About the series
Tokyo Humanities Insights is a new series for English-language essays that reflect in a more general way on the state of the humanities in Japan. We’re interested in where we are, how we got here, and where we’re going.
The series provides a forum for academics, artists, writers, and anyone else involved in the humanities to share their ideas and experiences outside of their own more specialized fields.
Essays should be accurate, well-informed, and in-depth, but also accessible to a more general readership. We will also consider essays relating to other Asian countries, where they are relevant to humanities issues.
Possible topics include:
In addtion to the topics above, we welcome original proposals and will consider them on a case-by-case basis.
The series provides a forum for academics, artists, writers, and anyone else involved in the humanities to share their ideas and experiences outside of their own more specialized fields.
Essays should be accurate, well-informed, and in-depth, but also accessible to a more general readership. We will also consider essays relating to other Asian countries, where they are relevant to humanities issues.
Possible topics include:
- Teaching the humanities to Japanese students
- New intellectual or artistic movements
- Discussion of government policy towards the humanities
- The gender gap and the role of the humanities in fighting discrimination
- Essays that explore LGBTQ+ issues in Japan
- Race and ethnicity in modern Japanese culture
- Ageing societies and generational divides
- Eco-humanities
- Internationalization of Japanese universities / Student experiences
- Language politics and the status of English in Japan
- Essays from artists about their work in or involving Japan.
- Interviews
- Journalism and travel narratives
In addtion to the topics above, we welcome original proposals and will consider them on a case-by-case basis.
Submitting an essay
We welcome informal enquiries, if you have a proposal for a topic you would like to write on. Just send us an email, or use the contact form on the About page.
We accept submissions of between 1,500 and 5,000 words, in MS Word format, by email.
As essays will be published online, keep paragraphs relatively short, and divide the essay into sections and sub-sections with headers (see previous essays in the series for a model). Manuscripts should be double-spaced and aligned on the left.
If you are referencing material on the internet, use hyperlinks in the text. If you are quoting from print material, give the author, date, and page number in-line, e.g. (Smith, 2019, p.20). Provide a translation in English for all Japanese quotations.
At the end of the essay, include a "List of Works Cited" (where appropriate) and a list of "Further Reading" at the end.
We aim for high standards of quality and accuracy, and submissions will be read by experts in the area before publication.
We accept submissions of between 1,500 and 5,000 words, in MS Word format, by email.
As essays will be published online, keep paragraphs relatively short, and divide the essay into sections and sub-sections with headers (see previous essays in the series for a model). Manuscripts should be double-spaced and aligned on the left.
If you are referencing material on the internet, use hyperlinks in the text. If you are quoting from print material, give the author, date, and page number in-line, e.g. (Smith, 2019, p.20). Provide a translation in English for all Japanese quotations.
At the end of the essay, include a "List of Works Cited" (where appropriate) and a list of "Further Reading" at the end.
We aim for high standards of quality and accuracy, and submissions will be read by experts in the area before publication.