<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> Contrary to common findings on self-disclosure and gender, male students at a Japanese university that were questioned for this study reported significantly higher disclosure to close friends than their female colleagues-overall as well as for various individual topics (N = 479). Two different measures of self-disclosure were used, both yielding similar results. The gender differences were especially pronounced in cross-gender friendships. In accordance with previous literature, subjective feeling of closeness and respondents’ trust in the stability of the friendship were found to be positively associated with self-disclosure. While both closeness and trust in relationship stability were greater in same-gender friendships, no gender differences were found in this regard. The conclusion discusses the possibility of these findings being connected to shifting images of masculinity and femininity among Japanese youth, as well as changing interaction patterns between genders.</abstract>

Novel Findings on Gender Differences in Self- Disclosure: The Sharing of Personal Information in Japanese Students’ Close Friendships

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> In autumn 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping presented his Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe play an important role in this ambitious infrastructure and connectivity project. The analysis of the 16+1 cooperation format, established by Beijing in 2012, shows that Beijing is able to establish new regional groupings that have the potential to undermine the unity of a larger regional bloc. Yet, it also demonstrates that China lacks a coherent BRI master plan. Rather, it pragmatically adapts its strategies to challenges and external criticism. The European Union (EU), notably the European Parliament (EP), became since 2015 more critical of the strategic impacts of BRI on Europe. Austria, which recognised the economic opportunities offered by BRI only recently, supports a common EU position. While Austria plays a strong-if not a leading-role in two Central and Eastern European cooperation mechanisms that may in the future also address BRI, that is, the Salzburg Forum and the Central European Defense Cooperation (CEDC), 16+1 remains the key institution for multi- and bilateral agreements on the New Silk Roads in this region. Austria, however, will remain only an observer and thus an ‘X’ in the 16+1+X format, reducing Vienna’s influence.</abstract>

China’s New Silk Roads. Categorising and Grouping the World: Beijing’s 16+1+X European Formula

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> In the absence of concrete ethnic differences, the division of a single Korean nation into two opposing states has led to the creation of specific types of nationhood and state building. This pseudo-ethnicity, which marks North Korean immigrants as “other” to South Koreans, results in adaptation problems and cultural difficulties. As the sociological literature considers self-employment of minorities and immigrants to be an important avenue for upward economic mobility, this paper focuses on North Korean new settlers who have established their own businesses in South Korea. By case study analysis, it was revealed that new settlers and official organisations have highly differing perceptions on the issue of North Korean self-employment. Public authorities try to discourage North Koreans from becoming self-employed, which is why a comprehensive economic support programme is lacking. However, it was discerned that a new generation of new settlers is growing, showing high motivation and entrepreneurial spirit. The result of this study showed that a tailored support programme for self-employed North Koreans, such as an adapted form of social enterprises, is needed.</abstract>

Self-Employment Among North Korean Migrants

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> This paper tackles the question of what kind of views on risk and security prevail in the Japanese private security industry and analyses its discursive structure. A theoretical framework based on the Copenhagen School’s concept of securitisation and its modification by Olaf Corry-the model of riskification-is used to explain processes of shaping notions of risk and security within the discourse. By analysing newspapers and professional magazines, it can be observed that by constantly pointing out the risks, the environment of the private security industry slowly changes, giving private companies further opportunities to act as a positively acknowledged part of society. It is not them, however, who actively shape these circumstances; rather, the broader range of activities are enforced and legitimised by the police that seems to be increasingly interested in joint crime prevention strategies.</abstract>

The Safest Country in the World? Notions of Risk and Security in the Japanese Private Security Industry

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> Academic research regarding cross-cultural management has gained fundamental importance in today’s globalised business world. Within this field, this paper examines cultural synergy and friction of Austrian and Korean business culture. Austrian companies have a high export orientation and have shown strong interest in doing business with Korea, which has been identified as an exceptionally attractive location for subsidiaries of foreign MNEs. Applying the Analytical Hierarchy Process, Korean employees in Korean subsidiaries of Austrian companies were surveyed regarding their satisfaction levels in different job aspects as well as their preferences regarding alternatives in the criteria leadership style, work teams, and tasks and responsibilities. The study found synergy between the preferences of Korean employees and Austrian management in the importance placed on challenging projects and chances for personal achievements at work, as well as the lack of desire for close personal relations with superiors and colleagues. The latter represents a unique finding, contrary to what had been suggested by the relevant literature. Additionally, the research found areas of cultural friction regarding the importance assigned to consultative decision-making, a relaxed use of time, and freedom when performing work tasks. Overall good satisfaction levels of Korean employees in the subsidiaries were reported.</abstract>

AHP Analysis of Cross-Cultural Friction and Synergy in Korean Subsidiaries of Austrian Companies

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> In Korea, August 15 marks both the liberation from colonialism (1945) and the promulgation of the South Korean state (1948). As a memorial day, 8.15 became to be narrated mostly as the day of liberation, while 1948 plays only a minor role. However, in the 2000s, the emergence of the New Right brought new debates on how to evaluate post-liberation history. A historical view proposing public memory on 8.15 centred on the “foundation” of South Korea emerged (kŏn’guk view). Combined with attempts to re-name 8.15 into a foundation day (kŏn’gukchŏl), an intense dispute between proponents and opponents of the re-narration was the result. This paper outlines the emergence of the New Right and traces the origins and politicisation of the kŏn’guk view and demonstrates how adopting the kŏn’guk narrative in state commemoration events led to a broad dispute in South Korean society. I trace this view’s origin to 2003 and argue that it got politicised in early 2008 during the early Lee Myung-bak administration. The politicisation resulted in a dispute in politics, civil society, and newspapers, whose progress and characteristics I analyse in detail. As a result of the 2008 Kŏn’gukchŏl Dispute, the issue of how to narrate the events of 1948 became actively discussed in academic scholarship since 2009.</abstract>

How to Place August 15 in South Korean History? The New Right, the “1948 Foundation” Historical View, and the 2008 Kŏn’gukchŏl Dispute

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> In the first part of the twentieth century, some members of the French- or Chinese-educated but indigenous religious, economic, and political elite in southern Vietnam (Cochin-China) intensively engaged in spirit-medium practices. Many of them set up or joined the new Cao Đài religion and its spirit-medium séances. Integrating in their pantheon religious figures from Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, and even Catholicism, Cao Đài leaders deliberately challenged the orthodoxies at that time, tactically undermining the local religious elites, but also proposing a universal theological redemption and moral reform through the publication of their new set of spirit medium messages. Very quickly after the creation of Caodaism in 1926, various groups branched off, borrowing and adapting this reformed and orthodox posture within the Cao Đài community itself. While the Cao Đài canon may be well-known to scholars, Cao Đài community journals have yet to be examined in detail, although they often served as incubators for the Cao Đài quest for orthodoxy and a modern path to salvation. Based on archival studies and field research trips to the relevant areas, this paper aims to show how collective and individual actors of these Cao Đài groups have mobilised institutional, rhetorical, ideological, media-based, and other resources to assure and legitimise their authority. Simultaneously, we will see how the Cao Đài religion emerged from very unique kinds of “redemptive societies,” combining both Western and Eastern esotericism to articulate new Asian expressions of orthodoxy, universal values, and cosmopolitanism.</abstract>

Printing Cosmopolitanism, Challenging Orthodoxies: Cao Đài Journals in Twentieth Century Vietnam

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> Understanding the gist of Chinese authentic functional texts is a particular challenge for advanced beginners not only because of the morpho-syllabic writing system, but also due to the particular literary style. A didactic concept based on Stanovich’s (2000) and Gernsbacher’s (1997) reading models was developed for teaching Chinese as a foreign language at the university level. It is aimed at drawing the students’ attention to highly frequent literary function words in everyday texts, facilitating both the formation of relevant units of meaning and the application of higher-level strategic reading skills. The implementation of this new approach was investigated using the framework of action research. The data were analysed with qualitative methods and the results incorporated into the several teaching cycles. Two quasi-experiments were conducted to elicit individual problem solutions by the students. These data were collected in the form of video recordings of group work and student worksheets. Due to the predictability of specific literary structures, a certain automatisation in processing literary structures could indeed be achieved. Further construction of meaning, however, will have to be achieved through attentive-driven strategies, e.g. targeted dictionary use. It is important to train the students’ executive control mechanisms (e.g. comprehension monitoring), since Chinese can easily lead into a ‘dead end’ due to the absence of word segmentation and a high degree of polysemy.</abstract>

Learning to Read Authentic Texts in Chinese as a Foreign Language: An Action Research-Based Investigation of a New Approach towards Raising Students’ Awareness of Literary Function Words

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 14 (2022): Issue 1 (January 2022)

Volume 13 (2021): Issue 1 (December 2021)

Volume 12 (2020): Issue 1 (December 2020)

Volume 11 (2019): Issue 1 (December 2019)

Volume 10 (2018): Issue 1 (December 2018)

Volume 9 (2017): Issue 1 (December 2017)

Volume 8 (2016): Issue 1 (December 2016)

Volume 7 (2015): Issue 1 (December 2015)

Volume 6 (2014): Issue 1 (December 2014)

Volume 5 (2014): Issue 1 (June 2014)

Volume 4 (2013): Issue 1 (June 2013)

Volume 3 (2012): Issue 1 (March 2012)

Volume 2 (2011): Issue 1 (December 2011)

Volume 1 (2011): Issue 1 (March 2011)

Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies

 What commenced in 2009 with the chief aim to provide a platform to disseminate pioneering research especially by emerging scholars of the University of Vienna, over the years became an increasingly attractive venue for the scholarship of the international East Asianist community. With its move to De Gruyter Open starting with Volume 10, the Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies (VJEAS), while still embracing the early philosophy at its core, has internationalised its profile.  VJEAS addresses international scholars from the wider field of East Asian Studies focusing on issues past and/or present related to the Greater China region, the Koreas, Japan, and Vietnam. Submissions may draw on the full scale of methodologies, theories, and approaches found in the Humanities and the Social Sciences. In every issue of VJEAS readers will find a rich diversity of cutting-edge research by both emerging and established international scholars.  Editorial Policy  The Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies (VJEAS) publishes original research related to any subject in the field of East Asian Studies, involving Greater China, the Korean Peninsula, Japan, and Vietnam. Manuscript submissions must not be previously published or under consideration by another publisher or journal. The authors of the papers published in VJEAS are solely responsible for the contents of their papers. All manuscript submissions will undergo rigorous peer review conducted by appropriate specialists. VJEAS is published once every year in early October.  "Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies" is a double-blind peer reviewed journal. The journal does not have any article processing charges (APCs) or article submission charges.  Rejection Rate:   66%   Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 