I am an Associate Professor in the Faculty of International Humanities, Department of International Liberal Arts at Showa Women’s University, Japan. I completed my DPhil (PhD) in History at the University of Oxford (Pembroke College) in 2023. I conducted multilingual archival research in Tokyo and Yokohama to complete my doctoral dissertation, which examined the politics of laughter and humorous media in nineteenth century Japan. As a researcher, I foreground a non-state transnational approach to explore currents of globalisation and cross-border connectivity from below. I extend this approach to the contemporary world in my current research, which offers a fresh look at the “Cool Japan” phenomenon by examining how cultural flows and unlikely connections emerge beyond the frameworks of the state.
I have teaching experience across multiple universities in Japan, the UK and an American university in China. I was as a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow for Global Perspectives on Society (GPS) at NYU Shanghai for 3 years and also taught as a part-time lecturer at Rikkyo University’s Global Liberal Arts Program for 4 years. I have also held visiting researcher positions at Keio University’s Faculty of Law (Mita).
As an educator, my goal is to equip students with the skills and experiences they need to succeed both within and beyond the university. My pedagogical approach is therefore centred on connecting classroom learning with real-world application through research-led project-based learning and collaboration with external stakeholders across sectors.
I previously served as a researcher and project manager at Asia Pacific Initiative, a Tokyo-based think tank, where I served as a staff director for an international study and bilingual book publication on Japan's soft power in the 21st century.
Building on my professional background in international higher education management with time as a Project Officer at the British Council Tokyo, I also design and coordinate innovative academia-industry partnerships that have developed student internships and career placements.
Originally from London, I spent 14+ years in Tokyo as a student and professional. I speak fluent Japanese (JLPT 1, 2012) and hold a HSK 5 level certificate in Mandarin Chinese (2021), and TOPIK I-Level 2 certificate in Korean (2025).
After a decade at Dulwich College London, a gap year in Nishio City sparked my decision to pursue a full undergraduate degree in Japan. I received a BA in Liberal Arts from International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo where my dissertation won the 2011 Friends of ICU Award (Kiyoko Cho Academic Award in Asian Studies). In 2013 I completed an MPhil in Modern Japanese Studies from the University of Oxford’s Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies (St Antony’s College). I served as the President of the Oxford Alumni Club of Japan from 2014-2024.
In 2018 I won 3rd prize in the Sir Peter Parker Awards for Spoken Business Japanese and in 2019 I came 3rd in the UK’s Top 10 Rare Rising Stars awards. Most recently, my article published in the Japan Forum journal was awarded the 2022 Ian Nish Prize for the best article by an early career scholar by the British Association for Japanese Studies.
My research has been awarded funding from the Japan Foundation, Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, Tanaka Foundation, Toyota-Shi Trevelyan Trust, Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, Pembroke College, St Antony’s College, the University of Oxford’s Faculty of History, and New York University.
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