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)!

Highly important and timely talk on working migrants in ageing and depopulating Japan!

On February 5! Hilary Holbrow (Indiana U) on her new book “The Future Is Foreign: Women and Immigrants in Corporate Japan”, in conversation with Ulrike Schaede (UCSD) and Sara Kang (Princeton U). Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-6314253

MJHA is thrilled to announce the three finalists for the 2026 Modern Japan History Association Book Prize! Congratulations to Kristopher W. Kersey, Barak Kushner, and Simon Partner!

On January 22! Jung Lee (Ewha Women’s U) on her new book “Renaming Plants and Nations in Japanese Colonial Korea”, in conversation with Ian Miller (Harvard U) and Joseph Seeley (U of Virginia). Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-6304789

A video of the recent MJHA "New Books on Japan" discussion with Alicia Volk regarding her "In the Shadow of Empire: Art in Occupied Japan" is now available on the MJHA YouTube channel! youtu.be/dH6iaY8Joyk?...

Happening soon!

On December 10! M. William Steele (International Christian U) on his new book “Rethinking Japan's Modernity: Stories and Translations”, in conversation with Robert Hellyer (Wake Forest U) and Emer O’Dwyer (Oberlin College). Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-6327707

Today!!!

Today!!!

Super excited for this one!!

Next Tuesday!!!

Next Tuesday!!!

On December 2! Akiko Takenaka (U of Kentucky) on her new book, "Mothers Against War: Gender, Motherhood, and Peace Activism in Cold War Japan", in conversation with Chelsea Szendi Schieder (Aoyama Gakuin U) and Sara Kang (Princeton U). Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-6314073

A video of the recent MJHA "New Books on Japan" discussion with Barak Kushner on "The Geography of Injustice: East Asia's Battle between Memory and History" is now available on the MJHA YouTube channel! youtu.be/EJlYhPWELpk?...

A video of the recent MJHA "New Books on Japan" discussion with Barak Kushner on "The Geography of Injustice: East Asia's Battle between Memory and History" is now available on the MJHA YouTube channel! youtu.be/EJlYhPWELpk?...

Starts in one hour!!

Happening in one week! Alicia Volk (University of Maryland) discusses her new work, "In the Shadow of Empire: Art in Occupied Japan," as part of the MJHA's New Books on Japan series. Information and Registration: mjha.org/event-6314068

Happening in one week! Alicia Volk (University of Maryland) discusses her new work, "In the Shadow of Empire: Art in Occupied Japan," as part of the MJHA's New Books on Japan series. Information and Registration: mjha.org/event-6314068

Are you interested in #Kona, #coffee, #glohalhistory, #Japanese #empire? On November 6, we @modernjapanhist.bsky.social will invite Prof. Mariko Iijima (Sophia Univ.) to a book talk about those themes. We will be joined by Prof. Nadin Heé (Leipzig) as a discussant. I will moderate the talk.

Thrilled to announce the publication of my article "The Invention of the Kamikaze: Dissent and Resistance in the Japanese Military" in the October issue of the Journal of Military History!

This is happening!!!! December 2: just in time for Christmas present season. I am still in the anxiety stage, not yet in the Saoirse Ronan as Jo March watching her book get published scene-stage, but I'm glad other people are excited already!

A video of this year's Distinguished Lecture, "After the Pandemic: Revising a Textbook and Rethinking History," given by Andrew Gordon is now available on the MJHA YouTube channel. Please have a look, and feel free to share with anyone who might be interested youtu.be/EN8tx8J8KzA

A fully referenced, full-text version of Andrew Gordon's 2025 MJHA Distinguished Annual Lecture "After the Pandemic: Revising a Textbook and Rethinking History" can now be found on the MJHA website! Click here: tinyurl.com/32z6mzmr

Watch the video of MJHA's @modernjapanhist.bsky.social annual Distinguished Lecture, delivered by Faculty Associate Andrew Gordon, "After the Pandemic: Revising a Textbook and Rethinking History." youtu.be/EN8tx8J8KzA

In one week! 高媛 (Ko En/Gao Yuan, Komazawa U) on a new book, 帝国と観光―「満洲」ツーリズムの近代 (Empire and Tourism: Modern Japanese Tourism in Manchuria), with Ken Ruoff (Portland State U), 蘭信三 (Araragi Shinzo, Sophia U), and Tadashi Ishikawa (U of Central Florida). Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-6206315

A fully referenced, full-text version of Andrew Gordon's 2025 MJHA Distinguished Annual Lecture "After the Pandemic: Revising a Textbook and Rethinking History" can now be found on the MJHA website! Click here: tinyurl.com/32z6mzmr

In one week! 高媛 (Ko En/Gao Yuan, Komazawa U) on a new book, 帝国と観光―「満洲」ツーリズムの近代 (Empire and Tourism: Modern Japanese Tourism in Manchuria), with Ken Ruoff (Portland State U), 蘭信三 (Araragi Shinzo, Sophia U), and Tadashi Ishikawa (U of Central Florida). Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-6206315

On October 14/15, we @modernjapanhist.bsky.social invite Prof. Ko En/Gao Yuan (Komazawa Univ.) to a book talk about the #Japanese #empire, #Manchuria, and #tourism. We will be joined by two discussants, Ken Ruoff and Araragi Shinzo. Mark your calendars!

A video of this year's Distinguished Lecture, "After the Pandemic: Revising a Textbook and Rethinking History," given by Andrew Gordon is now available on the MJHA YouTube channel. Please have a look, and feel free to share with anyone who might be interested youtu.be/EN8tx8J8KzA

On October 2nd! Barak Kushner (Cambridge U) on his new book “The Geography of Injustice: East Asia's Battle between Memory and History” in conversation with Daqing Yang (George Washington U) and Emer O’Dwyer (Oberlin College). Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-6314066

A video of the recent MJHA "New Books on Japan" discussion with Angus Lockyer on "Exhibitionist Japan: The Spectacle of Modern Development" is now available on the MJHA YouTube channel! youtu.be/mWQ7WlcpBCQ

A video of the recent MJHA "New Books on Japan" discussion with Angus Lockyer on "Exhibitionist Japan: The Spectacle of Modern Development" is now available on the MJHA YouTube channel! youtu.be/mWQ7WlcpBCQ

Thrilled to finally get my hands on this brand new treatment of postwar Japanese history by one of the leading experts in our field, Simon Avenell! Can't wait to read this one!

Thanks again to Andrew Gordon and our moderator, Daniel Botsman, for a fantastic event yesterday! Stay tuned in the next few weeks for a video version of Prof. Gordon's talk, and a text version with citations.