The article examines the so-called “Critical Buddhism,” which is a specific trend in Japanese Buddhist philosophy that has become widespread since the 1980s and has questioned the “truth” of both Japanese Buddhism itself and the entire Far Eastern Buddhist tradition due to their gross discrepancies with the Indian roots of the teaching. The main ideologists of the movement were Matsumoto Shirō and Hakamaya Noriaki, professors at Komazawa University and followers of the Sōtō school. The author analyzes the social aspect of their criticism, which caused the greatest resonance at the initial stages of development of “Critical Buddhism.” Arguing that Japanese Buddhism had actually created and supported the oppression of the Burakumin (Japanese “untouchables”) by imposing the ideas of “Buddha-nature” and “original enlightenment” on the population over the centuries, Hakamaya and Matsumoto accused the teaching itself and its adherents (including themselves) of departing from the true precepts of the Buddha, the key one of which was the renunciation of one’s own self for the sake of another. The spread of doctrines of imaginary equality, according to Hakamaya and Matsumoto, reinforced the existing problems in society, depriving believers of the need to make any unpleasant moral choices, since, if “Buddha-nature” was present in everything, then social discrimination was also a state of affairs pleasing to Buddha himself. By analyzing academic studies of the ideologists of “Critical Buddhism,” it is shown that they did not seek any compromise option for further coexistence of Buddhism in Japan with the doctrines of hongaku and “Buddha-nature” due to their initially heretical nature and the severity of the harm inflicted on society. It is also shown how Japanese feminism actively responded to the agenda of “Critical Buddhism,” adding gender discrimination, which had not gone away, to caste discrimination in Buddhism. The author concludes that this movement, although unable to bring about fundamental changes in Buddhology and society, was not in vain, since it once again highlighted the importance of the ethical aspect of Buddhism and the public demand for reforming Buddhism in Japan. 

The article analyses the role of author’s commentaries, realized in the form of page footnotes, within the framework of a work of fiction. Shirō Masamune’s manga “Ghost in the Shell” is chosen for analysis because here the author forms a special textual situation when commentaries are not the dominant (as it happens, for example, in V. Nabokov’s “Pale Fire”) or equal (as it happens in D. F. Wallace’s “Infinite Jest”) aspect of the text, but an aspect which, realizing its marginal status, strives to perform several functions in the text. Firstly, the author’s commentaries, as a specific para-text, emphasize the status of manga as a book and give the reader an opportunity to choose one of the possible reading options, thus including the reader in the unfolding of the text. Secondly, the space of commentaries becomes a space of manifestation of the author’s presence, who, through the footnotes, creates essays on science and religion, on the interaction between man and technology, and thus seeks to better articulate the main philosophical theses realized through drawing and narrative in “Ghost in the Shell.” Third, the commentaries allow the author to shift the focus from the narrative to the a-narrative aspects of the text, the very space and world in which the action unfolds. Fourthly, the commentaries emphasize the changing role of the author, who turns from an omnipotent demiurge and creator into a chronicler, a reporter, whose task is to record that what is happening, which unfolds according to the laws formulated by the interaction between characters and spaces, spaces and spaces, spaces and things, things and characters. Thus, through the commentaries, a situation is formed in which the diegetic world seems to acquire a conditional autonomy, the ability to exist outside the narrative, which tells about the adventures of Major Kusanagi Motoko and her subordinates. The author’s commentaries thus, through the clarification of illustrations, characters’ actions, and attention to detail, strengthen the base that facilitates the transference of the plot into other media. 

The article examines the history of the formation and institutionalization of private legal education in Japan during the Meiji era. The chronological framework of the study is determined by the fact that, before the Meiji Revolution, there was no system of professional legal education in Japan, and there was no separate stratum of lawyers in the social structure of Japanese society.

The first private law schools were established in Japan in the 1880s. According to a widely accepted opinion, their appearance was a form of resistance of the Japanese liberal public to the ideology and principles on which legal education was based in state educational institutions (the Law School of the Ministry of Justice and the Faculty of Law of the University of Tokyo). At the same time, a small amount of fragmented legal information was available to Japanese students in the 1870s in private language schools, where foreign languages were taught. However, this form of education did not confer any formal privileges, as graduates were not awarded legal qualifications. Much attention was paid to the study of Western law through the activities of private study groups set up by legal associations of “advocates” (代言者 daigensha). These study groups can be seen as the predecessors of organized private law schools.

The article provides a detailed overview of the private law schools that opened during the Meiji period and defines their place in the educational system developed in those years. Many of the private law schools opened during the Meiji period underwent a series of organizational changes and acquired the official status of private universities in the first half of the 20th century. The article draws attention to the “struggle for influence” between the public sector of legal education and private institutions, as well as to the “factional rivalry” between law schools that taught different systems of Western law (French, English, German). The article also examines the content of law students’ curricula at some private schools, identifying the role of “honorary hired foreigners” in organizing the education process of future Japanese lawyers. In conclusion, the authors express their own opinions on the reasons that determined the demand for legal education among the Japanese during the Meiji period. 

At the end of 20th century, Japan successfully overcame an environmental crisis and improved the citizens’ quality of life. The crisis, referred to as kogai in Japanese, primarily comprised physical and chemical pollution issues. Nowadays, priorities on both global and national environmental agenda usually include the climate change issue (such as creating a low-carbon economy), biodiversity concerns (and problems of land cover changes), and waste and resources management (such as implementing a circular economy, or Sound Material-Cycle Society in Japan). However, some pollution-related challenges have not yet been fully resolved. The aim of this research is to assess the quality of environment in Japan based on national statistics and monitoring data. The problems considered are as follows: air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, vibration, urban noise, land subsidence, and offensive odors. It has been found out that, despite Japan having made significant progress in solving these problems, there still remain such issues as pollution of air with fine particles and photo-oxidants, pollution of lakes and ponds with organic pollutants and of all types of surface waters with dioxins, cadmium soil pollution. The problems of noise and offensive odors in cities have not been solved. The article also features the achievements on the way towards solving the stated problems and instruments of environmental policy (an established monitoring system, open data access, active participation in international environmental policies, active engagement of local government, and responsibility of businesses). These instruments, when used in conjunction with others, allow Japan to successfully move towards the goals of sustainable development. 

The article is devoted to the transformation of the image of Japanese residents of the United States in the American press after the country’s entry into World War II and before the beginning of their internment. The main sources chosen were the media that influenced the formation of public opinion: the press of the western states, where most Japanese lived, and The New York Times, a national newspaper. The study examined published editorials, speeches by politicians, officials of various ranks, and representatives of public associations and groups. Content analysis of The New York Times publications allowed us to interpret the quantitative characteristics of the articles’ content.

In different editions of the periodical press, the image of the Japanese living in the United States was similar, but, in the West, it had its own specific features. In the western states, the history of interaction between different ethnic groups, including after the beginning of immigration from the Asian region, contained many more contradictions than in the rest of the United States. Japan’s aggressive actions in the Pacific Ocean exacerbated the attitude of coastal residents towards members of the “enemy nation.” Publications took on a form of outright antipathy, which distinguished their tone in the press of the western states and the more moderate The New York Times.

The analysis of the press allowed us to identify a consistent change of the image of Japanese Americans in the pages of newspapers in the period from December 1941 to February 1942. Initially, they were “loyal residents of the country, not associated with the policy of militaristic Japan,” while in February 1942 – “potential subversive elements capable of sabotage and betrayal of U.S. interests.” Based on the research, works of domestic and foreign authors, it was concluded that there was a set of reasons that influenced this transformation of the image of the Japanese living in the country after the entry of the United States into World War II. 

The article highlights the latest trends in the development of Japanese foreign policy towards Afghanistan in the context of the Taliban coming to power. It is shown that Japan participated in addressing the problems of Afghanistan back in the 1990s, and, after the start of the US anti-terrorist operation in 2001, its presence in the region reached a new level. Japan's contribution to post-conflict resolution was multifaceted, and, as a result of it, Japan not only established new formats of interaction with a wide range of actors, but also built stable, trusting relationships with various political forces in Afghanistan. Japan also acquired a benign reputation among the population of this country, becoming one of the main donors of aid in the period of 2002–2021. Japan's experience in assisting Afghanistan in the 1990s – 2020s, as well as its economic power, determine the Taliban's interest. The reconfiguration of political forces in the region as a result of the arrival of a new government in Afghanistan affects the political and economic interests of Japan, despite the geographical remoteness and the absence of investment projects before the regime change. Tokyo continues its dialogue with Kabul both at the official level and with the involvement of non-governmental organizations, but refrains from any significant international initiatives, preferring to exert soft diplomatic pressure with an emphasis on ensuring human rights, combining it with the provision of humanitarian assistance to the country's population. In the face of declining interest in Afghanistan on the part of Washington, Tokyo is looking for new ways of cooperation with the international community on the problems of this country, including establishment of a closer dialogue with the Muslim world. 

This article examines and analyzes the report of the Tokyo Geographical Society correspondent Kambe Ōichi, entitled “Records of Things Heard on Vladivostok” (Kaisan’i kibun 海參威記聞 = 海參崴 紀聞). It was published in 1882–1883. For the first time, detailed historiographical and bibliographic information about it is provided, the history of its publication is traced, and its contents are revealed.

The report consists of three parts – records for the period from May 1881 to April 1882, an appendix to them in the form of an “annual report” of the Vladivostok city government for 1882, and a continuation of records covering the period from April 1882 to May 1883. The report was written at a time when representative offices of Japanese companies were just beginning to open in Vladivostok, which naturally led to the expansion of the Japanese presence and diaspora in the region, and therefore it provides invaluable historical information about this early stage of the penetration of Japanese business into the Russian Far East.

Despite its importance, this source is now largely forgotten. This publication is an attempt to point out its importance and reintroduce it into scientific circulation. We believe that this will make a significant contribution to research on the history of Vladivostok and Primorsky Krai in all its aspects and will help to supplement the information available in Russian-language sources. This article is only the first step in studying Kambe’s report. Much work remains to be done to decipher the names found there, as well as to identify the primary sources – the Russian and English documents that Kambe had at his disposal and that formed the basis of his translations. 

The manuscript “Tales of the Northern Barbarians” (“Hokuidan,” 北夷談) by Matsuda Denjūrō 松田伝十郎 (1769–1843) is a valuable source on the history of Russian-Japanese relations, the development of the northern territories inhabited by the Ainu conducted by the Japanese, relations between the Ainu and the Japanese, their barter trade. The written source consists of seven notebooks. The manuscript was created in the first years of the Bunsei era (文政, 1818–1831). It describes the events from 1799 to 1822 in chronological order, i.e., events that occurred during the 24 years of Matsuda's service in the lands of the Ainu. The manuscript is written in cursive (Japanese: "grass writing," sōsho 草書). The second half of the first book examines the bear festival and the inau, cult objects of the Ainu, which were described in detail by the author in [Klimov 2024].

This article is the continuation of the description of the events of the first notebook, in which Matsuda describes: wintering in Akkeshi, the life and clothing of the Ainu, the peculiarities of hunting sea lions, the attitude towards the moon fish, wintering in Aputa, the fight against the smallpox epidemic that arose, and his return to Edo. The text is accompanied by numerous sketches. The illustrations in the manuscript are of great value, providing additional information that is missing from the text itself. Matsuda’s descriptions refer to November 1799 – January 1801. The Hokuidan manuscript has not yet been translated into any of the European languages other than Russian. The author of this article provided translations of fragments of the written source in the chapters of published collective monographs. The translation was carried out from the published text of the Japanese manuscript in the ten-volume series of written monuments entitled “Collection of Historical Materials About the Life of Common People of Japan” (Nihon shomin seikatsu shiryō shūsei 日 本庶民生活史料集成). We also used the original manuscript that is kept in the National Archives of Japan. 

In 2024, a two-volume edition of N.N. Trubnikova’s translation and study of Shasekishū was republished. Shasekishū is a 13th-century Buddhist collection of setsuwa didactic tales. The compiler of the anthology, monk Mujū Ichien (1226–1312), presents diverse narratives borrowed from numerous sources, providing them with religious-philosophical commentary, vivid and often very detailed. The second volume includes the researcher’s essays on Mujū Ichien himself, the historical and cultural context of the compilation’s creation, the setsuwa genre as a whole, and various aspects that were addressed in the monk’s discourses, alongside other supplementary materials.