Brian Moeran is Irish by nationality and has held professorial appointments in both Japanese studies and anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, as well as at the University of Hong Kong. He has published widely on various aspects of Japanese society and culture, ranging from popular culture (Language and Popular Culture in Japan, Manchester University Press, 1989; Folk Art Potters of Japan, Curzon, 1997) to advertising (A Japanese Advertising Agency, Curzon, 1996) and media (Women, Media and Consumption in Japan, edited with Lise Skov, Curzon, 1995). His most recent work, Asian Media Cultures, will be published by Curzon in 2000.