The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
Encyclopedia
The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, founded in 2004 as Japan Focus, is an open access, peer review
ed academic journal
which explores the forces shaping the Asia-Pacific
region and the world. Published weekly, its coverage spans geopolitics, history, economics, society, culture, and international relations. It also offers translations of articles from Japanese, Chinese, and Korean.
As of April 2009, the journal had published more than 1,500 articles. About 4,000 subscribers receive a weekly newsletter linking to three to eight new articles. More than 350,000 articles are accessed each month by readers from 180 countries as confirmed by Clustrmap. The entire contents of the Journal are available in full-text, searchable electronic form as a fully indexed resource on the Asia-Pacific.
The Journal brings together scholarship on the modern and contemporary Asia-Pacific and contributions from contemporary journalists. A special section on economic and financial crisis in the Asia-Pacific provides an ongoing record of analysis and debate on the regional and global consequences of the descent into depression. Other major subjects addressed include the Asia-Pacific War, atrocities and reconciliation, the atomic bomb, China
-Japan
/US-Japan/and Japan-Korea
relations, nationalism
s, territorial and resource conflicts, US military bases in the Asia-Pacific, and film, literature, anime
and manga
in region-wide and global perspective.
Funded by no foundation or university, the Journal has sought to preserve its independence by relying on voluntary efforts by its coordinators, associates as well as by authors who choose to resist pressure to publish in paper journals in favor of the wide access, rigorous review process, and speed of publication.
The Journal has been subject to some controversy. In 2005, the site was twice subjected to attack by an unknown predator. It is suspected that articles critical of Japanese neonationalism associated with Yasukuni Shrine
and the other issues pertaining to the war crimes committed during the Asia-Pacific War may have prompted the attack. The site was closed for two weeks for repair and redesign and has been fully operational thereafter.
In addition to the Coordinators, more than sixty associates write, edit and translate for the Journal.
Peer review
Peer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...
ed academic journal
Academic journal
An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...
which explores the forces shaping the Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific or Asia Pacific is the part of the world in or near the Western Pacific Ocean...
region and the world. Published weekly, its coverage spans geopolitics, history, economics, society, culture, and international relations. It also offers translations of articles from Japanese, Chinese, and Korean.
As of April 2009, the journal had published more than 1,500 articles. About 4,000 subscribers receive a weekly newsletter linking to three to eight new articles. More than 350,000 articles are accessed each month by readers from 180 countries as confirmed by Clustrmap. The entire contents of the Journal are available in full-text, searchable electronic form as a fully indexed resource on the Asia-Pacific.
The Journal brings together scholarship on the modern and contemporary Asia-Pacific and contributions from contemporary journalists. A special section on economic and financial crisis in the Asia-Pacific provides an ongoing record of analysis and debate on the regional and global consequences of the descent into depression. Other major subjects addressed include the Asia-Pacific War, atrocities and reconciliation, the atomic bomb, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
-Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
/US-Japan/and Japan-Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
relations, nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
s, territorial and resource conflicts, US military bases in the Asia-Pacific, and film, literature, anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
and manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
in region-wide and global perspective.
Funded by no foundation or university, the Journal has sought to preserve its independence by relying on voluntary efforts by its coordinators, associates as well as by authors who choose to resist pressure to publish in paper journals in favor of the wide access, rigorous review process, and speed of publication.
The Journal has been subject to some controversy. In 2005, the site was twice subjected to attack by an unknown predator. It is suspected that articles critical of Japanese neonationalism associated with Yasukuni Shrine
Yasukuni Shrine
is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is dedicated to the soldiers and others who died fighting on behalf of the Emperor of Japan. Currently, its Symbolic Registry of Divinities lists the names of over 2,466,000 enshrined men and women whose lives were dedicated to the service of...
and the other issues pertaining to the war crimes committed during the Asia-Pacific War may have prompted the attack. The site was closed for two weeks for repair and redesign and has been fully operational thereafter.
Coordinators
- Andrew DeWit (Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan)
- Geoffrey Gunn (Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan)
- Laura Hein (Northwestern University, Chicago, US)
- Gavan McCormackGavan McCormackGavan McCormack is a researcher specialising in East Asia who is currently Emeritus Professor and Visiting Fellow, Division of Pacific and Asian History of the Australian National University...
(Australian National University, Canberra, Australia) - R. Taggart Murphy (Tsukuba University, Tsukuba, Japan)
- David McNeill (Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan)
- Mark SeldenMark SeldenMark Selden is a Coordinator of the open access journal The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, a Senior Research Associate in the East Asia Program at Cornell University, and Bartle Professor of History and Sociology at Binghamton University. He graduated from Amherst College with a major in...
(Cornell University, Ithaca, US) - Yuki Tanaka (Hiroshima Peace Institute, Hiroshima, Japan)
- William Underwood (Independent Scholar, Sacramento, US)
In addition to the Coordinators, more than sixty associates write, edit and translate for the Journal.
Awards and Mentions
- The Journal received the first Ikemiyagi Shyuui Prize from the Ryukyu Shinpo, an Okinawan newspaper, in September 2008, for its coverage of the history and contemporary politics and society of Okinawa and US-Japan-Okinawa relations.
- A November 2008 article in The Chronicle of Higher EducationThe Chronicle of Higher EducationThe Chronicle of Higher Education is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty, staff members and administrators....
cited The Asia Pacific Journal as an example of “innovative digital scholarship.” - The American Research Library's report on the future of digital communication, “Current Models of Digital Scholarly Communication: Results of an Investigation Conducted by Ithaka for the Association of Research Libraries” mentioned the journal in a discussion of misperceptions about peer review processes in open access publications.
- The Best of Asian Studies WWW Monitor rates The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus with five stars on January 13, 2009.
- Articles from the Journal have been reprinted at many other sites including The History News Network, Yale Global and The Asia Times.
- The Asia-Pacific Journal’s articles have been a topic of discussion on several occasions on H-Net Japan and H-Net Asia mailing lists, used by Asia and Japan specialists in North America and globally, as well as many blogs.