Vol. 8, No. 1 (2024)■

ISSN 2169-0820 (Online)■

DOI 10.5195/shashi.2024.75 ■http://shashi.pitt.edu

From the Editor: Issue on Government and Private Concerns
Martha Chaiklin

I

have been using this picture of a stamp that says “rejected” for over ten years now. I considered

it a bit of editorial humor. All academics go through rejection, sometimes for the stupidest reasons.
We all have stories. We work in a competitive business and not everyone can win every race. There
are no participation ribbons for academics. It was meant to be funny because we are a nice journal
and are never mean or unreasonable in our rejections. But maybe it isn’t funny? Is it triggering? Timefor a change? You are welcome to send a letter to the journal expressing your opinion. If you think
we should use another image, what should it be? You can find our email under the About menu on
the homepage or through the hyperlink.
I focused on the little rejection stamp picture because in regards to this issue, I thought I
should apply it to myself. Often, I, justifiably I might add, blame the authors for the delay in puttingout issues. Or even more justifiably, the technology behind its production. The software sometimes
seems possessed by the spirit of a demonic toddler who is absolutely determined to avoid putting the issue to bed. But
some of the delays for this issue are my fault. I don’t have any valid excuses. Just a general lack of stomach for theinevitable frustrations of editing that I only began to enumerate above. Contrary to the god-like persona editors tend
to cultivate, we are in fact as fallible as any sports referee. I sincerely apologize to our authors and our readers for myfailures. The picture of the hansei zaru is intended to show my self-reflection. As a sidenote, I made it with AI – inthis case Microsoft Designer. It is only my second time so I am obviously no AI
design maven, but I could not find any good free images and freehand, the actualmonkey could have done a better job. In a show of cyber-eurocentrism, I could not
get it to put “反省”into the design. It would only reproduce some made-upcharacters. I was going to crop them out, but I left them in so you can see what
American AI generates when you show it Japanese characters. Just for fun, I also
show my first AI attempt, which I made for a conference presentation PowerPoint
coversheet background. (I think I used OpenAI for this but don’t remember. I
thought it would be a one-off.) These seem to be innocuous uses of AI for things
that I would not have ever paid a professional for, but I can sympathize with thedilemma of graphic artists. But back to the purpose of the monkey. The completesaying is 反省だけなら、猿でもできる (If it is just reflection, even a monkey Hanseizaru by AI . Martha Chaiklin
can do it), and in that spirit, I promise to turn regret into action. So, send in yourcontributions without hesitation, and I guarantee you will have our usual prompt and cheerful response and timely(ish)publication.

2Shashi: The Journal of Japanese Business and Company History
From the Editor | http://shashi.pitt.edu
Vol. 8, No. 1 (2024) | DOI 10.5195/shashi.2024.75

On the other hand, even my shortcomings could not prevent this from becoming
an excellent issue. Thus, I didn’t call it the hansei issue, naming being a requirement ofour fractious software. We have two very different but equally fine articles. They both
examine attempts to expand Japan’s export opportunities, albeit in different parts of theworld, in different time periods, with different kinds of agents and different mechanisms.
It is this contrast that make them useful counterpoints. Mark Ericson examines the underPresentation coverstudied relationship been the last gasp of the Tokugawa shogunate and the Frenchbackground by AI. Martha
government and their failed attempts to establish a mutually profitable consociation.
Chaiklin
Oshima Hisayuki and Simon Bytheway consider the production and export of electrodes
based on a series of papers that that were seized by the Australian government during
World War II, showing some of the same cultural frictions and failures as in Ericson’s article. As Tom Learmouth’s
research note makes clear, getting access to these resources in ordinary circumstances can be quite difficult and thus,
these scholars have been able to elucidate an almost unexamined aspect of business. Tom Learmouth plainlydemonstrates to those who have not done research on Japanese companies, why, for all their flaws, shashi are essential
resources for looking at Japanese companies. He seems a persistent sort and we wish him success in his attempt tobreak down the barriers around actual company archives. Our other research note is a company history of SORA by
the president of that company, Arai Atsuo. This forward-looking company seeks to combine business and art in an
idealist future of co-existence. This type of business rarely produces a company history.
You may notice a shrinkage in the number of book reviews. This is not an additional editorial issue, but,sadly, a reflection of the state of the field. Based on my perusal of the book exhibits at the Association of Asian Studies
meetings for the last two years, the number of books about Japan has decreased significantly, and the number of books
that fit into the purview of this journal is just that much smaller. If I overlooked your book, or you have one
forthcoming, let me know.

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