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Two Japanese women's organisations - Shufuren, founded in 1948 and still in existence, and Chūpiren, founded in 1972 and disbanded in 1977 - appear to be vastly different from one another. And yet, they had one critical similarity: their use of accessories to make a political point. Shufuren members were advocates for consumer rights (and in the immediate postwar era, for food availability). Since then, they have demonstrated for such political issues as food safety, recycling, environmental protection and anti-nuclear energy, all in the name of their roles as wives and mothers. When demonstrating, they always appear bearing large mock-ups of the rice paddle used in Japan to scoop rice from the cooking pot. The rice paddle was a powerful symbol of women's domestic and political strength. Chūpiren women, on the other hand, distinguished themselves in their advocacy of reproductive rights not only by their forcefulness but also by wearing pink helmets. Chūpiren saw value in street theatre and sensationalism. No other radical feminist group in the mid-1970s wore uniforms. The media at that time mocked Chūpiren's helmets and attention-grabbing tactics, and in the process disparaged contemporary feminism as a whole.

Japan has often been portrayed as a mysterious, sexless, troubled land. Birth rates and marriage rates have been decreasing for decades, and national surveys show that Japanese people are simply having less sex overall. But Japan is not so different from anywhere else-its simply on the leading edge of worldwide demographic shifts. Because of rigid norms around gender, marriage, childbearing, and work, and relatively strict immigration policies, Japan is also experiencing these shifts more acutely. In The Relationship People, Erika R. Alpert starts by exploring some of the factors that have contributed to later and less marriage and childbearing in Japan and elsewhere. Alpert then goes on to explore the disjuncture between what Japanese singles report as preventing them from getting married and popularly proposed solutions to this problem. Japanese singles point to economic factors, such as low income, as one of their most significant barriers to marriage. However, much of the popular discourse aimed at Japanese singles elides these economic concerns; instead, it encourages them to exert more personal effort to meet people in order to get married. These marriage activities (konkatsu) may take the form of signing up with a professional matchmaker, using an online dating site, or going to singles parties. By examining konkatsu from the perspective of matchmakers, clients, and online daters, Alpert looks at the linguistic processes of connection that underpin konkatsu and its successes-or more often, failures. Institutions of matchmaking and technological structures such as databases and online profiles give shape to the ways singles connect. As this research shows, understanding this linguistic connective tissue enables us to answer questions about what constitutes attractive and marriageable in Japan, what kind of consciousness konkatsu is supposed to instill in singles, and what role Japans various partner matching industries might be able to play in alleviating the countrys demographic crisis

Depopulation is a severe problem in many urban areas globally. Massive population migrations can occur due to relocation after natural disasters and significantly change the demographic composition of regions and cities. The 2011 Great Tsunami in Japan resulted in a combined total of deaths and missing persons of more than 24,500. Post-tsunami recovery efforts resulted in widespread population relocation of high-risk communities into lower-risk areas. Using the Fukushima Prefecture in Japan as the study area, a region characterized by several depopulating cities both pre and post-tsunami, this research examines how the population relocation efforts have either exacerbated or assisted in lessening the effects of urban shrinkage and decline after the earthquake and tsunami of 2011. The results show that 30 municipalities have seen population and economic growth since 2011, and 12 municipalities are underdoing trends toward decline within Fukushima. Negatively affected cities tend to have larger populations than positively affected cities. Most of the small towns and villages closer to the inundation area are fall into the category of negatively affected areas. Moreover, the population increases in many post-disaster cities are primarily due to significant increases in elderly populations with minimal young persons that will inevitably decline in the next decade. By determining the effects of their relocation efforts, the government can better develop targeted strategies that good for the prosperity and development of the Fukushima Prefecture.

This study is the result of collaborative research by ASEAN and Japanese scholars. By means of cross analyses, the study attempts to understand the problems faced by both Japan and the ASEAN countries with the aim of generating effective joint mechanisms that would facilitate the relocation of certain industries from Japan to the ASEAN countries

Talcott reviews DEMOCRACY WITHOUT COMPETITION IN JAPAN: Opposition Failure in a One-Party Dominant State by Ethan Scheiner.

Alexander reviews A MODERN HISTORY OF JAPAN: From Tokugawa Times to the Present by Andrew Gordon.