The culture history of Nihon koku (Japan)

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Millenial jitters? Or just another case of social contagion in Japan?
American Atheists, AANews, #367, 19 December 1997. Social contagion—the epidemic-like spread of hysteria and other states of heightened emotional excitement —may explain some religious miracles and apparitions, paranormal events, and possibly even Tuesday's bizarre incident in Japan where hundreds of youngsters were allegedly induced into seizures and other traumatic states by a cartoon character.
The Diversity of Japanese Culture
Review of Donald Denoon et al., Multicultural Japan, by Jennifer Callans, H-Japan list, March 1998. This volume, a must-read for all Japan specialists, is a collection of articles which were originally presented in September, 1993, at Australian National University (Canberra), at a conference entitled Stirrup, Sail, and Plough: Continental and Maritime Influences on Japanese Identity.
Tired of Silence, Consumers Speak Up for Rights
By Suvendrini Kakuchi, IPS, 19 February 1999. There is still no law in Japan that makes it illegal for companies to trade consumer lists and information. But consumer activists and legal experts say there may yet be one soon, given growing consumer consciousness in Japan that could well result in a drastically altered society in the next millennium.
Nation rallies behind the gallows
Mainichi Shimbun, Sunday 28 November 1999. Growing support for capital punishment is attributable to a sharp increase in the number of brutal crimes in recent years. A record 79 percent of the population supports the death penalty.