In Legends of the Samurai, Sato confronts both the history and the legend of the samurai, untangling the two to present an authentic picture of these legendary warriors. Through his masterful translations of original samurai tales, laws, dicta, reports, and arguments accompanied by insightful commentary, Hiroaki Sato chronicles the changing ethos of the Japanese warrior from the samurai's historical origins to his rise to political power. For this purpose, Sato has chosen to translate, wherever possible, writings (...) closest in time to the actual event. His translations are a testament to his mastery of the language for they flow with lively ease that one might not expect from accounts, many of which are ancient. Legends of the Samurai covers legends from mythological times to the early eighteenth century. Through this book Sato describes men accomplished in martial arts, warrior-commanders in battle, and samurai's own views of themselves. It ends with a famous modern retelling of a mass disembowelment in the mid-seventeenth century. (shrink)

The role of research ethics consultants in biomedical research has increased to the point that they have an advisory capacity at all research institutes. For such professionals, we have established an educational system, which includes teaching materials, training methods, and nationwide educational workshops. These workshops have served to examine the developed system’s usefulness and to provide realistic training for consultant candidates. In addition, we have used the current workshop to encourage clinical research investigators to participate. Subsequently, we examined its usefulness (...) as an opportunity to provide exposure to research ethics. In October 2019, we held a 1-day pilot workshop in Tokushima, Japan, which included a basic lecture in research ethics. During the lecture, two sets of materials were used for case discussion: case 1, covering issues related to a clinical trial, and case 2, covering issues related to human biological specimens. At the end of the workshop, a 30-item self-reporting anonymous questionnaire was provided. Of the 13 total participants, 9 were clinical research investigators and related personnel, while 6 had no direct intention to act as consultants. Respondents indicated that case 2 was more difficult than case 1. However, both cases were generally accepted as educational materials; thus, satisfaction was expressed in relation to both. As the evaluations of the cases were generally positive, we will further examine the usefulness of participation in the workshop in the cultivation of research ethics in the investigator community. (shrink)

BackgroundA brief measure of dispositional mindfulness is important for applied research on mindfulness. Although short forms of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, which measures the five aspects of mindfulness, have been developed worldwide, the validity and reliability of the Japanese version has not been examined. This study aims to examine the validity and reliability of the 24-item and 15-item versions of the FFMQ in Japan, which are the most widely used versions worldwide.MethodsOnline surveys were conducted for 889 adults in Japan (...) through an online survey company using self-reported questionnaires including the FFMQ to confirm the factor structure and validity. To examine construct validity, we examined the relationship between the short form of FFMQ and mind wandering, interoceptive awareness, experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion, openness, neuroticism, self-compassion, depression, and anxiety, which have been theoretically or empirically shown to be related to mindfulness. In addition, 137 adults responded to the FFMQ again, after four weeks, for the test-retest reliability.ResultsThe correlated five-factor and four-factor models and the higher-order factor hierarchical model did not show sufficient goodness of fit, while the 24-item version showed acceptable fit when uncorrelated method factors loaded on by the positive and negative items were added. However, the 15-item version did not show acceptable fits for any of the models. Regarding reliability, the 24-item version showed acceptable values. In terms of the relationship between the original and the shortened version of the FFMQ, the 24-item version shared approximately 80% of the variance with the original one. In addition, although the wording effects of positive and negative items seemed to affect the correlations between the FFMQ and the other scales, the associations with related concepts were as predicted generally, supporting the construct validity of the short form of the FFMQ.ConclusionIn Japan, the 24-item version of FFMQ showed acceptable validity and reliability similar to the original version, and we recommend that the 24-item version be used. (shrink)

We can easily discriminate self-produced from externally generated sensory signals. Recent studies suggest that the prediction of the sensory consequences of one’s own actions made by forward model can be used to attenuate the sensory effects of self-produced movements, thereby enabling a differentiation of the self-produced sensation from the externally generated one. The present study showed that attenuation of sensation occurred both when participants themselves performed a goal-directed action and when they observed experimenter performing the same action, although they clearly (...) reported that the tones were produced by other during action observation and by themselves during their own action. These results suggest that sensory prediction of action modulates ongoing auditory processing irrespective of who produces the sounds and that the explicit judgment of agency does not necessarily rely on the same mechanisms on which implicit perceptual measures such as sensory attenuation rely. (shrink)

本書構畫「忠」概念在中國春秋戰國時代的演變，並嘗試藉此闡明其功能與特質。在春秋到戰國早期的政治思想中，「忠」和「忠信」概念對於國家社稷的生存幾乎是最高價值，而且到戰國中期更具有涵蓋「天下」的普遍性。然 而在戰國中期以後，道家與稷下思想家如慎到等人開始批判「忠」的價值，並且將原本以道德動機為主要內涵的「忠」概念、轉變成以個人利益為主要實踐動機的「忠」概念。面對此趨勢，戰國晚期的《荀子》和《呂氏春秋》都 試圖重新界定「忠」對國家運作的正面價值，而《韓非子》雖然基本上接受稷下學者之「反忠論」，但還是肯定「忠臣」是國家社稷安定的關鍵角色。本書也對中日韓及歐美學者過去研究「忠」概念的成果有詳細評述。.

社会の最底辺から撃つ、未来とは過去である、論文を書くといったモットーで歴史を築いてきた法政大学・社会思想史ゼミの集大成論文集.

Robustness is a fundamental property of biological systems, observed ubiquitously across species and at different levels of organization from gene regulation to ecosystem. The theory of biological robustness argues that robustness fosters evolv-ability and that together they entail various tradeoffs as well as characteristic architectures and mechanisms. We argue that classes of biological systems have evolved to enhance their robustness by extending their system boundary through a series of symbioses with foreign biological entities . A series of major biological innovations (...) has been achieved by events consistent with this framework: horizontal gene transfer, serial endosymbiosis, oocytes-mediated vertical infection, and host-symbiont mutualism for bacterial flora. Self-extending symbiosis contributes to robustness because symbiotic foreign biological entities can enhance the adaptative capacity of the system against environmental perturbations as well as contribute novel functions. In addition, evolutionary history indicates that the degree of symbiosis achieved has substantially changed from tight integration into the genome to loose integration as bacterial flora . The most dramatic example can be seen in the symbiosis of host immune system and bacterial flora in which substantial function of host defense depends on the proper maintenance of bacterial flora and its adaptive capability. Biological systems following this type of evolutionary path might have attained high levels of functionality, robustness, and evolvability. Thus, robustness, evolution, and self-extending symbiosis may form essential system principles for biology. (shrink)

多様性とエコロジーの時代を先取りした江戸期の巨人、その思想のエッセンス 伝統的・土着的でありながら、時空を越えたスケールと普遍性を持ち、21世紀においても時代の先行者たりうる思想家、安藤昌益。 深まる昌益研究の最新動向を踏まえ、自然哲学、平等論、歴史観、平和思想など多彩な切り口から昌益思想の核心に迫る。 戦争と災害の時代を乗り越える叡智がここにある──.

「自り然る」「直ら耕す」「『対立』から『互性』へ」...いのちの営みとともに生きる共生社会のありようを新しい言葉に盛った安藤昌益。「自由であれ、つつましくあれ」未曾有の3.11災禍を経てなお、放射能下 の今を生きる私たちに昌益から届けられたメッセージ。.

◎ 以政治思想使的角度切入，完整剖析荀子的政治思想淵源、構造及特色。 ◎ 闡明荀子如何將早期儒、墨的倫理論辯，提升為分析國家社會原理的禮治論。 ◎ 理解漢朝後中國國家體制的設計藍圖，必須從理解荀子禮治論開始。 本書以「禮治」與「綜合」為切入點，闡明《荀子》書中政治思想的淵源、構造以及特色，並對荀子的生平、其文本的流傳以及戰國時代「禮」概念的發展等問題，進行完整且系統性的說明。 作者將戰國時代的思想演變，分成以孔子至孟子的早期儒家與墨家思想為主要內容的「倫理論辯」階段，和以慎到、田駢等稷下學者與道家等戰國中、晚期思想為主要內容的「分析論述」階段，並主張荀子以「禮」概念綜合了此 兩種思想潮流。經由闡述「禮」概念的各種功能，荀子將當時備受懷疑的倫理工夫之效能，以及過度抽象化的各種政治論辯內容，重新界定為每個人都能夠實踐的倫理準則；早期儒墨的「倫理論辯」，由此提升為富有分析國家社 會原理的「禮治論」。而因為荀子的禮治論兼有豐富的倫理實踐意涵，以及分析國家社會的理論意涵，其後更成為漢朝建立國家制度與倫理基礎時的設計藍圖。 經由作者條分縷析地說明，讀者當能對荀子的禮治思想有更深入的了解，進而掌握其整體面貌。.

世界的ベストセラーの問いかけに私たちはどう答えるのか。分子生物学の黎明期に、初めて人間と生命の神秘にせまったジャック・モノー。その思想を原典から読み解き、40年後のいま、モノーに答える。.

人間であること、これを問う政治哲学の徹底。その先に見えるのは、果たして平和的共存の根源性か、戦いのそのとき、自分以外ではありえない人間の生々しさか。.

We present an annotation scheme describing the argument structure of judgement documents, a central construct in Japanese law. To support the final goal of this work, namely summarisation aimed at the legal professions, we have designed blueprint models of summaries of various granularities, and our annotation model in turn is fitted around the information needed for the summaries. In this paper we report results of a manual annotation study, showing that the annotation is stable. The annotated corpus we created contains (...) 89 documents. We also designed and implemented the first two stages of an algorithm for the automatic extraction of argument structure, and present evaluation results. (shrink)

Proposes a provocative reinterpretation of poststructuralist theory of power The “structuralist” theories of power show that the subject is produced and reproduced by the investment of power: but how then can we then think of the subject’s resistance to power? Based on this fundamental question, Power and Resistance interprets critically the (post-)structuralist theory of power and resistance, i.e., the theories of Foucault, Deleuze and Guattari, Derrida and Althusser. It analyses also the mechanism of power and the strategies of resistance in (...) the era of neoliberalism. This meticulous analysis that completely renewed the theory of power is already published in French, Japanese, and Korean with success. (shrink)

Communication on the Internet is often described as “anonymous”, yet the usage of the term is often confusing, even in academia. Three levels of anonymity, visual anonymity, dissociation of real and online identities, and lack of identifiability, are thought to have different effects on various components of interpersonal motivation. Specifically, we propose that cross-cultural differences in interpersonal motivation (autonomy vs. affiliation) are illustrated by choices individuals make when deciding whether or not to remain anonymous while communicating online. Autonomy is often (...) valued in Western societies, whereas Eastern societies tend to emphasize affiliation, suggesting that individuals in Western societies will gravitate toward online communities that allow lower levels of anonymity, while individuals in Eastern societies will be more likely to seek out online communities that promote higher levels of anonymity. The research presented in this article supports this notion, suggesting that we need to consider cultural differences when designing online communication systems and other communications technologies. (shrink)

It has been suggested that luminance edges in retinal images are potential cues for glossiness perception, particularly when the perception relies on low-luminance specular regions. However, a previous study has shown only statistical correlations between luminance edges and perceived glossiness, not their causal relations. Additionally, although specular components should be embedded at various spatial frequencies depending on the micro-roughness on the object surface, it is not well understood what spatial frequencies are essential for glossiness perception on objects with different micro-roughness. (...) To address these issues, we examined the impact of a sub-band contrast enhancement on the perceived glossiness in the two conditions of stimuli: the Full condition where the stimulus had natural specular components and the Dark condition where it had specular components only in dark regions. Object images with various degrees of surface roughness were generated as stimuli, and their contrast was increased in various spatial-frequency sub-bands. The results indicate that the enhancement of the sub-band contrast can significantly increase perceived glossiness as expected. Furthermore, the effectiveness of each spatial frequency band depends on the surface roughness in the Full condition. However, effective spatial frequencies are constant at a middle spatial frequency regardless of the stimulus surface roughness in the Dark condition. These results suggest that, for glossiness perception, our visual system depends on specular-related information embedded in high spatial frequency components but may change the dependency on spatial frequency based on the surface luminance to be judged. (shrink)

Recent research suggests that individuals from East Asian and Western cultures differ in the degree to which they hold a folk world view known as naïve dialecticism, which is characterized by tolerance for contradiction, expectation of change, and cognitive holism. The current research utilizes the Mouse Paradigm to investigate the dynamic nature of naïve dialecticism in real time by measuring individuals’ fluctuations in judgment during the process of contemplation. The results showed cultural differences in dynamic measures of evaluation process: Japanese (...) participants took more time to stabilize their thought and showed more fluctuations in their judgment than American participants. These cultural differences were fully mediated by individual differences in levels of naïve dialecticism as measured by the level of dialectical self-views. Implications for cultural psychology and the psychology of dialectical thinking are discussed. (shrink)

美と芸術が人に及ぼす力の観点から、「侘び」「寂び」「幽玄」という古来の美的概念の関係性を解明し、日本的美の特質を捉え直す.

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of acute aerobic exercise on underlying neuronal activities associated with task-switching processes including both mixing and switch costs. A total of 29 healthy young adults (21.4 ±1.2 years) participated in this study. The experiment consisted of an exercise and a rest condition. In the exercise condition, participants completed 30 minutes of walking and/or jogging on a motor driven treadmill sufficient to achieve an intensity of 70% of maximum heartrate (HRmax). In the rest (...) condition, participants rested quietly for 30 minutes. Both conditions were conducted on different days, and the order was counterbalanced across participants. Participants performed the task-switching paradigm (switching between two different tasks), after both exercise and rest conditions respectively. The P3 amplitude was smaller in the non-switch trial than the single trial only in the rest condition, but not in the exercise condition. In other words, more attentional resources were allocated to the non-switch trial requiring greater amounts of working memory following the exercise condition. Mixing and switch effects on the P3 component were influenced by acute aerobic exercise. This result suggests that acute aerobic exercise may serve to facilitate the flexibility of task-set reconfiguration and maintaining the task set in working memory. Furthermore, during the switch trials, the P3 latency was shorter in the exercise condition than in the rest condition. This result is consistent with the findings of previous studies, indicating that cognitive processing speed is increased only during task conditions requiring greater amounts of executive control. Our study clearly indicates that acute aerobic exercise may facilitate cognitive flexibility as well as other executive functions (i.e., inhibitory control and working memory). (shrink)

Indigenous ecologies in industrial societies need immediate attention in light of the ongoing debate on indigenous resource rights and decreasing biodiversity. This paper examines the functions and meanings of hunting, fishing, and gathering activities among contemporary Nez Perce Indians in Idaho, USA. The collected data were analyzed with Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of “symbolic capital” and “practice” within the framework of political ecology. The results clearly demonstrate that hunting, fishing, and gathering practices play significant roles not only in social and religious (...) but also economic and political senses within the contemporary Nez Perce society. This study suggests that investigation of indigenous ecologies in industrial societies take a synthesized approach between idealist and materialist perspectives. (shrink)

The number of competing-brands changes by new product's entry. The new product introduction is endemic among consumer packaged goods firm and is an integral component of their marketing strategy. As a new product's entry affects markets, there is a pressing need to develop market response model that can adapt to such changes. In this paper, we develop a dynamic model that capture the underlying evolution of the buying behavior associated with the new product. This extends an application of a dynamic (...) linear model, which is used by a number of time series analyses, by allowing the observed dimension to change at some point in time. Our model copes with a problem that dynamic environments entail: changes in parameter over time and changes in the observed dimension. We formulate the model with framework of a state space model. We realize an estimation of the model using modified Kalman filter/fixed interval smoother. We find that new product's entry (1) decreases brand differentiation for existing brands, as indicated by decreasing difference between cross-price elasticities; (2) decreases commodity power for existing brands, as indicated by decreasing trend; and (3) decreases the effect of discount for existing brands, as indicated by a decrease in the magnitude of own-brand price elasticities. The proposed framework is directly applicable to other fields in which the observed dimension might be change, such as economic, bioinformatics, and so forth. (shrink)

アインシュタインが決して認めなかった、まったくあたらしい世界の姿。物理学の最先端にあらわれた、これまでの常識をくつがえす驚異の理論。そこには世界がひとつではなく多様であるという事実が描き出されていた。 量子力学が描く世界とはいったい何か。量子力学の歴史と私たちをとりまく技術、社会、制度、教育などを深く結びつけながら、碩学がその大いなる可能性をさぐる。.