visual and material culture. My academic interests center on cross-cultural interactions during the early modern period manifested in visual and material culture. I am particularly interested in the relationship, fostered by trade, between China, Japan and the Netherlands. During the seventeenth and eighteenth century, Dutch society experienced a dramatic transformation with the establishment of the…
Why do you wish to participate in a science & engineering research internship in the U.S.? What type of research are you most interested in conducting and are there any potential host labs at Rice University that you would particularly like to work with? (Maximum of 500 words)* One of the reasons why I would like to participate in the program is that I would like to have a research experience in the US, which is the most advanced in technology. The other reason is that I would like to work with…
Realism As It Relates to the Diaoyu-Senkaku Island Dispute China and Japan; two of the most powerful countries in the world, clashing over 7 square kilometers of island space. While it may seem counterintuitive for two superpowers to fight over such a small amount of land, the reasons behind these actions are explicable by the Realist school of thought. The tensions at play here are occurring as a result of the inherent power struggle described by Realism, wherein actors are constantly…
some have found loopholes such as Australia and Japan. Both have defied the areas need to succeed such as domesticable plants and animals, population size, cultural diffusion, climate, and natural resources. Australia is a highly developed area, and is continuing to grow yet came from a time where there were no cities on it at all with no real plants or animals. Somehow this country found its path and stuck with it to become what it is today. Japan started out with few cities, no natural…
India are prime examples of this. While most of these countries came under the control of those powers, Japan was pretty much able to control who came in and out of the country and this allowed them to remain independent. Japan was populated with many clans, which would mean any western power that wanted to colonize Japan, would have to deal with each individual clan. Another reason that Japan would be difficult to colonize could’ve been…
Hiromi Goto’s Chorus of Mushrooms is a novel based on three generations of Japanese Canadian women: Naoe, Keiko, and Muriel, who are experiencing an identity crisis. Naoe, an elder in the home, is an anguished woman who attempts to come to terms with her immigration to Canada, while Keiko, Naoe’s daughter, struggles to assimilate into the Canadian culture leaving her Japanese heritage behind. Muriel, (Naoe refers to her as Murasaki), is Keiko’s daughter who is born in Canada. Growing up,…
good hour, fully naked (one of the requirements of onsen). Besides the obvious naked relationship we all shared, we delved into quite interesting topics ranging from sustainability and agriculture to individuality. I learned that the young people in Japan are changing from a culture of wa (harmony) to individuality. The progress of actualization and extent of this change, I do not know. What I can conclude is that the presence of hierarchy in the lives of the Japanese is definitely very strong.…
could not enjoy. In contrast, Americans believed that the Chinese “could not be assimilated into the white community” (Wong, 19) because of discrimination at the federal, state and local levels: respectively, the Chinese Exclusion Acts, the Oregon Constitution, and Portland ordinances. Japantown and Chinatown both served as safe places for immigrants to live, work, and socialize. Although both had businesses, Japantown was able to set itself apart from Chinatown by stressing a family culture. …
economic challenges that have an impact on how well this industry succeeds or if it succeeds at all. While global competition may not seem like it would have such a huge impact on the American auto industry, it in fact does. For example let’s use Japans auto industry. The Japanese have used the American auto manufacturing models and enhanced them using technology as well as innovative methods of production. (“Global Automobile Industry,” 2014) This can lead to pressure being put on the U.S.…
Why China can make coalition and alliance within Asia? China has been regarded as the most prominent rising power in the world during the last decades for its significant economic growth and more active role in the regional or multinational organisations. Further, the important statues of China has even warned the U.S. that this growing power with ambition may change the world order in the future and challenge its hegemonic place (Hurrell, 2014). The U.S. assertion may seems pragmatic as some…