The Japan Society Review
The Japan Society Review is an digital publication covering Japan-related books and films, as well as theatre and stage productions, tv series and exhibitions. Published since 2006, it is released now on a quarterly basis and is available online on our website and printed for members. 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.
To become a reviewer, please fill the form here and let us know a little about you, your professional or academic background, your interest, passion or expertise regarding Japan and the type of works you would like to review.
If you have any questions, please contact reviews@japansociety.org.uk.
Books
Japan’s Silk Road Diplomacy – Paving the Road AheadEdited by Christopher Len, Tomohiko Uyama and Tetsuya Hirose Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, and The Silk Road Studies Program (Institute for Security and Development Policy), Washington/Stockholm, 2008, ISBN: 978-91-85937-46-2. Review by Sean Curtin.
Books
A Doomed Man [運命の人]By Toyoko Yamazaki [山崎豊子] Bungei Shunju, April-June 2009, 4 volumes, each volume is 256 pages, 1524 yen each, volume 1: ISBN 978-4163281100; volume 2: ISBN: 978-4163281209; volume 3: ISBN: 978-4163281308; and volume 4: ISBN: 978-4163281407, Review by Fumiko Halloran.
Films & Series
Gaea Girls Film Screening and Q&AGaea Girls is a film about courage, transformation and dreams in the extraordinary world of Japanese women’s wrestling or joshi puroresu.
Books
The Year of No Money in TokyoThe Year of No Money in Tokyo, by Wayne Lionel Aponte, Watkins and McKay, 2009, 168 pages, ISBN 0982055005. Review by William Farr.
Books
Alfred East Lyrical Landscape PainterBy Paul Johnson and Kenneth McConkey Published by Sansom and Company, Bristol, 2009, ISBN 978-1-906593-33-9, 1444 pages including illustrations, bibliography and index. Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi
Books
Deciphering the Rising Sun"Deciphering the Rising Sun: Navy and Marine Corps Codebreakers, Translators and Interpreters in the Pacific War." By Roger Dingman. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 2009, 340 pages, including notes, bibliography and index, ISBN 10: 1591142113, £18.99 (Hardcover). Review by Ian Nish.
Books
The Great Power Struggle in East Asia, 1944-50, Britain, America and Post-War RivalryBy Christopher Baxter. In the series Global Conflict and Security Since 1945, Palgrave Macmillan, 2009, 250 pages including endnotes, bibliography and index, ISBN: 978-0-230-20297-9, £55. Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi.
Books
Toad’s Oil (ガマの油)Directed by Yakusho Koji (役所 広司). 2008, 131 minutes. Review by Susan Meehan.
Books
Nagata-cho vs. Kasumigaseki [永田町VS霞が関]By Yoichi Masuzoe [舛添要一]. Kodansha, 2007, 253 pages, ISBN:978-4-06-214042-3, 1500 yen.
Books
Yakuza Moon: Memoirs of a Gangster’s DaughterBy Shizuka Tendo. Routledge, 2006, 234 pages including photographs, ISBN: 9784770030429, Hardback £13.99p. Review by William Farr.