Considered a doyen of Meiji studies, particularly in the field of the newspaper press in Japan, former journalist Jim Huffman and H. Orth Hirt Professor of History [Emeritus] at Wittenberg University, was recently honoured (2017) with the Distinguished Service Award by the Association of Asian Studies (AAS), marking his outstanding scholarship and service in the field of Asian Studies. Huffman is the author of eight acclaimed books, including Creating a Public: People and Press in Meiji Japan, A Yankee in Meiji Japan: The Crusading Journalist Edward H. House, Japan: A History in Documents and most recently Down and Out in Late Meiji Japan.