The Japan Society Review

In this issue we remember and mark the second anniversary of Great East Japan Earthquake (東日本大震災) which occurred on Friday 11 March 2011.

The ties between the Japanese and British archipelagoes form the heart of this issue’s reviews, with articles on new performances and retrospectives linking the history of the two island nations.

In this last issue of 2012, we look at Susan Meehan and the discussion with author Kazuo Ishiguro. Then, Tim Holm rediscovers a pilgrimmage made by the maverick Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama in the early 1970s, applying his photographic chiaroscuro to a tour of Tono in North-Eastern Japan. Another highlight of our December issue is Sir Hugh’s exploration of a famous potter’s first love in The Etchings of Bernard Leach.

This issue focuses on the young people of Japanese society through the eyes of both foreigners and the Japanese themselves.

In this issue we focus on various aspects of the Japanese movie industry with some stimulating reviews of recent books.

In this issue we focus on the Meiji era, which spanned the period September 1868 to July 1912.

To mark the first year anniversary of the devastating 11 March 2011 Tohoku Earthquake, now also known as the Great East Japan Earthquake, we devote this issue to looking at its aftermath.

In this issue we focus on crime and the legal system in Japan.

In this issue we focus on pioneers and adventurers who opened Japan up to the wider world. Susan Meehan kicks off with a gripping new work by Roger Pulvers on Lafcadio Hearn, the great Japan chronicler of the 1890s who captured the essence of traditional Japan before it morphed into its modern form. Michael Sullivan looks at Giles Milton’s Samurai William: The Adventurer Who Unlocked Japan which charts the life of the first Englishman to learn about and live in Japan.

In this issue we delve into the murky world of Japanese politics focusing on one of the pivotal contemporary figures in the nation’s ever changing political landscape, Ichiro Ozawa. In four reviews, we look at Ozawa’s astonishing career and driving philosophy. Moving away from political machinations, Susan Meehan examines a disturbing and grim movie about the underside of the Japanese police.