ABSTRACT This article introduces the special issue of Mapping the Music and Video Streaming Landscape and its Disruptions in Southeast Asia by identifying three ways in which the special issue engages with the broader scholarship on streaming. In it, we discuss how our special issue converses with scholarly debates about the disruptive nature of streaming, how the unique qualities of streaming infrastructure in Southeast Asia resonates with scholarship on other global South contexts, and how both the commonalities and variations within Southeast Asia that our special issue makes apparent can be likened to what other scholars have observed of the disjunctive and overlapping nature of the European market.

ABSTRACT This article discusses the results of a survey (N = 148) distributed in August 2021 to Australia-based Universities offering Intermediate and Advanced level Japanese. The survey was designed to understand what motivates students to continue their Japanese language studies to the upper levels and the impact of the COVID-19 associated switch to online learning on their motivation. The content of 23 online interviews is also addressed. The discussion includes details of the metadata which shows that most survey participants are domestic students and more than half speak a language in addition to English. Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) framework was used to analyse the motivational data and the results show that most students are self-motivated and committed to their Japanese language studies. They derive motivation from various sources, such as their positive learning experience, ‘Ideal Japanese self-image’, and interest in Japanese culture including J-Pop products. Less than half of participants perceived the COVID-19 associated switch to online to have affected their motivation and this includes two who experienced increased motivation. The findings show that Intermediate and Advanced level students have a strong sense of a future self who will use the language in their careers, for leisure, and with others.