Advance Pulibcation

Call for Proposals: Special Issue

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Special Issue: Continuity and Transition in Japanese Firms

Expected publication: December, 2027

This special issue aims to highlight the evolving or persistent characteristics of Japanese firms. Japan has been characterized by its relational-based finance and corporate governance environment, such as crossholdings, keiretsu, and the main-bank system (e.g., Hoshi et al., 1990; 1991; Franks et al., 2014). Prior research shows that these institutional features generate unique accounting and financial decision practices (e.g., Biddle and Hilary, 2006; Bigus and Weicker, 2024; Enomoto et al., 2024). In financial reporting, Japan also maintains unique regulatory features, including quasi-mandatory management forecasts, the coexistence of multiple accounting standards, and the disclosure of audit partner names (Kato et al., 2009; Takada et al., 2021).

At the same time, Japan has undergone substantial reforms since the late 1990s: the financial and accounting "Big Bang," ongoing convergence toward IFRS, revisions to disclosure rules, the introduction and subsequent revisions of the Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes, the restructuring of TSE market segments, and enhanced sustainability reporting expectations. These reforms have the potential to reshape long-standing practices. These developments raise important questions about how Japan’s institutional transitions reshape firms' reporting, governance, financing, and market interactions.

Yet important questions remain: To what extent do traditional practices persist? How have regulatory changes since the late 1990s altered the Japanese firms’ financial reporting, governance, and finance? This special issue aims to provide new evidence on both continuity and change in Japanese firms, comparing with past practices and relating to prior accounting and corporate finance research. Understanding these continuities and transitions is essential for evaluating existing theories and developing new frameworks that reflect Japan’s unique institutional evolution.

Possible Topics

• Board Structure
• Ownership
• Relationship between Banks and Industrial Firms
• Financing Structure
• Relationship with Non-Financial Stakeholders such as Customers, Suppliers and Employees
• Disclosure Practices including Management Forecast and Mandatory Timely Disclosure
• Audit Outcomes such as Misstatements and Auditor Changes
• Other Firm Apects Relating to Accounting Practices that Researchers Have Studied

Expected Manuscript

• We do not necessarily require multi-variate regressions in a manuscript
• Rather, hand-collected descriptive statistics will be highly evaluated
• We will also accept database-based descriptive statistics if the topic is important in accounting research
• Time-series descriptive statistics (fact-finding research) will be highly recommended
• A manuscript (and proposal) is expected to include a review of the literature and discussion on how the statistics are related to prior accounting research, which provide theoretical suggestions for future research—confirming and reconstructing the framework of Japanese firms and existing accounting and finance theory

Process

• 1. Announcement: December, 2025
• 2. Deadline for proposal: March 31, 2026
• 3. Discussion between authors and editors
• 4. Decision on proposal acceptance: By July, 2026
• 5. Mid-term workshop: around March, 2027
• 6. Deadline for final manuscript: August 31, 2027

Proposal Submission

• Authors are expected to submit a proposal by the end of March, 2026. Please email your submission to tjar@rieb.kobe-u.ac.jp. When you do so, please make sure that you include all the information such as "Title of Proposal," "Submitting Author," "Co-author Information."
• Editors will consider its suitability for this special issue. If suitable, authors and editors have opportunities to discuss the scope of a study. Then, editors will decide the acceptance of proposals by July, 2026. Once proposals are accepted, manuscripts will be expected to be included in the special issue publication unless final manuscripts deviate from the agreements between editors and authors
• A proposal is expected to include the following discussions:
  * A short review of literature relating to accounting and finance practices of Japanese firms and/or their corporate governance
  * Expected outcome: continuity or change in Japanese firms’ practices
  * Scope of study: what characteristics and how long authors investigate and how they collect data
• Proposals and manuscripts will be written in English
• No submission fee will be charged
• Inquiry: Should you have any questions, please contact us via email: tjar@rieb.kobe-u.ac.jp

Editors

• Masahiro Enomoto (Kobe University, Co-editor of TJAR)
• Keishi Fujiyama (Kobe University, Co-editor of TJAR)
• Ryosuke Fujitani (Hitotsubashi University, guest editor)

Reference

Biddle, G. C., & Hilary, G. (2006). Accounting quality and firm-level capital investment. The Accounting Review, 81(5), 963-982.
Bigus, J., & Weicker, M. (2024). Relationship banking and firms’ earnings quality–Does it matter whether banks are creditors or owners? Journal of Banking & Finance, 159, 107050.
Enomoto, M., Jung, B., Rhee, S. G., & Shuto, A. (2024). The impact of accounting quality on investment efficiency: Evidence from the 2001 bank shareholding limitation act of Japan. Japan and the World Economy, 72, 101280.
Franks, J., Mayer, C., & Miyajima, H. (2014). The ownership of Japanese corporations in the 20th century. Review of Financial Studies, 27(9), 2580-2625.
Hoshi, T., Kashyap, A., & Scharfstein, D. (1990). The role of banks in reducing the costs of financial distress in Japan. Journal of Financial Economics, 27(1), 67-88.
Hoshi, T., Kashyap, A., & Scharfstein, D. (1991). Corporate structure, liquidity, and investment: Evidence from Japanese industrial groups. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 106(1), 33-60.
Kato, K., Skinner, D. J., & Kunimura, M. (2009). Management forecasts in Japan: An empirical study of forecasts that are effectively mandated. The Accounting Review, 84(5), 1575-1606.
Takada, T., Lau, D., Casterella, J. R., & Wong, N. (2021). There is no ‘I’ in team: An analysis of audit partner narcissism from the team aspect. International Journal of Auditing, 25(3), 751-768.