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This paper examines the motives behind the book 'Shakaishugi gaihyō' by Shimada Saburō. 'Shakaishugi gaihyō' belongs to the early period of social thought in Japan. Ideas centered around the modern concept of a 'society' became prominent in Japan in the 1890's. In the first half of the 1890's members of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement started expressing concern over 'social problems' and advocating socialist measures as a solution to these problems. This trend weakened during the Sino-Japanese War because of the suspicion towards socialism by mainstream liberals. After the war a socialist movement gradually formed around the christian magazine 'Rikugō zasshi'. The socialists attempted to found a political party in 1901, but the government illegalized the party the very next day. At the same time as the rise of the discourse on social problems by members of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, a group of academics started to advocate 'social policy' as a solution to social problems. In 1896 these academics formed the Shakai seisaku gakkai. The gakkai had a great influence on the early Japanese labor movement, but had an ambivalent attitude towards the socialist ideas that also played an important in this movement. When the socialist wing of the movement became more militant, the gakkai officially distanced itself from socialism. The prohibition of the socialist party and the anti-socialist declaration of the Shakai seisaku gakkai were cited by Shimada in 'Shakaishugi gaihyō' as the direct motives for writing the book. This paper describes the above-mentioned developments that lead to the creation of 'Shakaishugi gaihyō' and summarizes relevant chapters of the book in order to come to an understanding of the conditions surrounding social thought in its early stage in Japan and the thought of Shimada Saburō.

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Prime Minister of Japan Abe Shinzō wants to revive the Japanese economy using 'Abenomics'. Abenomics consists of three arrows: monetary easing, fiscal stimulus and structural reforms. In this paper I will focus on the monetary policy. The question asked is whether Abenomic's monetary policy shows continuity or a break with Japan's monetary history. The answer to this question is sought through a historical-political analysis of monetary policy in Japan, in the light of Abe's monetary policy. This research is based on a study of literature of multiple Japanese and Western economists, as well as on official releases of the Japanese government and the Bank of Japan.To answer the question asked, we first take a look at the history of monetary policy in Japan. The central bank of Japan is 日本銀行 (Nippon Ginkō, Eng: Bank of Japan). So we start off with a short history of the BOJ. The focus lies on the independence the BOJ got from the government in 1998. We further study the monetary policies under the different governors of the BOJ after 1998. A trend of uncertain monetary policies shows. Furthermore the characteristics of monetary policy in Japan are discussed.Secondly, we have a look at Japan's regional Asian monetary policy after the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998. Import initiatives are the New Miyazawa Initiative, the Chiang Mai Initiative, the Center for Monetary Cooperation in Asia and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. With a short historical analysis of Japan's monetary policy finished, it is time to research Abenomics. Prime Minister Abe drafted Abenomics to help revive the Japanese economy which has been in a slump for over 20 years. After a detailed explanation of the content of Abenomic's three arrows, we also have to have a look at what critics have to say about Abenomics as not everybody is as convinced as Prime Minister Abe that Abenomics will rescue the Japanese economy.To determine whether or not Abenomics will be seen as a critical juncture...

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In 2010 China overtakes Japan as the second largest economy in the world, and at the same time continues its military buildup into the 2010s. Later, in 2013, China expands its claim on the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, and from this point on also claims sovereignty over Okinawa. Furthermore, in November that year, the People's Republic of China promulgates an Air Defense Identification Zone that also stretches out above the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. Thus, in correspondence to its rise, Beijing also seems to take a more assertive position than before. With this in mind, this paper suggests that the bilateral tension between China and Japan as a result of the dispute over the islands, has a deeper reason to it than the immediate cause.Based on the power transition theory by Organski (1958), this paper discerns signs of a power transition in East Asia. Calculation of the national power of China and Japan shows that dependent on the measure of relative political capacity, China overtakes Japan between 2007 and 2010. However, judging from the events in the dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, the bilateral tensions primarily seems to rise after 2010, as China more and more shows sign of the unwillingness to abide by Japanese control over the islands. Secondly, also China's decision not to participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, along with its own model for regional integration may point out China's discontent with the status quo.However, while the power calculations may suggest a power transition from Tokyo to Beijing, this paper also takes the regional role of Japan in consideration, and concludes that it is very unlikely that Japan is the former dominant nation in East Asia. Japan may be an economic superpower, but the Yoshida Doctrine, along with the neighboring countries' distrust towards Japanese leadership over the region, has kept Japan from becoming the regional hegemon. In fact Japan's former dependency on the United States in international pol...

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