Education

1997 - Ph.D. - The Ohio State University, Japanese Language and Literature

1990 - M.A. - The Ohio State University, Japanese Language and Literature

1987 - M.A. - Sophia University, Japan

1986 - Master’s Certificate, Dai Nippon Sadō Gakkai (Tea Ceremony)

1982 - A.B. - Sophia University, Japan

Teaching and Research Interests

• Japanese tales of the supernatural and folklore
• Classical, medieval, and early modern Japanese prose and drama
• Japanese film
• Japanese history and culture

Courses Taught at Miami

• JPN 201 - Second Year Japanese
• JPN 202 - Second Year Japanese
• JPN 231 - Japanese Tales of the Supernatural in English Translation
• JPN 255 - Drama in China and Japan in English Translation
• JPN 260 - Topics in Japanese Literature in English Translation
• JPN 266 - Survey of Japanese Cinema: Japanese Film and Culture
• JPN 279 - Buddhism and Culture: China and Japan
• JPN 301 - Third Year Japanese
• JPN 302 - Third Year Japanese
• JPN 401 - Fourth Year Japanese
• JPN 402 - Fourth Year Japanese

Grants and Awards

• Visiting research scholar at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken)
• Publication, Reprint, Exhibition, and Performance Costs (PREP) award, Miami University
• Grant for Short-term Research Travel by the Northeast Asia Council (NEAC) of the Association for Asian Studies  (AAS)
• Hampton Fund for Faculty International Initiatives, Miami University
• Small Grant to Improve Teaching, Miami University

Selected Publications

Books

• Mountain Witches: Yamauba. Logan: Utah State University Press, June 2021.
• Seven Demon Stories from Medieval Japan. Logan: Utah State University Press, 2016.
• Japanese Demon Lore: Oni, from Ancient Times to the Present. Logan: Utah State University Press, 2010.
• Tales of the Supernatural in Early Modern Japan: Kaidan, Akinari, Ugetsu monogatari. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2002.

Book Chapters

• “Introduction: locating the yamamba.” In Yamamba: In Search of the Japanese Mountain Witch. Edited by Rebecca Copeland and Linda C.  Ehrlick, 13–24 California: The Stone Bridge Press, 2021.
• “Japanese Studies at Miami University of Ohio.” Sekai no nihon kenkyū 2019 (Japanese Studies in the World 2019).Edited by Ayako Kusunoki, 74–84. Kyoto: International Research Center for Japan Studies, 2020.
• "The Life and Lore of Oni." In Yokai: Ghosts, Demons & Monsters of Japan, edited by Felicia Katz-Harris. (Museum of New Mexico Press, 2019).

Articles

• “Snow Woman Yukionna: From Spirit of Snow to Icy Hot Female.” Journal of American Folklore 163 no. 541 (summer 2023): forthcoming.
• "A Tale of Calligraphy Brushes (Hikketsu no Monogatari): A Humorous Medieval Instructional Tale, Annotated Translation with Translator's Introduction." Asian Ethnology 81 no. 1/2 (2022): 87-107.
• "Yamauba versus Oni-Women: devouring and helping yamauba are two sides of one coin." Asian Ethnology 78. 2 (2019): 403-427

Presentations

• "A Tale of Calligraphy Brushes: A 15th century instructional otogiz?shi and happyaku bikuni." Paper delivered at the 70th Midwest Conference on Asian Association. Indiana University via Zoom. October 2021.
• "Image of 'Yamauba and Spinning Wheel' and the Noh plays Yamanba and Kurozuka." Paper delivered at the 68th Midwest Conference on Asian Association. Michigan State University, Michigan October 2019.
• “Yamauba(zō) ni tsuite no ichikōsatsu” (A Thought on An (Image) of Yamauba). Paper delivered at Kokusai nihon bunka kenkyū sentā kikan kyotengata kikan kenkyū purojekuto: Taishū bunka no tsūjiteki, kokusaiteki kenkyū ni yoru atarashii nihonzō no sōshutsu. International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Kyoto, 2019.
• "Violence in Traditional Japanese Literary Contexts: Legends of Yasaburo Basa." Paper presented at Association of Japanese Literary Sudies conference, Oberlin College, Ohio February 2018.
• “Mountain Witches: yamauba, market, and yamauba-gyaru.” Paper presented at Annual Meeting of American Folklore Society. Buffalo, New York. 2018.
• “Violence in Traditional Japanese Literary Contexts: Legends of Yasaburō Basa.” Paper presented at Association of Japanese Literary Studies conference, Oberlin College, Ohio. February 2018.

Invited Lectures

• "Mountain Witches Yamauba: enigmatic female in the mountains." Delivered at the Museum of International Folk Art in New Mexico via Zoom. April 2022
• "Yamauba, A Benevolent and Malevolent Mountain Witch." Delivered at Sinclair Community College via Zoom. March 2021.
• “Oni to kijo to yamauba to – yamauba to oni no kankei” (Demons, Female Demons, and Mountain Witches – Relationship between mountain witches and demons). Delivered at the 329th Nichibunken Forum at Hātopia Kyoto, Kyoto, 2019.
• “Souls in Objects in Japanese Belief: Tsukumogami.” For the “21 Gram” Symposium at Craft Museum of China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China. November 2018

Membership in Professional Organizations

• Association of Japanese Literary Studies
• Ohio-Japan Alumni Network
• Midwest Japan Seminar
• Association for Teachers of Japanese
• Association for Asian Studies
• The American Folklore Society
• Phi Kappa Phi, honorary fraternity.

Languages

• English (near-native)
• Japanese (native)