We have just published a new issue of Contemporary Japan (vol. 36, no. 1), containing a special section curated by DIJ alumna Barbara Geilhorn on “Art and Regional Revitalization – Case Studies from Japan”. It features four research articles by Eimi Tagore, Carolin Funck & Meng Qu, Anemone Platz, and Peter Eckersall & Tom Looser that assess how art festivals, exhibitions, and theatre in rural communities can “create new types of social, cultural and economic capital”. The issue also contains research articles on motherhood discourses and political activism (Rosemary Soliman Dawood), women and organized crime in popular culture (Erik Ropers), and conscription insurance in pre-war Japan (YingYing Jiang). CJ’s first “Current Topic Commentary” article by Igor Prusa analyses the media rituals surrounding the Johnny & Associates sex abuse scandal. The book review section covers Japan’s nationalist right, a cultural analysis of Japan’s national character, immigration, and prison chaplaincy. Please see the full issue here