Issue 44 (April 2013, Volume 8, Number 2)

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. It was a truly unprecedented catastrophe so traumatic that its consequences are still reverberating through Japanese society. The massive cost in human life and the sheer scale of devastation would be difficult for any society to cope with but Japan must also deal with the additional aftermath of three nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear plant. The trinity of disasters - earthquake, tsunami and triple nuclear meltdown in one incident spanning a 24 hour period make dealing with it one of the most testing challenges ever to face a country.

Sir Hugh Cortazzi looks at Contemporary Japan: History, Politics and Social Change Since the 1980s which examines some aspects of the immense challenges which face Japan and how this is currently shaping society.

Mike Sullivan looks at a film festival to mark the anniversary while Lucy Starles covers another Japanese film festival which reminds us that even though Japan faces such daunting challenges life still marches on.

We then look at an early national tragedy with global implications in Maritime Strategy and National Security in Japan and Britain, From the First Alliance to Post-9/11.

On a lighter note Mike Sullivan looks at the mesmerizing performers Siro-A.

We would also like to congratulate Mike for winning the prestigious Japan Foreign Trade Council Essay Competition 2012 with his impressive article “Strategies for a Depopulating Japan ” A British Model and a Japanese Legacy.

• Contemporary Japan: History, Politics and Social Change Since the 1980s
  
  
• Eclair: Okashi Hourouki [エクレール~お菓子放浪記]
  
  
• Kaidan Horror Classics
  
  
• Maritime Strategy and National Security in Japan and Britain, From the First Alliance to Post -9/11
  
  
• SIRO-A
  
  
• A History of Japanese Political Thought, 1600-1901
  
  
• Japan Society Review writer Mike Sullivan wins the prestigious JFTC Essay Competition 2012

Contributors