“Myth” comprises the first chapter of the book, The Logic of the Imagination, by Miki Kiyoshi. In this chapter Miki analyzes the significance of myth (shinwa) as possessing a certain reality despite being “fictions.” He begins by broadening the meaning of the imagination to argue for a logic of the imagination that involves expressive action or poiesis (production) in general, of which myth is one important product. The imagination gathers in myth material from the environing world lived by the (...) social collectivity. Its formation of images (Bilder) expresses the pathos of a people vis-à-vis their environment, but myth also contains elements of logos in the form of intellectual representations and figures. And their combination becomes expressed externally by stimulating and guiding action. In this way Miki argues that myths contain both emotive and kinetic elements, which by moving people to action, are capable of making history. Thus rooted in the symbiosis between individual and social and between society and environment, myth possesses a “historical creativity.” And he also argues that myths can be present with a sense of reality at any epoch in history, even today, wherever and whenever their primeval power is felt to function, “drawing out” a new reality, a new world, out of the natural world. (shrink)

I examine the tension between biopolitics and necropolitics through three themes that I have perceived and that are related to my life in Japan. First, I examine the transformation of hospitals and medical care, particularly for the elderly, through my experience of sharing the end of my mother’s life. Modern medicine has made great achievements in treating diseases that used to be fatal, but it has become institutionalized in the context of Big Pharma interests, with no insight into the natural (...) ageing and death of human beings. Second, I discuss how the ecological worldview on parasitism and symbiosis has been distorted by industrial logic, drawing on the work of my esteemed friend and parasitologist Professor Koichiro Fujita, who passed away in 2021. Finally, with regard to the Covid-19 pandemic, I would argue that it is not a sudden phenomenon triggered by a new virus, but in a sense a disaster that has been prepared for decades and must be seen as a war using bioengineering and epidemiology as weapons, rather than tanks and bombs. (shrink)

This article investigates differences in structural tendencies between Japanese newspaper editorials and front-page columns. Although intuitively recognized by Japanese people, such differences have tended to be empirically overlooked in discourse or rhetoric research. This study compares the two text types, specifically focusing on the location of the main topic in the text item rather than the main thesis, the former of which has received less empirical attention than the latter in Japanese discourse research. The study analyzed 30 editorials and 30 (...) front-page columns from three major Japanese newspapers. The results show that the editorials have an early placement pattern, whereas the columns tend to have delayed introductions. These differences were statistically significant, empirically demonstrating how the intuitively recognized structural tendencies between the two text types crucially differ. The finding that there is a systematic early placement of the main topic in Japanese editorials is indicative of a basic common feature among languages in the editorial genre. From a methodological perspective, the study demonstrates the validity of the index of the main topic location as an analytical tool to distinguish different textual structures. (shrink)

Diese Abhandlung verteidigt gegen die heute vorherrschenden realistischen Interpretationen des kantischen transzendentalen Idealismus eine anti-realistische Zwei-Welten-Interpretation. Durch konkrete Textanalysen wird gezeigt, dass die realistische Interpretation an der Antinomienlehre und dem vierten Paralogismus (A) scheitern muss, während die anti-realistische Interpretation erlaubt, die Kritik der reinen Vernunft im Ganzen zu einer kohärenten Sinneinheit zu strukturieren. Anschließend wird der konkrete Gehalt von Kants anti-realistischer Ontologie der raumzeitlichen Wirklichkeit erhellt. Dafür entwickelt der Verfasser eine intuitionistische Wahrheitskonzeption (ein empirisches Gegenstück der Wahrheitskonzeption des mathematischen Intuitionismus), (...) kombiniert mit der Superassertibilität à la Crispin Wright. Die von Michael Dummett bereit gestellte Begrifflichkeit "Realismus/Anti-Realismus‟ erweist sich als fruchtbar nicht nur für die Analyse der kantischen Position selbst, sondern auch für ein klares Verständnis der mannigfaltigen Interpretationsansätze des transzendentalen Idealismus. (shrink)

“Myth” comprises the first chapter of the book, The Logic of the Imagination, by Miki Kiyoshi.In this chapter Miki analyzes the significance of myth (shinwa) as possessing a certain reality despite being “fictions.” He begins by broadening the meaning of the imagination to argue for a logic of the imagination that involves expressive action or poiesis (production) in general, of which myth is one important product. The imagination gathers in myth material from the environing world lived by the social (...) collectivity. Its formation of images (Bilder) expresses the pathos of a people vis-a-vis their environment, but myth also contains elements of logos in the form of intellectual representations and figures. And their combination becomes expressed externally by stimulating and guiding action. In this way Miki argues that myths contain both emotive and kinetic elements, which by moving people to action, are capable of making history. Thus rooted in the symbiosis between individual and social and between society and environment, myth possesses a “historical creativity.” And he also argues that myths can be present with a sense of reality at any epoch in history, even today, wherever and whenever their primeval power is felt to function, “drawing out” a new reality, a new world, out of the natural world. (shrink)

One of the central figures in the Kyoto School, Miki Kiyoshi wrote Logic of Imagination as a series of articles between 1937 and 1943. Translating this seminal work into English for the first time, with contextual notes throughout, this book features an introduction and biographical information about the author. Miki's thinking about the imagination illuminates our contemporary understanding of technology and how we behave in the world.

What is the meaning of “Japanese” culture? In earlier ages, it was about temples, Noh plays, Kabuki, Utamaro and Wabi-sabi. These traditional icons have, since the Meiji era (1868-1912), been identified as typically Japanese. Are they, however, still relevant today? Has there been any crucial mutation in the cultural identity of Japan? In the contemporary era, more and more people associate Japanese culture with Manga, animation and video games, in other words with cultural developments of the post-World War II era. (...) The Japanese Government has actively promoted the popularity of these new aspects of Japanese culture as evidenced in their eagerness to adopt the expression “Cool Japan,” inspired by its British predecessor’s “Cool Britannia.” Everyone does not share that perception though. Following the 11th March 2011 series of disasters, Japanese artist Tadasu Takamine (1968-) worked on a critical questioning of Japanese society and culture, culminating in a work titled Tadasu Takamine's Cool Japan that was shown at the Art Tower Mito, in Ibaraki Prefecture (2012). The present essay reflects on and develops further the message conveyed by Takamine about contemporary Japanese cultural identity. (shrink)

The construction of a secure and safe society using information and communication technology is recognised as an urgent issue in Japan. This recognition is based on public fear about crime related to manufactured risk caused by modernisation or industrial civilisation. This fear has created a social atmosphere that has led to the rapid development and implementation of security systems using ICT, such as security cameras, smart IC cards and mobile phones, to establish security and safety in Japanese society. However, the (...) never-ending quest for social security and safety with ICT will inevitably cause further manufactured risk, which could lead to serious problems in the future. We have to recognise such risk and control it appropriately. (shrink)

Vertebrate haemoglobin (Hb), the oxygen‐carrying protein of the blood, consists of two α‐ and two β‐subunits, each containing one haem, and shows cooperative oxygen binding known as the haem–haem interaction. The amino‐acid sequences of Hbs found in different species have diverged considerably and the homology in the most distantly related ones is only 40%. How can such varied amino‐acid sequences give rise to similar three‐dimensional structures and functional properties? To what extent do amino‐acid replacements affect the structure of haemoglobin? Which (...) mutations are responsible for the functional differences between haemoglobins from different species? Expression of α‐ and β‐globins in Escherichia coli has enabled us to introduce any mutations in the haemoglobin molecule at will. By X‐ray crystallographic and functional studies of the engineered mutants, we are trying to answer these questions. (shrink)

Looking back, the process in which Ulrich Beck’s epoch-making work of Risikogesellschaft was introduced and translated into Japanese attracted great public interest there. This paper revisits the significance of the concept ‘risk society’ in the context of postwar Japan. Facing both the natural and artificial disasters caused by the huge earthquake in Fukushima in 2011, Japanese society was compelled to reconsider its atomic energy policy implemented after the end of the Second World War. While the general public has strongly embraced (...) an anti-nuclear sentiment after witnessing the 3/11 disasters, the government and leading LDP are still eager to restart the atomic plants that have been suspended since the tragedy in Fukushima. Considering those complicated sociopolitical conditions concerning the legitimacy of the atomic energy policy in Japan, Risikogesellschaft redux might be a useful way through which we can envisage a future direction to take. (shrink)

古代西洋より伝わったとされる対称美の分析―黄金比。しかし、本書では葛飾北斎、歌川広重など偉大な日本の先人たちはすでに、黄金比を会得していたことを証明しています。なぜ、北斎がすばらしいのか?なぜ、俳句は 5・7・5なのか?富士山はどの角度から眺めるのが一番美しいのか?すべては黄金比を使い、美の世界を数値化することで見える新たな世界。初めて黄金比を用い、実例を分析した本書は日本初の試み。.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to reconsider the concept of the right to information privacy and to propose, from a Japanese perspective, a revised conception of this right that is suitable for the modern information society.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the concept of privacy and personal information protection in the information society is briefly explained. After that, confused situations in Japan caused by the enforcement of Act on the Protection of Personal Information are described followed by the analysis of the Japanese socio‐cultural circumstances (...) surrounding privacy. Based on these, the effectiveness of the concept of the right to information privacy in the Japanese socio‐cultural and economic context is examined and the need to rethink the concept of the right to information privacy discussed. Finally, a revised conception of the right is proposed.FindingsIn view of the circumstances in Japan, the concept of the right to information privacy, defined as “an individual's right to control the circulation of information relating to him/herself”, as well as the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development's eight principles already become outdated in today's sophisticated information‐communication society. There is a need to control/restrict use of personal information so that individuals' autonomy and freedom is ensured in the current situation and to revise the concept of the right to information privacy based on this idea.Originality/valueThis paper proposes a revision of the concept of the right to information privacy focused on control of, not access to, use of personal information. The revised concept is defined so that individuals' autonomy and freedom is ensured even in the “informational transparent” society. (shrink)

Since the 1980s, a number of discourses have celebrated the coming of the information society in Japan. In those discourses, enabling media interactivity has been emphasized as the objective of technological innovations, creating a sort of `myth' of media interactivity. This article tries to investigate the close relationship between media interactivity and surveillance modality in newly emergent information and communication technologies, especially SNS (social networking services) on the Internet. While the traditional image of surveillance society is gloomy and repressive, contemporary, (...) ubiquitous surveillance appears brighter and more fun, since people voluntarily engage with interactive media whilst acknowledging its surveillance modality. In that sense, the logic of surveillance is not merely repressive but also seductive for users of interactive media. Given the rising desire for public security after 9/11, the logic of surveillance is becoming more prevalent and dominant all over the world. With the rise of globalized security, philosophical and social scientific interrogations of security-obsessed contemporary society have become indispensable for critical academic discourse. In order to critically interrogate rising surveillance and media interactivity, this article tries to analyze the liberating potentials of the ideal of hospitality, which is expected to offer a counter-logic against surveillance. (shrink)