Dear All,

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

Volume 37 Issue 2 (Fall 2025)
https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rcoj20/37/2?nav=tocList

Volume 37 Issue 2 includes six original research articles plus our book review section, covering topics ranging from religion and politics to education, women's empowerment, elderly workers, and Takarazuka fans. The research articles include "faith talk" in Japanese political rhetoric (Ernils Larsson), the "afterlife" of prime ministers, particularly Satō Eisaku (Taro Tsuda), an ethnographic study of a Korean international school (Kunisuke Hirano), literacy movements and female empowerment among Buraku (Chiara Fusari), elderly reemployment (Kazue Haga), and a spatial analysis of Takarazuka fandom (Zuzanna Baraniak-Hirata). Our book review section includes a monograph on the history of the Japanese destroyer Yukikaze (reviewed by Samuel P. Porter) and a handbook on postwar Japan (reviewed by Florian Coulmas).

Please explore the articles through the links below.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Editorial
Message from the Managing Editor
Isaac Gagne
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2025.2549609  

Research Articles

Addressing the Shinto establishment: "Faith talk" and "God talk" in political rhetoric in contemporary Japan
Ernils Larsson  
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2023.2251806  

Elder statesman as a jack-of-all-trades: The case of Satō Eisaku in 1970s Japan
Taro Tsuda
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2023.2247735  

The (Im)possibility of ideal education: Hope, uncertainty, and being safe in a Korean international school in Japan
Kunisuke Hirano
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2023.2247738  

Buraku women, literacy as a path to empowerment
Chiara Fusari
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2024.2348836

Strategies for creative job-seeking after retirement in Japan
Kazue Haga
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2025.2485629    

Fantasy strolling beyond the stage: A study of fan-culture geography of the Takarazuka Revue
Zuzanna Baraniak-Hirata
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2024.2361510

Book Reviews
Yukikaze's war: The unsinkable Japanese destroyer and World War II in the Pacific, by Brett L. Walker, Cambridge University Press, 2024.
Reviewed by Samuel P. Porter
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2024.2434418    

Reconsidering Postwar Japanese history: A handbook, edited by Simon Avenell, Amsterdam University Press, 2023.
Reviewed by Florian Coulmas
https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2024.2430065   

----------------------------------------------------------------

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)