The Japan Society Review
The Japan Society Review is published on a quartely basis, both online and printed (members are entitled to receive a copy by post). Since the starting of the publication in 2006, each issue covers a selection of Japan-related books and films, as well as theatre and stage productions, tv series and exhibitions. Its purpose is to inform, entertain and encourage readers to explore the works for themselves.
The Japan Society Review is possible thanks to the work of volunteers who dedicated their time and expertise to help us to promote the learning and understanding of Japanese culture and society.
Books
Private Yokoi’s War and Life on Guam, 1944-1972Private Yokoi’s War and Life on Guam, 1944-1972, The Story of the Japanese Imperial Arm’s Longest WWII Survivor in the Field and Later Life, by Omi Hatashin, Global Oriental, 2009, 237 pages including index and a black and white plate section, ISBN 978-1-905246-69-4.
Books
My Work: 10 Years as the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and Construction of Peace"My Work: 10 Years as the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and Construction of Peace (私の仕事 ― 国連難民高等弁務官の十年と平和の構築)"
Films & Series
How to Become Myself (あしたの私のつくり方)How to Become Myself (あしたの私のつくり方) directed by Jun Ichikawa (市川準), 97 minutes, Release Date 28 April 2007. Review by Susan Meehan.
Books
A Life in Aikido: The Biography of Founder Morihei Ueshiba, by Kisshomaru Ueshiba (植芝 吉祥丸)A Life in Aikido: The Biography of Founder Morihei Ueshiba. By Kisshomaru Ueshiba (植芝 吉祥丸). Kodansha International, 2008, 320 pages, ISBN-13: 978-4770026170 Review by Hugh Purser
Books
The New Paradox for Japanese Women: Greater Choice, Greater Inequality, Toshiaki Tachibanaki (橘木 俊詔)Translated by Mary E. Foster I-House Press, Tokyo, 2010 290 pages including index, references and tables. ISBN 978-4-903452-18-0 Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi “Japan suffers today from a high inequality in income distribution and a lack of equal opportunity. Simply put, Japan is a class society.” These are the thought-provoking first words of this sociological […]
Books
Koizumi and Japanese Politics: Reform Strategies and Leadership Style, By Yu Uchiyama (内山 融)Translated by Carl Freire Routledge, 2010 214 pages, ISBN: 978-0-415-55688-0 (Hardback), £75.00. Review by Sean Curtin In this impressive study Yu Uchiyama meticulously dissects the highly successful and by Japanese standards long lived administration of Junichiro Koizumi (26 April 2001 – 26 September 2006). Since stepping down from office, no Japanese prime minister has lasted […]
Books
Rapid Changes in DiplomacyBy Shunji Yanai Born in 1937 in Tokyo into a diplomatic family, Yanai spent his childhood in pre-war Germany, Switzerland, and Colombia, where his family was held with other Japanese as prisoners of war after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor [...] Review by Fumiko Halloran
Books
Living Japan, Essays on Everyday Life in Contemporary SocietyEdited by Harumi Kimura Global Oriental, 2009 pages 251 including index, ISBN 978-1-905246-86-1. Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi. The seventy short essays in this book deal with aspects of the everyday life of ordinary Japanese people. Even those of us who have lived in Japan for a few years will find in this book some […]
Books
Unearthed exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual ArtsUniversity of East Anglia, Norwich, 22 June to 29 August 2010 Review by Susan Meehan. The ‘unearthed’ exhibition, held at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in Norwich during the summer of 2010, elicited far more questions than it answered, making for an extraordinarily thought-provoking and rewarding experience. At its heart was a collection of […]
Books
International Architecture in Interwar Japan, Constructing Kokusia KenchikuKen Tadashi Oshima 320 pp., 220 illustrations, notes, glossary, bibliography and index ISBN 978-0-298944-0, University of Washington Press, 2010 £46. Professor Oshima, the author of this book, is associate professor of architecture at the University of Washington and was a research fellow at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures in […]