Dear List Members,

This is a call for submissions and assistance to the electronic journal of contemporary japanese studies, and towards the end a list of recently published peer reviewed articles, discussion papers and reviews.

1. Call for Papers

In January 2011 ejcjs celebrated ten years in publication. In addition to saying a big thank you to all readers, contributors, reviewers and editors for your continued support and encouragement, I would like to encourage contributions to the journal. We publish peer reviewed articles, discussion papers and book and film reviews. Articles and discussion papers should be original research and writing on contemporary Japan, though we interpret the word contemporary rather loosely. Articles should demonstrate original research and they are reviewed by at least two experts via double-blind peer review. Discussion papers are, as the name suggests, more discursive and need not feature original research, but must demonstrate a degree of original thinking. We are open to submissions by anyone with a serious interest in Japanese society, culture, economy or politics, though we particularly welcome contributions by emerging or younger scholars and graduate students in the later stages of their PhD research. We also welcome contributions by independent researchers. Approximately 50 per cent of article submissions make it through to publication, with about half of the rest being published as discussion papers and the rest not making it to publication for one reason or another. If you wish to review a book or a film, then please get in touch with the book or film reviews editor to organise that. You can find contact details on the ejcjs website:

www.japanesestudies.org.uk

2. Request for reviewers and editors

As part of the ten year 'celebration', this year I hope to bolster and reorganise the editorial board and reviewer teams. So, I am looking for the following people to join our team and assist in developing the journal further.

a) Postgraduate students (early PhD onwards) to take on specific tasks and renew some parts of the journal that have fallen behind. If you have html coding experience then so much the better, but that is not absolutely essential. Participation in this way will naturally lead on to other responsibilities later on, depending on how much enthusiasm you have. For example, we need to bring various pages up to date, keep them current, and to introduce some new ideas on content, layout etc.
... Please look through the website and let me know what you think you can do and how you want to do it.
Please be aware that participation in projects of this kind can be helpful, not only in bolstering a resume/CV, but also in developing personal networks and expertise.

b) Reviewers. We are always looking for reviewers for article submissions, and informal readers of discussion papers. If you already have a PhD and you have an interest in Japanese studies, then please send me a resume and a list of subjects that you can confidently produce helpful reviews on. Researchers and scholars of all levels post-PhD encouraged to apply. Reviewers are expected to read and comment on manuscripts in some detail and to make constructive recommendations to the editor and the authors. Reviewers may also be asked to read articles a second, or sometimes a third, time prior to final acceptance or rejection.

c) Editorial Board members. I am looking for some established scholars to bolster the editorial board.
This task is not a big one, and simply involves publicly lending your support to the journal, reviewing papers and providing advice on particular questions from time to time.

Thanks for your time, and please get in touch at:

editor@japanesestudies.org.uk

After all that, below is a list of recent publications in ejcjs. Cheers.

Peter

2011

Peer Reviewed Articles

2. A Postmodern Experience? The Case of Japanese Architecture Gharipour, Mohammad
Posted: 31 January 2011

1. Problem Gambling in Japan: A Social Perspective Takiguchi, Naoko and Rosenthal, Richard J.
Posted: 31 January 2011

Discussion Papers

2. Inroads or Crossroads? The Soka Gakkai's Pacifist Endeavours in Japanese Foreign Policy Benedict, Timothy
Posted: 31 January 2011

1. Dealing with Complexity in Japanese Defense
Politics: The Next Generation of Good Subject-Matter Questions Clausen, Daniel
Posted: 31 January 2011

Book Reviews

2. Inventing a Japan through Theatre
Iles, Timothy
Review of: Lee, Josephine (2010) The Japan of Pure
Invention: Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado,
Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press.
Posted: 31 January 2011

1. I Spy ... The Failure of Japanese Military Intelligence in World War II Iles, Timothy Review of:
Kotani, Ken (2009) Japanese Intelligence in World War II, Oxford: Osprey Publishing.
Posted: 31 January 2011

2010

Peer Reviewed Articles

4. The Sexual and Textual Politics of Japanese Lesbian
Manga: Reading Romantic and Erotic Yuri Narratives Nagaike, Kazumi
Posted: 30 September 2010

3. From Aid Recipient to Aid Donor: Tracing the Historical Transformation of Japan's Foreign Aid Policy FURUOKA, Fumitaka, OISHI, Mikio, and KATO, Iwao
Posted: 12 July 2010

2. Hisamatsu and Dōgen: Creatively Constructing History Through Practice Realization Sevilla, Anton Luis
Posted: 10 March 2010

1. Manga and Anime: Fluidity and Hybridity in Global Imagery Bryce, Mio; Barber, Christie: Kelly, James; Kunwar, Siris; and Plumb, Amy
Posted: 29 January 2010

Discussion Papers

5. The Sociolinguistic Context of English Language Education in Japan and Singapore Morita, Liang
Posted: 30 September 2010

4. Comparing Morio Kita's The House of Nire with Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks: A Case of 'The Vanity of Human Wishes'
Nakanishi, Wendy Jones
Posted: 30 September 2010

3. Towards a Mutual Anthropology of Identity in Japan and the West Cangià, Flavia
Posted: 12 July 2010

2. Post Heisei Merger Japan: A New Realignment in the D ōshū System Rausch, Anthony
Posted: 20 April 2010

1. Scandals and Their Mediations: Theorizing the Case of Japan Prusa, Igor
Posted: 10 March 2010

Book Reviews

9. Militarisation, Colonisation, Subordination, Resistance Iles, Timothy Review of: Shigematsu, Setsu, and Camacho, Keith (eds) (2010) Militarized Currents:
Toward a Decolonized Future in Asia and the Pacific.
Posted: 30 September 2010

8. Private Realms of the State: Female Subjectivity and the Japanese Home in the USA Matsumoto, Noriko Review
of: Kurotani, Sawa (2005) Home Away from Home: Japanese Corporate Wives in the United States.
Posted: 30 September 2010

7. Dazai on the Couch
Withrow, Kaleb
Review of: Nakano, Hisao (2009) Dazai Osamu: Shōgai to sakuhin no shinsō shinri (Osamu Dazai: The deep psychology of his life and works).
Posted: 30 September 2010

6. A Biography of Self-Loss: The Life and Works of Atsushi Nakajima Askew, Rie Kido Review of: Minato Kawamura (2009) Rōshitsu seiden – Nakajima Atsushi no bungaku to shōgai (A Biography of Self-Loss: The Life and Works of Atsushi Nakajima).
Posted: 12 July 2010

5. Japanese Workplaces in Transition?
Matanle, Peter
Review of: Meyer-Ohle, Hendrik (2009) Japanese Workplaces in Transition: Employee Perceptions.
Posted: 20 April 2010

4. Think Global, Fear Local
Gelb, Joyce
Review of: Leheny, David (2009) Think Global, Fear
Local: Sex Violence and Anxiety in Contemporary Japan.
Posted: 20 April 2010

3. Fear on Film: Japanese Horror Cinema
Iles, Timothy
Review of: Balmain, Colette (2008) Introduction to Japanese Horror Film.
Posted: 10 March 2010

2. Japan's Grand Strategy: Goldilocks and the Search for the Perfect Porridge Envall, H.D.P.
Review of: Samuels, Richard J. (2007) Securing Japan:
Tokyo's Grand Strategy and the Future of East Asia.
Posted: 29 January 2010

1. Japan Yesterday and Today
Leimbigler, Sheri Zhang
Review of: Harrison, Trevor W. (2008) 21st Century
Japan: A New Sun Rising.
Posted: 29 January 2010

Dr Peter Matanle
Lecturer in Japanese Studies,
National Institute of Japanese Studies and School of East Asian Studies University of Sheffield, UK,