Dr. Jay Hetrick (Associate Professor in Fine Arts) has recently completed a Japan Foundation fellowship for research on the state of Japanese contemporary art. He spent more than a month investigating archives, works, and libraries at many important institutions throughout Japan. He also conducted a series of interviews with artists, curators, and scholars. The findings have provided him with information and insights that will enable him to continue his publications on Japanese contemporary art. Additionally, the encounters have led to the possibility of future collaborations, the most immediate of which will be writing a “Preface to the Japanese Edition” for the Japanese translation of his book Machinic Eros: Writings on Japan (University of Minnesota Press, 2015).