On July 14th! Peter Mauch (U of Western Sydney) on his new book “Tojo: The Rise and Fall of Japan's Most Controversial World War II General”, in conversation with Andrew Levidis (Australian National U) and Simon Avenell (Australian National U). Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-6712444

A video of the recent MJHA "New Books on Japan" discussion with Kristin Roebuck regarding her new "Japan Reborn: Race and Eugenics from Empire to Cold War" is now available on the MJHA YouTube channel!

In one week! Sandra Wilson (Murdoch U) and Robert Cribb (Australian National U) on their new book “Twelve Japanese War Criminals and One Who Got Away”, in conversation with Sarah Kovner (Columbia U) and Kirsten Ziomek (Adelphi U). Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-6693624

First was a great talk (in Japanese) by Matsuzawa Yusaku on the social history of Japan during the Meiji era, with commentary (in English) from @msanders.bsky.social at @modernjapanhist.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLAK... (2/5)

For anyone interested, MJHA's recent roundtable on the history behind myths about the ninja and the samurai is now available on the MJHA YouTube Channel! Featuring Ran Zwigenberg (Penn State), Polina Barducci (Cambridge), Rob Tuck (ASU), and Oleg Benesch (York University). Link in the replies!

A video of the recent MJHA "New Books from Japan" discussion with Matsuzawa Yusaku regarding his  recent「日本近代社会史」("A Social History of Modern Japan") is now available on the MJHA YouTube channel! Please have a look, and feel free to share this link with anyone else who might be interested.

In a week! Sayaka Chatani (National University of Singapore) on her new book “A Nation Within: North Korean Zainichi in Postimperial Japan”, in conversation with Yumi Kim (University of California Berkeley) and Joseph Seeley (University of Virginia). Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-6602790

Next week!

For anyone interested, MJHA's recent roundtable on the history behind myths about the ninja and the samurai is now available on the MJHA YouTube Channel! Featuring Ran Zwigenberg (Penn State), Polina Barducci (Cambridge), Rob Tuck (ASU), and Oleg Benesch (York University). Link in the replies!

May 28! 松沢裕作 (Matsuzawa Yusaku, Keio U) on his new book 『日本近代社会史 -- 社会集団と市場から読み解く 1868-1914』(A Social History of Modern Japan: Social Groups and a Market Economy), in conversation with M. Anderson (Smith College) and 池田真歩 (Ikeda M., Tokyo Metropolitan U). Register here: mjha.org/event-6654259

Happening now!

Today!!!

This Wednesday!!

On May 20! Midori Ogasawara (U of Victoria) on her new book "Colonial Surveillance: Technologies of Identification and Control in Japan’s Empire", in conversation with Miriam Kingsberg Kadia (U of Colorado) and Nick Kapur (Rutgers U Camden). Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-6614303

A video of the recent MJHA "New Books on Japan" discussion with Jung Lee regarding her "Renaming Plants and Nations in Japanese Colonial Korea" (Routledge, 2025) is now available on the MJHA YouTube channel!

Happening very soon!!!

Today!!!

In one week! MJHA presents a roundtable on “Ninja vs. Samurai” featuring Polina Barducci (U of Cambridge), Oleg Benesch (U of York), Robert Tuck (Arizona State U), and moderated by Ran Zwigenberg (Pennsylvania State U). Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-6617253

In one week! MJHA presents a roundtable on “Ninja vs. Samurai” featuring Polina Barducci (U of Cambridge), Oleg Benesch (U of York), Robert Tuck (Arizona State U), and moderated by Ran Zwigenberg (Pennsylvania State U). Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-6617253

Happening now!!

On May 4! Hannah Shepherd (Yale U) on her new book “The Narrowing Sea: Fukuoka, Pusan, and the Rise and Fall of an Imperial Region”, in conversation with Tessa Morris-Suzuki (Australian National U) and Joseph Seeley (U of Virginia). Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-6433046

On May 4! Hannah Shepherd (Yale U) on her new book “The Narrowing Sea: Fukuoka, Pusan, and the Rise and Fall of an Imperial Region”, in conversation with Tessa Morris-Suzuki (Australian National U) and Joseph Seeley (U of Virginia). Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-6433046

For anyone interested, there will be a conference in honor of the retirement of historian Andrew Gordon at Harvard on May 8, featuring scholars from around the world. The conference is free and open to the public, and there will also be a livestream for people tuning in remotely.

Mark your calendars! MJHA will host a roundtable on the historical truth behind ninjas and samurai on Tuesday, May 12! Featuring Polina Barducci, @OlegBenesch, Robert Tuck, and Ran Zwigenberg!

I'm thrilled to announce "Global Samurai I" - a special issue of Japan Review, featuring 11 open-access articles and with a wonderful cover by Tetsuya Noguchi. This research feeds into and builds upon the "Samurai" exhibition now on at the British Museum 1/12 nichibun.repo.nii.ac.jp/search?searc...

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗮'𝘀 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘆𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗳𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗝𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗻? Upcoming S&T in Asia talk by Hiromi Mizuno (UMN)! Zoom registration: seow.scholars.harvard.edu/STinAsia #histstm 🧪

A video of the recent MJHA "New Books on Japan" discussion with Hilary Holbrow regarding her "The Future Is Foreign: Women and Immigrants in Corporate Japan" (@CornellPress) is now available on the MJHA YouTube channel!

Trinity College is hiring a VAP in Japanese History to teach a pre-1868 survey and a natural disasters seminar for 2026-27. Search committee asks for a cover letter, including a brief explanation of their teaching experience, CV, and names of two referees to [email protected] by May 4.

A video of the recent MJHA "New Books on Japan" discussion with Hilary Holbrow regarding her "The Future Is Foreign: Women and Immigrants in Corporate Japan" (@CornellPress) is now available on the MJHA YouTube channel!

A video of the recent MJHA "New Books on Japan" discussion with Akiko Takenaka regarding her "Mothers Against War: Gender, Motherhood, and Peace Activism in Cold War Japan" is now available on the MJHA YouTube channel!

A video of the recent MJHA "New Books on Japan" discussion with Akiko Takenaka regarding her "Mothers Against War: Gender, Motherhood, and Peace Activism in Cold War Japan" is now available on the MJHA YouTube channel!

On April 6! Kristin Roebuck (Cornell University) on her new book “Japan Reborn: Race and Eugenics from Empire to Cold War”, in conversation with Takashi Fujitani (University of Toronto) and Seiji Shirane (City College of New York). Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-6462279

My article is now open access! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

A video of the recent MJHA "New Books on Japan" discussion with Lynne Miyake regarding her "The Tale of Genji through Contemporary Manga" is now available on the MJHA YouTube channel! youtu.be/QUq8ULWiAXM

A video of the recent MJHA "New Books on Japan" discussion with Lynne Miyake regarding her "The Tale of Genji through Contemporary Manga" is now available on the MJHA YouTube channel! youtu.be/QUq8ULWiAXM

Nominations are open for the MJHA Book Prize, the F. Hilary Conroy First Book Prize, and the Charlotte J. Conroy Dissertation Prize! For full details, see: mjha.org/Prizes MJHA members or presses can make nominations at mjha.org. Authors do not necessarily have to be MJHA members to be considered.

Thrilled to have been awarded a Vandervort prize for my recent article "The Invention of the Kamikaze: Dissent and Resistance in the Japanese Military" by the Society for Military History, as one of the two best articles last year in the Journal of Military History!

Today!!!

Nominations are open for the MJHA Book Prize, the F. Hilary Conroy First Book Prize, and the Charlotte J. Conroy Dissertation Prize! For full details, see: mjha.org/Prizes MJHA members or presses can make nominations at mjha.org. Authors do not necessarily have to be MJHA members to be considered.

MJHA is excited to announce that MJHA members have voted Jordan Sand (Professor of Japanese History, Georgetown University) the 2026 MJHA Distinguished Annual Lecturer! Professor Sand will give his lecture via Zoom in October 2026 - stay tuned for more details!

MJHA is excited to announce that MJHA members have voted Jordan Sand (Professor of Japanese History, Georgetown University) the 2026 MJHA Distinguished Annual Lecturer! Professor Sand will give his lecture via Zoom in October 2026 - stay tuned for more details!

On March 2nd! Lynne K. Miyake (Pomona College) on her recent book “The Tale of Genji through Contemporary Manga”, in conversation with Jan Bardsley (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and Sara Kang (Princeton U). Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-6314342

MJHA is thrilled to announce that Sara Kang (Princeton Society of Fellows) is the 2026 recipient of the Charlotte J. Conroy Dissertation Prize for her dissertation "Operation Relax: Empires of Sex in Japan, South Korea, and the Asia-Pacific, 1945-1995"! mjha.org/Dissertation...

Congratulations to the three finalists for MJHA's 2025 Charlotte J. Conroy Dissertation Prize, Kandra Polatis (UCSB), Sara Kang (Harvard), and Isaac Tan (Columbia)!

Congratulations to the three finalists for MJHA's 2025 Charlotte J. Conroy Dissertation Prize, Kandra Polatis (UCSB), Sara Kang (Harvard), and Isaac Tan (Columbia)!

MJHA is delighted to announce that the 2026 F. Hilary Conroy First Book Prize has been awarded to Anri Yasuda (University of Virginia) for "Beauty Matters: Modern Japanese Literature and the Question of Aesthetics, 1890–1930" (Columbia University Press, 2024)!

MJHA is delighted to announce that the 2026 F. Hilary Conroy First Book Prize has been awarded to Anri Yasuda (University of Virginia) for "Beauty Matters: Modern Japanese Literature and the Question of Aesthetics, 1890–1930" (Columbia University Press, 2024)!

A video of the recent MJHA "New Books on Japan" discussion with M. William Steele regarding his "Rethinking Japan's Modernity: Stories and Translations" is now available on the MJHA YouTube channel! youtu.be/cNBAkOYCbag?...

MJHA is delighted to announce that the 2026 Modern Japan History Association Book Prize has been awarded to Simon Partner (Duke University) for "Koume's World: The Life and Work of a Samurai Woman Before and After the Meiji Restoration" (Columbia University Press, 2024)!

MJHA is delighted to announce that the 2026 Modern Japan History Association Book Prize has been awarded to Simon Partner (Duke University) for "Koume's World: The Life and Work of a Samurai Woman Before and After the Meiji Restoration" (Columbia University Press, 2024)!