The Benefits and Lessons of Two Decades with U.S.–Japan Women's Journal

Abstract

I began working as an associate editor for the U.S.–Japan Women’s Journal (USJWJ) after I finished my book on Neighborhood and Nation in Tokyo, 1905–1937 (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1995) and had tenure at Purdue University, at a stage of my career when my own livelihood as a scholar was secure and when I was in a position to help others. Universities repeatedly ask scholars to account for their time in terms of research, teaching, and service, with editing falling into the service category. Editing USJWJ, however, has played a role in shaping my research and has contributed in myriad ways to my teaching. From the mid-1990s on, I have visited Japan at least once a year and have made Tokyo the site of most of my research and writing activities. Anne Walthall, a graduate school friend, and Akio Iwasaki, a former student, provided the encouragement to begin this pattern, which has been further encouraged by various friends who live in Japan, but my work as an editor of USJWJ has been an integral part of establishing Japan as one of the geographical locations of my lived experience. I have given research talks at the Jōsai University’s Togane campus and have visited the Kioichō campus many times. The journal has contributed in many ways to my teaching at Purdue and at universities in Japan. Thanks to my responsibilities as an editor, I have read in a disciplined