Section 5 | Anthropology and Sociology | Session 5A, Session
chair: Dolores Martinez (SOAS, London)
Kazunori Oshima (Kyoto, Japan)
The purpose of this paper is to find out the democratic status in Japan by looking into the present practice of a self-governing association. The fieldwork was completed by interviewing people in a community in Kyoto Prefecture over the past year. The neighborhood consists of 23% old-timers and 77% newcomers. The latter, however, have not been admitted into the association despite the fact that it is a territorial association which should act under the "democratic operation" as defined in Article 2 of 260 of Local Autonomy Law, 1947; and that the new residents pay the same amount of annual cooperative fees as the old-timers do. The conclusion of this investigation is that democracy in Japan as it is today is not in agreement with the legal requirement and far from Article 1 of the imperial Charter Oath, 1868, and from Article 14 of the Constitution of Japan, 1946.
Iris Wieczorek (Institute of Asian Affairs, Hamburg)
The theoretical discussion on new social movements is often limited to the empirical example of European and North American societies. Against this background the current debate on "multiple modernities" raises the question whether for example new social movements in Japan represent an independent path of modernization or rather develop in conformity to the Western model. So far, the so-called "old" social movements have been characterized by extending the social participation rights of their members (eg. the labor movement, democracy movement etc.). In contrast, "new" social movements emphasize the formation of collective identities (eg. the gay movement, fundamentalist movements etc.). The paper takes the environmental movement in Japan as a case study in order to contribute to the theory of new social movements from a perspective of multiple modernities. Questions to be discussed are: To what extent are new social movements a reflection of cultural changes and independent paths of modernization in Japan? How much influence do new social movements in Japan exert on social and cultural developments? What are the future trends? What are the differences (similarities) between Japanese and Western New social movements (eg. structures of membership, strategies, topics)? What are the causes for these differences (similarities)? To what extent are new social movements in Japan transnationally interrelated? Are there any reasons to question present theoretical conceptualisations of new social movements?
Wolfgang Herbert (Tokushima University)
The hospice movement can be seen as a citizen's movement against the over-medicalization and institutionalization of death. It pleads for holistic, radically patient-oriented care for the terminally ill. In Japan the hospice concept has been imported from abroad, namely Great Britain, where it originated in its modern form. In 1967 the St. Christopher Hospice was established as a model institution by Dr. Cicely Saunders. Saunders advocated a comprehensive program of pain relief for the dying patient. "Total" pain includes physical, as well as mental/emotional, social and spiritual pain. It is addressed by specialists operating in a care team consisting of doctors, nurses, therapists, nutritionists, social workers, volunteers, chaplains or other clerics and the family of the dying person. The hospice movement has in a certain sense been a Christian movement. The pioneers in Japan (such as Alfons Deeken, Kashiwagi Tetsuo, Hinohara Shigeaki and Murata Hisayuki) are all Christians. In the beginning they dominated the field of palliative care in the academic world also. Since the 1980s there has been what I label a "Buddhist reaction" and increasing attention given to palliative care and spiritual issues related to it by Buddhist clerics and organisations. This trend can be read as a sign of the "inculturation" of the hospice philosophy into a "Japanese" environment. Buddhist circles began to re-detect and re-invent their tradition of ministering to the sick and dying. The speaker will introduce some exemplary buddhist initiatives and methods for the relief of spiritual pain of patients facing death. He will refer to the traditional Buddhist texts for the "right behaviour and rituals in the hour of death" (rinju gyogi) as well as to their modern adaptations and implementations and how they are being put into practice.