• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.119-132
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to identify sushi choices underlying food-related lifestyle and to study the sushi attribute. The Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ), the most popular tool for lifestyle research, which measures the relative importance of nine factors important in food choice, and food-related lifestyle was administered to 200 Americans (over 20 years of age) residing in Korea. From an analysis of food-related lifestyle through factor analysis, four factors emerged: health, taste, economy, and convenience. The Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ) structure was verified using factor analysis, and eight factors were found: mood, natural content, health, sensory appeal, convenience, weight control, familiarity and price. These data are important in demonstrating the different motives underlying sushi choice. Moreover, the results suggest that an American's food-related lifestyle is considerably different in consumer behavior and sushi choice. Further research is needed to test our hypotheses.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.215-240
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• 2009

This paper focuses on how Younghill Kang internalizes whiteness ideology through interracial romance to build himself as an oriental Yankee and recover his masculinity in his autobiographical novel East Goes West. This paper also focuses on Kang's strategy of racial and cultural hybridity presented in this novel. The theoretical basis of my argument is a mixture of Fanon's psychoanalysis in his Black Skin, White Masks, Bhabha's notion of mimicry in The Location of Culture, and notions related to race and gender of some Asian critics such as Patricia Chu, Jinqi Ling, and Lisa Lowe. In East Goes West, white women appear as "ladder of success" of successful assimilation and serve as cultural mediators and instructors and sometimes adversaries who Korean male immigrants have to win to establish identities in which Americanness, ethnicity, and masculinity are integrated. However, three Korean men, Chungpa Han, To Wan Kim, George Jum, who fall in love with white women fail to win their beloveds in marriage. George Jum fails to sustain a white dancer, Jun' interest. Kim wins the affection of Helen Hancock, a New England lady, but Kim commits suicide when he knows Helen killed herself because her family doesn't approve their relationship. Han's love for Trip remains vague, but Kang implies Han will continue his quest for "the spiritual home" as the name of "Trip." In East Goes West, Kang also attempts to challenge the imagining of a pure, monolithic, and naturalized white dominant U.S. Culture by exploring the cultural and racial hybridity shown by June and the various scenes of Halem in the 1920s. June who works for a Harlem cabaret is a white woman but she wears dark makeup. Kang questions the white face of America's self-understanding and racial constitution of a unified white American culture through June's racial masquerade. Kang shows that like Asian and black Americans, the white American also has an ambivalent racial identity through June's black mimicry and there is no natural and unchanging essence behind one's gender and race identity constitution.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.47
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• pp.96-119
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• 2009

Although there ate many studies on cross-cultural comparison of advertising appeals, very little is known about how receivers from different cultures process visual images in global advertising. The purpose of this study is to examine how cultural differences between East Asians and Westerners influence the cognitive process of visual images from standardized global advertising by employing the Nisbett's framework of holistic/analytic thought. Nisbett contends that East Asian tend to attend to the context and the relations between objects and contexts as holistic thinkers while Americans tend to see the worlds analytically. The results of a experimental study conducted using 80 subjects from Korea and the United States suggest that Korean participants are more likely to mention relatively peripheral, nonsalient, or background information than are American participants. Thus, this study support the Nisbett's notion that East Asians are more sensitive to contextual information than are Westerners and challenge the belief that standardized visual images are part of a "universal language".

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.213-234
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• 2017

This study analyzed valid samples of 707 units collected by conducting paper and online surveys on the Korean, the Chinese, the American, and the Japanese. The result showed that a significant causal relationship exists between power distance and pull motivation as well as collectivism and push motivation, which led to a conclusion that developing travel packages that can strengthen bonding of fraternal societies through various events and attractions is effective for respondents from Asian countries. On the other hand, Americans turned out to prefer practical plans, which could provide individual's needs and preferences, for example, a self-healing package. This study, using a simple survey, may have a limitation in that it does not allow the participants to express their opinions. However, the study is meaningful that it made a theoretical contribution utilizing Hofstede's cultural dimensions index, two types of motivation, and theories of customer satisfaction and revisit intention. It also has a practical implication in that it proposes the most optimal and applicable overseas travel marketing strategy by comparing cultural traits of each country.

• Asian Oncology Nursing
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.175-185
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• 2012

Purpose: This micro-ethnographic study aimed to understand coping experiences of Korean-American (K-A) women after diagnosis with breast cancer due to a hereditary gene mutation. Methods: Participatory observation and in-depth interviews were performed at one breast cancer screening center in Southern California, in 2005 with eleven first generation K-A immigrant women. All transcribed interviews and field notes were analyzed using ethnographic methodology. Results: K-A women's experience varied based on acculturation risk factors including: limited English speaking ability; disrupted family relationships, individualistic family values, or intergenerational communication barriers; lack of Korean speaking nurses; and Korean physicians' who lacked knowledge about hereditary breast cancer risk. These risk factors led to isolation, loneliness, lack of emotional and social support. In comparison to Korean homeland women in a similar medical situation, these K-A immigrants felt disconnected from the healthcare system, family support and social resources which increased their struggling and impeded coping during their survivorship journey. These women were not able to access self-support groups, nor the valuable resources of nurse navigator programs. Conclusion: Professional oncology associations for nurses and physicians have a moral obligation to support and promote knowledge of hereditary cancer risk and self-help groups for non-native speaking immigrants.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.499-507
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to draw attention to the distinction of Korean food as well as to find ways to universalize Korean food. Not only does Korean food a big part of representing the Korean culture itself, the ingredients in the Korean food are extremely nutritious. The excellence in the ingredients has been verified through scientific studies over and over. Today, this is recognized widely by the food experts in the U.S. This study also points out some of the hurdles in universalizing Korean food. First of all, many people around the world are not aware of the positive aspects of the Korean food. There have been minimal efforts, if at all, to find ways to make fusion Korean food to be part of a world cuisine. The lack of research and development in the Korean food industry also does not help the situation much. Lastly, the limited knowledge of the actual people working in the food service sector regarding Korean food hinders the Korean food going universal. Currently, the food industry in the U.S. is quite favorable for Korean food to enter its markets to become part of the American cuisine. The Americans' appetite continues to change towards more healthy living leaning them naturally towards Asian food. For Korean food to become part of the American cuisine, the follow recommendations are given in the study: 1) Korean food must be localized, become a fusion cuisine; 2) standardize the cooking method; 3) change the focus to rice-centered trend food; 4) foster more Korean food experts; and, 5) promotion of strengthening food advertisements while increasing research and development. It is also important during this whole process, traditional Korean food be discovered and implemented to the overall food program in universalizing Korean food.

• English & American cultural studies
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.1-27
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• 2010

By taking the form of a fictional autobiography, a Japanese American woman writer Lydia Minatoya tries to solve the inexpressible confliction which Japanese Americans experience in their living in America. In her first published fiction, Talking to High Monks in the Snow, the writer faithfully tries to follow the Japanese I-story tradition where meandering of personal petit histories and frequent self-pities are constructed without solid action, characters and plot. Here appear many accidental others whom function as significant yet fleeting subalterns. In contrast, in the second fiction, The Strangeness of Beauty published seven years later, the I-narratives undergoes some drastic transformations by authorial intrusion, dramatic and haiku styles, and appearances of actorial agents. Just working as an invisible yet important stagehand (kuroko in Japanese) behind the stage of life, the author now handles her own self-inquiry through more controllable distance and maturity as directors or photographers often do. However, despite achieving dramatic actions and artistic elegance mainly thanks to her adoption of western masterpieces's grand narratives, Minatoya seems to stop in the midway in her tallying work of fiction with fact by delaying the larger imaginable conflict through which the temporarily gained autonomy can be turned into a disaster anytime. Nonetheless, the reader feels relieved and encouraged after recognizing the fragile Asian female self's transformation as a new, flexible and autonomous self by her unwavering contact with two contrasting cultures and providing silent minority female characters with gradually stronger and uncannier voices.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.165-182
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• 2016

Happiness research has primarily been conducted based on the American model of happiness. The agentic concept of happiness in the West emphasizes the positive feeling state stemming from individual achievement and positive interpersonal relationships. However, previous studies on lay theories of happiness in other East Asian countries, such as China and Japan, have suggested that these meanings of happiness differ from those of the Western cultural context. The present study examined the lay theory of happiness among Koreans using qualitative and quantitative approaches. Furthermore, the authors compared the Korean model of happiness with that of the Japanese and Americans from Uchida and Kitayama (2009). The findings from the present research indicate that the Korean model of happiness involves both positive and negative states and consequences of happiness, unlike the uniformly positively connoted happiness in Western cultural contexts. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the current findings on happiness research in the Korean culture.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.19
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• pp.8301-8310
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• 2014

Background: Published data regarding associations between the -765G>C polymorphism in cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) gene and digestive system cancer risk have been inconclusive. The aim of this study was to comprehensively evaluate the genetic risk of the -765G>C polymorphism in the COX-2 gene for digestive system cancer. Materials and Methods: A search was performed in Pubmed, Medline (Ovid), Embase, CNKI, Weipu, Wanfang and CBM databases, covering all studies until Feb 10, 2014. Statistical analysis was performed using Revman5.2. Results: A total of 10,814 cases and 16,174 controls in 38 case-control studies were included in this meta-analysis. The results indicated that C allele carriers (GC+CC) had a 20% increased risk of digestive system cancer when compared with the homozygote GG (odds ratio (OR)=1.20, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.00-1.44 for GC+CC vs GG). In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, significant elevated risks were associated with C allele carriers (GC+CC) in Asians (OR = 1.46, 95% CI=1.07-2.01, and p=0.02) and Africans (OR=2.12, 95% CI=1.57-2.87, and p< 0.00001), but not among Caucasians, Americans and mixed groups. For subgroup analysis by cancer type (GC+CC vs GG), significant associations were found between the -765G>C polymorphism and higher risk for gastric cancer (OR=1.64, 95% CI=1.03-2.61, and p=0.04), but not for colorectal cancer, oral cancer, esophageal cancer, and others. Regarding study design (GC+CC vs GG), no significant associations were found in then population-based case-control (PCC), hospital-based case-control (HCC) and family-based case-control (FCC) studies. Conclusions: This meta-analysis suggested that the -765G>C polymorphism of the COX-2 gene is a potential risk factor for digestive system cancer in Asians and Africans and gastric cancer overall.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6743-6749
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• 2013

Molecular epidemiological studies have shown that gene polymorphisms of estrogen receptor alpha gene (ESR-${\alpha}$) are associated with breast cancer risk. However, previous results from many molecular studies have been inconsistent. In this study, we examined two polymorphisms (PvuII and XbaI RFLPs) of the ESR-${\alpha}$ gene in 542 breast cancer cases and 1,016 controls from China. Associations between the polymorphisms and breast cancer risk were calculated with an unconditional logistic regression model. Linkage disequilibrium and haplotypes were analyzed with the SHEsis software. In addition, we also performed a systematic meta-analysis of 24 published studies evaluating the association. No significant associations were found between the PvuII polymorphism and breast cancer risk. However, a significantly decreased risk of breast cancer was observed among carriers of the XbaI 'G' allele (age-adjusted OR = 0.80; 95% CI = 0.66- 0.97) compared with carriers of the 'A' allele. Haplotype analysis showed significantly decreased cancer risk for carriers of the 'CG' haplotype (OR = 0.79; 95% CI = 0.66- 0.96). In the systematic meta-analysis, the XbaI 'G' allele was associated with an overall significantly decreased risk of breast cancer (OR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.82- 1.00). In addition, the PvuII 'C' allele showed a 0.96- fold decreased disease risk (95% CI = 0.92- 0.99). In subgroup analysis, an association between the PvuII 'C' and XbaI 'G' alleles and breast cancer risk was significant in Asians ('C' vs. 'T': OR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.85- 1.00; 'G' vs. 'A': OR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.68- 0.98), but not in Euro-Americans. Thus, our results provide evidence that ESR-${\alpha}$ polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to breast cancer. These associations may largely depend on population characteristics and geographic location.