,” “pressure without dialogue,” and “dialog without conditions,” are the result of Abe’s politics that link the abduction issue and the North Korean nuclear issue with domestic politics.

Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution heritage, registered as a World Heritage Site in 2015, put forward its value as a World Heritage Site called the Industrial Revolution in Asia, but caused controversy over the issue of forced labor of workers during the Pacific War. In addition to excellent universal values, the World Heritage Commission has asked them to come up with an interpretation strategy to understand the entire history of the heritage and report the progress of implementation. Japan submitted SOC reports((State of Conservation Report -Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding, and Coal Mining) in 2017 and 2019 under the name of the cabinet office, but it is pointed out that the implementation of the recommendations is insufficient. In this study, in order to identify specific issues after the registration of the Meiji Industrial Revolution heritage, the main contents of the SOC report and the field situation were analyzed. In 2019, the SOC only focused on visitor management strategies for each heritage, but did not actually deal with the interpretation of the entire history. In addition, it did not fulfill the recommendations of the World Heritage Committee, which specified dialogue with neighboring countries, but replaced them with expert committees and interregional councils in Japan. In June 2021, UNESCO and the ICOMOS joint investigation team concluded that “interpretation measures to help understand forced workers are insufficient,” and that “the Industrial Heritage Information Center has not yet fully fulfilled the promises made by the parties or decisions of the World Heritage Committee.” Eventually, the World Heritage Committee expressed “strong regret” and decided to submit a heritage preservation report again by December 1, 2022. Communication and solutions between Korea and Japan are required in the understanding of the World Heritage Convention, which pursues universal value and pluralism amid constant debate.

The study examined the actual use of adverbs and the teaching method of teachers with 204 Korean Japanese learners and 13 teachers. According to the study, acquisition of adverbs by majors is stable for each learning stage in proportion to the frequency of exposure. However, as intermediate-level learners tend to use some adverbs mixed with other adverbs, establishing the accurate use of adverbs is required. On the other hand, as adverbs are underused in non-major beginner-level learners, it is necessary to expose students to the basic and frequent adverbs and to lead them to increase frequency of use. In addition, the confusion of learners is evident when they deal with similar adverbs, so the different use of adverbs and the possibility of substitution should be instructed by grouping similar adverbs. Similar adverbs are particularly difficult part not only for beginners but also middle and highlevel learners and teachers. Therefore, along with the educational content on the meaning and usage of adverbs conducted in the current adverb education, the teacher should focus on the differences between actual use and similar adverbs in various sentences presented in an effective teaching method.