New Books in Japanese Studies

By Marshall PoeEducation Arts Books History

New Books in Japanese Studies episodes

October 18 Punishment: Behind Japanese Military Brutality with Danny Orbach (Hurst, 2026)
Why was the Japanese Army so brutal before and during World War Two? This haunting question anchors a sweeping investigation into the moral universe of Imperial Japan’s soldiers, tracing their path from the twilight of the samurai age to the ashes of Manila in 1945.
Punishment: Behind Japanese Military Brutality (Hurst, 2026) by Professor Danny Orbach uncovers a world in which war was conceived not merely as combat, but also as justice. Officers and soldiers learned to navigate two rival visions of war: one restrained by the ‘foreign gaze’ of the Western world, the other rooted in older traditions that cast adversaries as ‘rebels’ and ‘bandits’ deserving exemplary punishment. However, these competing strategies were intertwined, in an interplay of mutual mitigation and brutalisation. Drawing on archival material in six languages and fieldwork conducted across Asia—from Taiwan’s indigenous highlands to Manchuria’s sorghum fields and the streets of Nanjing—Professor Orbach reveals how ambiguity, obedience, fear and ideology converged on the battlefield. Vague orders could become massacres, and the boundary between necessity and cruelty became perilously thin.
Part detective story, part moral history, Punishment illuminates how a modern state slid into devastating violence—and why that descent was neither inevitable nor easily explained.
This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.

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56 min
October 01 Alone in Japan: A Journey to the Future with Tom Feiling (Allen Lane, 2025)
Japan has been aging for decades. The country’s birth rate first fell below the replacement rate in 1974, long before phrases like the “demographic transition” and the “silver economy” became commonplace. Now, with many countries rich and small staring at the prospect of an aging population, what’s happening in Japan may now be a leading indicator as to what other countries may soon struggle with.
Tom Feiling, author of Alone in Japan: A Journey to the Future (Allen Lane, 2026), spent three years in Tokyo when Japan was a vibrant, thriving economy and a symbol of a possible future. Twenty-four years later, he returned to find a different country, with a shrinking workforce, changing opinions on relationships and isolation, and villages quickly running out of people.
Tom is a writer and journalist. His celebrated books include The Candy Machine: How Cocaine Took Over the World, Short Walks from Bogotá: Journeys in the New Colombia and The Island that Disappeared: Old Providence and the Making of the Western World.
You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of Alone in Japan. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia.
Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon.

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39 min
September 18 Museums in Digital Age
How are museums adapting to the digital age, and what transformations are taking place in institutions we often consider to be highly conservative? In this episode, researcher Aya Kimura shares her fascination with museums in both Japan and Lithuania, as well as insights from her research and analysis over the past several years. For those who read Japanese, more details can be found in Aya Kimura’s book Museums of the Digital Age (デジタル時代の博物館), published by Kadensha.
Aya Kimura is Associate Professor, Department of Human Sciences, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine
The episode is hosted by Linas Didvalis, an Associate Professor at Centre for Asian Studies at Vytautas Magnus University (Kaunas, Lithuania).
The Nordic Asia Podcast is a collaboration sharing expertise on Asia across the Nordic region, brought to you by the following academic partners: Asia Centre, University of Tartu (Estonia), Asian studies, University of Helsinki (Finland), Centre for Asian Studies, Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania), Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Turku (Finland), Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University (Sweden) and Centre for South Asian Democracy, University of Oslo (Norway).
We aim to produce timely, topical and well-edited discussions of new research and developments about Asia.
Host: Linas Didvalis
Find the book here

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34 min
September 04 Chika Watanabe, "Play to Survive: Disaster Preparedness Along the Ring of Fire" (Stanford UP, 2026)
We live in a fragile world. This much is evident as stories abound of
natural disasters that wipe out communities in an instant. How can we
survive the future on such a planet, amid intensifying climate change?
This question is particularly poignant along the Ring of Fire, a
tectonic belt in the Pacific region that routinely faces some of the
most devastating disasters in the world. Based on ethnographic research
spanning seven years, Play to Survive: Disaster Preparedness Along the Ring of Fire
(Stanford University Press, 2026) examines the work of preparedness
training in Japan and Chile, two primary nations along the Ring of Fire
that experience frequent and intense disasters. Experts from these
countries have often collaborated to create some of the most advanced
disaster preparedness systems in the world. Dr. Chika Watanabe traces
how local city officials, NGOs, and members of neighborhood and
grassroots organizations are, counterintuitively, using fun, playful
methods to teach preparation for our darkest hours.
While there
are many important studies of post-disaster response, much less is
written about the future-orientation of disaster preparedness. This book
shows how a transnational group of preparedness experts orient people
toward potential disasters in gentle and hopeful ways, focusing on
improvisation and repair. In a time of political and environmental
destabilization globally, this book offers a unique look at how playful
preparedness can reset relationships to environments, to the future, and
to each other.
This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book
focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty
negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative
analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find
Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.
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52 min
August 19WE HEREBY REFUSE: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration with Bruce Rutledge
John talks to Bruce Rutledge, founder of Chin Music Press, about running an independent Asia-focused press, the origins of the company in Tokyo, and the move to Seattle, where Chin Music now has a bookstore in Pike Place Market. They talk about Chin Music’s highly successful graphic novel trilogy on the Japanese American incarceration experience during World War II. The wide-ranging conversation is an honest celebration of the challenges and pleasures of independent publishing.
Chin Music Press books mentioned in the episode include:
Their very first book, an anthology called Kuhaku, published in 2005.

Goodbye Madame Butterfly: Sex, Marriage and the Modern Japanese Woman by Sumie Kawakami (2007/2010)

Japan’s Urushi Craftsmen: Can Old World Artistry Survive in the 21st Century by Bruce Rutledge (2020)

When the Waves Came by Michael Larson (2020)

WE HEREBY REFUSE : Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration by authors Frank Abe and Tamiko Nimura and illustrators Ross Ishikawa and Matt Sasaki (2021).

Fighting for America: Nisei Soldiers by Lawrence Matsuda (Author) and Matt Sasaki (Artist)

Those Who Helped Us: Assisting Japanese Americans During the War by Ken Mochizuki (Author) and Kiku Hughes (Illustrator)

Seattle Samurai: A Cartoonist’s Perspective of the Japanese American Experience by Kelly Goto (Author) and Sam Goto (Drawings)
The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press.
Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service.
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/japanese-studies

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37 min
August 16 Mithi Mukherjee, "Asianism and the Fall of Empire: India's Road to Freedom" (U California Press, 2026)
Offering a new global perspective on modern Indian history, Asianism and the Fall of Empire: India's Road to Freedom (University
of California Press, 2026) by Mithi Mukherjee identifies the rise of
Asianism in the early twentieth century as the origin and primary
driving force of resistance movements that brought down the British
Empire. Mithi Mukherjee ties together into a single sweeping narrative
two contrasting, conflicting forms of anticolonialism: the emergence of
the nonviolent resistance movement under Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa
and the militant movement culminating in the war on British India by the
Indian National Army under Subhas Chandra Bose in alliance with the
Japanese army. Asia emerges in this breakthrough retelling not as an
inert geographical category, but instead as a singular agent of change
in modern world history.
Mithi Mukherjee is a Professor of
History at the University of Colorado Boulder. She specializes in the
legal, political, and cultural history of modern India.
Shatrunjay
Mall is a Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Trinity College in
Hartford, Connecticut. His work in modern Japanese history, South Asian
history, and transnational Asian history explores ideas of Pan-Asianism
and its legacies, as well as intellectual, political, and cultural
intersections and affinities between colonial India and imperial Japan
in the twentieth century.
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1 hr 5 min
August 16 Echoes of Incense on the Shikoku Pilgrimage with Don Weiss
Amy Chavez talks to Don Weiss, currently mid-way through the Shikoku Pilgrimage — Japan's 1,300 km Buddhist route that has been walked for almost as many years. Pilgrims share their journey with Kobo Daishi, patron saint of the 88-temple circuit and founder of Shingon Buddhism in Japan. Don explains his "gratitude pilgrimage," what it means and why he is undertaking it. Along the way, he speaks with fellow pilgrims and priests at a number of temples to assess the experience for international visitors. While the 88-temple route faces challenges — from local depopulation to overtourism — Don finds common ground in conversations with priests about how overseas visitors might help keep the tradition alive, and what temples can do in turn to make the route more welcoming to those coming from abroad.
Don's book Echoes of Incense, about his first trip around the ancient pilgrimage route decades ago, is available as an e-book on Amazon in English and Japanese.
You can follow Don on his gratitude pilgrimage via his You Tube Channel: Just Walk
The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press . Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island, and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/japanese-studies

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38 min
August 10 Marco Pompili, "Public Housing in Japan: The Dōjunkai Apartments One Hundred Years On" (Brill, 2026)
Public Housing in Japan: The Dōjunkai Apartments One Hundred Years On
(Brill, 2026) is the first comprehensive English-language examination
of the Dōjunkai Foundation (1924-2024). Compiled and edited by Dr. Marco
Pompili through interviews and studies, it is a must-read for anyone
interested in modern Japanese architecture. The Dōjunkai Apartments
(1924-1934), the Foundation's best-known work, introduced apartment
living to Japan in response to crucial historical and social challenges
such as urban reconstruction after the devastating earthquake of 1923
and the emergence of new working and middle classes. The book's texts,
by prominent scholars and architects, as well as a series of original
drawings and photographs from the period, bring the work of the Dōjunkai
Foundation back to life 100 years after its founding. While the
Dōjunkai Apartments have unfortunately been lost in the rapid changes
and greedy redevelopment typical of Japanese metropolises, this book
seeks to contribute to the preservation of their memory and their
significance.
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53 min
August 08 Hiroshima's Last Witnesses and Japan's Nuclear Future
M. G. Sheftall has lived in Japan since 1987. He has a PhD in international relations and modern Japanese history from Waseda University in Tokyo. Since 2001, he has been a professor of modern Japanese cultural history and communication at the Faculty of Informatics of Shizuoka University. He lives in Hamamatsu, Japan.
Amy Chavez talks about Sheftall's books on the Asia Pacific War, in particular Hiroshima: The Last Witnesses and Nagasaki: The Last Witnesses both oral histories featuring interviews with survivors of the atomic bombs.
Has Japan's 80 years of peace education been all for naught? The book serves as a prescient warning given the current political climate and Japan's complex relationships with the US, Taiwan, China, and the broader world. Recent developments—including Nihon Hidankyo's 2024 Nobel Peace Prize and the ongoing protests against revising Article 9—bring this subject into sharp focus. Against this backdrop, the author offers his own perspective on Japan's nuclear future.
The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press.
Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island, and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.
Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service.
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/japanese-studies

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
33 min
August 04 Nozomi Naoi, "The Land of Happiness: How the Japanese Department Store Visualized Modern Life" (MIT Press, 2026)
The Land of Happiness: How the Japanese Department Store Visualized Modern Life
(MIT Press, 2026) explores the far-reaching influence of the Japanese
department store on modern life and our imaginations. In this gorgeously
illustrated volume, Dr. Nozomi Naoi explains how Japanese department
stores modeled
“the new modern Japanese life and identity” through print media and
design, physical and imagined space, and the new experiences that these
spaces offered. The stores created the notion of a modern subject
enjoying a “land of happiness”—and this, in turn, shaped the wider
sociological context, including emerging roles for women and perceptions of coloniality.
The
book focuses on three areas: the mediascape of proliferating department
store posters, advertisements, commercial design, promotional
magazines, and merchandise; the physical space, such as the
Western-style architecture that characterized many of these early
department stores, and the imagined “modern space” created within their
walls; and, finally, the production of a novel “dreamworld,” which
included dining spaces with children’s menus, new technology such as
elevators and escalators, and more.
Although
the research on department stores and their role in the quotidian
experience is vast, there is nothing like this study, which is uniquely
grounded in an art-historical approach that draws on the visual media
environment of early twentieth-century Japan and its impact on the
everyday.
This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book
focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty
negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative
analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find
Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/japanese-studies

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
40 min

About New Books in Japanese Studies

From the publisher's feed

This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field.