The Japan Society Review

Directed by Kitano Takeshi A visceral and darkly comic historical epic, Kubi deconstructs samurai-era masculinity and homoerotic power dynamics. Review by Mayumi Donovan

By Enchi Fumiko Written by one of the greats of postwar Japanese literature, Enchi Fumiko, Masks is a masterfully layered dismantling of conventional ideas of female forgiveness and love. Review by Tara Jones

Edited by Ruth Taplin and Fuchikawa Kazuhiko This volume addresses the regulatory challenges posed by digital platforms, whose rapid rise has led to new forms of market dominance. Review by Kenneth S. Friedman

By Anna Jackson and Yamada Masami This book explores the important role that woodblock prints played in the fashionable world of Edo-period Japan (1603-1868). Review by Carolin Becke

This exhibition steps into the serene world of Japanese carpentry transporting visitors from the living forests that sustain the craft to the celebrated structures it has produced. Review by Sanae Inagaki

Edited by Fiona Collins This volume brings together over 75 significant woodblock prints, spanning 300 years, from the 17th to the late 20th centuries, from the Worcester Art Museum's collection, donated by John Chandler Bancroft in 1901. Review by Joseph Rosalind-Hayat

By various authors An anthology of short stories written by authors contemporaries of Japan's master of the macabre, Edogawa Ranpo, who kept a vast book collection in an old storehouse on the grounds of his property in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Review by Shehrazade Zafar-Arif

This exhibition invites us to reconsider Hiroshige not just as a celebrated printmaker, but as an artist who visually constructed ideas of travel, nature, and place — shaping perceptions within Japan and, eventually, abroad. Review by Sanae Inagaki

By Richard Irving This revised edition of the story of William Adams, the English samurai, is now made available in two hardback volumes, with an updated text and the addition of several new illustrations. Review by Nicolas Maclean

The March issue of The Japan Society Review presents a diverse selection of reviews that explore Japan’s civil society, urban history, postwar literature, and contemporary cinema, offering new insights into both past and present.