Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
@apjjf.bsky.social
In-depth critical analysis of the forces that shape the Asia-Pacific and the world. Edited by Tristan R. Grunow (Nagoya University) and Mary M. McCarthy (Drake University). Find us at: https://apjjf.org/.
How did Trump change US engagement with the UN? In this interview with Mark Selden, Lawrence S. Wittner examines the historical context and what it means for US-China relations and global influence.
#Trump #USPolitics #UnitedNations #USChina #ForeignPolicy #GlobalAffairs apjjf.org/2025/10/witt...
#Trump #USPolitics #UnitedNations #USChina #ForeignPolicy #GlobalAffairs apjjf.org/2025/10/witt...
Trump’s Assault on the United Nations and the Decline of American Global Influence - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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apjjf.org
November 5, 2025 at 5:48 PM
How did Trump change US engagement with the UN? In this interview with Mark Selden, Lawrence S. Wittner examines the historical context and what it means for US-China relations and global influence.
#Trump #USPolitics #UnitedNations #USChina #ForeignPolicy #GlobalAffairs apjjf.org/2025/10/witt...
#Trump #USPolitics #UnitedNations #USChina #ForeignPolicy #GlobalAffairs apjjf.org/2025/10/witt...
How does a fringe, anti-vaccine party come to influence national politics? In this insightful article, Romeo Marcantuoni and Robert A. Fahey examine Sanseitō, a Japanese political party founded during the pandemic.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #Japan #Politics #ConspiracyTheories #APJJF
www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #Japan #Politics #ConspiracyTheories #APJJF
Fighting the Cabal from the Diet: Sanseitō and the Role of Conspiracy as Political Ideology | Asia-Pacific Journal | Cambridge Core
Fighting the Cabal from the Diet: Sanseitō and the Role of Conspiracy as Political Ideology - Volume 23
www.cambridge.org
November 5, 2025 at 5:42 PM
How does a fringe, anti-vaccine party come to influence national politics? In this insightful article, Romeo Marcantuoni and Robert A. Fahey examine Sanseitō, a Japanese political party founded during the pandemic.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #Japan #Politics #ConspiracyTheories #APJJF
www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #Japan #Politics #ConspiracyTheories #APJJF
What did “compulsory education” mean for children excluded from it? In this powerful article, Gregory S. Johnson traces the history of the Kōmei School, Japan’s first public school for children with physical disabilities. www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #DisabilityHistory #Japan #Education #APJJF
Kōmei School and the Path to Compulsory Education for Japan’s Children with Disabilities | Asia-Pacific Journal | Cambridge Core
Kōmei School and the Path to Compulsory Education for Japan’s Children with Disabilities - Volume 23
www.cambridge.org
November 5, 2025 at 5:39 PM
What did “compulsory education” mean for children excluded from it? In this powerful article, Gregory S. Johnson traces the history of the Kōmei School, Japan’s first public school for children with physical disabilities. www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #DisabilityHistory #Japan #Education #APJJF
How can film confront the silences surrounding workplace harassment? In conversation with art historian Asato Ikeda, filmmaker Atsushi Funahashi discusses his 2022 film Company Retreat, reflecting on trauma and solidarity in Japan’s workplaces.
apjjf.org/2025/9/ikeda #Film #Gender #Japan #APJJF
apjjf.org/2025/9/ikeda #Film #Gender #Japan #APJJF
Film Director Atsushi Funahashi in Conversation with Asato Ikeda: Company Retreat (2022), Sexual Violence, and the Unconscious of the Time - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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apjjf.org
November 5, 2025 at 5:28 PM
How can film confront the silences surrounding workplace harassment? In conversation with art historian Asato Ikeda, filmmaker Atsushi Funahashi discusses his 2022 film Company Retreat, reflecting on trauma and solidarity in Japan’s workplaces.
apjjf.org/2025/9/ikeda #Film #Gender #Japan #APJJF
apjjf.org/2025/9/ikeda #Film #Gender #Japan #APJJF
Can translation become a tool for historical revisionism? In this essay, Harumi Osaki examines how sympathetic translators and editors reshaped The Ōshima Memos (1942–45), allowing for wartime ideology to persist under the guise of reinterpretation. apjjf.org/2025/10/osaki #Japan #History #APJJF
Commentary, Translation, and Historical Revisionism: On The Ōshima Memos - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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apjjf.org
November 5, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Can translation become a tool for historical revisionism? In this essay, Harumi Osaki examines how sympathetic translators and editors reshaped The Ōshima Memos (1942–45), allowing for wartime ideology to persist under the guise of reinterpretation. apjjf.org/2025/10/osaki #Japan #History #APJJF
How do we understand Japan’s wartime past through the words and silences of its emperor? David McNeill speaks with historian Ryuichi Kitano about his new book, 側近が見た昭和天皇 (The Showa Emperor as Seen by His Close Aides). #Japan #History #APJJF apjjf.org/2025/10/mcne...
“The Showa Emperor repeatedly advocated for the necessity of rearmament”: Interview with Ryuichi Kitano by David McNeill - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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apjjf.org
November 5, 2025 at 4:19 PM
How do we understand Japan’s wartime past through the words and silences of its emperor? David McNeill speaks with historian Ryuichi Kitano about his new book, 側近が見た昭和天皇 (The Showa Emperor as Seen by His Close Aides). #Japan #History #APJJF apjjf.org/2025/10/mcne...
Reposted by Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
A new essay from me synthesizing the rich body of media criticism in Japanese focused on the practice of "August journalism" (八月ジャーナリズム): the tendency for rehearsed, compressed, and hollowed-out coverage of war memory each August.
apjjf.org/2025/9/fedman
apjjf.org/2025/9/fedman
“August Journalism” Studies: Lessons in World War II Reporting from Japan’s Season of Remembrance - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
[…]
apjjf.org
September 2, 2025 at 4:40 PM
A new essay from me synthesizing the rich body of media criticism in Japanese focused on the practice of "August journalism" (八月ジャーナリズム): the tendency for rehearsed, compressed, and hollowed-out coverage of war memory each August.
apjjf.org/2025/9/fedman
apjjf.org/2025/9/fedman
ICYMI: Re-upping our special collection on the 100th Anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake, which occurred on September 1st, 1923: apjjf.org/2023/8/toc
The 100th Anniversary of the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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apjjf.org
September 1, 2025 at 9:16 PM
ICYMI: Re-upping our special collection on the 100th Anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake, which occurred on September 1st, 1923: apjjf.org/2023/8/toc
As we remember the 80th Anniversary of the End of World War II, see our special collection of "Critical Reflections" from a number of prominent scholars of East Asian studies. Look for a second batch of essays appearing soon!
August 31, 2025 at 5:51 PM
As we remember the 80th Anniversary of the End of World War II, see our special collection of "Critical Reflections" from a number of prominent scholars of East Asian studies. Look for a second batch of essays appearing soon!
Fourteen years on from the Northeastern Japan Triple Disaster, see how scholars at Tohoku University & the National Diet Library in Japan are collaborating with the Reischauer Institute at Harvard to document and research the disaster and its aftermaths in the Japan Disaster Archive. apjjf.org/jda
Lessons for Disaster Digital Archives: The Making and Use of the Japan Disaster Digital Archive (JDA) - The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
apjjf.org
March 14, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Fourteen years on from the Northeastern Japan Triple Disaster, see how scholars at Tohoku University & the National Diet Library in Japan are collaborating with the Reischauer Institute at Harvard to document and research the disaster and its aftermaths in the Japan Disaster Archive. apjjf.org/jda
Reposted by Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
More than 25 years after my first visit, I've recently published an article on the long history of the Yushukan military museum at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. The article is open access with a large number of illustrations.
apjjf.org/2024/7/benesch
apjjf.org/2024/7/benesch
Yasukuni Shrine, the Yushukan Military Museum, and Japan’s Place in the World - The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
apjjf.org
November 9, 2024 at 9:25 AM
More than 25 years after my first visit, I've recently published an article on the long history of the Yushukan military museum at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. The article is open access with a large number of illustrations.
apjjf.org/2024/7/benesch
apjjf.org/2024/7/benesch
David McNeill and Nao Kato ask what role the media plays in public opinion toward the other in Japan-China relations. apjjf.org/2024/5/mcneill
Fanning the Flames: China vs. Japan in the Media - The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
apjjf.org
June 20, 2024 at 10:59 PM
David McNeill and Nao Kato ask what role the media plays in public opinion toward the other in Japan-China relations. apjjf.org/2024/5/mcneill
This dialogue between Kevin Blackburn, Katharine McGregor, and Sachiyo Tsukamoto introduces the authors' recent books and highlights new research on Comfort Women from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Japan. apjjf.org/2024/5/black...
“Comfort Women” – New Research from Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia - The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
apjjf.org
June 20, 2024 at 10:49 PM
This dialogue between Kevin Blackburn, Katharine McGregor, and Sachiyo Tsukamoto introduces the authors' recent books and highlights new research on Comfort Women from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Japan. apjjf.org/2024/5/black...
Jessica Jordan questions U.S. military understanding and practice when it comes to bases in Guam and Okinawa, arguing that changing the way recent history is represented at U.S.-controlled public sites could catalyze meaningful change in local relations. apjjf.org/2024/5/jordan
If You Liberated Us, Why Are You Still Here? Dilemmas of Global U.S. Military Basing - The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
apjjf.org
June 18, 2024 at 11:57 PM
Jessica Jordan questions U.S. military understanding and practice when it comes to bases in Guam and Okinawa, arguing that changing the way recent history is represented at U.S.-controlled public sites could catalyze meaningful change in local relations. apjjf.org/2024/5/jordan
Do words matter? Can they change the way we think and act? Ulv Hanssen warns they do, with the example of the history of the use (and non-use) of the term "hypothetical enemy" in Japan from the prewar period through today.
apjjf.org/2024/4/hanssen
apjjf.org/2024/4/hanssen
The Chinese “Hypothetical Enemy”: Japan Rehabilitates a Problematic Prewar Label - The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
apjjf.org
June 4, 2024 at 8:11 PM
Do words matter? Can they change the way we think and act? Ulv Hanssen warns they do, with the example of the history of the use (and non-use) of the term "hypothetical enemy" in Japan from the prewar period through today.
apjjf.org/2024/4/hanssen
apjjf.org/2024/4/hanssen
Michael Bourdaghs explores popular music of Japan’s Cold War era, with a special focus on singing duo The Peanuts and the film Mothra, argues that Japanese culture of the Cold War must be understood as participating simultaneously in all three networks of the Cold War order
apjjf.org/2024/4/bourd...
apjjf.org/2024/4/bourd...
Monstrous Melodies and Island Fantasies: Mothra, The Peanuts, and Japan’s Cold War Cultures - The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
apjjf.org
May 23, 2024 at 6:53 PM
Michael Bourdaghs explores popular music of Japan’s Cold War era, with a special focus on singing duo The Peanuts and the film Mothra, argues that Japanese culture of the Cold War must be understood as participating simultaneously in all three networks of the Cold War order
apjjf.org/2024/4/bourd...
apjjf.org/2024/4/bourd...
How do Indonesian Muslim professionals navigate the corporate workplace in Japan? Through in-depth interviews, Firman Budianto uncovers some of their motivations, challenges, and strategies living and working in a non-Muslim society.
apjjf.org/2024/4/budia...
apjjf.org/2024/4/budia...
Promoting Diversity, Introducing Islam: Muslim Indonesian Professionals in Contemporary Corporate Japan - The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
apjjf.org
May 17, 2024 at 6:15 PM
How do Indonesian Muslim professionals navigate the corporate workplace in Japan? Through in-depth interviews, Firman Budianto uncovers some of their motivations, challenges, and strategies living and working in a non-Muslim society.
apjjf.org/2024/4/budia...
apjjf.org/2024/4/budia...
Can physical representations of events, like a monument, change their meaning over time and, if so, how? These are the questions that Thi Gammon and Anh Ngoc Quynh Phan explore through the Hanoi monument to John McCain's capture.
Strategic Remembering in Vietnam-US Relations: How a Monument of War Turns Into a Marker of Peace - The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
apjjf.org
May 6, 2024 at 4:35 PM
Can physical representations of events, like a monument, change their meaning over time and, if so, how? These are the questions that Thi Gammon and Anh Ngoc Quynh Phan explore through the Hanoi monument to John McCain's capture.
With the embers of the Johnny Kitagawa sexual assault scandal still glowing, more victims of abuse have come forward with disturbing claims about comedy-duo Downtown’s Matsumoto Hitoshi, a towering figure in Japan’s entertainment industry. One of them talks to David McNeill. apjjf.org/2024/4/mcneill
“I don’t want to live in a world where such things can happen.”
With the embers of the Johnny Kitagawa sexual assault scandal still glowing, more victims of sexual abuse have come forward with disturbing claims about Japanese comedy-duo Downtown's Matsumoto Hitosh...
apjjf.org
April 23, 2024 at 8:39 AM
With the embers of the Johnny Kitagawa sexual assault scandal still glowing, more victims of abuse have come forward with disturbing claims about comedy-duo Downtown’s Matsumoto Hitoshi, a towering figure in Japan’s entertainment industry. One of them talks to David McNeill. apjjf.org/2024/4/mcneill
New Ongoing Series | The The Online Ecosystem of the Japanese Far Right. Investigating the ever-changing & adaptable ecosystem of multitudinous actors in the digital age linked through shared nativist/racist, anti-feminist & anti-establishment/illiberal discourses. apjjf.org/online-ecosy...
The Online Ecosystem of the Japanese Far Right: Platforms, Actors, Organizations - The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
apjjf.org
April 16, 2024 at 11:08 PM
New Ongoing Series | The The Online Ecosystem of the Japanese Far Right. Investigating the ever-changing & adaptable ecosystem of multitudinous actors in the digital age linked through shared nativist/racist, anti-feminist & anti-establishment/illiberal discourses. apjjf.org/online-ecosy...
Hanno Jentzsch & Sebastian Polak-Rottmann investigate the impact of COVID-19 on regional welfare-making in Japan's rural Aso region, revealing how community institutions evolved but also reflected prior (and ongoing) experiences with challenges & resilience after disasters. apjjf.org/2024/3/jentz...
Community-Based Care During COVID-19: Balancing Social Distancing and Social Care in Rural Japan – The Case of the Aso Region - The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
apjjf.org
April 16, 2024 at 11:01 PM
Hanno Jentzsch & Sebastian Polak-Rottmann investigate the impact of COVID-19 on regional welfare-making in Japan's rural Aso region, revealing how community institutions evolved but also reflected prior (and ongoing) experiences with challenges & resilience after disasters. apjjf.org/2024/3/jentz...
Tessa Morris-Suzuki explores the transnational history of commercial whaling in the 19th Century from the mobile viewpoint of whaleships as they crossed and recrossed the ocean, urging scholars to adopt a “liquid area” approach to transformations in the Asia-Pacific region. apjjf.org/2024/3/morri...
In the Wake of the Whale: Towards a Liquid Area History of the Pacific - The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
CATEGORY
apjjf.org
March 29, 2024 at 7:39 AM
Tessa Morris-Suzuki explores the transnational history of commercial whaling in the 19th Century from the mobile viewpoint of whaleships as they crossed and recrossed the ocean, urging scholars to adopt a “liquid area” approach to transformations in the Asia-Pacific region. apjjf.org/2024/3/morri...
Barak Kushner reflects on the complex issues & discrepancies between fact & fiction around Japanese war crimes in WWII that clouded postwar justice postwar & continue to render their history open to interpretation, feeding political friction in the region.
apjjf.org/2024/3/kushner
apjjf.org/2024/3/kushner
Justice in the Time of Cholera - The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
apjjf.org
March 27, 2024 at 11:56 PM
Barak Kushner reflects on the complex issues & discrepancies between fact & fiction around Japanese war crimes in WWII that clouded postwar justice postwar & continue to render their history open to interpretation, feeding political friction in the region.
apjjf.org/2024/3/kushner
apjjf.org/2024/3/kushner
Brian Hurley revisits John Hersey’s controversial reading of "Hiroshima" at the White House in 1965 to show how the premises of cultural freedom at the heart of Cold War American liberalism stirred far more controversy in practice than their placid articulation in theory. apjjf.org/2024/2/hurley
Reading Hiroshima in the Age of Vietnam: John Hersey at the White House Festival of the Arts - The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
Brian Hurley revisits John Hersey’s controversial reading of Hiroshima at the White House Festival of the Arts in 1965 to show how the premises of cultural freedom that lay at the heart of Cold War Am...
apjjf.org
March 26, 2024 at 2:15 PM
Brian Hurley revisits John Hersey’s controversial reading of "Hiroshima" at the White House in 1965 to show how the premises of cultural freedom at the heart of Cold War American liberalism stirred far more controversy in practice than their placid articulation in theory. apjjf.org/2024/2/hurley
#Special: Sara Ann Swenson & Le Hoang Anh Thu guest co-edit a collection of articles examining why food charity has become popular in urban areas in Vietnam like Ho Chi Minh City by exploring how food holds spiritual, moral significance for both donors & recipients: apjjf.org/2024/2/food-...
Introduction to the Special Issue: Food Charity, Religion, and Care in Vietnam - The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
Sara Ann Swenson & Le Hoang Anh Thu introduce the special issue examining why food charity has become popular in urban areas like Ho Chi Minh City by exploring how food holds spiritual, moral signific...
apjjf.org
March 18, 2024 at 6:32 AM
#Special: Sara Ann Swenson & Le Hoang Anh Thu guest co-edit a collection of articles examining why food charity has become popular in urban areas in Vietnam like Ho Chi Minh City by exploring how food holds spiritual, moral significance for both donors & recipients: apjjf.org/2024/2/food-...