Akihiro Ogawa
Biographic Data
| ID | 648660 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Akihiro Ogawa |
| GIVEN NAMES | Akihiro |
| FAMILY NAME | Ogawa |
| SIGNATURE | OGAWA A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Stockholm University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 27 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Introduction: Democratic backsliding and Parliamentary Monitoring Organisations
This edition is a collaboration between academics and civil society involved in the Asian Network of Legislative Transparency which aims to create a tool – an Index - to assess national levels of parliamentary transparency
Introduction: Trajectories of Civil Society in Asia
Democratic backsliding is a major concern worldwide and Asia is no exception.Freedom House, a U.S. independent watchdog dedicated to the expansion of democracy across the world released its flagship report, the Freedom in the World 2022, earlier this year claiming that global democracy has declined for the 16th consecutive year.'The leaders of China, Russia and other dictatorships have succeeded in shifting global incentives, jeopardising the con…
Authoritarianism and Civil Society in Asia
New Frontiers in Japanese Studies
Over the last 70 years, Japanese Studies scholarship has gone through several dominant paradigms, from ‘demystifying the Japanese’, to analysis of Japanese economic strength, to discussion of global interest in Japanese popular culture. This book assesses this literature, considering future directions for research into the 2020s and beyond.Shifting the geographical emphasis of Japanese Studies away from the West to the Asia-Pacific region, this b…
As If Nothing Had Occurred: Anti-Tokyo Olympics Protests and Concern Over Radiation Exposure
This paper argues the 2020 Tokyo Olympics has raised people's awareness of concerns over radiation exposure as a form of social movement. One example is the Shinjuku demonstration, organized by the Network to Evacuate People from Radiation, which constantly advocates for protecting children from continuing radiation exposure. The group raised the issue that Olympic torch would pass through municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture where several high…
Social Movements and Political Activism in Contemporary Japan: Re-Emerging from Invisibility
After the 11 March 2011 disaster, Japan saw the beginning of a new era of activism. Anti-nuclear protests started on 20 March, 10 days after the great earthquake. A young man stood in front of the headquarters of the Tokyo Electric Power Company, the owner of the Fukushima nuclear plants, shouting ‘Genpatsu iranai!’ Ignited by his action, a series of anti-nuclear demonstrations expanded across the country. The Friday anti-nuclear demonstrations i…
Security Paradigms and Social Movements
In 2014, Japan’s cabinet approved a significant change to national security policy. Previously barred from using military force, except in cases of self-defence, a constitutional reinterpretation by the cabinet allowed “collective self-defence”—using force to defend itself and its allies. The decision was controversial, considering post-war pacifism is firmly entrenched in Japanese national identity. I analyse how national security has been portr…
Routledge Handbook of Civil Society in Asia
The new prominence of the civil sector in Japan
When one enters a Japanese neighborhood, one fi nds various types of associations and a wide range of social groups and networks that are active at the local level. The traditional neighborhood association ( cho ̄naikai ), the most widespread grassroots unit of Japanese civil society, is the center of everyday life; this volunteer-based neighborhood association, which functions as a grassroots administrative entity, also organizes a variety of ac…
The right to evacuation: The self-determined future of post-Fukushima Japan
Since the Fukushima disaster in March 2011, rights advocacy has been gaining traction in Japanese politics. This paper argues for the rationale that led to the current legal development in post-Fukushima Japan—the Nuclear Disaster Victims' Support Act, which emphasizes the right to evacuation—and presents the grassroots struggle against public authorities. The right to evacuation is the right of citizens to avoid exposure to radioactivity by allo…
Lifelong Learning in Tokyo: A Satisfying Engagement with Action Research in Japan
This article presents an action research project, which I have been managing since 2001 in Tokyo, Japan. It is based on a non-profit organization (NPO), a group that promotes community-oriented lifelong learning, which was established under the 1998 NPO Law. Action research is a social research strategy, carried out by a team that includes a professional researcher and members of a community who are jointly seeking to improve their situation. Thi…
Young precariat at the forefront: Anti-nuclear rallies in post-Fukushima Japan
Japan suffered a catastrophic disaster on March 11, 2011. The earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear radiation leakage from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant devastated the northeastern part of the country and threatened the entire country and beyond with the risk of radiation. Nowadays, movements against nuclear power plants are emerging across the country. The crisis indeed provides a chance for Japan to forge a new energy policy. However, th…
Demanding a safer tomorrow: Japan's anti‐nuclear rallies in the summer of 2012 (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)
This article discusses Japan's nuclear energy policy and describes the anti‐nuclear protest demonstrations that were held in Japan throughout the summer of 2012, including the author's personal experiences at some of these protests, illuminating the grassroots nature of the current anti‐nuclear movement
Risk management by a neoliberal state: Construction of new knowledge through lifelong learning in Japan
This article examines the current developments in Japan's lifelong learning policy and practices. I argue that promoting lifelong learning is an action that manages the risks of governance for the neoliberal state. Implementing a new lifelong learning policy involves the employment of a political technique toward integrating the currently divided and polarized Japanese population – popularly called kakusa – into the newly imagined collective, nam…
Peace, a Contested Identity: Japan’s Constitutional Revision and Grassroots Peace Movements
This article provides an ethnographic account of peace in contemporary Japanese society, focusing on the ongoing political agenda—the revision of Japan’s Constitution. For the Japanese people, pacifism is a culturally embedded concept that has defined their social and political lives during the post‐World War II era. It has shaped Japanese individual and group identities, social relations, and practices. This article explores the ways in which pe…
Protecting the right to live peacefully: A report from Takae, Okinawa
The Failure of Civil Society: The Third Sector and the State in Contemporary Japan
Japan’s new lifelong learning policy: Exploring lessons from the European knowledge economy
The concept of 'lifelong learning' or shōgai gakushū has rapidly become one of the topmost priorities in Japan's education policy agenda. This was considerably evident in December 2006 when the term 'lifelong learning' was added to Japan's educational charter, the Fundamental Law of Education. This paper explores, as a means to develop Japan's new lifelong learning policy, the lessons that can be learnt through an examination of the European coun…
Invited by the State: Institutionalizing Volunteer Subjectivity in Contemporary Japan
This paper is an ethnographic study of volunteerism and the emergence of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in Japanese society, which have been proliferating since the passage of the Law to Promote Specified Nonprofit Activities (NPO Law) in 1998. I document a transition that Japanese society, at a grassroots level, has undergone since this law allowed thousands of civic groups to be acknowledged as proactive participants in Japanese social and poli…
Routledge Handbook of Civil Society in Asia
Young precariat at the forefront: Anti-nuclear rallies in post-Fukushima Japan
Japan suffered a catastrophic disaster on March 11, 2011. The earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear radiation leakage from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant devastated the northeastern part of the country and threatened the entire country and beyond with the risk of radiation. Nowadays, movements against nuclear power plants are emerging across the country. The crisis indeed provides a chance for Japan to forge a new energy policy. However, th…
Invited by the State: Institutionalizing Volunteer Subjectivity in Contemporary Japan
This paper is an ethnographic study of volunteerism and the emergence of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in Japanese society, which have been proliferating since the passage of the Law to Promote Specified Nonprofit Activities (NPO Law) in 1998. I document a transition that Japanese society, at a grassroots level, has undergone since this law allowed thousands of civic groups to be acknowledged as proactive participants in Japanese social and poli…
Risk management by a neoliberal state: Construction of new knowledge through lifelong learning in Japan
This article examines the current developments in Japan's lifelong learning policy and practices. I argue that promoting lifelong learning is an action that manages the risks of governance for the neoliberal state. Implementing a new lifelong learning policy involves the employment of a political technique toward integrating the currently divided and polarized Japanese population – popularly called kakusa – into the newly imagined collective, nam…
Japan’s new lifelong learning policy: Exploring lessons from the European knowledge economy
The concept of 'lifelong learning' or shōgai gakushū has rapidly become one of the topmost priorities in Japan's education policy agenda. This was considerably evident in December 2006 when the term 'lifelong learning' was added to Japan's educational charter, the Fundamental Law of Education. This paper explores, as a means to develop Japan's new lifelong learning policy, the lessons that can be learnt through an examination of the European coun…
Peace, a Contested Identity: Japan’s Constitutional Revision and Grassroots Peace Movements
This article provides an ethnographic account of peace in contemporary Japanese society, focusing on the ongoing political agenda—the revision of Japan’s Constitution. For the Japanese people, pacifism is a culturally embedded concept that has defined their social and political lives during the post‐World War II era. It has shaped Japanese individual and group identities, social relations, and practices. This article explores the ways in which pe…
The right to evacuation: The self-determined future of post-Fukushima Japan
Since the Fukushima disaster in March 2011, rights advocacy has been gaining traction in Japanese politics. This paper argues for the rationale that led to the current legal development in post-Fukushima Japan—the Nuclear Disaster Victims' Support Act, which emphasizes the right to evacuation—and presents the grassroots struggle against public authorities. The right to evacuation is the right of citizens to avoid exposure to radioactivity by allo…
Invited by the State: Institutionalizing Volunteer Subjectivity in Contemporary Japan
This paper is an ethnographic study of volunteerism and the emergence of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in Japanese society, which have been proliferating since the passage of the Law to Promote Specified Nonprofit Activities (NPO Law) in 1998. I document a transition that Japanese society, at a grassroots level, has undergone since this law allowed thousands of civic groups to be acknowledged as proactive participants in Japanese social and poli…
The Failure of Civil Society: The Third Sector and the State in Contemporary Japan
Japan’s new lifelong learning policy: Exploring lessons from the European knowledge economy
The concept of 'lifelong learning' or shōgai gakushū has rapidly become one of the topmost priorities in Japan's education policy agenda. This was considerably evident in December 2006 when the term 'lifelong learning' was added to Japan's educational charter, the Fundamental Law of Education. This paper explores, as a means to develop Japan's new lifelong learning policy, the lessons that can be learnt through an examination of the European coun…
Protecting the right to live peacefully: A report from Takae, Okinawa
Peace, a Contested Identity: Japan’s Constitutional Revision and Grassroots Peace Movements
This article provides an ethnographic account of peace in contemporary Japanese society, focusing on the ongoing political agenda—the revision of Japan’s Constitution. For the Japanese people, pacifism is a culturally embedded concept that has defined their social and political lives during the post‐World War II era. It has shaped Japanese individual and group identities, social relations, and practices. This article explores the ways in which pe…
Lifelong Learning in Tokyo: A Satisfying Engagement with Action Research in Japan
This article presents an action research project, which I have been managing since 2001 in Tokyo, Japan. It is based on a non-profit organization (NPO), a group that promotes community-oriented lifelong learning, which was established under the 1998 NPO Law. Action research is a social research strategy, carried out by a team that includes a professional researcher and members of a community who are jointly seeking to improve their situation. Thi…
Young precariat at the forefront: Anti-nuclear rallies in post-Fukushima Japan
Japan suffered a catastrophic disaster on March 11, 2011. The earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear radiation leakage from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant devastated the northeastern part of the country and threatened the entire country and beyond with the risk of radiation. Nowadays, movements against nuclear power plants are emerging across the country. The crisis indeed provides a chance for Japan to forge a new energy policy. However, th…
Demanding a safer tomorrow: Japan's anti‐nuclear rallies in the summer of 2012 (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)
This article discusses Japan's nuclear energy policy and describes the anti‐nuclear protest demonstrations that were held in Japan throughout the summer of 2012, including the author's personal experiences at some of these protests, illuminating the grassroots nature of the current anti‐nuclear movement
Risk management by a neoliberal state: Construction of new knowledge through lifelong learning in Japan
This article examines the current developments in Japan's lifelong learning policy and practices. I argue that promoting lifelong learning is an action that manages the risks of governance for the neoliberal state. Implementing a new lifelong learning policy involves the employment of a political technique toward integrating the currently divided and polarized Japanese population – popularly called kakusa – into the newly imagined collective, nam…
The right to evacuation: The self-determined future of post-Fukushima Japan
Since the Fukushima disaster in March 2011, rights advocacy has been gaining traction in Japanese politics. This paper argues for the rationale that led to the current legal development in post-Fukushima Japan—the Nuclear Disaster Victims' Support Act, which emphasizes the right to evacuation—and presents the grassroots struggle against public authorities. The right to evacuation is the right of citizens to avoid exposure to radioactivity by allo…
The new prominence of the civil sector in Japan
When one enters a Japanese neighborhood, one fi nds various types of associations and a wide range of social groups and networks that are active at the local level. The traditional neighborhood association ( cho ̄naikai ), the most widespread grassroots unit of Japanese civil society, is the center of everyday life; this volunteer-based neighborhood association, which functions as a grassroots administrative entity, also organizes a variety of ac…
Routledge Handbook of Civil Society in Asia
Security Paradigms and Social Movements
In 2014, Japan’s cabinet approved a significant change to national security policy. Previously barred from using military force, except in cases of self-defence, a constitutional reinterpretation by the cabinet allowed “collective self-defence”—using force to defend itself and its allies. The decision was controversial, considering post-war pacifism is firmly entrenched in Japanese national identity. I analyse how national security has been portr…
Social Movements and Political Activism in Contemporary Japan: Re-Emerging from Invisibility
After the 11 March 2011 disaster, Japan saw the beginning of a new era of activism. Anti-nuclear protests started on 20 March, 10 days after the great earthquake. A young man stood in front of the headquarters of the Tokyo Electric Power Company, the owner of the Fukushima nuclear plants, shouting ‘Genpatsu iranai!’ Ignited by his action, a series of anti-nuclear demonstrations expanded across the country. The Friday anti-nuclear demonstrations i…
New Frontiers in Japanese Studies
Over the last 70 years, Japanese Studies scholarship has gone through several dominant paradigms, from ‘demystifying the Japanese’, to analysis of Japanese economic strength, to discussion of global interest in Japanese popular culture. This book assesses this literature, considering future directions for research into the 2020s and beyond.Shifting the geographical emphasis of Japanese Studies away from the West to the Asia-Pacific region, this b…
As If Nothing Had Occurred: Anti-Tokyo Olympics Protests and Concern Over Radiation Exposure
This paper argues the 2020 Tokyo Olympics has raised people's awareness of concerns over radiation exposure as a form of social movement. One example is the Shinjuku demonstration, organized by the Network to Evacuate People from Radiation, which constantly advocates for protecting children from continuing radiation exposure. The group raised the issue that Olympic torch would pass through municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture where several high…
Introduction: Trajectories of Civil Society in Asia
Democratic backsliding is a major concern worldwide and Asia is no exception.Freedom House, a U.S. independent watchdog dedicated to the expansion of democracy across the world released its flagship report, the Freedom in the World 2022, earlier this year claiming that global democracy has declined for the 16th consecutive year.'The leaders of China, Russia and other dictatorships have succeeded in shifting global incentives, jeopardising the con…
Authoritarianism and Civil Society in Asia
Introduction: Democratic backsliding and Parliamentary Monitoring Organisations
This edition is a collaboration between academics and civil society involved in the Asian Network of Legislative Transparency which aims to create a tool – an Index - to assess national levels of parliamentary transparency
Political science (18 works) · Law (14 works) · Politics (12 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Japanese History and Culture (8 works) · Law (8 works) · Civil society (5 works) · History (5 works) · Political economy (5 works) · Democracy (4 works)