About the Editors: Timothy Iles is an Associate Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, where he teaches Japanese culture, cinema, and language. He has an MA from the University of British Columbia in Modern Japanese Literature, and a PhD from the University of Toronto, also in Modern Japanese Literature. He has taught courses on Japanese literature, theatre, culture, and cinema in Canada and the United States, and has published articles on those subjects. He is also author of Abe Kobo: an Exploration of his Prose, Drama, and Theatre (Fuccecio: European Press Academic Publishers, 2000), and The Crisis of Identity in Contemporary Japanese Film (Brill, 2008). Peter Matanle is a Lecturer in Japanese studies at the School of East Asian Studies (SEAS), University of Sheffield. He is the author of numerous publications in the sociology of work in Japan, including Japanese Capitalism and Modernity in a Global Era (Routledge, 2003) and Perspectives on Work, Employment and Society in Japan (Co-edited with Wim Lunsing, Palgrave, 2006). He is the founder and general editor of the electronic journal of contemporary japanese studies. Contributors: Darren-Jon Ashmore, Mio Bryce, Christoher Burgess, Paul James Cardwell, Andrew Elliott, Patrick Galbraith, Angelos Giannakopoulos, Mitsutoshi Horii, Kuniko Ishiguro, Wendy Nakanishi, Yoshiko Okuyama, Anthony Rausch, David Rear, Tomoko Shimoda, Utpal Vyas