The article analyzes the structure and features of the retail trade sector in Japan, the current trends in the consumer behavior of the Japanese, which became noticeable in the late 20th century and especially after the global financial and economic crisis of 2008–2010 and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on empirical material, the author identifies the main lines of transformation of strategies of Japanese trade corporations under the conditions of economic instability and the formation of a new consumption model.

Trade as a sphere of entrepreneurial activity is represented in Japan by various types of trading enterprises and companies and corporate groups of very different sizes and organizational and legal status. The market leaders are universal trading companies (sōgō shōsha) and large network companies (Seven & I Holdings, Aeon, Fast Retailing, etc.), which finance and organize not only the circulation, but also the production of goods (from the development and purchase of raw materials to production and processing, logistics, sales, and services). The groups include numerous affiliated retail sales companies.

The characteristic features of the Japanese consumer have traditionally been the willingness to pay for quality, convenience, and service, a relatively low level of interest in cheaper goods, preference for the format of “physical” purchases, as well as the desire to buy expensive, exclusive things of luxury brands, which for many have become a sign of financial success and social status.

Among the most important modern factors affecting the scale and structure of consumer demand in Japan are the desire to reduce one’s expenses in the face of slowing economic growth and stagnating incomes, increase in the level of environmental awareness, changing lifestyle and leisure patterns. The most important factor determining the image of the modern Japanese consumer has been the entry into the labor and consumption markets of generations Y and Z, who increasingly rely not on owning, but on using things, which acts as a factor in reducing the scale of the consumer market.

Under these conditions, trading companies modernize their strategies, including by entering into partnerships with national and foreign corporations in order to adapt to changing conditions and maintain competitiveness through modernization, diversification, and digitalization of business, reducing transaction costs based on the synergetic effect.

The article analyzes the features of the financial crises in Japan in the context of using theoretical and practical approaches to financial contagion. A brief overview is made with the identification of the causes, nature, and consequences in relation to the three significant financial crises observed in the period 1990– 2009. A strong impact on the Japanese economy was exerted by the banking crisis of 1997–2001, which became one of the most noticeable events of the “lost decade.” Its lessons allowed the Japanese government to overcome the global financial crisis of 2007–2009 with minimal losses, which negatively affected not so much the credit and stock markets as the real sector of the Japanese economy and its foreign trade.

 From a scientific standpoint, the spread of crises is productively considered from the standpoint of the theory and methodology of financial contagion. It is a process of transmission of negative shocks that can lead to the disruption of fundamental links between countries and markets, thereby contributing to the growth of crises and instability. The article shows that Japan can act as both a transmitter and a recipient of infection. Examples of studies that examine the channels and direction of financial contagion in Japan are given. An important feature has been identified, which is that the main channel for the transmission of shocks in a given country is trade relations, and not financial ones. Taking this circumstance into account explains the effectiveness of the policy of supporting the real sector of the economy pursued by the Japanese government during the global financial crisis of 2007–2009.

In order to illustrate the methodology of financial contagion, the article conducted an empirical study of the country and cross-industry effects of infection in the Japanese economy during the COVID-19 period. A specific infection detection tool (statistical tests) and an extensive empirical base were used. As a result, the country effects were confirmed only partially – Japan was the recipient of the financial contagion that came from China, but weakly transferred it to other countries. Cross-industry infection spread more actively (it was recorded by more than half of the tests). At the same time, uneven transmission of shocks between sectors was detected; possible causes of high or low susceptibility to infection in different sectors were discussed.

This article is devoted to the analysis of the Act on Promoting Measures to Realize a Society in Which the Pride of the Ainu People Is Respected (Act No. 16 of 2019). The problem of compliance of Japan’s Ainu policy with international standards in the sphere of protection of indigenous peoples’ human rights is actively discussed today by foreign researchers. However, it is hardly studied in the Russian historiography. The article discusses the main provisions of the new legislation and reveals the point of view of the Ainu representatives about the measures taken by the government. It has been found out that Japan’s Ainu policy is greatly influenced by the position of international community towards the rights of indigenous peoples. International law has become the main lever of influence on the government for the Ainu people. It has been proven that the mechanisms for promotion and protection of the rights of the Ainu in Japan are imperfect and do not fully comply with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The main issues facing the Ainu are discrimination, collective rights, indigenous representation in the government, development of ethnic education, etc. 

This work focuses on calligrapher Takayasu Rōoku (years of life are unknown), who lived and worked in Osaka in the second half of the 18th century. The life and work of Takayasu Rōoku deserve attention because it was him who complied one of the most popular encyclopedias of his time, Tokai Setsuyō Hyakkatsū (Complete Compendium of Urban Knowledge, Osaka, 1801), which went through several editions during the 19th century and affected the worldview of city dwellers of that time. Based on the evidence from contemporaries and the analysis of books on which Rōoku worked, this work describes his social circle, interests, lifestyle, and his main areas of work.

After the Meiji Revolution, Japan developed a strong national inferiority complex. It was manifested, in particular, in relation to the size of Japan’s territory. Even though it was comparable to the major European countries, it was still considered “small”, since Japan compared itself with the collective and “hostile” West. In addition to the territorial “smallness, there was another meaning justifying the use of the term “small” with regard to Japan. During the Meiji period, Japan had an exceptionally rapid population growth. Malthusiantinged concerns about this began to be pronounced in the late 1880s. Economists and demographers started talking about the fact that the territory of Japan was “small” for the rapidly growing population. The measures proposed by Malthus to reduce the birth rate were not discussed in Japan for ethical reasons, and also because a large population was seen as the “power” and “vitality” of the nation. Instead of measures to change reproductive behavior, projects for the resettlement of the Japanese abroad began to be proposed. However, all plans to encourage emigration were frustrated by the reluctance of the Japanese to leave their homeland. In the emigration context, publicists of that time often regarded the attachment of the Japanese to their home area as a negative property. The debate about Japan’s overpopulation escalated in the 1920s due to the food problem. It could certainly have been solved, but it would have required considerable effort and time. However, the military-political elite showed impatience and decided that the main way to solve the problem of overpopulation was military expansion. Despite the continued population growth and increasing demographic pressure, a policy of encouraging fertility began to be implemented in the late 1930s. 

The Gulf War (1990–1991) became a watershed event for Japan’s foreign policy, testing its readiness to address the challenges of the post-Cold War world. However, one can hardly say that Japan successfully passed this test. Despite substantial pressure from the United States and heated debates in the Diet and beyond it, Japan failed to make any contribution to the resolution of the crisis other than providing financial aid. Neither the plan to send peacekeepers to assist the U.S.-led coalition nor the proposal to dispatch JASDF aircraft for the evacuation of refugees were realized. The only “human contribution” Japan made was sending JMSDF minesweeper vessels to the Persian Gulf, but even this was done after the active phase of the hostilities was over. This severely harmed Japan’s image in the world and simultaneously served as stimulus for change, leading to Japan assuming a more active international role from the 1990s on. The present article focuses on the domestic political background of Japan’s reaction to the Gulf crisis. It shows how the factors including the political weakness of the prime minister, factional nature of the ruling party, the situation of the “twisted Diet,” where the LDP did not control the House of Councillors, as well as political opportunism of the opposition, insufficient support for the government’s proposals from public opinion, and the general focus on minor and technical details, rather than strategic foreign policy goals, combined to cause a paralysis of the decision-making mechanism. The study of this historical episode will, among other things, help us to better understand the roots of present-day Japanese foreign policy.