This study looks at Japanese studies in the United States and Canada at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It reflects the life experiences and academic training of the people who identify themselves as Japan specialists, and the structures that have been created to house and nurture the study of Japan over the past six decades. It encompasses both Japan specialists and Japanese studies insitutions and presents the current situation not only by looking at new survey data, but also by comparing that information with what has been collected and analyzed at several previous points in the relatively short history of the field. The Japan Foundation is the Japanese government’s agency for cultural diplomacy and international cultural affairs. Established in 1972 by special legislation in the Japanese Diet, The Japan Foundation became an Independent Administrative Institution in October 2003. Its mission is to promote international cultural exchange and mutual understanding between Japan and other countries. It maintains its headquarters in Tokyo and operates through a network of 19 overseas offices in 18 countries worldwide.

Patricia E. Roy is the winner of the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award, Canadian Historical Association. Canada's early participation in the Asia-Pacific region was hindered by "contradictory impulses" shaping its approach. For over half a century, racist restrictions curtailed immigration from Japan, even as Canadians manoeuvred for access to the fabled wealth of the Orient. Canada's relations with Japan have changed profoundly since then. In Contradictory Impulses, leading scholars draw upon the most recent archival research to examine an important bilateral relationship that has matured in fits and starts over the past century. As they makes clear, the two countries' political, economic, and diplomatic interests are now more closely aligned than ever before and wrapped up in a web of reinforcing cultural and social ties. Contradictory Impulses is a comprehensive study of the social, political, and economic interactions between Canada and Japan from the late nineteenth century until today.

The papers in this volume were developed for an informal symposium held in Vancouver in April 1988. The papers range from descriptions of possible realigned world political orders to questions of international trade and domestic economic priorities; and from the "greying" of the population of the industrial world and associated social policy issues such as health care and pensions to the imperative of implementing sustainable economic development worldwide.