Download or read book Aum Shinrikyo and Japanese Youth written by Daniel Alfred Metraux and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Aum Shinrikyo and Japanese Youth offers insights into Japanese spirituality by analyzing the motivations of those who joined the Aum Shinrikyo religious sect. This group attracted worldwide attention after its poison gas attack on the Tokyo subways in March, 1995. Daniel A. Metraux explores the reasons that thousands of Japanese people, many of them youths, joined the sect. He questions why they joined it, what they expected of their membership, and why they stayed involved or left. Metraux finds that most of the members got involved for religious and social reasons and did not partake in the terrorist and criminal activities of the leaders of Aum Shinrikyo. In addition, the author examines how the Aum situation reflects a growing sense of alienation from the traditional Japanese religion and culture among some of the young and middle-aged Japanese people, providing important information about the present status of the Japanese people.
Download or read book Religious Violence in Contemporary Japan written by Ian Reader and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-11 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Tokyo subway attack in March 1995 was just one of a series of criminal activities including murder, kidnapping, extortion, and the illegal manufacture of arms and drugs carried out by the Japanese new religious movement Aum Shinrikyo, under the guidance of its leader Asahara Shoko. Reader looks at Aum's claims about itself and asks, why did a religious movement ostensibly focussed on yoga, meditation, asceticism and the pursuit of enlightenment become involved in violent activities? Reader discusses Aum's spiritual roots, placing it in the context of contemporary Japanese religious patterns. Asahara's teaching are examined from his earliest public pronouncements through to his sermons at the time of the attack, and statements he has made in court. In analysing how Aum not only manufactured nerve gases but constructed its own internal doctrinal justifications for using them Reader focuses on the formation of what made all this possible: Aum's internal thought-world, and on how this was developed. Reader argues that despite the horrors of this particular case, Aum should not be seen as unique, nor as solely a political or criminal terror group. Rather it can best be analysed within the context of religious violence, as an extreme example of a religious movement that has created friction with the wider world that escalated into violence.
Download or read book Underground written by Haruki Murakami and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2001-04-10 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this haunting work of journalistic investigation, Haruki Murakami tells the story of the horrific terrorist attack on Japanese soil that shook the entire world. On a clear spring day in 1995, five members of a religious cult unleashed poison gas on the Tokyo subway system. In attempt to discover why, Haruki Murakmi talks to the people who lived through the catastrophe, and in so doing lays bare the Japanese psyche. As he discerns the fundamental issues that led to the attack, Murakami paints a clear vision of an event that could occur anytime, anywhere.
Download or read book The Cult at the End of the World written by David E. Kaplan and published by Vintage. This book was released on 1996 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Japan After Japan written by Tomiko Yoda and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2006-10-04 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scholars of history, anthropology, literature, and film explore the transformations in Japanese politics, culture, and society since Japans recession of the early 1990s.
Download or read book Miyazakiworld written by Susan Napier and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2018-09-04 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki's life and work, including his significant impact on Japan and the world A thirtieth-century toxic jungle, a bathhouse for tired gods, a red-haired fish girl, and a furry woodland spirit—what do these have in common? They all spring from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki, one of the greatest living animators, known worldwide for films such as My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and The Wind Rises. Japanese culture and animation scholar Susan Napier explores the life and art of this extraordinary Japanese filmmaker to provide a definitive account of his oeuvre. Napier insightfully illuminates the multiple themes crisscrossing his work, from empowered women to environmental nightmares to utopian dreams, creating an unforgettable portrait of a man whose art challenged Hollywood dominance and ushered in a new chapter of global popular culture.
Download or read book Otaku written by Hiroki Azuma and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Printbegrænsninger: Der kan printes 10 sider ad gangen og max. 40 sider pr. session
Download or read book Japanese Visual Culture written by Mark W. MacWilliams and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-12-18 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Born of Japan's cultural encounter with Western entertainment media, manga (comic books or graphic novels) and anime (animated films) are two of the most universally recognized forms of contemporary mass culture. Because they tell stories through visual imagery, they vault over language barriers. Well suited to electronic transmission and distributed by Japan's globalized culture industry, they have become a powerful force in both the mediascape and the marketplace.This volume brings together an international group of scholars from many specialties to probe the richness and subtleties of these deceptively simple cultural forms. The contributors explore the historical, cultural, sociological, and religious dimensions of manga and anime, and examine specific sub-genres, artists, and stylistics. The book also addresses such topics as spirituality, the use of visual culture by Japanese new religious movements, Japanese Goth, nostalgia and Japanese pop, "cute" (kawali) subculture and comics for girls, and more. With illustrations throughout, it is a rich source for all scholars and fans of manga and anime as well as students of contemporary mass culture or Japanese culture and civilization.
Download or read book Toxic Terror written by Jonathan B. Tucker and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2000-02-28 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In-depth case studies of twelve terrorist groups and individuals who, from 1946 to 1998, allegedly acquired or employed CBW agents. Policymakers, scholars, and the news media have been alarmed by the potential for chemical and biological weapons (CBW) terrorism, and the U.S. Congress has allocated billions of dollars for counterterrorism and "consequence management" programs. Driving these concerns are the global spread of scientific knowledge and technology relevant to CBW terrorism and the vulnerability of civilian populations to chemical and biological attacks. Notably lacking from the analysis, however, has been a careful assessment of the terrorists themselves. What types of terrorist groups or individuals are both capable of acquiring chemical and biological weapons and motivated to use them, and for what purposes? Further, what types of toxic agents would probably be produced, and how would they be delivered? Answers to these questions would enable policymakers to prepare for the most likely contingencies. To this end, Toxic Terror provides in-depth case studies of twelve terrorist groups and individuals who, from 1946 to 1998, allegedly acquired or employed CBW agents. The cases were researched from primary sources, including court documents, interviews, and declassified government files. By comparing the twelve cases, the book identifies characteristic motivations and patterns of behavior associated with CBW terrorism and provides an empirical basis for prudent, cost-effective strategies of prevention and response.
Download or read book Blood That Cries Out From the Earth written by James Jones and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2008-04-11 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Religious terrorism has become the scourge of the modern world. What causes a person to kill innocent strangers in the name of religion? As both a clinical psychologist and an authority on comparative religion, James W. Jones is uniquely qualified to address this increasingly urgent question. Research on the psychology of violence shows that several factors work to make ordinary people turn "evil." These include feelings of humiliation or shame, a tendency to see the world in black and white, and demonization or dehumanization of other people. Authoritarian religion or "fundamentalism," Jones shows, is a particularly rich source of such ideas and feelings, which he finds throughout the writings of Islamic jihadists, such as the 9/11 conspirators.Jones goes on to apply this model to two very different religious groups that have engaged in violence: Aum Shinrikyo, the Buddhist splinter group behind the sarin gas attacks in the Tokyo subway system, and members of the extreme religious right in the U.S. who have advocated and committed violence against abortion providers. Jones notes that not every adherent of an authoritarian group will turn to violence, and he shows how theories of personality development can explain why certain individuals are easily recruited to perform terrorist acts.
Download or read book Millennial Monsters written by Anne Allison and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2006-06-30 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Millennial Monsters explores the global popularity of Japanese consumer culture--including manga (comic books), anime (animation), video games, and toys--and questions the make-up of fantasies nand capitalism that have spurred the industry's growth.
Download or read book A Poisonous Cocktail written by Ian Reader and published by NIAS Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the light of the sarin attacks made by Aum Shinrikyo on Tokyo, this book describes the movement's history, examines the various conflicts it has been involved in, and discusses the content of Asahara's sermons and prophecies, all in an attempt to discover why the movement turned from meditation and asceticism to violence. Suggesting that the Aum case is not unique, the book shows how it displays similarities with other cases of violence and conflict amongst religious and political movements in Japan and elsewhere.
Download or read book Sputnik Sweetheart written by Haruki Murakami and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2001-05-22 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Part romance, part detective story, Sputnik Sweetheart tells the story of a tangled triangle of uniquely unrequited love. Now with a new introduction from the author. K is madly in love with his best friend, Sumire, but her devotion to a writerly life precludes her from any personal commitments. At least, that is, until she meets an older woman to whom she finds herself irresistibly drawn. When Sumire disappears from an island off the coast of Greece, K is solicited to join the search party—and finds himself drawn back into her world and beset by ominous visions. Subtle and haunting, Sputnik Sweetheart is a profound meditation on human longing.
Download or read book Dream Messenger written by Masahiko Shimada and published by Grand Central Pub. This book was released on 1994 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mrs. Amino, a wealthy widow, asks Maiko Rokujo, a securities broker, to act as a private detective and find her son, whom she hasn't seen in twenty-five years
Download or read book Violent Systems Defeating Terrorists Insurgents and Other Non State Adversaries written by and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2004 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the 52nd volume in the Occasional Paper series of the U.S. Air Force Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). This paper continues the work begun by Troy Thomas and Stephen Kiser in "Lords of the Silk Route: Violent Non-State Actors in Central Asia" (INSS Occasional Paper 43, May 2002). Inter-state war no longer dominates the landscape of modern conflict. Rather, collective violence and challenges to the international system come increasingly from violent non-state actors (VNSA). With few exceptions, VNSA play a prominent, often destabilizing role in nearly every humanitarian and political crisis faced by the international community. The broad spectrum of objectives and asymmetric methods of these contemporary Barbary Pirates fractures traditional conceptions of deterrence and warfighting. The authors contend that deterrence remains a viable strategy for meeting their challenge if adapted to an understanding of VNSA as dynamic biological systems. The prolonged utility of deterrence hinges on insight into VNSA life cycles and a broader conception of the psychology inherent in organizational decision making. Bundled as "broad biological deterrence" (BBD), they develop deterrent strategies that tackle the VNSA threat throughout its life cycle. However, the authors also realize that deterrence may not work in every case. This sets up a counter-VNSA (C-VNSA) strategy that goes beyond coercion to the defeat of the enemy. At its core, their C-VNSA strategy defeats a VNSA by the following: (1) denying the negative entropy, or stores of energy, required to survive attack; and (2) disrupting congruence, or fit, among sub-systems to achieve system failure. By also understanding the indicators of organizational change during its developmental life cycle, preemptory defeat before the VNSA reaches maturity becomes feasible. Their approach allows for measuring campaign progress by assessing changes in VNSA effectiveness.
Download or read book The Song of Sarin written by Stew Magnuson and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-07-07 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tamara Duffy spots her former boyfriend on the steps leading down to a crowded Tokyo subway station. The 29-year-old American follows him into a train packed with morning commuters. Aum Shinrikyo member Siha walks down the steps of the station wearing a surgical mask and gloves, carrying a clear plastic umbrella in one hand and two bags of nerve gas in the other. Inspector Shin Nomura, sitting at his desk at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, knows something bad is about to happen, but is powerless to stop it. It's March 20, 1995, and their lives are about to change forever.
Download or read book Global Anti Terrorism Law and Policy written by Victor V. Ramraj and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-01-12 with total page 703 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Preventing acts of terrorism remains one of the major tasks of domestic governments and regional and international organisations. Terrorism transcends borders, so anti-terrorism law must cross the boundaries of domestic, regional and international law. It also crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries between administrative, constitutional, criminal, financial, immigration, international and military law, as well as the law of war. This second edition provides a comprehensive resource on how domestic, regional and international responses to terrorism have developed since 2001. Chapters that focus on a particular country or region in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia are complemented by overarching thematic chapters that take a comparative approach to particular aspects of anti-terrorism law and policy.
