Recent Special Issues

#72 THE POWER OF AN IDEAL: JAPAN'S ARTICLE 9 AND THE IMAGINATION

In two short paragraphs, Article 9 of the post-WWII Japanese Constitution articulates the highest ideal in support of world peace — by actually outlawing war.

“Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.

In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.” Yu.

#71 TEA: A GLIMPSE, A JOURNEY

This issue was guest edited by Gaetano Kazuo Maida, executive director of the nonprofit Tea Arts Institute, former organizer of the American Premium Tea Institute and publisher of the industry journal Tea Trade. (He is also a founding director of the Buddhist magazine Tricycle, and is executive director of the International Buddhist Film Festival, www.ibff.org.) The Art Director of this issue is Ayelet Maida, principal of A/M Studios, and creative director of the International Buddhist Film Festival. Contributing Editors: Lauren W. Deutsch, Josh Michaell and Winnie Yu.

#70 KYOTO LIVES:
INTERVIEWS, MEMOIRS, ESSAYS

To mark its 70th publication, Kyoto Journal took the opportunity to focus in once again on Kyoto — and its ongoing changes in the early 21st century — in a special issue entitled "Kyoto Lives." The deliberate ambiguity of this issue's title refers to the lives of the forty-one Kyoto residents interviewed, and also affirms that Kyoto, in its latest incarnation, is still very much alive.

#64 UNBOUND: GENDER IN ASIA:
In this special issue of Kyoto Journal, we sought to bring together an updated and revelatory album of gender identities.

Guest editor: Sally McLaren
Despite enduring traditions and a strongly ingrained patriarchy, here in Asia the concept of gender can be far more ambiguous and fluid than is often assumed. We named this issue ‘Unbound’ in the hope that it will unfetter fresh ideas and dispel assumptions, introducing perspectives on gender in many societies and leaving readers free to make up their own minds. It contains a unique and illuminating array of contributions from Asian and non-Asian writers, poets, translators, photographers and visual artists.

#60 KOREA:
"What has sustained Korea through the centuries, and will continue to do so in the future?"

Guest editor: Robert Fouser
This issue is a tribute to the vibrant and indomitable spirit of Korean cultural dynamism. It contains essays, eye-witness reports, photography, poetry, fiction, explorations of old and new media, and interviews with people who share intense personal stories and valuable insights.

	#55 S T R E E T: Asian streets: frenetic, multifunctional, enduring... Guest editor Sally McLaren, designers John Einarsen and Markuz Wernli, and over 50 contributors assembled a fascinating maze of words and images documenting unfamiliar aspects of streets and street culture across Asia.
	#53 J U S T  D E E D S: Heart & innovation in the real world This issue honors vision, innovation, pragmatism, and persistence. Not merely as admirable abstract concepts, but as revealed in the lifework of remarkable individuals dedicated to creating social changes that improve and enrich people's lives in Asia and beyond.
	#50  T R A N S I E N C E: Dwelling in the moment Asia and the Big T, from incense to convenience stores, wabi-sabi & sumi brushstrokes to the "body weather" of Butoh dance, Kyoto haiku and tea to I Ching (onscreen); flower arrangement & bulldozers, ancient wisdom and other lightning-flash illuminations...
	#46  M E D I A  I N  A S I A Inside stories of Media in Asia "Leave your laptop and your second-hand arguments and theories at home and go out in search of questions. Go to a village in Burma and ask the man who invites you into his home, his life, 'What do you really need from us? How can we help?'" -- Pico Iyer (Virtual Bookzine: see also our Asia Online media directory)

Theme Issues

Tea, Kyoto Lives, Unbound: Gender in Asia, Korea, Street, Just Deeds, Transience, Media in Asia, Time, Transforming Conflict, Inaka, Orthodoxy & Heresy, Word, Sacred Mountains of Asia, The Death & Resurrection of Kyoto, Radicalism of Cultural Continuity, Neighborhoods, Allure of the Exotic, Kyoto Speaks, Eros, Japan in the Year 2020