Keiji Fujiyoshi – författare

This book explores how a society accepts and utilizes a system of archives to improve the quality of people’s lives at each level of community, organization, and government. This is the first book that examines the political, economic, and social background that has prevented the development of archival systems in Japan in comparison with other societies of different cultures such as the United States, Romania, India, and Korea. An archival system is an indispensable tool to live in the present and create a future by sharing an understanding of the past. For that reason, this book considers what “respecting the past” means from the point of view that people experience in their workplace to reconcile tragic experiences such as conflict, injustice, or corruption. Then the book shows how a system of archives plays a significant role in a democratic society because it serves as a foundation of evidence-based decision making for a specific group or the public. Thus, this volume provides guidance for ways that a society can build a common understanding of the importance of sharing the past to maintain community and society.

This book explores how a society accepts and utilizes a system of archives to improve the quality of people’s lives at each level of community, organization, and government. This is the first book that examines the political, economic, and social background that has prevented the development of archival systems in Japan in comparison with other societies of different cultures such as the United States, Romania, India, and Korea. An archival system is an indispensable tool to live in the present and create a future by sharing an understanding of the past. For that reason, this book considers what “respecting the past” means from the point of view that people experience in their workplace to reconcile tragic experiences such as conflict, injustice, or corruption. Then the book shows how a system of archives plays a significant role in a democratic society because it serves as a foundation of evidence-based decision making for a specific group or the public. Thus, this volume provides guidance for ways that a society can build a common understanding of the importance of sharing the past to maintain community and society.

This book is the first attempt to introduce the current status of archival practices in Japan as well as the basic views of the populace on making records accessible to English readers. In general, Japan has not paid sufficient attention to keeping and utilizing records except in the field of historical research. This book thus examines Japanese attitudes about history, records management, information acts, the status of archivists of the constitution, and genealogical research practices and a description of archives. Consequently, such investigations clarify how both private and public archives function or fail to do so in those spheres of Japanese society. In addition, this book presents the efforts in wartime record keeping in Australia, which is significantly different from how the Japanese deal with such records. This book therefore provides a clear and concrete picture of the status of current archival practices in Japan and the thinking that underlies them. On the basis of suchexaminations, this book enables readers to understand to what extent and how the past affects the present through archives, to recognize the importance of archives, and to respect the past in order to maintain and develop perspectives in people’s lives.

This book is the first attempt to introduce the current status of archival practices in Japan as well as the basic views of the populace on making records accessible to English readers. In general, Japan has not paid sufficient attention to keeping and utilizing records except in the field of historical research. This book thus examines Japanese attitudes about history, records management, information acts, the status of archivists of the constitution, and genealogical research practices and a description of archives. Consequently, such investigations clarify how both private and public archives function or fail to do so in those spheres of Japanese society. In addition, this book presents the efforts in wartime record keeping in Australia, which is significantly different from how the Japanese deal with such records. This book therefore provides a clear and concrete picture of the status of current archival practices in Japan and the thinking that underlies them. On the basis of suchexaminations, this book enables readers to understand to what extent and how the past affects the present through archives, to recognize the importance of archives, and to respect the past in order to maintain and develop perspectives in people’s lives.

Taking Japan as a heuristic example, this book explores the significance of neatly kept and classified records and archives to maintain a democratic society. Japan adopted constitutional monarchy as a state system in the nineteenth century and then amended it to become a democracy in the twentieth century. How the evaluation of public and governmental records has and has not changed for almost a century is an indication of the maturity of democracy in Japan. How and to what extent the records of the government are disclosed to and shared with the public are among the fundamental criteria to assess the quality and maturity of democracy in a society. From this point of view, the book examines the current status of records and archives management in several spheres of Japanese society, with some international comparative studies as well. On the one hand, Japan is a society that has attached great importance to written documents, which is evident when one sees how carefully ordinary people kept diverse kinds of documents even in the pre-modern period. On the other hand, the public at large has long been indifferent to the records and archives that serve as fundamental infrastructure to keep the governance of society transparent and accountable. By examining those contradictory aspects of the attitudes toward records and archives in Japanese society, this book provides the key elements of management of critical information for a democratic society.

Taking Japan as a heuristic example, this book explores the significance of neatly kept and classified records and archives to maintain a democratic society. Japan adopted constitutional monarchy as a state system in the nineteenth century and then amended it to become a democracy in the twentieth century. How the evaluation of public and governmental records has and has not changed for almost a century is an indication of the maturity of democracy in Japan. How and to what extent the records of the government are disclosed to and shared with the public are among the fundamental criteria to assess the quality and maturity of democracy in a society. From this point of view, the book examines the current status of records and archives management in several spheres of Japanese society, with some international comparative studies as well. On the one hand, Japan is a society that has attached great importance to written documents, which is evident when one sees how carefully ordinary people kept diverse kinds of documents even in the pre-modern period. On the other hand, the public at large has long been indifferent to the records and archives that serve as fundamental infrastructure to keep the governance of society transparent and accountable. By examining those contradictory aspects of the attitudes toward records and archives in Japanese society, this book provides the key elements of management of critical information for a democratic society.

This book describes how modern industry affected people in Japan and their communities by polluting their living environment with toxic emissions. It also shows how the populace endeavored not only to restore their once-clean environment but also to rebuild communities that had been damaged by pollution and its accompanying effects. Environmental pollution is usually referred to in Japan as kogai, public damage, meaning that such pollution not only harms the physical environment—air, water, soil, and the human body—but also destroys the social and personal relationships in the polluted area. Those people who took action recognized that industrial and economic development had been given the highest national priority even at the cost of their health and welfare. In this sense, anti-kogai movements led them to alternative community development and to rethinking what kind of environment and community they wanted. This book also explores the efforts driven byresidents in several parts of Japan after the middle of the twentieth century and the endeavors of museums and archives as a memorial to those who suffered from the pollution and for the prospect of a better society with a good environment.