Trousson, Raymond / Vercruysse, Jeroom (dir.), Dictionnaire general de Voltaire. (Champion classiques, references et dictionnaires 18) 1272 p. 2020:10 (Champion, FR) <670-9>
ISBN 978-2-38096-016-7 paper ¥7,064.- (税込) EUR 38.00

友好的なつながり－19世紀末以降のフィラデルフィアのクエーカーと日本
Chance, Linda H. / Reagan, P. B. / Toda, Tetsuko (eds.), Friendly Connections: Philadelphia Quakers and Japan Since the Late Nineteenth Century. 402 pp. 2024 (Lexington Books, US) <712-97>
ISBN 978-1-7936-2333-1 hard ¥25,987.- (税込) US$ 125.00 *

Friendly Connections: Philadelphia Quakers and Japan since the Late Nineteenth Century discloses the history of relations among members of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, of Philadelphia and Japanese intellectuals, educators, and activists. In this book, Japanese and North American experts demonstrate that education, women's rights, interracial equality, politics, disaster relief, reform, and peace efforts have all benefited. Seventeen chapters detail this underappreciated history. Throughout the modern era, these ties, often between women, have transformed efforts for peace, equality, and women's rights in Japan and the United States. With a focus on "women's work for women," and revelations about supportive British Quakers, this book uncovers networks that sustained Japan-America ties for a century and a half.

将軍に仕える－W.アダムスの実話
Cryns, Frederik, In the Service of the Shogun: The Real Story of William Adams. 256 pp. 2024:5 (Reaktion Books, UK) <712-674>
ISBN 978-1-78914-864-0 hard ¥4,576.- (税込) GB￡ 16.00 *

In 1600, English helmsman William Adams washed ashore in Japan, and was interrogated by Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japan's most powerful warlord and soon-to-be shogun. Far from executing Adams as a pirate, Ieyasu made him one of his most trusted advisers. This biography traces Adams's rise from humble pilot to a position of immense influence in Japan's foreign relations. It unravels the subsequent diplomatic manoeuvres of the Western powers in the shogun's empire, and Adams's eventual downfall. This is the first full biography of Adams based on original Dutch, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese sources, and includes much previously unknown information. Frederik Cryns tells the authentic story of Adams's chequered life in its historical context, taking us on a compelling journey into Adams's complex inner feelings and cosmopolitan heart.

福島の大災害
Kin Chi, Lau / Xiaomei, Huang / Zhixiong, He, The Fukushima Catastrophe: To What End? (Global University for Sustainability Book Series) 112 pp. 2024:2 (Palgrave Macmillan, UK) <712-675>
ISBN 978-981-9919-55-0 hard ¥28,772.- (税込) EUR 119.99 *

Based on a variety of interviews with residents, farmers, scientists, journalists, and activists who have been affected by the Fukushima catastrophe, the authors underscore the personal, political, and humanitarian impacts in testimonies, science, and photos. The book engagingly addresses diverse issues that continue to haunt and persist and calls for collective responsibility to deal with the devastating environmental, economic, and social consequences of nuclear energy. The book offers a critique of the violent history of modernism and the supremacy of science that has been articulated into all forms of social injustice and ecological injustice.

韓国・日本関係の強化－東アジアの国際秩序と台頭する中国
Patterson, Dennis / Choi, Jangsup, Strengthening South Korea-Japan Relations: East Asia's International Order and a Rising China. (Asia in the New Millennium) 240 pp. 2024:4 (U. Pr. Kentucky, US) <712-677>
ISBN 978-0-8131-9921-4 hard ¥14,553.- (税込) US$ 70.00 *
ISBN 978-0-8131-9922-1 paper ¥7,276.- (税込) US$ 35.00 *

At the conclusion of WWII, no part of the world experienced a more dramatic transformation than East Asia. The region's political stability throughout the postwar period prompted exponential economic growth that ultimately established South Korea, Japan, and China as East Asia's most important powers. While many citizens of these nations now live in a time of unprecedented prosperity, the arrangement that supported this region's transformation is fragile. With the second largest economy and a burgeoning military sector, China is widely acknowledged as the preeminent rising world power. The onus of maintaining balance in the region now rests primarily with South Korea and Japan in partnership with the United States. However, because of long-standing weaknesses in South Korea-Japan relations and an inconsistent US commitment to the region, the possibility that China could usher in a more uncertain era of revisionism has never been more likely. In Strengthening South Korea-Japan Relations: East Asia's International Order and a Rising China, Dennis Patterson and Jangsup Choi address the historical roots of this weak alliance. Combining decades of research with current public opinion data, the authors warn that the tendency of these nations to rely on the United States to maintain the status quo has become dangerously unstable. A new strategy, one of cooperation and collaboration, is needed to prevent China from upending the region's current liberal international order.

松田茂樹、竹之下弘久編　COVID-19下の日本の労働と家族生活における変化
Matsuda, Shigeki / Takenoshita, Hirohisa (eds.), Changes in Work and Family Life in Japan Under COVID-19. (SpringerBriefs in Population Studies) 113 pp. 2023:9 (Springer, GW) <712-241>
ISBN 978-981-9958-49-8 paper ¥10,787.- (税込) EUR 44.99 *

This book describes how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the way of work, the division of household labor, and family formation in Japan. One of the characteristics of Japanese employment practices is a stable employer-employment relationship and seniority-based wage system. In return, long working hours, especially for men who are called "salarymen" (salaried workers, or "company men"), are required. The pandemic has led to an expansion of telework and has reduced their working hours, which has made them return to their homes to work. In contrast, non-regular employees, who are mostly women, has become more unstable in employment and their incomes fell. This tendency has become even stronger under the pandemic.Compared with conditions in Western countries, in Japan wives have a greater responsibility for domestic chores. In the pandemic, as children's classes shifted to online and childcare support facilities were temporarily closed, the burden of housework and child-rearing increased for wives. However, husbands who worked from home shared a part of the housework, and popular home delivery services helped to reduce the burdens on wives. Japan is one of the developed countries with low fertility rates. Under the pandemic, many Japanese postponed starting a family, which further shrank the country's birthrate. There was a remarkably significant tendency to postpone having children among economically disadvantaged and socially isolated families. This book provides a portrait of Japan's experience regarding the notable impacts of the pandemic on work and family life.