Rotem Kowner is professor of history at the Department of Asian Studies, specializing in modern Japanese history and naval history. His research focuses on military and naval aspects of Japan's modern wars, with a particular interest in the Russo– Japanese War and World War II. His books include The Forgotten Campaign (2005), Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War (2006, 2017), The Impact of the Russo-Japanese War and Rethinking the Russo-Japanese War (editor, 2007), Race and Racism in Modern East Asia (co-editor with Walter Demel, 2013-2015), and From White to Yellow (2014). Professor Kowner is the founder and first chair of the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Haifa and the co-founder and chair of the Israeli Association of Japanese Studies (IAJS), and serves on the editorial board of several academic journals. Currently he is the director of the liberal arts program in Haifa and the inter-university graduate program (with the Hebrew University) 'The Asian Sphere'.