Contemporary Japan Online
Published from Tokyo under Japanese editorship before, during, and after WWII (1932-1970), Contemporary Japan is now seen as a beacon of rationality, especially during the ‘devil’s decade’ of the 1930s. While consistently presenting the Japanese case, Contemporary Japan spoke from the shrinking middle ground of the public sphere. Run by the semi-official Foreign Affairs Association of Japan, Contemporary Japan published informed, critical, long-form journalism by leading Japanese and Western commentators on East Asia. Disillusioned Pan-Asianists compete with anti-Western rhetoric on the road to war against China. Post-war, new voices bemoan the 'reverse course' of 1947-1952. This lively Primary Source offers a window into Japan’s most rational and yet most engaged debates of the day. Contemporary Japan ceased publication in 1970 and Brill has secured the entire run from Vol.1 1932 to Vol. 29, 1970, (with considerable gaps from 1954-1970, see full list of issues) but limits this first series to the period 1932-1954.
Note: virtually complete for the important years 1932-1954 (lacking two volumes: volume 9, no. 3 (1941) and volume 12, no. 1 (1943). Not complete for the years up to 1970. Should currently missing volumes emerge, these will be included at no extra cost to purchasers.
Note: virtually complete for the important years 1932-1954 (lacking two volumes: volume 9, no. 3 (1941) and volume 12, no. 1 (1943). Not complete for the years up to 1970. Should currently missing volumes emerge, these will be included at no extra cost to purchasers.
Please contact our sales team for more information on prices and licensing.
Historians of 20th c. China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, East Asia, Historians of the 20th century, WW I and WW II studies, Cultural Historians, Propaganda Studies
"Brill Asian Studies Primary Source Database promises to bring Japan’s modern history closer to scholars and students, affording a deeper understanding of contemporary biases and hitherto unknown rivalries. This collection is certainly an essential source of information for the study of Japan and Asia in the first half of the twentieth century." - Tsuchiya Reiko, in: Japan Review: Journal of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies 2022-02