Asia Pacific Perspectives
This issue highlights new research in the field of Asia Pacific Studies today, ranging from studies on Billiken to South Korea’s newly invented term, taehanoegugin and more.
Billiken as Transcultural Object from American Mascot to Japanese Pop Deity
By M.W. Shores
Meet Billiken — the grinning, pot-bellied American mascot who became Osaka’s unlikely god of good luck. Created by Kansas City art student Florence Pretz in 1908, this cheeky figure sparked a global craze, charmed Japan before World War II, vanished as an “enemy god,” then staged a spectacular comeback in the 1990s when savvy marketers resurrected him to revitalize Osaka’s struggling Shinsekai district.
How the New Historiography on Cities is Reframing our Understanding of Mao’s China
Think Piece by Taoyu Yang
Over the past decade, scholarly attention has increasingly turned to the urban dimensions of the early years of the People’s Republic. This think piece addresses how recent scholarship on cities offers new analytical insights into our understanding of Maoist China by focusing on six recently published monographs.
New South Korean Framework for Conceptualizing Non-Koreans?: Taehanoegugin...
Think Piece by Min Joo Lee
This think piece explores a newly invented Korean term, taehanoegugin, which refers to foreigners who are knowledgeable about and express love for Korean culture, and explores the significance of some foreigners in rebranding Korea as a cosmopolitan nation.
Two Fates of the Statue of Peace
Photo Essay by Nogin Chung
This photo essay examines the contested cultural and political landscapes surrounding the Statue of Peace, a bronze sculpture by Kim Seo- kyung and Kim Eun-sung that commemorates the victims of wartime sexual slavery, commonly referred to as the “comfort women.”
William Nelson Lovatt in Late Qing China: War, Maritime Customs, and Treaty Ports, 1860-1904, by Wayne Patterson
Book Review by Wen-hsin Yeh
William Nelson Lovatt’s life, a career British employee in the middle rank of the Imperial Maritime Customs Service, is represented here thanks to Wayne Patterson, who came upon a collection of Lovatt’s correspondence in the early 1980s. Patterson studies Lovatt’s journals, letters, and a photo album held in the Bancroft Library, supplementing them with holdings shared from private sources.
Borderland Dreams: The Transnational Lives of Korean Chinese Workers, by June Hee Kwon
Book Review by Xiaoying Jin
The transnational lives of migrant workers have long been a focus of scholarly inquiry with migration studies, labour and border studies. In Borderland Dreams, June Hee Kwon examines the transnational experiences of Korean Chinese workers migrating from the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in northeast China to South Korea.
Publish with Us
Contribute to a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal.
Explore Past Issues
Vol. 18, No. 2
In this special issue, the journal highlights the latest research by scholars studying the history of population control in East Asia and the contemporary demographic challenges facing East Asian nations today.
Vol. 18, No. 1
This issue showcases the research of a new generation of scholars in Asia Pacific Studies. These articles were first presented at the Asia Pacific Perspectives Junior Scholar Writing Workshops (AY 2022-23).
Vol. 17, No. 1
This issue showcases the resilience and creativity of scholars doing research and writing about the Asia Pacific during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vol. 16, No. 2
We present the multifaceted ways in which scholars in the humanities and social sciences are looking at food and culture in the Asia Pacific.
Vol. 16, No. 1
Within this issue, we share examples of the latest research on cultures of dress, clothing, fashion and the formation of identity in the Asia Pacific region.