Другое

Самый южный остров Большой Курильской гряды богат и прекрасен. И собственник у этого клочка земли могучий — только неэффективный.

In this pioneering study, David L. Howell looks beneath the surface structures of the Japanese state to reveal the mechanism by which markers of polity, status, and civilization came together over the divide of the Meiji Restoration of 1868. Howell illustrates how a short roster of malleable, explicitly superficial customs--hairstyle, clothing, and personal names-- served to distinguish the "civilized" realm of the Japanese from the "barbarian" realm of the Ainu in the Tokugawa era. Within the core polity, moreover, these same customs distinguished members of different social status groups from one another, such as samurai warriors from commoners, and commoners from outcasts.

The book sheds light on the critical importance of Pan-Asianism in Japanese imperialism. Pan-Asianism was a cultural as well as political ideology that promoted Asian unity and recognition. The focus of this book is on
Pan-Asianism as a propeller behind Japan's expansionist policies from the Manchurian Incident in 1931 until
the end of the Pacific War in 1945.

The Kuril Islands are an attractive field site for investigations of the phytogeogra¬phy and island biology. Earlier plant collectors and references of floristic and vegetational studies on the Kuril Islands were tabulated to provide information sources for future studies. Poor level of botanical knowledge on northern parts of the middle Kurils was also discussed.

The flora of Chirpoi, Kuril Islands, was poorly known prior to field work performed under the auspices of the International Kuril Island Project (IKIP) in 1995. A preliminary plant list is provided here. The flora of Chirpoi is compared with that of the nearest large islands, Urup and Simushir. Of 105 species identified from Chirpoi, one hundred species occur on both Urup and Simushir, four (Ledum palustre subsp. diversipilo-sum, Mertensia pterocarpa var. pterocarpa, Ixeris repens and Carex macrocephala) on Urup but not on Simushir, and one (Persicaria scabra) is absent from the adjacent Islands. Chirpoi is the eastern distribution limit of the temperate taxon, Ledum palustre subsp. diversipilosum. Three taxa (Mertensia pterocarpa var. pterocarpa, Ixeris repens and Carex macrocephala) have a bilateral distribution pattern — they occur on both southern and northern islands in the Kurils, but have not been reported from the middle islands. Persicaria scabra has a similar distribution pattern, but has not been found in the northern Kurils. Chirpoi is the eastern limit of migration from the south for these five taxa. Possible causes (land bridges, sea currents, and geographical distance) of these floristic features are discussed.

Recent collecting on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, during joint U.S., Russian, and Japanese surveys known as the International Kuril and Sakhalin Island Projects, has resulted in range extensions for 10 species in the braconid subfamily Agathidinae and 17 new taxon records for islands in the Kuril chain, Sakhalin, and Moneron. In addition to a check list of the 19 species of Agathidinae presently known to occur on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, a generic key and updated keys to the species of Agathis Latreille, 1804, Bassus Fabricius, 1804, and Coccygidium Saussure, 1892 are provided for the region at large (i.e., Japan and the Russian Far East). Of the Agathidinae occurring on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, most are widespread throughout the Russian Far East and Japan. In the Kurils, species are largely restricted to the southern portion of the archipelago.