34 research outputs found
Exchange Anisotropy in Epitaxial and Polycrystalline NiO/NiFe Bilayers
(001) oriented NiO/NiFe bilayers were grown on single crystal MgO (001)
substrates by ion beam sputtering in order to determine the effect that the
crystalline orientation of the NiO antiferromagnetic layer has on the
magnetization curve of the NiFe ferromagnetic layer. Simple models predict no
exchange anisotropy for the (001)-oriented surface, which in its bulk
termination is magnetically compensated. Nonetheless exchange anisotropy is
present in the epitaxial films, although it is approximately half as large as
in polycrystalline films that were grown simultaneously. Experiments show that
differences in exchange field and coercivity between polycrystalline and
epitaxial NiFe/NiO bilayers couples arise due to variations in induced surface
anisotropy and not from differences in the degree of compensation of the
terminating NiO plane. Implications of these observations for models of induced
exchange anisotropy in NiO/NiFe bilayer couples will be discussed.Comment: 23 pages in RevTex format, submitted to Phys Rev B
Is Japan Really Back? The "Abe Doctrine" and Global Governance
Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has emerged as the âcomeback kidâ of Japanese politics and in his second term of office is now widely regarded as a rare example of strong leadership as he seeks to arrest and reverse his countryâs perceived decline. The strategy to achieve these objectives has come to be known as the âAbe Doctrine,â which represents a radical but risky shift in foreign policy. This article outlines the tenets of the evolving Abe Doctrine and then applies them to the Abe administrationâs behaviour in the mechanisms of global governance, a highly pertinent but overlooked example. It argues that although a more strategic and coherent approach to global governance has emerged under Abe than had been previously evident, this has been at the expense of the norm of internationalism that has traditionally shaped Japanâs role
Race, colonial history and national identity: Resident Evil 5 as a Japanese game
Resident Evil 5 is a zombie game made by Capcom featuring a White American protagonist and set in Africa. This paper argues that approaching this as a Japanese game reveals aspects of a Japanese racial and colonial social imaginary that are missed if this context of production is ignored. In terms of race, the game presents hybrid racial subjectivities that can be related to Japanese perspectives of Blackness and Whiteness where these terms are two poles of difference and identity through which an essentialised Japanese identity is constructed in what Iwabuchi calls âstrategic hybridismâ (Iwabuchi, 2002). In terms of colonialism, the game echoes structures of Japanese colonialism through which Japanese colonialism is obliquely memorialised and a ânormalâ Japanese global subjectivity can be performed
The "Abnormal" State : Identity, Norm/Exception and Japan
The term âabnormalâ has frequently been used to describe post-war Japan. Together with the idea that the country will, or should have to, ânormaliseâ its foreign and security policy, it has been reproduced in both academia and Japanese society. Why is Japan branded as âabnormalâ, and from where does the desire to ânormaliseâ it come? Drawing on a relational concept of identity, and the distinction between norm and exception, this article argues that the âabnormalityânormalisation nexusâ can be understood in terms of three identity-producing processes: (1) the process whereby the Japanese Self is socialised in US/âWesternâ norms, ultimately constructing it as an Other in the international system; (2) the process whereby the Japanese Self imagines itself as âlegitimately exceptionalâ (what is called âexceptionalisationâ), but also âillegitimately abnormalâ â both of which are epitomised by Japanâs âpacifismâ; and (3) the process whereby both the Selfâs ânegative abnormalityâ and China/Asia are securitised in attempts to realise a more ânormalâ (or super-normal) Japanese Self. How Japan is inter subjectively constructed on a scale between ânormalâ and âabnormalâ enables and constrains action. Although Japan has not remilitarised nearly as much in the 2000s as is often claimed, these processes might very well forebode an exceptional decision to become ânormalâ and therefore more significant steps towards remilitarisation