The article presents the study and first Russian commented translation of four letters with behavioral guidelines for the sons of Mori Motonari, a powerful Japanese daimyo of the Sengoku period (1467-1590). These documents reflect the most important values of the provincial lord, who aspires to ensure prosperity and preservation of his clan. The unity of the sons, who led the clans of Mori, Kikkawa and Kobayakawa, is regarded in messages of Motonari to be a strategy of strengthening their power and ensuring the stability and prosperity of the Mori house.

Buddhist stone images (sekibutsu) form the central topic of the present article which introduces Japanese outstanding creations of Japanese stone sculpture. Sekibutsu are divided broadly into two groups: magaibutsu (objects carved on large rocks, outcrops, cliffs, also in caves) or free standing statues carved from a single block of stone or those, where several blocks were joined. Stone creations are rare, compared to statues made from wood or bronze, but they stand among the Japanese sculptural masterpieces and symbolize the epoch which has produced them.

This paper analyses the main aspects of cultural interaction between Japan and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at current stage, including cooperation in the field of education, exchanges in arts and the sphere of tourism. The paper traces the methods and results of both countries’ soft power use. The authors conclude that Japan comes as a more active side in this partnership, its activities being more purposeful. As a result, Japanese use of soft power is more efficient. However, Vietnam is making efforts to balance the cooperation, which generally can be characterized as mutually beneficial. The paper is based on up-to-date sources from Vietnamese and Japanese government and public institutions and media.

The article deals with the history of Khalhin-Gol (Nomonhan) Soviet-Japanese military conflict (1939), influencing - as an outbreak - and shaping the course of World War. It has happened 79 years ago, but still continues to be the topic for discussion among historians in Russia, Japan, Mongolia and other countries. And one of the most obscure issues of this military conflict is the problem of prisoners’ of war (POW). So far research of the topic remains quite poor and published data is contradictory and scarce.

This paper undertakes a comprehensive historical analysis of modern Japanese historiography debates over the territorial delimitation between Russia and Japan, an issue that is extremely important for understanding the course and consequences of bilateral relations in the near and medium term future. The author highlights and evaluates the main arguments in the Japanese historiography on the territorial demarcation issue and carries out a comparative analysis of Japanese historians' approaches and assessments of the documented legal aspects of the Soviet-Japanese border problem.

Perception of space and time is one of the essential characteristics of a culture manifesting itself in everyday life orientations, art, literature, philosophy. The article analyses the conceptualization of space and time in the works of Nishida Kitaro (1870-1945). Nishida has introduced Japanese intellectual tradition to the world in the form of a modern discourse involved in the 20^th century philosophical polemics.