2021, Vol., No.30

JAPAN SPACE 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.29

pISSN : 1976-1481
https://journal.kci.go.kr/japanspace

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.