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In modern history, Japan has undergone an enormous transformation that created a huge middle-class with its own popular culture. This thematic section of the East Asian Journal of Popular Culture examines the way in which popular culture emerged from an early authoritarian control over culture and production. Four articles examine the ways in which forms of popular culture have evolved as the marketplace has adopted more liberal regulation. The place of gender and gender roles is particularly salient in understanding this transformation. This transformation is described using examples from both men's and women's fashion magazines (by Martyn David Smith and Satoshi Ota), the use of televised laughter (by David Humphrey) and the evolution of the place of women in Takarazuka theatre (by Toshiko Irie).

Review of: Voices from the Underworld: Chinese Hell Deity Worship in Contemporary Singapore and Malaysia, Fabian Graham (2020)
Manchester: Manchester University Press, 280 pp.,
ISBN 978-1-52614-057-9, h/bk, £80.00

John Saboe is one of the leading travel YouTubers on the internet, with dozens of podcasts dealing with a wide range of issues on travel throughout East Asia. His current work, The Far East Travels Podcast (https://fareasttravels.com/), receives thousands or even tens of thousands of views. He has been involved in broadcasting for most of his working life. Beginning in high school, John developed an interest spanning audio podcasts, digital podcasts and publishing a digital magazine, in addition to a background working in traditional radio and TV. He has taught at the Columbia Academy in Vancouver and currently runs training seminars in different aspects of internet broadcasting for customers all around the world.

The 'comfort women' issue is perhaps Japan's most contentious present-day diplomatic quandary. Inside Japan, the issue is dividing the country across clear ideological lines. Supporters and detractors of 'comfort women' are caught in a relentless battle over empirical evidence, the validity of oral testimony, the number of victims, the meaning of sexual slavery and the definition of coercive recruitment. Credibility, legitimacy and influence serve as the rallying cry for all those involved in the battle. In addition, this largely domestic battleground has been shifted to the international arena, commanding the participation of various state and non-state actors and institutions from all over the world. This film delves deep into the most contentious debates and uncovers the hidden intentions of the supporters and detractors of comfort women. Most importantly, it finds answers to some of the biggest questions for Japanese and Koreans: were comfort women prostitutes or sex slaves? Were they coercively recruited? And, does Japan have a legal responsibility to apologize to the former comfort women?

This article does not discuss whether intentionally giving companies an incentive to withdraw from Burma is economically or politically desirable for the people of Burma. The First Circuit did not concern itself with this subject either in rejecting the Massachusetts Burma Law. The question of interest to the court, and which should be of interest to any state citizen or global corporation interested in doing business with state agencies, was whether Massachusetts had the discretion to make a purchasing law directly concerning the business involvement of suppliers in foreign countries. While legitimate legal and practical arguments may be made that states should not be allowed to take the foreign involvements of companies into account when making purchasing decisions,4 the First Circuit strains credi-bility by arguing that Massachusetts' action amounted to the "regulation" of companies disfavored by the purchasing law.