Graduate School of Comparative Culture
Lecture instructor

His field of expertise is cultural geography. Using historical documents and field surveys, he studies cultural and social events and phenomena surrounding food in the region. Specifically, he is conducting research on events closely related to flour-based food in the Yellow River basin. Currently, he is considering the nature of folk tools related to food under the concept of "food landscapes." His main research achievements include "Development of Chinese Food Culture Research - An Introduction to Gyoza Food Research" (Hyogo Chiri No. 47, 2002), "The Meaning and Regional Characteristics of Gyoza Food in Shandong Province, China" (Human Geography Vol. 57 No. 4, 2005), "Ancient Chinese Food Culture as Seen in Han Dynasty Picture Stones - Case Study of Shandong Province" (Hyogo Chiri No. 55, 2010), and "Chinese Gyoza" (Vesta = Food Culture Magazine Vesta (117), 2020).

My specialty is the process of acquiring a foreign language and the accompanying change in identity. I began by researching bilingualism among children of Japanese who had returned from overseas, and confirmed that the age at which learning begins is a particularly significant factor. Regarding English acquisition among North American immigrants, an international collaborative study (Carnegie Mellon Foundation) targeting the Hmong people of Minnesota confirmed that younger people have an advantage in linguistic and cultural adaptation. Based on these findings, I have conducted field research into early English education policies in various countries. Recently, I have been focusing on research into the EU's plurilingual policies and translanguaging Professor methods. His major works include English Learning and Critical Periods (Shohakusha, 2006), Education and Medicine (co-authored, Keio University Press, 2011), English Studies System (co-authored, Taishukan Shoten, 2011), Long-Term Effectiveness of Learning English (Springer, 2015), Foreign Language Teacher Training from an International Perspective (co-authored, Toshindo, 2015), and The Front Line of Applied Linguistics (JW Kinseido, 2017).

My specialty is Japanese language education. Human "language" consists of "sounds" heard by the ears and "phonemes" heard by the brain. I am researching what the rules are for transcribing phonological recognition, which is necessary to understand the meaning of words, in a mental dictionary, and how Japanese language learners acquire these rules. I am also considering the need to incorporate "role language" into Japanese language education. Recently, I have been working exclusively on developing a Japanese-Japanese dictionary for Japanese language learners.
His major publications include "The Mechanism of Japanese Phonological Recognition and Writing: From the Perspective of Teaching Katakana Words to Native Korean Speakers" (Jinbunsha, 2011) and Chapter 4 of "Developments in Role Word Research" entitled "The Role of Role Words in Korean Textbooks: Virtual Reality for Teaching 'Living Japanese'" (co-author, Kuroshio Publishing, 2011).

I specialize in modern Japanese history, and am particularly interested in analysing the state of modern Japanese society from the perspective of issues affecting people's lives, such as medical care, public health, and poverty relief, in the 19th century, from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji Restoration.
Recent published research works include "Nagayo Sensai: Pioneer of modernity in hygiene or inheritor of pre-modern heritage?" (original in English) (Otemae University Review, No. 17, March 2017), "Rethinking the Meiji 'Medical System'" (Otemae University Review, No. 16, March 2016), and "Reexamining the process of the introduction of Western medicine during the Meiji Restoration" (Otemae University Review, No. 13, March 2013).

I specialize in geography (especially physical geography). I have been measuring absolute ages using corals and shell fossils in Asia, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean, mainly in the Ryukyu Islands. Initially, my research focused on paleoenvironmental analysis and geological history, such as Quaternary sea-level changes and crustal movements, but in recent years I have been interested in human geography, such as coastal environments in coral reef areas, urban environments, and industrial heritage sites. My main publications include "Space, Earth, Earthquakes and Volcanoes" (co-authored, Kokon Shoin, 2006), "Keywords for Living in Modern Society 2" (co-authored, Osaka Municipal University Joint Press, 2015), "Kobe Steel, Kobe Steel Works No. 3 Blast Furnace Investigation Report" (co-authored, History Research Institute, 2019), "Hisashi Kinzoku Kogyo Head Office Building and Former Factory Investigation Report" (co-authored, History Research Institute, 2021), and "Kansai Electric Power Sakai Port Thermal Power Plant Former Steam Power Plant Investigation Report" (co-authored, History Research Institute, 2022).

My specialty is Japanese language, but I also cover related fields such as linguistics and Japanese language education. My main research subject is modern Japanese grammar, and I have been researching the meaning and function of grammatical forms such as "~shi te kureru/~te kuteiru," which express changes such as directionality of movement, appearance, and disappearance, "~shi too much," which expresses excess of a degree, and "~yasui yasui/~shi shi rui," which expresses the difficulty of an action.
Currently, we are working to develop new Professor methods and materials, with the aim of applying the results of our research to the field of Japanese language education.

His specialties are information sociology and subculture (pop culture) research. He is interested in the process of UGC (User Generated Contents) production by Internet users and how communication in virtual space (web space) is related to the real world. Specific research subjects in the former area include "dance cover" video performers, and in the latter area, the "anime pilgrimage" phenomenon, in which fans of anime travel to locations that are the setting of anime. As an extension of these studies, he has also been conducting research in recent years into regional revitalization projects that utilize manga, anime, games, etc., and otaku culture. His main research sites for "pilgrimage" include Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, Washinomiya, Kuki City, Saitama Prefecture, Toyosato Elementary School (formerly Toyosato Town, Inukami District, Shiga Prefecture), and Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture. His major works include "Content Tourism and Cultural Heritage" (co-edited and authored, Suiseisha, 2022), "Work, Family, and Community in the Age of Corona" (co-edited and authored, Minerva Shobo, 2022), "Questions from Pokemon GO" (co-authored, Shinyosha, 2018), and "Regional Revitalization: What Should We Do Now?" (co-authored, Souseisha, 2017).

I am conducting regional research on the Korean Peninsula, focusing on traditional performing arts and satirical dramas. Traditional masked dramas depict the conflicts between classes in feudal times in a humorous way, and express the common people's critical spirit toward the ruling class through delightful satire. While analyzing the aspects of this satire from various perspectives, I am exploring the public consciousness, ritualistic transition between the old and the new, and the world of grotesque realism that lie behind it. The satire and critical spirit embedded in traditional performing arts have been passed down not only as traditional culture in the Middle Ages and early modern times, but also in modern Korean society as social satire, and have had a significant impact on the democratization movement in modern Korean politics. Recently, I have also become interested in contemporary Korean social research, focusing on the characteristics and role of social satire and the trajectory of the democratization movement.
In graduate school classes, we will discuss "intercultural communication" in the form of case studies, focusing on the perspective of considering society from the perspective of language and the intersection of language and culture.

I am majoring in both folklore and sociology. Folklore is the study of the traditional lives of the people. Folk beliefs, oral literature, livelihoods, social traditions, life rituals, and annual events are the subjects of my research. Recently, I have been researching the "God of the Wind." In sociology, I have mainly studied environmental sociology and community studies. Keywords include "urban development," NPOs, communities, and scenery and tourism. My research locations abroad include Guatemala, Mongolia, China, Korea, and the UK. My books include the following: "The Fall of the Ryukyu Kingdom and Hawaiian Immigrants" (Yoshikawa Kobunkan), "Water and the Japanese" (Iwanami Shoten), "A Study of Local Community Associations" (Minerva Shobo), "The Philosophy of Yanagita Folklore" (University of Tokyo Press), "In Search of Flowers on Mount Yoshino" (Shueisha Shinsho), and "The Laws of Sazae-san-like Community" (NHK Shinsho). I have also edited the following: His publications include Landscape and Local Governance (Waseda University Press), Environmental History of Japan 5 (Yoshikawa Kobunkan), and Environmental Folklore as an Attempt (Yuzankaku).

He specializes in developmental psychology and educational psychology. His main research areas are stress management, career goal achievement, and the psychology of human-animal bonds. In recent years, he has focused on the impact of keeping animals at elementary schools on children's mental development. His main publications include "Psychology of Human-Animal Bonds" (Nakanishiya Publishing) and "The Function of Control Strategies in University Entrance Exams and Job Hunting: Dealing with Stress Toward Goal Achievement" (Kazama Shobo). He has also co-authored "Career Planning: A Career Workbook for First-Year University Students" (Nakanishiya Publishing) and "Easy-to-Understand Psychology" (Minerva Shobo).

His main research subjects are: I. Comparative Japanese and Chinese literature; I. Comparison of Japanese literature, particularly waka poetry, and Chinese literature from the Heian period; II. Comparison of Japanese Sinology literature and Chinese literature, particularly from the Heian period; III. Research into the influence of Sinology literature in the lyrics of Meiji period songs and military songs, and the fusion of Western culture with Eastern culture, particularly Japan and China; IV. Research into the life and literature of Bai Juyi.
His major works include "Annotated Commentaries on the Ta clan" (co-authored, supervised by Kojima Noriyuki) (Izumi Shoin), "New Commentary on the Manyoshu" (co-authored) (Izumi Shoin), and "Ikkai Tomoyoshi's Chinese Poetry Dojo" (co-authored) (Iwanami Shoten).

I studied theater studies under Professor Yamazaki Masakazu at the Faculty of Letters at Osaka University.
I specialize in contemporary British and American theatre, and have been involved in theatre productions as a translator of foreign plays. My main works include "Copenhagen" and "Open the Door, Mr. Green". In 2010, I received the 3rd Odashima Yushi Translated Drama Award for "Mojo Mikibo". In the theatre rehearsals, I learned about the reality of theatre production through various experiences. In order to make use of what I have learned, I teach a film and theatre seminar at the Faculty of Architecture and Art at Otemae University, and every year I supervise a graduation project with an original script (every December. Please come and see it). I am a member of the Japan Society of Theatre Studies, Faculty of Architecture & Arts, and the Japan Society of Image Arts and Television. My thesis includes "Poetics of Two-person Plays: An Introduction".
I will try to make the class as interesting as possible. Thank you.

His specialty is Japanese archaeology. He particularly focuses on the Kofun period in Japan, and is also deeply interested in ruins and artifacts from related periods in China and the Korean peninsula. He is particularly interested in bronze mirrors. In his research and investigations, he places emphasis on practical activities such as excavating ruins and sorting and analyzing excavated artifacts. Publications that are easy to obtain and read include "Symposium: Triangular-rimmed Divine Animal Mirrors" (co-authored, Gakuseisha, 2003) and "Ancient History of Kofun" (Chikuma Shobo, 2016).

His specialty is Oriental history. In particular, he is conducting research on the military history of medieval China (from the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Sui and Tang periods) and the Dunhuang manuscripts. In the former, he examines the causes of the "division" and "unification" of China from the military system, which continued to be divided for a long time, to the Sui and Tang period, which was the unified empire since the Qin and Han periods. In the latter, he examines the actual state of society at that time using the manuscripts from the 5th to 10th centuries discovered in the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang about 100 years ago, that is, various documents used in the daily lives of the people who lived there at that time - "raw" historical materials that were not intended to be preserved as historical materials for posterity. Recently, he has also become interested in the process by which the Dunhuang manuscripts were dispersed around the world after their discovery in modern times.

His specialty is generative grammar-based syntax and language acquisition theory. He mainly compares the syntactic structures (rules for constructing and generating sentences) of Japanese and English to investigate the system of intermediate language abilities that emerge during second language learning. There are mechanisms behind errors and difficult phenomena. His approach is to demonstrate a language system that includes errors with empirical data and to show that it can be theoretically predicted from the differences in syntax between the target language and the native language. His publications include Feature Transfer and Feature Learning in Universal Grammar (Kwansei Gakuin University Press, 2019).

His specialty is early modern Japanese literature, especially haiku. He studies the Sho-style haiku advocated by Basho, focusing on the trends and works of his disciples, particularly Kikaku. In recent years, he has also become interested in haiku poets' letters, and is conducting research and studies on them. He hopes to shed light on the state of haiku appreciation by using information obtained from the "things" themselves, such as handwriting and writing paper, that are not found in printed texts. His main research achievements include "The Method of Kikaku's 'Niiyama-ke'" (Kinsei Bungei, No. 83, January 2006), "Suginagaze in his later years - An introduction and consideration of Suginagaze's letter to Oshima Minori, held in the Kakiei Bunko" (Renga Haikai Kenkyu, No. 131, September 2016), and "Buson's Letters to Hyakurou and Shofu" (Haibungakuho, No. 54, October 2020).

My specialty is Japanese history, with a particular focus on the political history of the transitional period from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern period.
Previous research has focused mainly on feudal lords in the Chugoku and Shikoku regions, such as the Sengoku period feudal lord Mori clan and the Tosa clan.
In addition to further developing my current research, I would also like to undertake research on the Toyotomi government, which was based in the Kansai region, including Osaka Castle and Fushimi Castle.
I also want to focus on contributing to society by utilizing the experience I gained working as a museum curator.
His major papers include "The Political Situation after Hideyoshi's Death and Otani Yoshitsugu's Return to the Toyotomi Government" (Nihon Rekishi, No. 772, 2012), "The Mori Clan's Control of Izumo and Mori Motoyasu during the Sengoku Period" (Nihon Rekishi, No. 857, 2019), and "Tosa's Falconry Grounds in the Early Modern Period" (Kainan Shigaku, No. 59, 2021).

His specialty is early modern Japanese history. He is particularly researching the state of town management and feudal rule in Itami-gocho, Settsu Province. He has focused on the fact that town management in feudal towns is closely related to the finances and feudal lords' finances aimed at the town's residents, and has concretely clarified the historical development of town management mainly using historical materials handed down in the homes of town officials. He will continue to investigate the state of town management in Itami-gocho, while also paying attention to its unique characteristics of having sake brewing as its core industry and being ruled by the Konoe family, one of the five regent families, and will consider the political and social functions of towns in the Kinai region. His major papers include "Finance and feudal lord finances in the management of rural towns in the mid-to-late early modern period: A case study of Itami-gocho, Kawabe County, Settsu Province" (Historia, No. 295, 2022) and "Collecting information on the Konishi Shiniemon family during the late Edo period" (Iizuka Kazuyuki, ed., Sake brewing industry and local communities during the transition to modernity: The Konishi family, sake brewers of Itami, Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 2021).

I specialize in architecture. I am researching spatial design theory from architectural fieldwork methods, including the relationship between the interior and exterior spaces of buildings. Currently, many regions are seeking spatial design that goes beyond simply building new buildings. I am attempting to derive contemporary spatial design methods and concepts from research methods required to decipher the context of the region and carry out spatial design (including renovation and conversion) from elements unique to the region. My main recent publications include "The World of Sea Folktales" (Bungeishunju, 2024), research achievements "Stone: A Material that Links Life and Place" (Architectural Institute of Japan Research Conference, 2023), and "Basic Survey on the Deemed Temporary Use of Vacant Houses in Small Fishing Villages Part 1" (Architectural Institute of Japan Academic Lecture Paper, 2023).

I specialize in the history of Japanese art and crafts, and particularly in modern lacquer crafts. I have been studying the background of the creation of these works, focusing on the trends of Kyoto craftsmen and the networks between craftsmen in the production of these works. Among crafts, lacquer crafts are particularly closely linked to Japanese literature and aesthetic sense. In modern times, when Western culture has been absorbed and the characteristics of Japanese culture have been reexamined, I am also interested in how the culture of lacquer, which has preserved Japanese traditions, is perceived, and what ideas were the basis for the creation of these works. I am also interested in unraveling the personal ideas of the creators of the time. In recent years, I have been focusing on the lacquer artist Mukaida Shuetsu, and conducting research through the investigation of works in museum collections and materials in the collections of long-established furniture stores.