July 21! 鶴園裕基 (Tsuruzono Yūki, Kagawa U) on his new book 『「人の移動」の国際政治―東アジア冷戦体制の形成と日本華僑』(Internat'l Politics of Migration: Overseas "Chinese" in Japan and the Cold War Regime in E. Asia), with Evan Dawley (Goucher) and Tadashi Ishikawa (U of Ctrl Florida). Register for Zoom: mjha.org/event-6611093

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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 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)!

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 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)!

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

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

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 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 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

On Monday! Angus Lockyer (Rhode Island School of Design) on his new book “Exhibitionist Japan: The Spectacle of Modern Development”, in conversation with Jordan Sand (Georgetown University) and Joseph Seeley (University of Virginia). Register for Zoom here: mjha.org/event-6239996

Mark your calendars! The 2025 MJHA Distinguished Annual Lecture will be given by Andrew Gordon (Harvard) on Monday, September 15, 2025, and is titled "After the Pandemic: Revising a Textbook and Rethinking History." REGISTER FOR ZOOM HERE: mjha.org/event-6201539

On Monday! Pieter Van Lommel (Tokyo Keizai U) on his new book "The Age of the ‘Country Teacher’: Japanese Literature, Education and Media in the Second Half of the Meiji Period", in conversation with 鈴木貴宇 (Suzuki Takane, Waseda U). Register for Zoom here: www.mjha.org/event-6259090

On Tuesday, July 1st! 梁仁實 (Yang Insil, Iwate University) on his new book 朝鮮映画の時代: 帝国日本が創造した植民地表象 (The Age of Korean Cinema: Colonial Representations Created by Imperial Japan) in conversation with Jonathan Glade (University of Melbourne). Register for Zoom here: www.mjha.org/event-6183687

FINAL CALL: nominations for the 2026 MJHA Book Prize and F. Hilary Conroy First Book Prize are due July 1. Prizes will honor books in Japan Studies with a 2024 copyright year. Publishers and MJHA members can nominate books here: mjha.org/Book-Prize Please share widely!

On Tuesday! Research Exchange Seminar #4: 『帝国大学の朝鮮人：大韓民国エリートの起源』を語る ("Koreans in the Imperial University: The Origin of South Korean Elites") with Jeong Jong-hyeon (Inha U), Naoki Watanabe (Musashi U), and Sayaka Chatani (Nat’l U of Singapore). Register for Zoom here: www.mjha.org/event-6183683