Faculty

Library and Information Science
Information Retrieval, Text Mining

I am interested in the theory and technology of information retrieval, especially statistical techniques for enhancing retrieval performance. More specifically, I have proposed some algorithms for cross-language information retrieval in which the language of a search query is different from that used in the documents being searched. Automatic clustering of documents is another one of my research topics. For example, I have recently conducted experiments using clustering algorithms that generate a tree structure from a large-scale document collection.

Human Sciences
Medical Anthropology, History of Psychiatry

I am a medical anthropologist with interests encompassing the anthropology of science, biomedicine and psychiatry; depression and suicide; aging and dementia; and global health and preventive medicine. My book Depression in Japan (Princeton Univ. Press, 2012) examines the rise of depression and the emergence of psychiatry as a force of social transformation in Japan. My current project on dementia investigates the changing landscape of aging in the genomic age and the global psychiatrization of the life cycle.

Psychology
Clinical Developmental Psychology; Disability Studies; Cognitive Neuroscience

Our laboratory conducts experimental and clinical research on child development and its disorders. In experimental research, we address the relationship between various cognitive development and brain functions for neurodevelopmental disorders such as specific learning disorder. In clinical research, we provide psychological assessment and support for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, aiming to develop support methods that suit individual child and to give back to the community.

French Literature
French Linguistics

My research interest lies in the semantic-pragmatic interface with special reference to the French language. I'm also interested in rhetoric and translation studies.

Sociology
Sociology of Health and Illness, Qualitative Social Research, Family Sociology

I have been studying dementia from a social constructionist perspective for over 10 years. I am primarily interested in family caregivers. The purpose of my study is to illustrate how family members of elderly Japanese persons with dementia can participate in the caregiving process.

Foreign Languages
Cultural Anthropology

I studied Wako (Japanese pirates), Ebune (sea nomads of Japan), and the history and the culture of sea people in Japan. I have studied the transformation of the family in modern South Korea and studied education and identity of the Koreans residing in Japan. I am interested in not only the memory of the war, but also the recent food culture and food education of Asia.

German Literature
Goethe's Way of Science, History of Science, History of Sports, Popular Music Studies, and Monster Films

German poet Jahann Wolfgang von Goethe was also an excellent nature seeker. His literature was invented from his view of nature, and he kept sounding the alarm to modern civilization from his point of view, into which he incorporated the natural sciences. I’m working with an interdisciplinary study group, by which Goethe's way of thinking suggests its starting point. The purpose of my study is, in cooperation with researchers in various areas, to kindle an interdisciplinary discussion for modern civilization from multiple angles, and to explore the teaching of civilization theory to better manage the future of human society.

Natural Sciences
Developmental Biology

The embryos and larvae of the blue bat star (patiria pectinifera) are good materials for microsurgical experiments because they are transparent and have simple structures. I use these unique characteristics to analyze the roles of larval organs in the developmental and physiological processes.

Japanese Literature
Ancient Literature

My research deals with the courtlife, in particular the buildings of the inner palace and the system by which empresses were chosen, of Heian-period literature, mainly the Tale of the Hollow Tree and the Tale of Genji. I am interested in how narratives incorporated historical facts.

Japanese Literature
Medieval literature

I am studying Muromachi literature and arts, focusing on stories from the Muromachi period to the first half of the Edo period, with an emphasis on correlations with narratives, performing arts, and temple materials. I am aiming not only at the analysis of text and pictures, but also at elucidating the formation and acceptance of stories.

Natural Sciences
Physical Anthropology, Human Evolution

I am interested in the evolutionary history of humankind and have been tackling this huge theme by investigating the morphology of dentition, especially molars, of extant humans, hominoids, and their fossil relatives. By doing this, I also have learned how to acquire and handle digital 3D data of natural objects such as bones and teeth. With this skill I am participating in various collaborative research.

Foreign Languages
Russian Literature and Cultural History

My academic discipline is literary studies and cultural history, focused on Russia and other former Soviet republics as my main target of interest. While Russian culture originates in Europe, it incorporates Asian sub-regions in the process of historical development. In this sense, the Soviet Union, the “other” main actor of the Cold war, also appeared a Eurasian empire extending to the East and the West, in which I make much account of a comparative approach for plural areas, based on the politics of memory, migration of people, and cultural translation. Russia must be considered a significant contact zone in both European and Asian cultures.

Foreign Languages
Classical studies

The field of my research is ancient Greek literature. I am particularly interested in Greek tragedy of the fifth century BCE, what importance it held, as a dramatic institution, within the social discourse of democratic Athens. My interest also includes Mediterranean motifs such as hospitality, revenge and supplication as treated in the literary tradition of classical antiquity.

English and American Literature
Intercultural Communication, Acculturation Psychology

My research interests are in intercultural communication, acculturation psychology, and intercultural education. I aim to facilitate positive intercultural contact both in Japan and abroad and to advance theoretical research by developing new ways of conceptualizing the acculturation process and its outcomes.

Japanese History
Socio-Economic History in Early Modern and Modern Japan

I research the development of regional economies in Japan from the early modern period to the early years of the modern period. By investigating ancient documents that show the economic activities of merchants and farmers, I examine how the state of society was during the periods. The purpose is to elucidate the structure of the regional market zone from the actual situation of money lending and commodity trading. I am currently considering the continuity and changes of the structure from the early modern period to the early years of the modern period ,in particular, clarifying what kind of economic activities the merchants and wealthy farmers who grew up in the late early modern period carried out and what kind of position they held in the local community in the early years of modern period.

Philosophy
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy, Greek and Roman Classics

Specialising in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, especially from the Hellenistic period through to Late Antiquity, he has explored diverse topics addressed by ancient philosophers, including fate and freedom, virtue and happiness, theory and practice, as well as gender and sexuality, with a particular interest in the intersection between natural and practical philosophy and the reception of Plato and Aristotle in antiquity. He is also currently engaged in a collaborative project on the reception of the Greek and Roman classics in Japan.

Japanese Literature
Sinitic Literature (kanbun) in Early Modern and Modern Japan (17 – 19th Century)

The purpose of my research is to explore dynamic movements in Sinitic literature (i.e. Classical Chinese literature), in early modern and modern Japan from various methodologies. In my monograph entitled Studies on Sinitic Prose and Poetry written by Japanese in Bakumatsu and Meiji Periods (2014), I have examined the changes in roles and representation of Sinitic literature during the course of political and cultural modernization of Japan. My most recent interest includes the formation of the canon of Sinitic poetry written by Japanese during Edo and Meiji periods and its relation with contemporary education.

Aesthetics and Science of Arts
Western Art History

My research interests are modern German art, architecture, and gardens. My current research aims to explore, from the perspective of the so-called "Gartenkunstwissenschaft", the unique way in which the idea of social change and the poiesis of art were combined in Germany during the transition from the 19th to the 20th century.

Asian History
Social History in Early Modern China, Chinese Gender History

I explore ordinary women’s life from the late Ming to the late Qing periods. As those women did not leave any records by themselves, I focus on judicial records and official archives. I am interested in the morals and customs which were reflected in those records. In recent years, I have developed an interest in report on court cases in newspapers of the late Qing period.

Sociology
Family Sociology, Histrical Sociology

I have been conducting sociological research on marriage and partnership. My main research interests include historical sociological studies of marriage, qualitative research on de facto marriage, and theoretical studies of family and partner relationships. I am interested in de-standardization of families and communal living.

English and American Literature
Modern and Contemporary English Literature

My current research interests focus primarily on the Gothic fiction from the 18th to the early 20th century.

Human Sciences
Anthropology, African Area Studies

I have conducted anthropological research on conflict and peace issues. My main research questions are: Why do people take part in the war, what type of experiences do people have in the battlefield, and how do people build and maintain peace in conflict-ridden areas? Currently, I am also researching how large-scale development projects have influenced the livelihood of local people in Africa.

Aesthetics and Science of Arts
Japanese Art History

My research focuses on the history of ancient and medieval Buddhist sculpture in Japan, particularly the Pure Land Buddhist sculpture of the Heian period. I have a keen interest in the sculptures themselves and the various expressions of painting and craftsmanship that make up the spaces where they have been placed, in addition to the relationship between sculpture and viewer. Informed by my experiences working with museums, I enjoy discussions on how to present exhibitions of sculpture and craft.

Archaeology and Ethnology
Zooarchaeology, Ethnoarchaeology

In order to decipher the history of the relationship between humans and nature, I have conducted extensive research on and analyzed animal remains unearthed from archaeological sites. I have focused my research on a comprehensive view of culture and nature and surveyed the history of the Quaternary Period, and I have considerable field-work experience at sites in Hokkaido, northern Honshu and Siberia.

English and American Literature
American Literature

My research interests range from the Colonial era to the American Renaissance. I have published articles on the Puritans in America, Benjamin Franklin, and Henry David Thoreau as well as a book on Thoreau's Walden.