Editor's Note (New Horizons of Maghreb Studies in Japan)

This 30 th issue of the Journal of Sophia Asian Studies is a special number dealing with new horizons of Maghreb studies in Japan.Barely six years have passed since the special issue entitled "Maghreb Studies in Japan" (issue No. 24) was published in 2006, and despite this short space of time several striking tendencies have come to light with regard to subjects and ways of research.**Initially Maghreb studies in Japan started through utilizing the findings in French of French scholars, but in course of time Japanese researchers too began to reside in the Maghreb countries for several years, in order to study Arabic and accumulate original sources.Hence their studies came to be based on oral and written sources collected directly from the regions.This tendency perhaps began in the 1980s, but it became notable during the past 20 years.