Glenn D. Hook is Professor of Japanese Politics and International Relations and Director of the Graduate School of East Asian Studies, the University of Sheffield, UK. His research interests are in Japan's role in the East Asian political economy, regional security, and globalization and regionalization. His recent books include Militarization and Demilitarization in Contemporary Japan, (Routledge, 1996); Japan's Contested Constitution: Documents and Analysis (co-author, Routledge, 2001); Japan's International Relations: Politics, Economics, and Security (co-author, second edition, London: RoutledgeCurzon 2005); and Contested Governance in Japan: Sites and Issues (editor, London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005).

Takeda Hiroko is lecturer in Japanese studies at the School of East Asian Studies, University of Sheffield. Her research interests include gender and politics/political economy in Japan and East Asia, social and political theories and biopolitics. She is the author of The Political Economy of Reproduction in Japan: Between Nation-State and Everyday Life (RoutledgeCurzon, 2005) and 'Governance through the Family in Japan: Governing the Domestic', in Glenn D. Hook (ed.) Contested Governance in Japan: Sites and Issues (RoutledgeCurzon, 2005).