Japanese Studies is a fully refereed journal publishing original, high-quality, scholarly articles on various aspects of Japan, as well as book and film reviews. It has an international editorial board and readership and is published three times a year, in May, September and December.

The journal is multidisciplinary, publishing papers across a range of areas to reflect the diversity of current professional interest in Japan. Recent issues have carried papers on postwar politics and society, international relations, environmental issues, business and economics, literature, history, the legal system, gender studies, Japanese media, film and popular culture. It regularly includes papers on Japanese language teaching.