Archaeology of the Japanese diaspora has reached “critical mass” in its disciplinary development, and there is a need to document the current state of this burgeoning subfield of historical archaeology. In this introduction we present a summary of the history of the Japanese diaspora and an overview of scholarly literature in related disciplines. The papers in this special issue reflect both current trends in archaeological scholarship and point in new methodological and theoretical directions. A concluding forum by three historians of the Japanese diaspora offers a critical reflection on the assembled papers and places them within a wider academic context.

中文翻译：

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临界质量：制定日本侨民考古学课程

日本侨民考古学的学科发展已经达到“临界质量”，有必要记录这个新兴的历史考古学子领域的现状。在本介绍中，我们对日本侨民的历史进行了总结，并对相关学科的学术文献进行了概述。本期特刊中的论文既反映了考古学学术的当前趋势，又指出了新的方法论和理论方向。三位日本侨民历史学家的总结性论坛对汇编的论文进行了批判性反思，并将它们置于更广泛的学术背景中。