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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus

@apjjf.bsky.social
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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: apjjf.org.

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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 3h
Andrew Mitchell offers a firsthand account of the earthquakes that struck Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture in 2016 & 2026. He reflects on his experiences and how they inspired him to spearhead a community relief initiative that has become exemplary for the rest of the world. apjjf.org/2026/9/mitch...
Andrew Mitchell handing out a plate of food after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the south of Kumamoto Prefecture in 2026.
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
What does Japan look like in the everyday experiences of different people, from visitors to long-term residents? Discover the diverse perspectives that Life highlights through film and the heartfelt reason behind his choice to donate his collection of interviews. apjjf.org/2026/8/life
What does Japan look like in the everyday experiences of different people, from visitors to long-term residents? Discover the diverse perspectives that Life highlights through film and the heartfelt reason behind his choice to donate his collection of interviews.

https://apjjf.org/2026/8/life
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Regionalism has helped Japan’s Innovation Party gain influence on a national scale, but will this core value be enough to continue its momentum? Nagatomi explores whether the Innovation Party can compete with Japan’s center in the long run. apjjf.org/2026/8/nagat...
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Why are the stories of Filipino victims during Japan’s WWII occupation nearly invisible in Japanese media? This article uncovers a striking gap in war memory, and why acknowledging it matters for history, representation, and international relations. apjjf.org/2026/3/arroyo
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Can news headlines really measure diplomacy? This study uses big data (GDELT) to track Japan and South Korea cooperation, and finds media reflects major events, but misses nuance when conflict and cooperation overlap. apjjf.org/2026/3/schultz
apjjf.org
Using the News to Measure International Cooperation: Evaluating Japan–ROK Government Cooperation Using the GDELT 2.0 Event Database - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Inside a hikikomori rehabilitation center: this ethnographic study examines how people who have withdrawn from society work to rebuild identity, relationships, and belonging in Japan. A powerful look at the human side of social isolation. apjjf.org/2026/3/julian
apjjf.org
Withdrawal and Belonging: Ethnographic Insights from a Hikikomori Rehabilitation Center in Japan - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Can culture heal political divides? This study argues that growing cultural exchange, especially among younger generations, is helping transform Korea–Japan relations and build a more resilient future for bilateral cooperation. apjjf.org/2026/3/oh-chun
apjjf.org
Cultural Connectivity and the Sustainability of Korea–Japan Cooperation - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
New in Asia-Pacific Journal: A contested oral tradition in Jindo, South Korea, "Waedeoksan," honors Japanese soldiers from 1597 but faces debate over its historical accuracy and role in Korea-Japan reconciliation. apjjf.org/2026/3/zoh
apjjf.org
The Controversial Oral Tradition Called “Waedeoksan” in Jindo, South Korea - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
New in Asia-Pacific Journal: A powerful analysis of the “Statue of Peace” and how attempts to erase contested history often make it return even stronger. apjjf.org/2026/2/kwak
apjjf.org
Trick or treat: confronting the hauntological cycle of de- and re-commemorating the statue of peace - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
New in Asia-Pacific Journal: An eye-opening look at military comfort stations and comfort women through Japanese Imperial Army daily records, revealing official practices and realities behind the system. apjjf.org/2026/2/ha
apjjf.org
“Military Comfort Stations” and “Military Comfort Women” as Recorded in Official Imperial Army Daily Records - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
These are the final days for our Glen S. Fukushima Matching Fund Challenge. Donate by February 28 and your contribution is doubled! apjjf.org/fundraising-... Support open-access publishing of in-depth analysis of forces shaping the Asia-Pacific and the world. Donate here: apjjf.org/support-us
apjjf.org
Support Us - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
How can fiction deepen our understanding of Okinawa’s base politics? Steve Rabson, contributing editor at APJJF, interviews journalist and novelist Sarah Z. Sleeper about Gaijin, her 2020 novel set in 1990s Okinawa. #Okinawa #USJapanAlliance #MilitaryBases #Literature apjjf.org/2026/2/sleep...
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
What does the rise of independents mean for party politics in Japan? Junichi Hasegawa argues that the 2024 Tokyo gubernatorial election reflected a longer trend showing growing distrust of established parties since the 1990s. apjjf.org/2026/2/haseg... #JapanPolitics #TokyoElection #PartyPolitics
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Can popular anime shape how we think about disaster? Timo Thelen examines Suzume no Tojimari (2022), showing how mythology, memory of 3/11, and national identity intersect to individualize responsibility for earthquakes and social decline. #Anime #Fukushima #Earthquake apjjf.org/2026/2/thelen
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
How did migration become a political issue in Japan’s 2025 election? In this article Maximilian Xavier Rehm explains how migration rose to political salience in Japan and what this shift means for the future of migration politics. #JapanesePolitics #PoliticsOfMigration apjjf.org/2026/2/rehm
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
How do games shape the way people experience public policy during crises? Ayaka Löschke analyzes the 2020 boom of Japan’s “Mitsu Desu” game, where players act as Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike to enforce social distancing. apjjf.org/2026/1/loschke #VideoGame #COVID19 #SocialDistancingPolicy #Japan
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Is Japan a cautionary tale or a fetishized object that lets scholars and policymakers avoid hard questions? Paul Christensen explores this dynamic as part of our ongoing series, Critical Asian Scholarship in a Time of Global Crisis. Read the full article here: apjjf.org/2026/1/chris... #Japan
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Why are young people increasingly skeptical of media outrage? In this article, journalist Waka Ikeda examines the gender and cultural politics of Japan’s 2025 election as a case study in institutional credibility crisis. #SanaeTakaichi #JapaneseElections #GenderAndPolitics apjjf.org/2026/1/ikeda
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
How much did Japan’s postwar bureaucracy really change? Daniel Wollnik challenges narratives of institutional inertia, tracing how U.S.–Japanese negotiations reshaped the Ministry of Communications and Japan's postwar state. #USJapanRelations #bureaucracy #PostWarJapan apjjf.org/2026/1/wollnik
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
APJJF editorial board member Jenny Chan reflects on her own scholarly journey and highlights how APJJF serves as a platform for scholarly community, critical inquiry, and independent open-access publishing. Read the full piece in Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus: apjjf.org/2025/12/chan #APJJF
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
Do criminal suspects in Japan have "a right to remain silent" in practice? David T. Johnson tackles this question and ongoing debates about legal reform in Japan. Read the full piece in Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #Japan #APJJF #legalstudies
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Support open-access publishing of critical analysis of the forces shaping the Asia-Pacific and the world. Glen S. Fukushima Matching Fund Challenge Double your impact: donate $50 and it becomes $100 if you donate by February 28, 2026. apjjf.org/fundraising-... #APJJF #openaccess
apjjf.org
Recent Developments, Plans for the Future, and a Request for Support - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Can civic organizations play the multi-faceted role of promoting multi-ethnic nationhood at home and sovereign statehood abroad? Michiko Suzuki explores how the Manchukuo Red Cross Society was used to pursue these goals in the context of Japanese imperialism. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Support open-access publishing of critical analysis of the forces shaping the Asia-Pacific and the world. Glen S. Fukushima Matching Fund Challenge Double your impact: donate $50 and it becomes $100 if you donate by February 28, 2026. apjjf.org/fundraising-... #APJJF #openaccess
apjjf.org
Recent Developments, Plans for the Future, and a Request for Support - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Atsushi Hagihara & Hasan Topacoglu explore culture practices and generational change in Hyogo Prefecture Okinawan Association. Using surveys and interviews, they highlight how Okinawans navigate migration challenges while preserving their heritage. www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #Okinawa #APJJF
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
How is public interest litigation evolving in Japan? Lawrence Repeta examines CALL4, a bilingual platform highlighting public interest cases and crowdfunding litigation costs. www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #Japan #Law #PublicInterest #APJJF
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
How does Ishimaru Shinji fit into Japan’s evolving populist landscape? In this article Jack Northey draws on the cases of Hashimoto Tōru and Koike Yuriko and identifies a “populist playbook” shaped by Japan’s neoliberal era. www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #Japan #Politics #Populism #APJJF
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
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...
apjjf.org
“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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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
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
apjjf.org
Commentary, Translation, and Historical Revisionism: On The Ōshima Memos - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
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
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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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
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
cambridge.org
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
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
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...
apjjf.org
Trump’s Assault on the United Nations and the Decline of American Global Influence - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
In this important article, Dorothy Finan and Kaori Suetomi examine efforts to introduce child safeguarding frameworks in Japan’s entertainment industries in the wake of the Johnny Kitagawa abuse scandal. www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #Japan #ChildSafeguarding #EntertainmentIndustry #APJJF
cambridge.org
What Are the Barriers to Improving the Safeguarding of Children and Young People in Japan’s Entertainment Industries? | Asia-Pacific Journal | Cambridge Core
What Are the Barriers to Improving the Safeguarding of Children and Young People in Japan’s Entertainment Industries? - Volume 23
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
Yoko Demelius and Yutaka Yoshida use a post-feminist lens to analyze a famous case involving a female fraudster in Japan who gained “celebrity criminal” status. Read more in Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #Japan #Postfeminism #GenderStudies #APJJF
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
Mi-Young Gu astutely analyzes Himizu (2012) through Foucault’s concept of heterotopia, showing how the film reveals tensions in post-3/11 Japan. Read more in Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #Himizu #SonoShion #Post311 #DisasterCinema #Heterotopia #APJJF
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
Kanako Kuramitsu explores the overlooked experiences of children born to Chinese mothers and Japanese fathers during and after the Second Sino-Japanese War. Read more in Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #SinoJapaneseWar #ChildrenBornOfWar #Migration #APJJF
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
In this timely article Robert Mizo and J. Scott Hauger show how climate change is reshaping Indo-Pacific maritime security and what this means for the Quad. Read more in Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #IndoPacific #MaritimeSecurity #ClimateChange #APJJF
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
In this important article, Dorothy Finan and Kaori Suetomi examine efforts to introduce child safeguarding frameworks in Japan’s entertainment industries in the wake of the Johnny Kitagawa abuse scandal. www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #Japan #ChildSafeguarding #EntertainmentIndustry #APJJF
cambridge.org
What Are the Barriers to Improving the Safeguarding of Children and Young People in Japan’s Entertainment Industries? | Asia-Pacific Journal | Cambridge Core
What Are the Barriers to Improving the Safeguarding of Children and Young People in Japan’s Entertainment Industries? - Volume 23
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Dan Smith @profdansmith.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
A very informative article explaining the conspiracy theories and ideologies motivating Japan's new far-right party, Sanseitō, which made substantial seat gains in last July's upper house election. Thanks to @rmarcantuoni.bsky.social & @robfahey.net for writing this.
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
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...
apjjf.org
Trump’s Assault on the United Nations and the Decline of American Global Influence - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
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
cambridge.org
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
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
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
cambridge.org
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
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
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
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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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
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
apjjf.org
Commentary, Translation, and Historical Revisionism: On The Ōshima Memos - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
[…]
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
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...
apjjf.org
“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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David Fedman @dfeds.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
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
“August Journalism” Studies: Lessons in World War II Reporting from Japan’s Season of Remembrance - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
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
apjjf.org
The 100th Anniversary of the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake - Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 31/08/2025
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!
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Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus @apjjf.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
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
apjjf.org
Lessons for Disaster Digital Archives: The Making and Use of the Japan Disaster Digital Archive (JDA) - The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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Oleg Benesch @olegb.bsky.social · 09/11/2024
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
Yasukuni Shrine, the Yushukan Military Museum, and Japan’s Place in the World - The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
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