Japanese popular culture has long enjoyed wide dissemination in Latin America. Starting with Godzilla's release in 1956 in select movie theaters, and continuing with Astro Boy--widely heralded as the first weekly anime series produced in Japan--being shown in Latin American television sets in the 1960s, Japanese pop culture has had a longstanding presence in the region. People have played with Tamagotchi and Hello Kitty toys without even knowing they originated in Japan; others purchased manga, enthralled by the different style from US comic books. Indeed, Japanese pop culture has grown from a once-derided subculture to a massive industry that employs thousands in Latin America. Today, Latin America is estimated to be the fourth-largest market for anime consumption, after the Asia Pacific, North America and Europe.

Despite this history and background, there is a notable lack of readily available scholarship on the subject. While studies do exist, they are often geographically limited to one particular region, and there is a lack of coherence in those that exist separately from each other. This is especially troubling at a time when scholars such as Mihara Ryotaro call for "decolonizing anime studies," which is argued to begin with recognizing the dynamics of power involved in speaking and being heard in the field. Not only is Latin America the source of much theory on decolonization, but it has been historically marginalized and silent in debates about Japanese popular culture and its circulation and consumption in "the West."  

This volume seeks not only to address a dearth in the literature but also to bring to the fore new perspectives and voices from Latin America. We welcome chapters concentrating on specific geographical areas, as well as those that can relate particular phenomena to the broader Latin-American context. Under the broad banner of Japanese popular culture, we are interested in manga, anime, video games, kaiju films and super sentai shows, fashion and art, character culture, and more. Case studies of particular brands, artists or products are encouraged. Located at the intersection of studies of Japan, Popular Culture, Translation, Reception and Media, this volume seeks to explore these areas in a Latin American context, recognising the increasingly sophisticated and transformative regional relationships between Latin America and Asia.

 Potential contributors are encouraged to propose chapters on a variety of issues, including but in no way limited to the following:

1. Marginalized Perspectives and Decolonialization: Theories from the Latin America and "the South" that open up the study of Japanese pop culture.
2. History: How has Japanese pop culture--in particular, its dissemination and consumption--evolved in specific countries in Latin America, and in Latin America as a whole? How does the consumption of Japanese pop culture relate or differ from one country to another?
3. Reception and Resistance: How has Japanese pop culture been received? What kind of social effects (e.g., religious factors) has it met in certain countries and as a whole?
4. Translation and Localization: What differences can be identified between texts in their source and target languages? This applies not only to scripts, but also to sound, colors, subtitles, dubbing and more. Who was in charge of these changes and what possible effects did they have?
5. Japanese Diaspora in Latin America: How do, for instance, does the Nikkei (Japanese diaspora) consumption of Japanese pop culture interact with "Japan?" What roles do Nikkei people have in promoting Japanese pop culture outside of Japan?
6. Fan Culture and Fandoms: How have "anime clubs" created social cohesion for people? What are some of the ways that fans have expressed themselves through original manga, Vocaloids and so on? 
7. Business: What are the material conditions of possibility for Japanese pop culture in Latin America? What might the future of circulation and consumption look like?

Please send an abstract of no more than 300 words and a CV to Daniel E. Josephy-Hernández (Daniel.josephy@gmail.com) and Patrick W. Galbraith (patrick_w_galbraith@hotmail.com) by February 28, 2026. Abstracts selected for the volume will be included in a book proposal to be submitted to the University of Pittsburgh Press in May 2026.