Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2023, East Asian Studies

This thesis discusses the role of the gold standard in Japan's shift to militarism in the 1930s. Since its adoption in Japan in 1897, the gold standard and the price stability inherent in it had advantaged Japanese creditors and helped them finance Japan's empire in Asia. At home, however, the gold standard generated deflation and prevented the Bank of Japan from responding to economic turmoil with interest rate decreases. Japan's ill-advised return to gold in January 1930—amidst a recession—caused the nationalist and fiscally expansionist Rikken Seiyukai party to gain the upper hand in public opinion over the liberal internationalist and fiscally conservative Rikken Minseito party. This economic miscalculation was a major—perhaps the major—reason for the overwhelming loss of the liberal internationalists in the 1932 elections, setting Japan on its path to militarism. The paper begins with an outline of the history of money in Japan prior to 1897, using Japanese-language materials from the Japanese Currency Museum in Tokyo. Next, it provides a theoretical description of the gold standard and its variants and follows the history of the gold standard in Japan from its adoption in 1897 through 1932. It ends with an analysis of the interaction between the economic situation in the late 1920s and early 1930s and the shift to militarism in Japanese politics at that time.

Committee: Ian Sheldon (Advisor); Christopher Reed (Committee Member); Hajime Miyazaki (Committee Member) Subjects: Asian Studies; Economic History

BA, Oberlin College, 2017, Anthropology

This is a historical ethnography that examines how shifts Japanese national identity and values of homogeneity have affected Japan's minority Ainu population. I argue that the symbolic position of Ainu culture has historically been rearranged to suit prevailing ideas about Japanese nationality and culture without input from Ainu. Using theoretical understandings of Self-Other dichotomies, I examine the particular way these practices manifested in Meiji Japan to create modern Japanese national identity, and how these functioned both against the West and people colonized by Japan. From there, I look at how cultural nationalism was objectified as present from time immemorial in Japan through the installation of key parts of Japaneseness and Ainuness into symbolic objects (most notably food and the forms of food-getting) and using these symbols to retroactively label Ainu culture as an aspect of Japanese nationality. Finally, I look at how contemporary Ainu have subverted this practice using cultural objects to work against a “vanishing ethnicity” narrative and reject the idea that being Ainu is inaccessible in modern contexts.

Committee: Crystal Biruk (Advisor); Baron L. Pineda (Advisor) Subjects: Asian Studies; Cultural Anthropology; History; Native Studies

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2014, Anthropology

In recent years, an increasing number of foreign students have been engaging in language and cultural immersion programs in Japan, raising issues of cross-cultural contact and exchange. Japan's enduring cultural nationalism produces an ethnocentric valuation of homogeneity, thereby affecting the ways in which Japanese natives engage with and respond to these students. This paper draws on two months of ethnographic research at two Japanese universities to examine how everyday, culturally embedded nationalism affects the experience, identity, and language instruction of western nonnative learners of Japanese with regards to the institution, the instructors, and the community around them. This discourse on issues surrounding the presence of foreign youth in a nationalistic society has application for discrimination reforms on the international level.

Committee: Haley Duschinski (Advisor) Subjects: Asian Studies; Cultural Anthropology; Educational Sociology; Foreign Language; Language; Linguistics; Pacific Rim Studies; Social Structure; Sociolinguistics; Sociology

BA, Oberlin College, 2014, Environmental Studies

The Japanese media has perpetually glorified Bluefin tuna as the symbol of Japanese culture, cuisine, and national identity. Meanwhile, Bluefin tuna stocks are plummeting due to overfishing, and some species are international recognized as endangered. Blame is primarily placed on Japan, as the nation consumes 80% of Bluefin in the world and the government has admitted to overfishing several times. This has led to international environmental organizations and Western governments continually criticizing Japan for its unsustainable fishing practices. This paper provides an explanation as to why there is no domestic movement within Japan to put an end to overfishing: the Japanese media. The Japanese media glorifies Bluefin tuna fishing and consumption, while neglecting both domestic and international criticisms of the fishing industry. By erasing the environmental discourse and presenting Bluefin only as a celebratory and culturally symbolic fish, the Japanese public remains widely unaware of depleted stocks. Furthermore, there is no academic consensus within Japan concerning the stock status of Bluefin tuna, regardless of international scientific consensus that they are endangered. With little awareness of the issue and difficulty in accessing unbiased information, a domestic anti-overfishing movement is unlikely to occur.

Committee: Janet Fiskio PhD (Advisor); Ann Sherif PhD (Advisor); Swapna Pathak PhD (Advisor) Subjects: Animals; Asian Studies; Environmental Studies; Sustainability