In existence since 1966, Japanese Language and Literature (JLL) provides a scholarly forum for its members and the larger academic world in the area of Japanese literature, Japanese linguistics, teaching Japanese as a second or foreign language, and Japanese culture. Two issues are published each year.

JLL is an official publication of the American Association of Teachers of Japanese.

Japanese Language and Literature is abstracted in all major abstraction services, including the JSTOR archive.

The journal welcomes full-length articles that report new analyses, research findings, and insights. Strong preference is given to articles that engage primary source material in Japanese.