Quick Questions

A series interviewing people about their research, the turning points in their lives, and their thoughts about the future of the humanities.

Over time, we aim to build up an English-language picture of the diverse humanities community in (or connected with) Tokyo.

We ask everyone the same five quick questions...

"I realized the importance of selecting words to maximize the readability of sentences. I keenly recognized the power of Akutagawa's texts, which I had read when I was young."

#14 - Yoichiro Sato

(Kyoto Prefectural University)

"What is the function of human unhappiness in first world cultures?"

#13 - Daniel Wiltshire

(GRIA Books)

"We have to keep in mind that for many good, kind, honest people, leading rich, fulfilling lives, the humanities have no value whatsoever'"

#12 - Myles Chilton

(Nihon University)

"I wanted to answer the question: 'What do real Japanese women have in their kimono closets?'"

#11 - Sheila Cliffe

(Associate Professor,
Jumonji Women's University)

"Imagination becomes increasingly important in our present age, when war, terrorism and racism are growing."

#10 - Satbuyl Kim

(Associate Professor, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature)

"It can be challenging to show the value of the humanities from a 'breaking news' story angle."

#9 - Ayumi Koso

(Assistant Professor, National Institutes for the Humanities)

"I learned how to follow my curiosity first, and then find a larger story by 'connecting the dots'."

#8 - Koji Yamamoto

(Early modern historian, University of Tokyo)

"Swept up in the lush visuals and the music, I suddenly realized what kabuki must have been like for an early modern Japanese audience."

#7 - Dylan McGee

(Japanese literature and print culture scholar, University of Nagoya)

"My focus ... is expanding into more of a planetary perspective."

#6 - Yuko Kamei

(Artist in Tokyo)

"Going against the odds really confirmed my ambition to pursue a career as a researcher and educator"

#5 - Iris Haukamp

(Film studies scholar, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)

"What does all this mean for us as a society and as a species?"

#4 - Arthur Huang

(Tokyo-based artist and RIKEN researcher)

"It keeps enlightening and reminding all of us that we are inherently visionary and creative."

#3 - Naoko Asano

(Victorian art scholar, Mori Memorial Foundation)

"There had to be something better. And there was"

#2 - Andrew Fitzsimons

(Poet and translator, Gakushuin University)

"Shut down the Globe theatre in London and hear the screams."

#1 - Thomas Dabbs

(Shakespeare scholar, Aoyama Gakuin University)