Shiho Takai

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.