Scholars 2011-2020

Katsuhiko Kitada

2020-2022 Katsuhiko Kitada received a Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Studies from Kobe City University of Foreign Studies. He is currently a MA student at the Department of Second Language Studies. In Japan, He worked as an administrative officer at the Osaka Prefectural Government for eight years and as an assistant teacher at Osaka YMCA international school. One of his research focuses is to teach English to speakers of other languages, especially for Japanese children in the stage of elementary school. He is also interested in the administration of the education system and school management. He intends to contribute to supporting English learners and improving the education system in Japan.

Hiroko Saito

2019-2021 Hiroko Saito received a Master’s degree in English from the Graduate School of Letters, Arts and Sciences at Waseda University, Tokyo. She will be a Ph. D student at the Department of American Studies, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa in Fall 2019. Her academic interests include Japanese American literature, Japanese literature in English, and trans-Pacific studies. She will focus on Japanese women writers who published their autobiographies in English in the first half of the 20th century.

Francesca Pizarro

2019-2020 Francesca Pizarro is currently Assistant Professor of Japanese Studies at Colorado College. She earned her PhD and MA in East Asian Languages and Literatures (Japanese) from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and her BA in East Asian Studies from Queens College, CUNY. Broadly, her research interests include gender and sexuality in modern and contemporary Japanese literature, spatial literary studies, Japanese women writers, women’s studies, and girls’ studies. Her dissertation examined the representations of gender and space in early-twentieth century Japanese fiction featuring the figure of the schoolgirl or jogakusei. She conducted research for the dissertation at the University of Tsukuba in Ibaraki, Japan through the generous support of the Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship Foundation.

Masaki Eguchi

2018-2019 Masaki Eguchi received a Master’s degree in Education (English Language Teaching) from the Graduate School of Education at Waseda University, Tokyo. He is currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Second Language Studies, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. His interests include second-language vocabulary learning and teaching, usage-based approaches to language acquisition and content-based instruction. Specifically, his research focuses on the development of the lexical network in learner mental lexicon to draw some implications for foreign language teaching.

Robert Oda

Robert Oda

2018-2020 Robert Oda is currently a Director of Research at Chordia Therapeutics which is based in Fujisawa. He leads all pre-clinical research activity on the development of a novel anti-cancer medication. He received his PhD in Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering from UH Manoa and his Bachelors of Science in Physics and Computer Science from McGill University. He conducted research in cancer cell detection using non-linear optics at the University of Hawaii with Dr. Bruce Shiramizu and at the University of Tokyo with Dr. Yasuyuki Ozeki. After finishing his PhD, he held an Assistant Professor position at Keio University School of Medicine where he researched dynamics of small molecule drugs and the brain.

Yoshiro Sakamoto

2017-2019 Yoshiro Sakamoto received an MA degree from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and is a PhD Candidate in Literature and Cultural Studies at the same university. His dissertation research is regarding the life and literature of Mr. Stefan Baciu, a prominent poet and literary promoter of post-war literature in Hawaii. During his stay at UH-Manoa as a visiting researcher, he will focus on the significance of the poet’s literary works and activity in the 20th century.

Jennifer Yoo

2017-2018 Jennifer Yoo received a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Studies degree from Wellesley College. She is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in University of Hawaii’s Asian Theater program with a focus in Japanese theatre. Her primary academic interest is women’s representation in media and culture, which she will explore in her dissertation, “Thy Name is Woman: Performing the Feminine Ghost in Japanese Theatre and Cinema.” Her historical and cultural knowledge of Asian theatre also fuels her playwriting. Her first play, “Fire Horse”, was selected as a regional finalist for Kennedy Center’s American College Theater Festival 49. She is doing her research in Japan at the Ritsumeikan’s Art Research Center.

Alexander Krieg

2016-2018 Alexander Krieg received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Sociology, and Japanese Studies at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. He is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in University of Hawaii’s Clinical Psychology program. While his clinical interests focus mostly on developing social anxiety assessment and treatment protocols that are both contextually and culturally sensitive, his research interests are rooted in the newly developed field of “cultural neuroscience.” Cultural neuroscience seeks to understand the mutual interaction of culture, genes, and neurobiological processes on many different levels of analysis. Alexander relocated to Tokyo in May 2016 and holds the position of Visiting Researcher at University of Tokyo.

Junichi Yagi

2016-2018 Junichi Yagi is an Assistant Professor at Waseda University, Tokyo (2024 – present). He received a PhD in Second Language Studies from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (2023). His research focuses on embodied aspects of social interaction; how we conduct our everyday life by using language(s), body, space, and objects. His current research interest is in how learning may be occasioned within the activity framework of play (e.g., music, sports, other leisure activities). Dr. Yagi’s papers have been published in Journal of Pragmatics, Social Interaction – Video-Based Studies of Human Sociality, Multimodal Communication, Applied Pragmatics, and Sports Coaching Review.

Takuya Saeki

2015-2017 Takuya Saeki received a Bachelor of Arts in Transcultural Studies degree from Waseda University. He graduated with a Master’s degree in Second Language Studies at the University of Hawaii in May 2017. His academic interests include English as a Lingua Franca, Intercultural Communication, and English Language Education. His recent publication explores the development of English ownership among Japanese users of English and examines its implications for English language teaching.

Benjamin Schrager

2015-2017 Benjamin Schrager received a bachelor of arts degree in Sociology from Grinnell College in Iowa and a master of arts degree in Geography from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He is currently Assistant Professor, Division of Agricultural Economics, School of Agriculture, Utsunomiya University.

John Seymour

2014-2016 John Seymour is a Ph.D. Candidate in Music Composition at the University of Hawaii Manoa where he composes new music for traditional Asian instruments and also researches Gagaku, an ancient genre of Japanese music. He received a bachelor of music degree in Composition and Theory from the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University, and a master of arts degree in Music Composition from the University of North Texas.

Arisa Yoshida

2014-2016 Arisa Yoshida received a master’s degree in Communications from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where she researched developing intercultural training for teachers and the relationship with intercultural sensitivity among students. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in Intercultural Communication degree from Rikkyo University. While a student at Rikkyo University, she studied at Hawaii Pacific University as an exchange student.

Laura Specker Sullivan

2013-2015Dr. Laura Specker Sullivan started a new job at the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School in July 2017. In July 2018, she will be moving to Charleston, South Carolina to take a position as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the College of Charleston. She received her Ph.D. and master’s degree in Philosophy, and a graduate certificate in Japanese Studies from the University of Hawaii Manoa. She also holds a bachelor of arts degree in Philosophy from Williams College. Her Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship enabled her to study informed consent in Japan at the Kokoro Research Center at Kyoto University.

Sakiko Yasuda

2013-2015 Dr. Sakiko Yasuda has been working at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) East Asia and Pacific Regional Office (EAPRO) in Bangkok, Thailand. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Health from the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii Manoa. She also holds a masters of public health degree from Kyoto University, a bachelor’s degree in Nursing, and a bachelor of science degree in Education from Kibi International University. Her research interest is school-based intervention to improve health for children.

Christopher Smith

2012-2014 Christopher Smith is an Assistant Professor at University of Florida and he has a Ph.D. in Japanese Literature from the University of Hawaii Manoa. He holds a master of arts degree in East Asian Studies from the University of Virginia and a bachelor of arts degree in East Asian Studies from the College of William and Mary; His research interests include contemporary (Heisei) popular literature and Edo period popular literature.

Ikuyo Takara

2012-2013 Ikuyo Takara is a Ph. D. candidate at the University of Tokyo and an M.A. candidate in Second Language Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Tokyo and a bachelor of arts degree from Japan Women’s University. Her research interests include pedagogy and the role and significance of the writing centers in the American higher education system.

Michelle Daigle

2011-2013 Michelle Daigle is a Ph.D. candidate at Kumamoto University and a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Hawaii Manoa. Her research interests include the ramifications of industrial pollution on the environment and public health by examining Minamata Disease. She also investigates the politics, legality, and social construction of Minamata disease.

Yukie Michelle Lloyd

2011-2013 Yukie Michelle Lloyd is a Ph.D. Candidate, Tropical Medicine at John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii Manoa. She holds a bachelor of science degree in Biochemistry from Kitasato University, and a master of science degree in Microbiology from the University of Tokyo. Her research interests include vaccine research, host defense, and the epidemiology of dengue fever and other tropical diseases.