Shiba Ryotaro (1923-1996) is the author of numerous historical novels and short stories that attract constant attention of the reading public, not only in Japan, but also abroad. Much attention in his prose is paid to Russia, which becomes a point of special interest, because it deepens common knowledge about it, usually formed by seeing this country from the West, while the Japanese, as Shiba says, “feel Russia through Siberia”. In 1999, a collection of his essays “On Russia. The Original Form of the North” was published in Russia. According to the writer himself, he saw Russia, first and foremost, as a neighboring country. Therefore, it was not Russia itself and its history, but the facts and factors that influenced relations between Japan and Russia that were the subject of his reflections which became the basis of the essays included in the book. This collection of essays is not the author’s first work dealing with Japanese-Russian relations. The writer began to ponder over this topic while working on his two most significant works - “Clouds Above the Hill” ( Saka-no ue-no kumo 坂の上の雲, 1968-1972) and “The Sea of Blooming Rape” ( Nana-no hana-no oki 菜の花の沖, 1982). The events in the former take place in the second half of the Meiji period and the Russo-Japanese War becomes the central stage for the characters’ actions. In the latter, the events are connected with the so-called Golovnin Incident, which brought the two countries to the brink of war after the capture of a Russian explorer and naval captain, Vasily Golovnin, in 1811, by the soldiers of the Japanese shogunate. As follows from the essays in “About Russia. The original face of the North”, Shiba Ryotaro believes that the main factor that influenced the perception of Russia in Japan was Russia’s advance deep into Siberia and the way it was approaching Japan. Expanding the historical canvas of Russia in time and space, he compares the events in Russia that were significant from his point of view to what was happening at the same time in Japan, with a perspective that сan promote the popularization of the hierarchical structure of relations between Japan and Russia.

The article deals with the problem of “inner space” in two prominent works of kokkeibon (“funny books”), a genre of gesaku , light popular fiction of Tokugawa period (1603-1867), Tōkaidōchū hizakurige by Jippensha Ikku and Ukiyoburo by Shikitei Sanba. The creation of the unique settings, namely, the Tōkaidō road and its post stations in Tōkaidōchū hizakurige and a public bath in Ukiyoburo is considered to be a special artistic method, which is not just a device to develop a light and funny atmosphere of the literary works mentioned, but also a mechanism uncovering deeper layers of psychologism and mindset of Tokugawa period’s townsfolk. There are two types of “inner worlds” found in the works of Ikku and Sanba: an “anti-world” (following M. Bakhtin’s term) of Tōkaidōchū hizakurige , where the spirit of grotesque, absurdity and situational comedy prevails, and an “idealistic world” of Ukiyoburo , in which humor and morality are found in the everyday situations and conversations of a public bath’s visitors. The main layers of this “anti-world” are distinguished, among them the opposition between provincials and edokko , the “situational comedy’s” space of Tokaido road, and the level of theatricality are analyzed closely. As for Ukiyoburo , the dimensions of the public bath, the city of Edo, and the floating world in whole are studied. It is also assumed that the tags of “anti-world” and “idealistic world” in terms of these literary works can correspond with the “men’s world” of masculinity, rude humor, situational comedy, and the “women’s world” of light humor, melancholy, and daily wisdom respectively.

The article examines the current relations between Japan and South Korea in the light of their common historical past. Specific problems rooted in the colonial domination of Japan on the Korean Peninsula in the first half of the 20th century are analyzed. Since the beginning of the 1990s, politicians and officials of both countries trying to solve these problems constantly stressed the need to build “relations oriented to the future” between the two nations. At the turn of the century, Japanese-South Korean relations were characterized by a certain rapprochement between Tokyo and Seoul. Its symbols were the joint holding of the World Cup in 2002, as well as the South Korean boom in Japan. However, this period did not last long, and recently the vector of bilateral relations is increasingly turning into their dramatic past. One of the most dramatic pages in Japan's relations with South Korea dates back to the Pacific War. It is related to the problem of «comfort women» - tens of thousands of young Korean women who were forcibly abducted during the Pacific War to Japanese frontline brothels. Among the problems that complicate relations between Japan and South Korea, the most intractable one is the territorial dispute over two small islands in the Sea of Japan, called Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea. Serious bilateral problems include Seoul's claims to name the Sea of Japan as the East Sea. In 2018, relations between Japan and South Korea sharply deteriorated due to the incident with the naval flag of Japan, the conflict over the guidance of a combat radar by a South Korean destroyer on a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft. Particular rejection in Japan was caused by the decision of the judicial authorities of South Korea to pay material compensation to its residents for forced labor during the war. The current deterioration of political relations between Japan and South Korea is alarming to the business circles of both countries. The article concludes that the growing tensions between Japan and South Korea are undermining the Japan-US-South Korea trilateral alliance and may lead to a change in the balance of power in Northeast Asia.

The article is devoted to the folklore cycle about the life of Minamoto-no Yoritomo from the Izu Peninsula. It is worth noting that folk legends hold a special place in Japan's narrative folklore, and alongside another genre - legends - are traditionally denoted by a single term densetsu. The works of this genre devote much attention to historical events and real historical figures of both national and local scale. This led to the appearance of a large number of popular narratives associated with heroes, cultural achievements, and natural objects of a small territory, i.e. “native” village or “native” area. One of these areas was the Izu Peninsula, where Minamoto-no Yoritomo (1147-1199), the future ruler of medieval Japan, an outstanding political and military leader, lived in exile for many years in his young age. Local legends of the Izu Peninsula have particular importance. The cycle of texts selected for analysis is unique, as it is the only folk cycle about Minamoto-no Yoritomo that exists in the Japanese narrative tradition. In addition, the legends of Izu give the opportunity to realize the true perception of this hero among the people, and to compare the ideas and notions of Yoritomo in Japanese history and folklore. “Imposing” the image of Yoritomo on local toponymic legends, which have acquired a historical dimension, seems obvious and to some degree artificial. This contributed to their “authenticity”, as a story about an unusual event or incident turned out to be associated with the real toponyms of Izu, and later with the deeds of Yoritomo, who was believed to have created many natural objects, such as stones, rocks, and springs. These objects received “individual names” according to Yoritomo's deeds, and became a kind of “folk history” about his life on Izu. Some legends tell about Yoritomo being involved in giving certain unusual features and qualities to natural objects. Thus, the folk cycle of the Izu Peninsula has created an image of Yorimoto that is distinct from his historical image. In the folklore of Izu, Yoritomo acquired pronounced features of a mythological cultural hero and creator. In some cases, he was even deified.

Since 2014, both China and Japan have been pursuing a policy of normalization of their bilateral relations, which worsened after Japanese government’s decision in 2012 to nationalize three out of five disputed Senkaku islands. There are a number of factors, at times contradicting each other, that shape Japan’s contemporary policy towards China: from deep interest in intensification of trade and economic cooperation with China and in ensuring regional security, concerns over the US President D. Trump’s actions and hence over the sustainability of US-Japan close partnership and alliance, to the challenge of rising China. A specific feature of Japan’s policy towards China is that due to deep contradictions between the two countries, Tokyo views the rise of China not as bringing opportunities, but instead as a serious challenge or a potential threat. The strengthening of China’s economic and especially military power - along with North Korea’s missile and nuclear program - is seen in Tokyo as the deepest security concern. As China’s comprehensive national power strengthens, China’s foreign policy behavior becomes more assertive, foreign policy and foreign trade activities intensify, Japan’s challenge of rising China attains new dimensions. During the past several years, Tokyo has been facing a need to find an appropriate response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, to the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and to China’s intensified economic and military activities in the East China and South China Seas. This article demonstrates how the Abe Shinzo Cabinet meets the challenge of rising China under the conditions of Japan’s policy to normalize relations with its strong neighbor. Specifically, the article identifies and characterizes the Abe Cabinet’s measures to hedge the risks connected to China’s Belt and Road Initiative and China’s assertiveness in the East China and South China Seas.

The article discusses motives and directions of Japan-China rivalry in the largest regions of the developing world (DW) - Africa and Latin America (LA). Foreign economic interests of Japan and China largely coincide, and that logically creates basis for competition. Both countries suffer urgent need for energy resources, seek to diversify their finished products’ markets and to secure their hydrocarbon imports. The author describes in detail the strengths and weaknesses of the two countries in their cooperation with Africa and LA and emphasizes that, although Japan has a number of valuable advantages, China, thanks to its special financial, economic, and diplomatic assertiveness, retains undoubted leadership in the struggle for influence in the DW. The volume of Japanese trade and economic cooperation with the DW is significantly inferior to the Chinese one, but the country is taking significant steps to mitigate this situation both independently and in reliance on the partnership with other states, including India. In the political sphere, the rivalry between the two countries in the DW is caused by their strong divergence of views on territorial problems in the East and South China seas, on the issue of the UN reform, including Japan's permanent membership in the UN Security Council, and by mutual historical “grievances” as well. China and Japan wage sharp, though veiled struggle in the UN and other international structures for the voices of developing countries. And the political sphere is the one where China perceives Japan as a highly influential regional and global competitor. The author also points out a special vector of confrontation between Japan and China in the DW generated by the neighborhood of their military and logistics bases in Africa (Djibouti), parallel participation in international security activities, including provision of peaceful navigation on the sea routes along the East African coast, and the expansion of their naval presence in the Indian ocean. Finally, the article notes that Japan has to go a long way to achieve positions in the DW comparable to the Chinese ones. At the same time, the author characterizes a number of advantages that Japan possesses in comparison with China, and emphasizes that the nearest though achievable task for Tokyo in Africa and Latin America is to maintain and maximize these advantages. With the skillful approach peculiar to Japan especially in difficult times, it may become a key decision.

The article is devoted to Mishima Yukio’s perception of the transformations of the Japanese state in the early postwar period. There are relatively few studies concerning the peculiarities of the writer's political views in historiography. Basically, the researchers turn to the analysis of the works created by him in the 1960s, when the writer turns to the far-right version of patriotism. In this period, Mishima begins to manifest himself in the political life of Japan. He meets with representatives of student movements who organize large-scale demonstrations in Tokyo, establishes and trains his own military-political organization “Shield Society” in 1968. For a comprehensive study of Mishima's early political views, the author chooses the essay “The Reasoning on the New Fascism” (1954). Mishima wrote the essay two years after the end of the occupation of Japan. The essay marked the beginning of political reflections of the writer. In the essay, the writer reflected on the phenomenon of Japanese fascism. Creative intelligentsia of this period actively participated in political discussions. Exponents of leftist ideas quickly gained popularity among the intelligentsia and the public. They resumed the political debate that had faded due to new censorship restrictions introduced under the American occupation, including that on the theme of fascism. In his essay, Mishima Yukio tries to refute the opinion of the Japanese Communists about the possibility of revival of fascist ideas in Japan. The essay “The Reasoning on the New Fascism” is a theoretical work and does not contain the political motives characteristic of the later activities of Mishima. Translation of the essay “The Reasoning on the New Fascism” into Russian language has been made by the author of this article.

The article presents a critical analysis of I.P. Lebedeva’s monograph “The Japanese labor market in the 21^st century. Economic and social problems” (Moscow: Institute of Oriental Studies of RAS, 2019, 314 p. ISBN: 978-5-89282-887-1). The reviewer notes the author's contribution to the study of the development of the Japanese economy and society by Russian specialists in Japanese Studies, as well as the usefulness of the monograph for specialists studying the development of the labor market at the present stage. The article provides a detailed analysis of the main problems considered in the work and notes the author’s professionalism and ease of presentation, which facilitate the reader’s perception of rather complex issues and make the book interesting not only for specialists, but also for a wide range of readers.