As of 2008, surrogacy is legal and openly practised in various places; Japan, however, has no regulations or laws regarding surrogacy. This paper reports the situation of surrogacy in Japan and in five other regions to clarify the pros and cons of prohibiting surrogacy, along with the problems and issues relating to surrogacy compensation.Not only in a country such as France that completely prohibits surrogacy within the country, but also in a country such as the UK that allows non-commercial surrogacy, (...) infertile couples travel overseas for the purpose of surrogacy. In addition, some couples might seek underground surrogacy if the government prohibits surrogacy. If an intended parent couple and a surrogate make an agreement among themselves and then a problem occurs, they cannot ask for support from professionals or bring a case to court, as can be observed in South Korea and Taiwan.We also conclude that there is little difference between commercial surrogacy and non-commercial surrogacy in the absence of a clear definition of ‘reasonable expenses.’ In the UK, the law does not allow surrogates to receive compensation. However, in reality, there may be little difference between the amounts paid to surrogates for profit in the US and those paid to surrogates for reasonable expenses in the UK. We conclude that the issue of surrogacy demands further discussion in Japan. (shrink)

ABSTRACTAs of 2008, surrogacy is legal and openly practised in various places; Japan, however, has no regulations or laws regarding surrogacy. This paper reports the situation of surrogacy in Japan and in five other regions to clarify the pros and cons of prohibiting surrogacy, along with the problems and issues relating to surrogacy compensation.Not only in a country such as France that completely prohibits surrogacy within the country, but also in a country such as the UK that allows non‐commercial surrogacy, (...) infertile couples travel overseas for the purpose of surrogacy. In addition, some couples might seek underground surrogacy if the government prohibits surrogacy. If an intended parent couple and a surrogate make an agreement among themselves and then a problem occurs, they cannot ask for support from professionals or bring a case to court, as can be observed in South Korea and Taiwan.We also conclude that there is little difference between commercial surrogacy and non‐commercial surrogacy in the absence of a clear definition of ‘reasonable expenses.’ In the UK, the law does not allow surrogates to receive compensation. However, in reality, there may be little difference between the amounts paid to surrogates for profit in the US and those paid to surrogates for reasonable expenses in the UK. We conclude that the issue of surrogacy demands further discussion in Japan. (shrink)

This commentary focuses on whether the full set of categories is available to beginning L2 learners. After critiquing Epstein et al.'s experimental evidence for the presence of functional categories, I outline the results of an experiment involving English speakers learning Japanese as a second language that does indeed point toward the early presence of fuuctional categories.

This paper examines the normative constraints that mass society places on movies and artistic animation. Benjamin’s ideas on audience control in relation to technical media products are used to highlight the specific limitation of animations. Because they are entirely created by the artist (without employing preexistent elements, such as in movies), they can more easily simplify the scheme of representation-intention, and be bearers of politically or morally acceptable messages.

While empathy is considered a critical determinant of the quality of medical care, growing evidence suggests it may be associated with both one’s own positive and negative moods among healthcare professionals. Meanwhile, sense of coherence plays an essential role in the improvement of both psychological and physical health. Reportedly, individual SOC reaches full stability after around age 30. The aim of this study was first to evaluate the mediatory role of SOC on the association between empathy and individual moods among (...) 114 healthcare professionals in a general hospital, and then to examine the moderating effect of age on this association. Participants completed a range of self-report demographic questionnaires, Empathy Process Scale, the 13-item Antonovsky’s SOC, and Profile of Mood States. Findings showed that SOC mediated the relations between empathy and both POMS-Vigor and POMS-Depression. Notably, moderated mediation analysis revealed that there was a significant interaction on self-vigor mood in healthcare professionals. The indirect effect of empathy on self-vigor mood through SOC was significant at over mean age “32.83.” Although there was no significant interaction with age regarding the indirect effect of empathy on self-depression mood, in the sub-category level analysis of empathy, we found a significant interaction item [age × empathy for other’s negative affect ] on SOC. This indirect effect was also significant at over mean age “32.83.” Taken, together, the current study highlighted the significant mediator of SOC on that empathy amplifies self-vigor mood and attenuates self-depression mood as a protective factor among the Japanese healthcare professionals. Some components of these processes may depend on the moderating role of age, indicating that we may need to consider the SOC development with age for more effective empathy performance interventions among healthcare professionals. (shrink)

1. Mono jitai no sonzai shōmei -- 2. Kazu no taishō to sono kiso -- 3. Kikagaku to ronri.

1. Oto, chinmoku to hakariaeru hodo ni ; Ki no kagami, sōgen no kagami -- 2. Ongaku no yohaku kara ; Ongaku o yobisamasu mono -- 3. Tōi yobigoe no kanata e ; Toki no entei ; Yume no in'yō -- 4. Oto, kotoba, ningen ; Opera o tsukuru -- 5. Yume to kazu ; Uta no tsubasa, kotoba no tsue.