CALL FOR PAPERS: The Shingetsu Electronic Journal of Japanese-Islamic Relations, Volume 2  (September 2007).

Overview :The Shingetsu Electronic Journal of Japanese-Islamic Relations (SEJJIR) focuses on Japanese-Muslim relations and related topics. Japan's relations with the Islamic world is an exciting field of study that will help enrich understanding of Japan's historical, political, economic, and cultural role in the world. The topic also merits special attention in view of the increasing Japanese involvement in regions of the world with predominantly Muslim populations. The field remains understudied. The subject of Japanese-Muslim relations also encompasses transnational and international history. It enables us to understand aspects of Japanese society, politics, and culture from a different angle.

SEJJIR welcomes papers on past and present relations between Japan and the Muslim world. Suggested main themes are:

1. Papers on contemporary issues in politics, economics, investment, trade, finance, social and cultural affairs; including Japanese interest and involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan as two crisis areas. We also include sociological studies of present-day Japanese and Muslim images of each other, and identity formation.

2. Papers on historical subjects, especially the modern period, although earlier periods are not excluded. At present, even the formal diplomatic relations of Muslim countries with Japan have not been studied in great depth compared to Japan's relations with the Western countries. Intellectual, cultural, economic relations also promise to yield an uncharted view of Japanese modern history, and that of modern Muslim societies as well.

welcome. Manuscripts should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief, Selcuk Esenbel

<esenbel@boun.edu.tr>, after which they will be reviewed for quality and suitability. Papers of any length are welcome so long as they meet scholarly standards of quality.

The language of SEJJIR is English, but we encourage non-native speakers of English to make proposals even if their English abilities are not complete. One of the purposes of this journal is to make available in smooth and readable English scholarship that currently exists only in other languages. In some cases, it is possible to submit articles to SEJJIR which are written in Japanese, and we ourselves will take responsibility for the English translation work, with the authors' approval.

The journal is posted biannually (March and September) at the Shingetsu Institute website. All papers are available on PDF files to ensure proper formatting. The first volume is scheduled for release in March 2007,and will include several exciting contributions from scholars based in Japan, Singapore, and the United States.

Deadlines for Volume Two : March 31, 2007 -- Deadline for one-page proposals ; June 30, 2007  -- Deadline for completed manuscripts.

Editorial Board

Editor-in-Chief:

Selcuk Esenbel, Bogazici University

Editors:

Christopher Len, Uppsala University

Michael Penn, Shingetsu Institute

John Edward Philips, Hirosaki University

Keiko Sakai, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

Keiko T. Tamura, The University of Kitakyushu

Shintaro Yoshimura, Hiroshima University.