Contemporary Japan: A Review of Far Eastern Affairs was a quarterlyUS Bureau of the Census, Bibliography of Social Science Periodicals and Monograph Series: Japan 1950-1963 (Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1965), 6. Japanese English-language magazine published between 1932 and 1970 by the Foreign Affairs Association of Japan.
Though independently published, throughout its existence the magazine had close ties with the Japanese government. It was described by John W. Dower as "a valuable semi-official Japanese publication".John W. Dower, Japanese History & Culture From Ancient to Modern Times: Seven Basic Bibliographies (New York: M. Wiener Pub., 1986), 182.
Origin and content Contemporary Japan was the flagship publication of the Foreign Affairs Association of Japan, an organization founded in October 1931 by Japanese politicians and intellectuals seeking to promote awareness in foreign countries about Japanese affairs.Klaus Schlichtmann, Japan in the World: Shidehara Kijuro, Pacifism, and the Abolition of War (Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2009), 99. The editorial preface of the first issue explained the magazine's aim "to know and to make known what is going on in Japan and in the minds of the Japanese.""Editorial Note", Contemporary Japan, June 1932, 1.
The bulk of each issue consisted of translations into English of the articles and speeches of Japanese writers, scholars, and politicians. The first issue, for instance, included contributions from Hakucho Masamune, Taketora Ogata, Yamamoto Jōtarō, and Sakutaro Tachi who was also one of its editors.Contemporary Japan, June 1932, front matter. The launch of the periodical was praised by the Financial Times "for the good work it will do in the propagation of a better knowledge of the nation" at a time when Japan's relations with the outside world were "increasingly complicated"."Japanese Affairs: A Valuable Quarterly Review", The Financial Times, June 23, 1932, 5.
In June 1932 the magazine could be purchased for 1 yen and 50 sen per issue, but by 1970 the price per issue had risen to 1,500 yen.Modern Language Association of America, MLA Directory of Periodicals: A Guide to Journals and Series in Languages and Literatures (New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1978), 103.
Links with the Japanese government The Foreign Affairs Association of Japan which published Contemporary Japan had links with the Japanese government. In 1932 its administrative council included such figures as Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal Nobuaki Makino, former prime minister Kosai Uchida, future prime minister Fumimaro Konoe, and former foreign ministers Kijūrō Shidehara and Kikujiro Ishii. Though the magazine's first issue stressed that it had "no party affiliations, political or otherwise" and sought "to obtain as many representative opinions as possible","Editorial Note", Contemporary Japan, June 1932, 3. it also opened with a special message from Foreign Minister Kenkichi Yoshizawa, which was stridently defensive of Japan's conduct in Manchuria and Shanghai.Kenkichi Yoshizawa, "The Foreign Minister's Message", Contemporary Japan, June 1932, 4-6. The periodical later explained that "on controversial subjects, where national viewpoints are in conflict, it can be taken for granted that our contributors will defend, expound, and do their utmost to propagate, the Japanese view".Cabot Coville, "Some Japanese Economic Writings of 1937", Monumenta Nipponica, January 1939, 306.
During the 1930s and 1940s Contemporary Japan was strongly supportive of Japanese imperialism and expansionism in ChinaTakashi Yoshida, The Making of the "Rape of Nanking" (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), 39. and after its formation the Cabinet Information Bureau, the official propaganda arm of the Imperial Japanese government, supported the magazine.Peter O'Connor, "General Introduction", in Japanese Propaganda: Selected Readings, Series 2, Volume 1, ed. Peter O'Connor (Tokyo: Edition Synapse, 2005), 29. Because of this its parent body, the Foreign Affairs Association of Japan, officially registered itself in the United States on November 29, 1938 as being an agent of the Japanese government."20 Sign As Agents Of Foreign Groups", New York Times, November 30, 1938, 12.
End of the magazine Though Contemporary Japan continued to be produced during World War II and for decades after, publication abruptly ceased with volume 29 number 2 which was released in March 1970.Contemporary Japan, March 1970, front matter.
See also Japan Echo - a magazine with a similar theme
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