Faculty

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.

German Literature
Sociolinguistics, Language History of German

I became a researcher out of a fascination with linguistic history, the study of how language is used to reveal society and human relationships at different times throughout history. For example, I am currently researching Mozart's letters and Beethoven's handwritten notebooks to reconstruct their personal relationships and society from linguistic data written some 200 years ago.

Western History
Modern German History and History of Yugoslavia

My main research interest is the contemporary history of Germany and its relation to Southeast Europe (Serbia and Croatia) in the twentieth century. My particular focus is on racism and nationalism as well as ethnic formation and conflicts in the interwar period during the Second World War and the disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. My book (in German) German Occupation of the Serbian Banat during 1941-1944 explored in the context of National Socialism the formative process which lead to the development of the ethnic groups. Further, I am interested in the treatment of these processes in the media and historiography.

Archaeology and Ethnology
Comparative Culture Studies, Folklore Studies, Kumagusu Minakata Studies

My research focuses on the biologist and ethnologist Kumagusu Minakata. My goal is to study Kumagusu's writings, manuscripts, and specimens in order to understand the people who promoted the development of modern science, and the social infrastructure that supported it. I am also interested in the issue of extinction of living organisms, and would like to approach it from both the perspective of the environment and human culture.

Human Sciences
Social Psychology

I have been conducting experiments which demonstrate the relation between social cognitive processes and linguistic communication.

Sociology
Social Psychology, Environmental Behavior, Risk Communication, Gaming

I am researching social psychology on the topic of persuasive communication and consensus-building. My central research theme is environmental issues. In many cases, some aspects of actions that deal with ecological risks entail conflict between benefits for individuals and society as a whole. To solve this problem, I’ve developed educational games called “Persuasion Game” and “Stakeholders” to simulate real community as tools for risk communication.

Chinese Literature
Modern Chinese Literature, Comparative Literature in Japan and China

My main area of research is modern and contemporary Chinese literature.

Chinese Literature
Classical Chinese Literature

My study theme is Chinese classical poetics, particularly Yan Yu's (嚴羽) Canglang Shihua (滄浪詩話). I aim to clarify the contemporary recognition of Song Dynasty poetry by way of researching the meaning of the category words used in the books of poetic theories.

Japanese History
Ancient Japanese history

Mainly on the Ritsuryo Code system, I am interested in relations with the state and the society of Nara and Heian era. Especially main subject of this study is to compare the system of city building and government officials with Chinese Ritsuryo, which is the mother law of the Japanese Ritsuryo. And clarify the process that Ritsuryo rule took root in Japan.

English and American Literature
English Literature After the 18th Century; Fantasy Literature

I am interested in English poetry and prosody, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, British medievalism, and modern fantasy literature as its development.

English and American Literature
Modern English Literature

My research focuses on the relationship between literature and music. I am particularly interested in how English literature has influenced/has been influenced by music, for instance the image of sound and music in the Romantic poetry, the operatic treatment of Shakespeare’s plays, and the critical activity of G. B. Shaw. This interest extends to translating into Japanese of the publications on various aspects of music and culture, such as Shaw’s commentary on Wagner’s opera The Ring of the Nibelung, the study of Nazi exploitation of the works and the image of Mozart, and the biographies of the conductor Bruno Walter and the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Natural Sciences
Developmental Biology, Immunobiology

Sea cucumbers are echinoderms, a phylum that also includes sea urchins and starfish. Though they may look quite different from vertebrates, they are closely related evolutionarily and can provide important insights into the evolution of immunity. My current research looks at the aggregation of immune cells in Japanese sea cucumbers. While our immune cells aggregate to surround and eliminate foreign substances that have entered the body, the immune cells of sea cucumber aggregate even in the absence of such foreign substances. My research explores why cells aggregate and the physiological significance of this phenomenon.

French Literature
16th-Century French Literature

I specialize in French Renaissance literature, primarily Michel de Montaigne and Étienne de La Boétie. In my research, I study how writers at the time attempted to express their literary prowess and individuality through imitation from the perspective of rhetoric, one of the predominant frameworks of thought in the 16th century. I am also interested in anachronistic reading as a methodological issue.

Western History
Modern History of France, International History

My main research expertise is on the First World War and its aftermath. Through the action of the International Committee of the Red Cross based in Geneva, Switzerland, I work on humanitarianism in Europe during and after the First World War. I have also been considering the impact of the unprecedented scale of the war on various aspects of French society long after its end. More recently, I am interested in the history of emotions and aim to decipher the emotional transformation toward the pain of others in the context of the development of international humanitarian law and the expansion of the Red Cross movement since the late 19th century.

German Literature
German Linguistics, Language Theory

I conduct linguistic research on the German language.
All natural languages share an amazing universality in that they use mechanisms which combine dozens of sounds to represent infinite things. This universality possess structural aspects as well as functionally set properties: humans are naturally endowed with kernels of language, but for what purpose? I am particularly interested in the latter, the functional aspects of language, and try to make new discoveries through comparative linguistics of German, Japanese, and other languages.

Philosophy
Philosophy of Science

My research focuses on philosophical issues in contemporary biology, especially evolutionary biology, microbiology, developmental biology, and cell biology. Particular topics include: evolution of altruism, levels of selection, species problem, essentialism, biological individuality, homology, teleology, reductionism, and anthropocentrism. I am also interested in naturalistic approaches to human mind and morality.

Sociology
Cultural Sociology, Urban Sociology, Historical Sociology

My main research interest is in considering aspects of modernity exhibited in various urban cultural phenomena (including thought, representation, and technology). Currently I am working on projects that deal with the historical processes of how infrastructural technologies such as lighting, transportation, and architecture have been introduced in urban spaces, which are connected to the transformation of the modes of collective perception, imagination, and experience of urban space.

French Literature
French Literature of 19th Century

« Surnaturalisme » in the art criticism of Baudelaire and Huysmans

Ethics
History of British Ethical Thought

I have been doing research in the fields of history of ethics, theory of ethics and applied ethics. In history of ethics, I have been trying to trace the history of modern British ethical thought and to understand its whole story; in theory of ethics, trying to examine main theories of contemporary ethics and to show their possibilities and limitations; and in applied ethics, trying to consider ethical problems in economy and to analyze their causes.

English and American Literature
20th Century American Literature

My research has focused on 20th century American literature and culture. I am particularly interested in Ernest Hemingway, Ralph Ellison, and James Baldwin.

Human Sciences
Sociology

I conduct my research from a sociological point of view, focusing on our responsibilities within society. In addition to issues concerning civil and criminal liability, I am interested in how modern empirical sciences relate to human freedom, morality, and social institutions.

Chinese Literature
Chinese Education、Phonetics(Chinese)、Chinese Language

There are three main areas of my research.The first area deals with students' Chinese pronunciation ability, in which I focus on students' acquisition of tones; the second research interest is on how to cultivate a strong awareness of Chinese rhythm.To be specific, I intend to work on how to improve learners' ability in reading aloud focusing on students above the intermediate level; and the third is a research study on the current state of Chinese language education, which is about how to improve students' reading ability above the intermediate level. My final research area is on the current Chinese language education in Japan.

Psychology
Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuropsychology, Affective Neuroscience

I am interested in the neuropsychological mechanisms for feeling emotion. Brain-mind interaction and interoception are key concepts in my research. I am examining the mechanism concerning how bodily feelings affect subjective feelings of emotion. I am conducting research using techniques that include neuroimaging (fMRI) and neuropsychological methods.

Aesthetics and Science of Arts
Western Art History

My research addresses Florentine sculpture, which is represented by articles on Luca della Robbia, Brunelleschi and on pedestals for statues. My research also covers Sienese painting, including for example my paper in the book Sassetta, Borgo San Sepolcro Altarpiece, in which I discuss the rendering of shadows by Sienese artists such as Sassetta, Giovanni di Paolo or Pietro Giovanni d’Ambrogio.

English and American Literature
Medieval English Literature, History of the Book, Bibliography

My research interests include book production and literary culture in late medieval England.