Exploring Japanese Literary Voices

Robert Campbell, Ph.D., is a distinguished scholar of Japanese literature and currently serves as a University Professor at Waseda University. He is also an advisor to the Waseda International House of Literature (The Haruki Murakami Library) and holds the title of Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo, where he previously served as Director-General of the National Institute of Japanese Literature (NIJL) in Tokyo. His academic contributions and insights into Japanese literature have made him a prominent figure in the field.

Shiho Takai serves as an Associate Professor at Waseda University's School of Culture, Media and Society and Graduate School of Letters, Arts and Sciences, where she specializes in classical Japanese literature and early modern Japanese theater. Her academic journey includes a BA in British Studies from the University of Tokyo, an MA in Japanese Literature from Washington University in St. Louis, and a PhD in Japanese Literature from Columbia University. Her research focuses particularly on jōruri puppet plays and gender representation in early modern Japanese literature, as evidenced by her scholarly works examining the Dōjōji legend adaptations and the portrayal of stepmothers in Namiki Sōsuke's plays. At Waseda, she contributes to both the Global Japanese Studies Model Unit and the Ryusaku Tsunoda Center of Japanese Culture, bringing her expertise in classical Japanese literature and theater to international academic discourse.

Pau Pitarch Fernández serves as an Associate Professor at Waseda University's School of Culture, Media and Society, where he specializes in modern Japanese literature and media studies. After earning his PhD from Columbia University, his research has centered on the complex relationship between literature, psychology, and publishing culture in early 20th-century Japan. His current scholarly work examines how the concept of artistic creativity as mental abnormality became fundamental to the formation of the literary field in 1910s and 1920s Japan, particularly focusing on writers like Tanizaki Jun'ichirō, Satō Haruo, and Akutagawa Ryūnosuke

Kristopher Reeves serves as an Associate Professor at Waseda University's School of Culture, Media and Society, specializing in premodern Sino-Japanese comparative studies with a focus on Sinitic poetry. After completing his PhD in Japanese Literature from Columbia University in 2018, where he studied under Haruo Shirane, he worked at the National Institute of Japanese Literature before joining Waseda. His research centers on literary heteroglossia and Chinese-style poetry (kanshi) composed by Japanese writers in the ninth and tenth centuries, with particular attention to private family anthologies (shikashū). His scholarly work examines how these anthologies transformed earlier genres of Chinese-style poetry by incorporating elements from waka verse traditions, while also analyzing their sociopolitical implications. Through his teaching, Reeves encourages students to explore Japanese culture, literature, and intellectual history from a comparative perspective within the broader East Asian cultural context. He has published extensively on topics ranging from Heian-period Sinitic writing to comparative studies of purgatory narratives in premodern Japan and China, demonstrating his expertise in both classical Japanese literature and East Asian comparative studies.

Gaye Rowley is a distinguished academic who teaches English and Japanese literature at Waseda University. Her scholarly work focuses extensively on Japanese literature and women's history, with particular emphasis on The Tale of Genji. She has made significant contributions to the field through her translations and authorships, including notable works like "Yosano Akiko and The Tale of Genji," "Autobiography of a Geisha," and "An Imperial Concubine's Tale: Scandal, Shipwreck, and Salvation in Seventeenth Century Japan." Her recent translation of Ōgimachi Machiko's memoir "In the Shelter of the Pine" received recognition through the 2022-2023 Lindsley and Masao Miyoshi Translation Prize, highlighting her expertise in making Japanese literature accessible to English-speaking audiences.