‘Separating the Roots of the Chrysanthemum’: Nishihara Kamezō and the Abortive China Loans, 1917-18

In the period between 1917 and 1918, a series of mysterious loans negotiated between Japanese middleman Nishihara Kamezō 西原亀三 and the government of warlord Duan Qirui 段祺瑞 amounted to the fabulous amount of ¥145,000,000. Although reporting about these loans at the time was confused to say the least, we now know that there existed definite and close relationships between Nishihara Kamezō on the one hand, and the Terauchi Cabinet in Tokyo, in the person of then Minister of Finance Shōda Kazue 勝田主計 in particular.1 Analyzing the Nishihara loans in their geopolitical and historical particularity and isolation is, however, to miss the point. In what context(s) were these infamous loans raised? What was, for instance the nature of their geopolitical climate and their international institutional character? Next, in what respect did the Nishihara loans differ from earlier, more 'official' instances of yen diplomacy? In what respect did they represent a break with former administrations, and, more importantly, did their exist a broad consensus about their objectives and appropriateness? And not in the least: how did China's turbulent politics contribute to their ill fate?money doctoring, Japanese history, Chinese history. loans, warlordism, Nishihara, imperialism

Money on the Road to Empire —Japan's Choice for Gold Monometallism

Matsukata Masayoshi's decision to bring Japan upon the gold standard has often been presented as the self-evident result of his insight in some imperfections endemic to the silver standard and bimetallism. Turning to Marc Flandreau's refutation of the view that the growth toward an international gold standard system was preordained, this article inquires its consequences for discussions of Japan's late nineteenth century monetary situation. I argue that Matsukata's policies should not be discussed in terms of the assumed superiority of one standard over another, but should be studied as a political choice with respect to Japan's place in the world, both strategically (as an imperialist power) and economically (namely as economic partner of the gold standard countries).Matsukata Masayoshi, monetary standards, Latin Monetary Union, Sino-Japanese war, imperialism

'As Close as Lips and Teeth' The Daiichi Ginkō and Megata Tanetarō in Korea

It is by now established knowledge that Japanese interventionist policies versus Korea cannot have been motivated by economic profits. Literature in this respect instead points to socio-political, perhaps military explanations of this instant of Japanese imperialism. Whereas this insight is certainly more satisfying, it does not pay attention to the role of a series of monetary and financial reforms both the Japanese government and the Government-General in Korea sought to implement immediately after the peninsula had been turned into a protectorate. In this paper, we will turn to the pre-history of Korea's annexation; we will highlight a number of inconsistencies at the core of Japanese policies vis-à-vis Korea, and demonstrate that financial and economic considerations eroded the very strategy of establishing Korea as a mere political 'line of interest'. Instead, the very alliance between politicians and people of high finance only reinforced the employment of finance and monetary matters as instruments in facilitating Korea's societal transformation. We will demonstrate how the 'Megata reform', as it came to be called, factually turned Korea into a subsidiary of the Japanese economy. It was a tool aimed to relegate the position of Korea in the Japanese Lebensraum —to which later generations of politicians would refer as the Greater East-Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere (dai tōa kyōeiken 大東亜共栄圏). The Megata reform was thus not an economic answer to an economic problem in the conventional sense. Instead, it was developed in reaction to a strategic need.money doctoring, colonialism, Japanese empire, Korean money and finance

Attitudes of commanders and prospective commanders toward Air Force public relations

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Toward a culturally sensitive conceptualization of resilience: participatory research with war-affected communities in northern Uganda

Resilience research with war-affected populations has long conceptualized resilience as the absence of psychopathology and operationalized it by use of standardized measures. However, literature on resilience increasingly highlights the importance of also including indicators of positively valued functioning as well as contextually sensitive indicators of resilience. This study used a participatory approach to examine the contextual conceptualization of youth resilience in the aftermath of war in northern Uganda, as defined by groups of stakeholders (youths, parents, elders, leaders, teachers) in four communities. The results identify 40 indicators covering a multiplicity of domains of functioning. The rationales behind these indicators were clustered into the broad themes: progress, self-reliance, social connectedness, morality, health, and comfort. The findings suggest that positively and negatively valued aspects of functioning are both key to conceptualizing resilience, and indicate the importance of including contextually distinguished indicators. The findings further point to the role of individual and collective processes in the construction of resilience, and to the need to take into account the contexts wherein resilience is conceptualized and observed. This study generated contextually sensitive indicators of young people's resilience, which can be used, complementary to existing measures of functioning, to provide a more comprehensive and culturally sensitive view of youths' resilience in the wake of war adversity