* Scheduled to retire in April 2026
- Title：Professor
- Degree：Ph.D. in English (University of Kent)
- Directed Research：Film Studies
- Research Field：World Cinema, World Literature
Biography
I studied for my first and MA degrees at Waseda University and my major in both programmes was English literature. I started my teaching career in 1986 at Waseda university and before that I studied for my Ph. D. degree at University of Kent at Canterbury, a cathedral town in the Southeast of England. I was awarded with Ph. D. degree in 1991 and my dissertation was about the history of theoretical debate on symbol and allegory. My main academic interest since those days has been literary and cultural theory based on semiotics, which took me towards film studies and film theories after my completion of the Ph.D programme. I have continuously been working for Waseda University since, first teaching the English language and film studies at the general education section of School of Law, and then film studies since 2004 at School of International Liberal Studies. While I was Dean of Faculty of International Research and Education, I started planning the establishment of Graduate School of International Culture and Communication and I was thrilled and proud to see that it finally opened in 2015. GSICCS was a product of endless hard work and negotiations of many people who are now teaching at the school. As a researcher I am mainly working on three fronts – film theory and history, adaptation studies and world literature and cinema. My recent publications include, Japan beyond Borders: Transnational Approach to Film and Media (Seibunsha, 2020) and Japanese Transnational Cinema (MDPI, 2020). Both are cowritten and co-edited with Marcos Centeno-Martin, my former exchange student from Valencia, Spain. At the time of writing this, I am on sabbatical leave in Rome, where I am writing a book on transnational film adaptation – from Shakespeare’s drama to Italian silent movies, from Japanese J-Horror to American horror movies, from Murakami Haruki’s short story to Korean film, etc.
Major Works / Publications Awards
https://w-rdb.waseda.jp/html/100000252_en.html
Directed Research
The students are invited to meet me for the plan of their research at the beginning of each semester and asked to produce a detailed schedule based on the meeting. Throughout the semester we regularly meet for supervision, but as no specific hours are reserved for it, we meet through appointment. In the supervision the feasibility of topics, the adequacy of research methods, the pace of progress, and problems that each student is facing will be discussed. Nearer the submission of theses, I am sitting with students to discuss the chapter(s) that they have completed. If your first language is not English, please make most of Writing Centre, where you can receive advices about not only the accuracy of your English but also even the best way in which you can write a thesis.
