The topic of Polish diaspora in Japan, a community with which Poles in Japan identify as Poles, recognize Polish heritage and connection to what it means to be Polish is one of important, but practically unresearched issues in Poland-Japan relations. From the 1970s a growth in Polish population in Japan can be observed. They began to organize meetings, establish formal and less official groups and have helped and maintained connections to Poland. This paper will focus on the post-war history of Polish diaspora in Japanese islands.

Japanese literature has been known in Poland at least since the end of the 19th century, when first translations were made of Japanese prose and poetry (although via English or other languages). I consider the first translation made directly from Japanese into Polish language a short story by Kikuchi Kan, entitled Tusz ('Ink'), published in April of 1939, in a monthly magazine "Echoes from Far East." In the same magazine we can find also many examples of stories and poetry written not by Japanese, but by Polish authors, fascinated with Japan and its culture. Works by the same authors: Maria Juszkiewiczowa, Aleksander Janowski, Antoni Kora, Leon Rygier, Remigjusz Kwiatkowski and others were published also in other newspapers and magazines, and as separate novel books. While some short mentions about the earliest translations may be found in books on Japanese literature and contacts between Poland and Japan, novels, stories and poems written originally by Polish authors inspired by Japan are now all but forgotten. Hardly any of them were published again after World War II and they are not to be found in regular libraries. In the present paper I concentrate on the forgotten jewels of Polish prose (and to some extent poetry and drama) based on Japanese themes, published before World War II.

This article re-examines the notion of “partnership” and its applicability to the relationship between the Japanese government and domestic NGOs in the context of foreign aid. As such, it provides empirical insights on government-non-profit relationship in understudied policy field of foreign aid in East Asian context. Illuminating how governmental financial support for Japanese NGOs has evolved in recent years, the article concludes that whereas “partnership” may be a preferred term of the Japanese government to describe the relationship with Japanese NGOs, the manner in which it is operationalized through selected financial support schemes raises legitimate questions about the validity and applicability of this particular term to the case under investigation. Hence, the chosen financial assistance schemes serve as the lenses through which the article explores and assesses the official “partnership” assertions. In sum, the relationship suffers from shortcomings in terms of mutuality and organizational identity, qualifying both the extent and quality of government-sponsored opportunities for Japanese international cooperation NGOs.

The term “comfort women” refers to the women, mainly from the Korean Peninsula and China, who had been forced to serve as sexual slaves by the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War. The problem emerged at the beginning of the 1990s and became an impediment especially in relations between Japan and South Korea. The article analyzes how the “comfort women” issue was approached to by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in both countries. It is argued that while the problem led to invigoration of civil society institutions, it also incited strong nationalist movements. Anti-Japanese feelings in South Korea contributed to lack of flexibility in negotiations with Japan and rejection of the apologies by the government of that country. Such reaction, in turn, weakened the position of moderate NGOs in Japan that tried to compensate the victims, and made them prone to criticism from right-wing movements. The paper examines these complex developments.

In some areas of the United States (US), asthma prevalence has reached historically unprecedented highs. Three peer-reviewed studies in New York City found prevalence rates among children from 25% to 39%. That is not true in all places. For example, prevalence in Miami, Florida, was estimated to be only 6-10%. A recent study in major cities in Georgia found only 8.5%. One study in California found asthma prevalence was unrelated to local concentrations of criterion pollutants. In the US, all criterion pollutants, including PM2.5, show a downward trend over the last two decades. These facts argue against any significant influence of criterion pollutants in this crisis.These facts suggest that an unrecognized ambient pollutant may be the cause. One important study in southern California in mid-summer measured pulmonary function in children as it was related to outdoor ozone pollution. They found a negative association; higher levels of ozone were associated with improved respiratory function. We call this a "Paradoxical Ozone Association" (POA). Further evidence for a POA appears in seven other studies in Los Angeles, London, Scotland, and southeastern Canada.One plausible explanation for these observations would be the production of methyl nitrite (MN) as an exhaust product of MTB E in gasoline. Unlike ozone, MN is rapidly destroyed by sunlight. All of the POA studies were done in regions with significant methyl ether in gasoline. This explanation is strengthened by the observation that a POA has not been seen in regions without ether in gasoline.A previous A WMA paper proposed a plausible chemical model predicting that MTBE in gasoline will create MN in the exhaust. MN is highly toxic and closely related alkyl nitrites are known to induce respiratory sensitivity in humans. Funding to measure MN has not been available

The nature of the Cenomanian–Turonian Oceanic Anoxic Event (CTOAE) and its δ13 C Excursion is considered in the light of (1) the stratigraphical framework in which the CTOAE developed in the European shelf seas, (2) conclusions that can be drawn from new detailed investigations of the Chalk succession at three locations in England, at Melton Ross and Flixton in the Northern Province where organic-rich ‘black bands’ are present, and at Dover in the Southern Province (part of the Anglo-Paris Basin) where they are absent, and (3) how these conclusion fit in with the present understanding of the CTOAE. The application of the cerium anomaly method (German and Elderfield 1990) at Dover, Melton Ross and Flixton has allowed the varying palaeoredox conditions in the Chalk Sea and its sediments to be related to the acid insoluble residues, organic carbon, δ18O (calcite), δ13C (calcite), δ13C (organic matter), Fe 2+ and Mn2+ (calcite), and P/TiO2 (acid insoluble residue). This has provided evidence that the initial stages of the δ13C Excursion in England were related to (1) a drop of sea level estimated at between 45 and 85 metres, (2) influxes of terrestrial silicate and organic detritus from adjacent continental sources and the reworking of exposed marine sediments, and (3) the presence of three cold water phases (named the Wood, Jefferies and Black) associated with the appearance of the cold-water pulse fauna during the Plenus Cold Event. Conditions in the water column and in the chalk sediment were different in the two areas. In the Northern Province, cerium-enriched waters and anoxic conditions were widespread; the δ13C pattern reflects the interplay between the development of anoxia in the water column and the preservation of terrestrial and marine organic matter in the black bands; here the CTOAE was short-lived (~0.25 Ma) lasting only the length of the Upper Cenomanian Metoicoceras geslinianum Zone. In the Southern Province, water conditions were oxic and the δ13C Excursion lasted to the top of the Lower Turonian Watinoceras devonense Zone, much longer (~1.05 Ma) than in the Northern Province. These differences are discussed with respect to (1) the Cenomanian–Turonian Anoxic Event (CTAE) hypothesis when the ocean-continent-atmosphere systems were linked, (2) limitations of chemostratigraphic global correlation, and (3) the Cenomanian–Turonian Anoxic Event Recovery (CTOAER), a new term to define the varying lengths of time it took different oceans and seas to recover once the linked ocean-continent-atmosphere system was over. The possibility is considered that glacio- eustasy (the glacial control hypothesis of Jeans et al. 1991) with the waxing and waning of polar ice sheets, in association with the degassing of large igneous provinces, may have set the scene for the development of the Cenomanian–Turonian Anoxic Event (CTAE).

This is an analysis of the strategies used to create a perception of Japan, or the ‘Japan effect’ – a term inspired by Roland Barthes ‘reality effect’ ( effet de reel) – in the fiction of Wacław Sieroszewski and Ferdynand Ossendowski, two Polish writers who were first to introduce Japan to the Polish general public. Both visited Japan, Sieroszewski in 1903 and Ossendowski in 1921; both were authors of popular fiction set in exotic locations. However, each of them chose a different strategy of presenting the Japanese setting of their stories. While Ossendowski's construction of the ‘Japan effect’ can be described as ‘encyclopedic realism’ (his narrative is stitched up with multiple notes and explanations), Sieroszewski takes a more direct, dramatic approach. Sieroszewski prefers to confront the reader with various exotic ‘props’ and to take him on a journey of discovery of the peculiarities of Japanese behavior, aesthetic values and ways of thinking.