Background
I am a Japanese national from Okinawa. In 1993, I first arrived at the University of Hawaiʻi as an international student. Originally pursuing a degree in linguistics, my enthusiasm for this field waned when I realized how early in the morning the professors held classes. My interests shifted to the afternoon classes of the Communication Department.
Education
- PhD, Communication and Information Sciences, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, 2010
- MA, Communication, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, 2001
- BA, Speech, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, 1998
Specializations
Intercultural communication; Hawaiian diaspora in the Bonin Islands; Japanese history; and East Asian affairs.
Research
My teaching interests lie in intercultural communication and cross-cultural training. I have published articles on the Hawaiian diaspora in the Bonin Islands, East Asian cinema, Japanese suicide bombers, occupied Manchuria, a Japanese postwar literary genre called Hikiage, and a Russian-born German propagandist named Klaus Mehnert who was a popular University of Hawaiʻi professor before the outbreak of World War II. Over the years, I have collected more than 10,000 Japanese SP records (78s) and related ephemera. The bulk of these audio recordings are from the 1940s and earlier. The “Echoes from the Past” audio collection covers a broad spectrum of genres. With the assistance of generous funding, I am able to study and preserve these fragile cultural artifacts.