Dear All,

We are pleased to announce that the newest issue of Contemporary Japan is now available online:

Volume 36 Issue 2 (Fall 2024)
https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rcoj20/36/2?nav=tocList

Volume 36 Issue 2 features a range of issues that are at once of local import and of global relevance. The issue includes five research articles, plus the biennial 2023 VSJF (German Association of Social Science Research on Japan) award-winning paper and our book review section. The research articles include an extremely timely inquiry into the relevance and effectiveness of national apologies by Jane Munro, in reference to Japan's colonialism in Asia, West Germany after WWII, and Australia's treatment of Indigenous peoples. Turning to economic inequality, Ryotaro Takahashi addresses the relationship of income inequality and the size of the government in Japan. Zooming in to the local level, Ken Hijino analyzes the politics of depopulation in local elections. Silvia Croydon investigates the politics of inclusiveness in terms of consultation on disability policies. Lastly, Kristina Iwata-Weickgenannt & Aidana Bolatbekkyzy explore the way that foodscapes are invoked to make critical commentary on the "capitalocene" in post-3.11 Japanese literature.

The issue also includes the English translation of the 2023 VSJF award-winning paper by David Adebahr, which offers unprecedented access to the conversations and thought processes behind Japan's security policy among key actors in the Prime Minister's Office of Japan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Defense.

Finally, our book review section includes recent publications on issues including religion and fundamentalism, the history of Kyoto, public discourse on fertility policies, and the use of robots in eldercare.

Please explore the articles through the links below.

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Editorial
Message from the Managing Editor
Isaac Gagne
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2024.2396179

Research Articles

What is the true impact of an apology?
Jane Crawford Munro  
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2023.2175425

The origins of income equality with a small government in Japan: An analysis of the formation of Japanese-style income policy in 1975
Ryotaro Takahashi
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2022.2137757

The politics of depopulation in Japanese municipalities: Ideas and underlying ideologies
Ken Victor Leonard Hijino
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2023.2191478

Politics of inclusive consultation?: How the voices of disabled people's rights and feminist campaigners prevailed in the debate on new eugenics in Japan
Silvia Croydon
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2023.2168841  

Writing back to the Capitalocene: Radioactive foodscapes in Japan's Post-3/11 literature
Kristina Iwata-Weickgenannt & Aidana Bolatbekkyzy
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2023.2208399  

 

VSJF Prize-Winning Paper
Between regional cooperation and strategic reorganization: An examination of the change in perceptions in Japanese security policy
David Adebahr
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2024.2337553

 

Book Reviews
Yasukuni Fundamentalism: Japanese Religions and the Politics of Restoration by Mark R. Mullins, University of Hawaii Press, 2021.
Reviewed by Ernils Larsson
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2022.2137620  

Kyoto's Renaissance: Ancient Capital for Modern Japan, by John Breen, Maruyama Hiroshi, Takagi Hiroshi (eds.), Renaissance Books, 2020.
Reviewed by Elisabetta Porcu
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2023.2220223

Active pursuit of pregnancy: Neoliberalism, postfeminism and the politics of reproduction in contemporary Japan, by Isabel Fassbender, Brill, 2021.
Reviewed by Nora Kottmann
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2022.2111541  

Robots won't save Japan: An ethnography of eldercare automation, by James Wright, Cornell University Press, 2023.
Reviewed by Hanno Jentzsch
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2023.2266899

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We extend an open invitation for all interested scholars to submit their work to Contemporary Japan. We are a Scopus-indexed journal with rolling submissions, a double-blind peer-review process, advanced access (online first) publishing, and language support for non-native English speakers. We also continue to accept proposals for special issues. Instructions for submission can be found here:
http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?journalCode=rcoj20&page=instructions

We look forward to your readership, submissions, feedback, and support.

With best wishes,

Isaac Gagné
Managing Editor, Contemporary Japan (me@contemporary-japan.org)
Principal Researcher, German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ-Tokyo)