Reaching for global in the Japanese cosmetics industry, 1951 to 2015: the case of Shiseido

This article examines the various factors that have shaped the internationalisation of the Japanese cosmetics industry over six decades of economic transformation from 1951 to 2015. Whilst Japanese cosmetics companies have expanded overseas, their focus has largely been in Asia. This article advances a multifactorial explanation that analyses a number of factors that led to regionalisation, including foreign consumers’ perception of Japan, managerial perceptions and strategies toward export markets, as well as the challenges pertaining to cross-border mergers and acquisitions activities by Japanese firms. Using Shiseido as the case example, the article offers a highly-textured account rooted in an understanding of the evolving historical setting, cautions against simple explanations and extends previous discussions concerning the reasons behind the regional orientation of the Japanese cosmetics industry

The defence of cosmopolitan capitalism by Sir Charles Addis, 1914-1919: a microhistorical study of a classical liberal banker in wartime

This study focuses on the efforts of Sir Charles Addis to defend the pre-1914 system of cosmopolitan capitalism. Our central research question is to understand why this merchant banker fought in preserve cosmopolitan capitalism when so many of his peers acquiesced in and even championed its demise. Addis’s moral ideal was an international economic order in which the nationality of firms was irrelevant to the strategies of managers. The First World War dramatically increased the salience of firm nationality in international business. Addis, who was a committed classical liberal, fought against this trend to a degree that is hard to explain with reference to economic self-interest alone. The article, which is based on a range of sources including Addis’s diary, explores Addis’s connections to, and views of, ‘German’ bankers, his relations with the British government, and the political economy of the reparations imposed on Germany by the Versailles Peace settlement

Unrealised potential: Japan's post-war pharmaceutical industry, 1945-2005.

Japan's existing pharmaceutical industry was devastated in the Second World War. But the industry recovered quickly, and in 1963, Japan had become the second largest producer of pharmaceuticals after the United States. Unlike its automobile or electronics industries, however, Japan's pharmaceutical industry did not become a global leader. Japan remains a net importer of pharmaceuticals and few Japanese drugs are found outside of Japan. The global pharmaceutical industry is led by firms from the United States, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, rather than those from Japan. This thesis traces the development of the Japanese pharmaceutical industry after 1945, and offers several explanations for why it did not become a world-leading industry. It uses two classes of medicines, antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs, as case studies for exploring the overall history of the Japanese pharmaceutical industry. These case studies were selected because of their importance to health outcomes in post-war Japan. In the immediate post-war period, the leading causes of death in Japan were infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, but in later decades, cancer morbidity and mortality rose. Japan was found to be much more successful at developing antibiotics than anticancer drugs. This thesis shows that, while the Japanese pharmaceutical industry had caught up with its Western counterparts by the mid 1970s, it did not exploit its potential to become a global leader. A few of Japan's leading pharmaceutical firms did develop blockbuster drugs and expand overseas, but most firms remained domestically oriented. The major reasons why Japan did not develop a strong pharmaceutical industry lay in the lack of R and D incentives, the government's protectionist policies, industrial structure, and Japanese medical culture. Other reasons of secondary importance included the industry's historical origins in import houses, national differences in patterns of disease, Japan-specific drug standards, and barriers to entrepreneurship among university academics

Japan: A case study of national “readiness” for regenerative medicine

This article focuses on Japan, as a country with a strong and distinctive strategy for delivering RM, and outlines efforts to build regenerative readines

Shifting patterns of expectations management in innovation policy: a comparative analysis of solar energy policy in the United States, Japan and Germany

This article builds on the literature on sociotechnical imaginaries and the sociology of expectations to engage in the discussion of how expectation alignment facilitates the development of novel technologies. While existing scholarship has elaborated on how expectations alignment is important to support technological development, it has not fully explored how the challenges of expectation alignment are translated into practices of expectation management and collective governance over the innovation process. Based on a range of archival sources, the article examines three historical episodes of photovoltaics development in locations that had spearheaded its development: the United States, Japan and Germany. Based on these historical episodes, the article suggests three core issues for the management of expectations in technological development: the creation, adaptation and materialization of shared imaginaries

Comparison of Hepatitis B Virus DNA, RNA, and Core Related Antigen as Predictors of Lamivudine Resistance in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B

The clinical usefulness of hepatitis B virus (HBV)DNA, RNA, and core related antigen (HBcrAg)assays for predicting the appearance of HBV DNA breakthrough was evaluated and compared in patients with chronic hepatitis B undergoing lamivudine therapy.Methods :Thirty six patients with chronic hepatitis B who received lamivudine therapy for more than 1 year were enrolled. HBV RNA was measured simultaneously with HBV DNA (HBV RNA/DNA) using a real-time detection polymerase chain reaction assay with a preceding step of reverse-transcription. HBV DNA was measured by an HBV AMPLICOR monitor kit. HBcrAg was measured using a chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay. Results : Sixteen patients (44%) developed HBV DNA breakthrough during the median observation period of 48.4 months (range 7.4-87.8 months). Afterwards, HBV DNA breakthrough was prospected using the three parameters taken 6 months after starting lamivudine therapy. The cut-offlevels for predictions were determined by receiver operating characteristic curves, and were 2.6 log copies/ml for HBV DNA, 3.8 log U/ml for HBV RNA/DNA, and 4.0 log U/ml for HBcrAg.Sensitivity,specificity,and accuracy for predicting HBV DNA breakthrough were 25%, 100%,and 67% respectively for HBV DNA.Similarly,they were 50%,90%,and 72% for HBV RNA/DNA, and 100%, 40%, and 67% for HBcrAg. Conclusion : Our findings confirm that HBV DNA is useful for identifying patients who are at high risk for HBV breakthrough.HBcrAg is useful for isolating those who are at low risk, and HBV RNA/DNA showed predictive characteristics similar to HBV DNA with higher sensitivity and the highest accuracyArticle信州医学雑誌, 58(4):153-162 (2010)departmental bulletin pape

Hepatitis B virus RNA is measurable in serum and can be a new marker for monitoring lamivudine therapy

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.comArticleJOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY. 41(8): 785-790 (2006)journal articl

Patients with and without loss of hepatitis B virus DNA after hepatitis B e antigen seroconversion have different virological characteristics

Copyright © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc., A Wiley CompanyArticleJOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY. 78(1): 68-73 (2006)journal articl

The effects of chemotherapy-induced alopecic experience on daily living

がん化学療法に伴う脱毛体験が患者の日常生活にもたらす影響について明らかにすることを目的に，１５名の患者に対して自由回答法による半構造化面接を実施した．同意を得て録音した面接内容の逐語録をデータとして，Krippendorff. Kの内容分析の手法を用いて分析を行った．分析の結果，がん化学療法に伴う脱毛体験が患者の日常生活にもたらす影響として，【脱毛した自分に違和感を感じながら人目を気にして生活する】【脱毛に備えて事前に準備する】【脱毛は仕方がないと捉え治療を受けることを優先させる】【予想以上の急速大量脱毛にがんであることの事実を突きつけられる】【時間をかけて脱毛の事実を受け入れ違う捉え方を見出す努力をする】【他者と距離を取りながら生活する】【立場，性差による脱毛の捉え方の違いを実感する】【脱毛した毛髪の処理を気にかけながら生活する】【脱毛のつらい経験から検診の啓蒙活動を行う】の９つが明らかとなった．脱毛に対して事前に十分な準備が行え，自分なりの対処法についてイメージできるよう具体的な情報提供を行うとともに，性差，治療効果や患者の治療への思いなどによって脱毛に対する捉え方はさまざまであることから，看護師はその人自身の脱毛の受け止め方や，脱毛が及ぼす生活への支障について把握し，必要な情報を提供することや患者の思いが表出しやすい環境を整えることが大切である．The present study aimed to clarify the effects of chemotherapy-induced alopecia on the daily lives of cancer patients. Semi-structured interviews comprising free-answer questions based on an interview guide were conducted on １５ cancer patients experiencing chemotherapy-induced alopecia. Analysis revealed the following ９ effects of chemotherapy-induced alopecia on patients’ daily lives : ‘self-consciousness accompanied by feeling strange about oneself due to hair loss’, ‘preparing for hair loss in advance’, ‘prioritizing treatment and perceiving hair loss as inevitable’, ‘come to terms with chemotherapy-induced alopecia gradually, make an effort to find out a different kind of ways for it’, ‘being hit by the reality of cancer due to greater than anticipated rapid loss of large quantities of hair’, ‘intentionally living daily life at a distance from others’, ‘recognizing the situation and the gender-based differences in perception of hair loss’, ‘worrying about disposing of the lost hair’, ‘becoming more informed about medical examinations due to the hard experience of hair loss’. The present findings indicated that chemotherapy-induced alopecia is perceived in various ways depending on gender, treatment effectiveness and patients’ feelings towards treatment. It is important for nurses to understand patients’ individual acceptance of alopecia and related difficulties in daily life while creating an environment that allows patients to express their feelings. Nurses should also provide specific information enabling patients to visualize personal coping techniques and sufficiently prepare for alopecia