Japanese students spend a many years studying English but do not have many opportunities to use it in their daily lives. I am very interested in the connections between culture and language-learning and what chances can be created for students to utilise English in their university life and after. I believe that using content in the classroom is a valuable means to advance their abilities.

I specialize in ‘archaeology’. Archaeology is usually understood as a descriptive discipline related to excavations and excavated sites and materials. However, archaeology is more than a descriptive discipline. It also involves interpretations about excavated materials or even non-excavated materials. Interpretations are done by archaeologists or interested academicians living in historically and culturally bound eras whose ‘ethos’ is not necessarily constant. I conceive archaeology as an intellectual endeavor trying to understand interactions between the ‘ancient past’ and the ‘present’ in which interpretations in archaeology are attempted. My past research activities, which are summarized below, are carried out under such academic assumption about archaeology.
Archaeology of Vietnam: The purpose of this study is through the archaeological findings from ancient Vietnam excavated during the French colonial period. I aim to rethink the Orientalism and Nationalism agendas, focusing on the ‘Chinese model’ adopted in colonial Indochina and the ‘Vietnamese model’ adopted in post-independence Vietnam.
Archaeology of Border (Tsushima Island): It examines the history surrounding the ‘Tsushima Strait’ (internationally more commonly recognized as the ‘Korea Strait’) that separates Japan and Korea.
Taiwan and Modern Asia: Through historical reconstruction and comparison of anthropological and archaeological records and memories of the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan, I seek to explore a common future in the historicity and politics of modern Asia.
Currently, I am preparing two research projects: “Comparative Study on Plurality in Human History” and “Research on the Theory and Practice of Social Museology” (Joint Research Project with the National Museum of Ethnology). I am also interested in the history and culture of Okayama.

(1)I have been conducting research on Virginia Woolf, who is one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. I have been studying her representative works from the viewpoint of psychoanalysis, especially Carl Gustav Jung’s analytical psychology. In addition, my recent research interests include history, society and culture described in her works.
(2)I am interested in English language education. I have been working on the use of films (including anime), graded readers and literary works in EFL classrooms. My research focuses on students’ motivation in language learning.

In my thesis, I proposed “Balance Theory” from the viewpoint of both formalism and functionalism. I am mainly interested in the following leading questions:What causes focus movements?, which elements can be moved?, where is the landing site?, why is the movement operation is restricted in a certain environment?, and how do we explain the grammatical gradience？ In my assumption, natural languages are required to have well-balanced structutres. When the structure in question is imbalanced, a focal element is triggered in order to make the structure balanced. In the case of English, the landing site should be the edge of the sentence, that is, the end poistion or the top position, depending on the kinds of sentences. I hope we can explain as many phenomema as possible by using this simple idea.

In this globalized world, English is crucial as international language. Students majoirng in science and engineering field expecially need to learn English related to their major and future career actively.
Therefore, I study and practice Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) class, which aims to let students visualize necessary English in their own major or future career, caltivate their cognitive skills, and raise their motivation. I also research effective Egnlish instruction that science and engineering students can learn English logically.

In my classes I use a textbook but also have the students communicate in English. Listening practice is also focused on. If a student is unable to listen he or she will not be able to communicate. The goal of the class is to get the students to be comfortable communicating in English.

My field of expertise is modern and contemporary Chinese literature, with a current focus on science fiction (SF) literature in the Chinese-speaking world. SF literature is often perceived as a product of imagination detached from reality, but in reality, it contains deep connections with society and often functions as a critical reflection of it. In my research, I place more emphasis on the ‘S’ (Science/Society) aspect, that is, the scientific and social imagination, rather than the ‘F’ (Fiction) aspect in SF works.

The main focus of my current research is the representation of utopias and dystopias in SF literature from mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. The genre of SF, while inheriting the lineage of utopian literature, presents various concepts of future societies against the backdrop of rapid scientific and technological advancements and social changes since modern times.

The imagined societies constructed in these works are not merely fantasies; they often contain critiques of dystopian realities in the present world and aspirations toward alternative social orders. Therefore, through Chinese-language SF literature, my research aims to explore the critical imagination of the challenges faced by contemporary society and the possibilities of human society in the future. This is the core of my research.

The difficult past was a catastrophic event that led to “mass death,” and the damage was felt not only by the dead but also by the survivors. This applies to wars, pollution damage, isolation policies for Hansen’s disease, pollution damage, etc. Furthermore, because such damage involves a complex relationship between perpetrators and victims, the “interpretation = meaning” of the event is likely to be divided depending on one’s position, making it difficult to pass on experiences. Based on the concepts of collaboration and ESD, I create spaces for dialogue, practice public history, and deepen my research on the inheritance of difficult past experiences.

[Criminal Process]
· Wrongful Convictions and Miscarriages of Justice ― Causes and Remedies in Japanese Criminal Justice System
· Abolition of the Police Detention System (Daiyo-Kangoku)
· Limitations on police Interrogations (including the presence of Lawyer)

[Penal Policy]
· Abolition of the Death Penalty
· Reform of the Treatment of Prisoners

My research focuses on understanding how people build relationships within groups and organizations, and how these relationships are maintained and transmitted over time, from the perspective of social psychology.
I have examined the structure of behaviors in Sempai-Kohai(senior–junior) relationships in university clubs and extracurricular groups, exploring how hierarchical relationships are formed based on different criteria, and how these relationships shape individuals’ behaviors and emotions. In addition, I have investigated how group formality—defined as the degree of clearly structured roles and rules—and patterns of interpersonal relationships influence both individual behaviors and group functioning.
More recently, I have studied skill transfer processes in non-profit organizations, analyzing how leadership skills and knowledge are passed on. In particular, I highlight the importance of sharing tacit knowledge, such as experiential know-how and interpersonal networks, which are difficult to formalize.
My research employs quantitative data analysis using questionnaire and interview methods, as well as the development of psychological scales, with an emphasis on capturing real-world issues in a measurable form.
In the future, building on my experience in supporting students with disabilities, I aim to explore issues related to disability acceptance, career development, and support systems, and to contribute to the development of practical support strategies in collaboration with educational institutions and local communities.

In the future society, collaboration between leaders and followers is important.
Therefore, it is important that leaders also learn about followers and learn about followership.
The human resources that companies look for in new hires will include an element of followership.
Mastery of leadership requires that you make your own changes in your own behavior.
It is necessary to look back at one’s own behavior, notice unconscious comments and actions, and change oneself.
We are currently conducting research on building relationships with others, developing oneself, and becoming self-reliant through leadership education.

I have wide experience in teaching English in several types of schools such as junior high and high schools, including a correspondence course high school, and a university. So, in the field of English Language Education, I am interested in how to improve English language skills of EFL learners at each stage of language learning and lead them to be self-disciplined learners from the viewpoint of SLA.
In one case, learners at the higher education, e.g. university students, are required to read several literatures in order to gather information or knowledge on their interest. Some literatures may be written in Japanese, but in most cases, they are written in other languages, including English. I am investigating some possible aspects related to their effective reading, such as formal instruction, vocabulary building, background knowledge etc., and would like to identify aspects effective to reading for information gathering. These aspects may vary according to learner characteristics. In another case, I am performing studies of effective use of media such as music and movie in the language classroom.
Moreover, I would like to investigate the potentiality of BASIC English, which was “discovered” by Charles Kay Ogden, and develop educational materials for EFL/ESL Learners based on Ogden’s idea shown in BASIC English. BASIC English is a simplified and organized English brought up by Charles Kay Ogden as an international auxiliary language, and as an aid for teaching English as a second language. I think his idea is still very significant even today.

The establishment of physique (body type) and physical fitness assessment methods that consider individual growth and development is an important issue in school health. In particular, for late adolescents (high school students), who are in the final stages of their physical growth, it is important from the perspective of future health to acquire physical fitness appropriate to their physique. However, conventional physical fitness assessment often overestimates (or underestimates) physical fitness. Hence, it is necessary to develop a new evaluation method that takes individual physique into account and can be practically implemented in educational settings. In our research, we have proposed a new physique assessment (body composition category model) based on the combination of fat mass and lean body mass. In the future, we will examine the validity of this model and the evaluation of physical fitness and athletic ability by body size, verify the validity of the evaluation table, and consider applying it to the educational field.

At first, I had an keen interest in self-reflection that goes with self-narrative　(autobiography, diary and self-portray etc.), especially in its influence on personality development. To pursue this issue, I tackled researches on psychoanalysis, German expressionism and phanomenology. I also engaged in artisitic activities and created works as well.

For these years, I have been researching on philosophy of Wilhelm Dilthey, a German philosopher in 19th century, who aimed to establish humanities and social sciences as rigorous “moral science”. Recently I begin to make a study of religion and aesthetics through his works, which requires an interdisciplinary study that shows humanities and social sciences as a whole.

In the future, I hope to comprehend herumeneutics from 18th century until 20th century, which is still not clarified in Japan. Hermeneutics itself is difficult to define; it started as traditional hermeneutics in the thought of Herder, Droysen, Dilthey etc, and developed into new hermeneutics of Heidegger and Gadamar in 20th century, making idea of hermeneutics a confused one. It also had great influence on German Idealism, New Kantianism, philosophy of Nietzsche, Ricoeur, and Derrida, and psychoanalysis, which means that interdisciplinary study is necessary and essential. I can strongly feel the importance of joint study these days.

I am studying the images and movements of the learners in dance, and the teaching methods that elicited physical expression.
I am studying the image and movement in dance, such as what kind of image the learner perceives and what kind of movement appears,toward the realization of creative physical expression.
I would like to develop learning and teaching methods through exercise and sports, including dance.