GO Faculties

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Yasumichi KIMI
Lecturer

My fields of study are Japanese folklore studies and tourism culture in Japan. I completed my master’s degree in history and folklore studies at Kanagawa University. I have worked on the staff of the AIKOM Program since 1995 when the program began and have supported many incoming and outgoing exchange students.

Message to students

I was born and raised in Japan, and I have never lived abroad. However, through my work in the AIKOM Program, I have come to believe that student exchange is one of the best ways for students to learn about the world. I have seen and heard a lot of good experiences from both incoming and outgoing exchange students. Therefore, I hope that many more students have the opportunity to study abroad, and I look forward to continuing to support students in the Globalization Office.

Languages spoken

Japanese and English
Mariko OSAWA
Lecturer

I was born and grew up in Tokyo and lived for one year in the United States as an exchange student and studied and worked for 8 years in Italy. After completing my master’s degree in applied linguistics at the University of Tokyo, I became active in the education sector, working for various universities and institutions over the past ten years. I joined the University of Tokyo in February 2013.
My research focuses on issues of language education, language policy and cross-cultural communication. Currently I am conducting research on plurilingual education in Italy, France, Switzerland and Luxemburg. My recent publications include Plurilingual Education Policies in Luxembourg and in Valle d’Aosta in Italy (2014) and Inheriting the Dolomites' Ladin Language in South Tirol, between Italian and German (2015).

Message to students

Since I myself was an exchange student and have studied and worked in different countries, I understand the excitement and the anxiety of living abroad. I would like to support both international and domestic students who wish to study abroad in order to facilitate their learning and enrich their everyday lives.

Favorite spots on campus

The cherry tree colonnade in April and gingko tree colonnade in autumn

Languages spoken

Japanese, Italian, English, and conversational Spanish
Shinji MIYAGAWA
Project Assistant Professor
I was born in Tokyo. I completed the doctoral program in Department of Advanced Social and International Studies at the University of Tokyo. My expertise is the political economy of the Global South, focusing on the Philippines.
I have conducted research in the Philippines since my master's program and have stayed there as a visiting researcher at Ateneo de Manila University and the University of the Philippines. I have also conducted field research in a slum area in Metro Manila, staying in one of the houses in the community.

Message to students

In recent years, we have access to a multitude of visual and auditory information about foreign countries through social networking services and video platforms such as YouTube. However, such information is only a part of the actual place captured by the photographers, and there are many things that can only be experienced by visiting the places. Taking the Philippines as an example, the roaming stray cats and dogs, the sound of horns in a terrible traffic jam, the very sour soup that makes us frown, the smell of reused oil wafting from the street vendors, and the feeling of moisture always clinging to our skin due to the high humidity are things that cannot be experienced unless we actually go there.
Please do not be satisfied with photos and videos and visit the places offline, not online!

Languages spoken

Japanese, English, and Filipino


Midori SATO
Lecturer

Dr. Midori joined the Globalization Office of the University of Tokyo International Exchange Center in April 2021. She holds a Doctorate in Public Health (DrPH) degree from the University of London, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). She has studied abroad every decade of her career, the first time for a year in the UK (Essex University) in her 20s, the second time in the US (Boston University) in her 30s to obtain a Masters degree in Public Health (MPH), and finally pursuing in her 40s the doctorate degree in the UK (University of London).
 
Midori's private sector fundamentals were built at Daiichi Pharmaceutical Ltd., where she learnt global profit-making business know-how at global pharmaceutical research and development (R&D), production, marketing and licensing. After obtaining the MPH, she shifted her career to non-profit organisations, such as the Tuberculosis Research Institute and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Midori began her UNICEF career in Zambia, Africa, in 2001; since then, for more 18 years, she has served as a manager and Chief of Health and Nutrition sections in various UNICEF offices around the world with the mission to reduce inequities in health among vulnerable mothers and children.
 
Midori's research broadly focuses on how to strengthen health systems and policy, with particular concern for health equity. She has a track record of research around: health policy implementation with a focus on how interpersonal relations, power and trust influence policy performance; district health systems and primary health care (MCH, infectious diseases); user fees and health financing issues; and leadership, organisation and management of health systems.
 
Midori teaches global praxis courses around the area of international development (with a focus on Global Health, Child Rights and the SDGs, the UN and the role of civil society organisations, political economy in health, and advanced English for international career development. She is currently conducting health service research for Asian technical intern trainees and foreign students in Japan.
 
Publications in peer-reviewed journals：
1) "A rapid assessment of the political economy of health at district level, with a focus on maternal, newborn and child health, in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal and the Philippines” Health Policy and Planning, Vol 34, Issue 10, December 2019, Pages 762–772
2) “Exploring health facilities’ experiences in implementing the free health-care policy (FHCP) in Nepal: how did organizational factors influence the implementation of the user-fee abolition policy?”Health Policy and Planning, Vol 30, Issue 10, December 2015, Pages 1272–1288

Message to students

During your university studies in this difficult time, I suggest students not only widen their knowledge and deep-thinking process, but also believe in your "gut feeling" and "intuition" and act on it (even if you fail!). "Thinking ability" and "intuition ability" will gradually improve through the cyclical process of following instinct, taking action, following it through, analyzing results, verifying experience, and explaining it to others.

Languages spoken

Japanese, English, French (Primary)
Sho SHIMOYAMADA
Project Assistant Professor

I was born and raised in central Tokyo. Since I spent my early life in urban surroundings, occasional visits to mountains and rivers were very exciting. I wanted to go out of the place where I grew up, and consequently went to Tokai University in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. I did my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in an academic field called leisure studies and nurtured my interest in play, tourism and various leisure pursuits.
 
Afterwards, I did my PhD at the University of Edinburgh, which is in the capital of Scotland, and researched the ways in which Open Gardens (private gardens open to the public) were produced. I was awarded a PhD in 2017 and then started working as a Project Researcher for the Center for Research and Development of Higher Education, The University of Tokyo. In April 2020, I was appointed as a Project Assistant Professor at the Globalization Office. I am currently managing a project called ‘Go Global Gateway’ (https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/adm/go-gateway/en/index.html).

Message to students

Go beyond the borders! Get out of the place that you are familiar with and study a language and culture that are different from yours. The same applies to learning at UTokyo. Transcend the disciplinary barrier and enjoy intellectual exchange.
 
Favorite spots on campus
The rooftop of the Student Support Center, Hongo campus.

Languages spoken

Japanese, English and Mandarin Chinese (novice)
Yujin YAGUCHI
Director of the Globalization Office, College of Arts and Sciences Professor
 
I was born and raised in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. After attending Hokkaido University for a little more than a year, I transferred to Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana (USA), where I majored in English literature. After graduating from college, I worked for a Japanese company in Indiana before enrolling in the American Studies Program at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where I finished my M.A. (1990) and Ph.D. (1999). I returned to Hokkaido to teach at Hokkaido University in 1995. In 1998 I moved to Tokyo to teach at the University of Tokyo. I now teach English language courses as well as American studies and cultural studies to both undergraduate and graduate students. I also serve as the director of the Globalization Office and as deputy director of International Admissions.
 
My research is focused on U.S.-Japan cultural relations, with a particular interest in cultural representation and memory. Over the years, I have focused mostly on Hawai‘i. I have authored four books and edited four books in Japanese and English.

Message to students

Globalization is a complex phenomenon that produces both positive and negative results. I would like all students to critically evaluate this phenomenon while also creatively taking advantage of it. The experience of going and living abroad will enable you to not only gain new knowledge and perspectives but also sharpen your critical thinking skills. It’s truly a wonderful thing to do!

Languages spoken

Japanese and English
Yusuke SAKURAI
Project Lecturer
 
My hometown is in Niigata which is famous for rich natural resources such as winter resorts, clean water and agricultural products. After I completed a Bachelor’s degree in Japan, I continued my studies in Australia. I received a Master’s degree from Monash University, Australia, and a PhD from the University of Helsinki, Finland. My main subjects are pedagogy in higher education, international university students’ learning, and support for early career researchers. I have worked in several countries, including Thailand, Australia, Malaysia, Egypt, Japan and Finland.

Message to students

How can you make your voice heard by people around the globe? Where are your potential career markets, in Japan or around the world? I suggest that while you are a university student you continuously concentrate your efforts on expanding your future potential.

Languages spoken

Japanese and English
https://goo.gl/WTbyhb
Ryoji SATO
Project Assistant Professor
 
I was born and raised in the outskirts of Tokyo, which has a lot of green but no cutting-edge “Tokyo” element at all. I did my undergraduate here in Komaba and also had been at the graduate school until 2013. After that, I moved to Melbourne, Australia for a doctoral degree. I submitted my doctoral thesis to Monash University there in 2016, and came back to the University of Tokyo in January, 2017.
 
I specialize in philosophy and ethics, in particular I work in the interdisciplinary areas between philosophy and cognitive science. I am interested in issues such as the relationship between consciousness and the brain, the difference between consciousness and unconsciousness, and the impact of neuroscience on humanity and society.
 
When I am not working or philosophizing, I tend to be either eating or doing exercises.

Message to students

I have stayed overseas for more than 5 years in total somehow, but I was a purely “domestic”student before I went to the U.S. as an exchange graduate student. Because of this, I think I can well understand anxiety and expectations of students without any international background to study abroad. But, at this age of globalization, I want those students to go out of Japan and express themselves!

Languages spoken

Japanese and English
Shiho MAESHIMA
Associate Professor

Please view Professor Maeshima’s profile.
Miki TOYOFUKU
Project Research Associate
 
I was raised in Hong Kong, the United States, and Japan. After studying economics at the Hongo Campus of the University of Tokyo as an undergraduate student, I came back to the Komaba Campus to study political science. I received my Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in 2010. I worked as a Research Fellow for the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and then as a Project Research Associate for the PEAK (Programs in English at Komaba) Junior Division. My research interests center on Japan’s fiscal policy, which is connected with politics and economics as well as with society at large.

Message to students

Since I lived overseas during my childhood, I am especially interested in my own country. We come to know ourselves by knowing others. I hope that interacting with people from different backgrounds will provide a mirror for you to view your own culture.

Languages spoken

Japanese and English
Nanako SAWAYANAGI
Project Assistant Professor
 
I was born in Aomori prefecture, in the northernmost part of mainland Japan. I was raised there until I graduated from high school, and I spoke a regional dialect almost unintelligible to outsiders. I majored in European history at the Hongo Campus of the University of Tokyo. I then continued my studies in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences on the Komaba Campus and received my M.A. Since few researchers in Japan were interested in my field, namely modern Greece and the eastern Mediterranean region, I decided to go to the US to continue on my research. I gained my Ph.D. in history from New York University in 2009. During the years I spent writing my doctoral dissertation, I became qualified to work as a researcher at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Greece, which has one of the best libraries in the world for classical, medieval, and modern Hellenic studies.
 
I have published books and articles in both English and Japanese. Some of my articles include: “Discourses on Hellenism during the Balkan Wars: Aspects of Greek Nationalism” in Mustafa Turkes ed. The Century of the Balkan Wars (1912-1913): Contested Stances, vol.1 (Ankara: Turk Tarih Kurumu, 2014), 149-162; “Greek Communities Relocated in the Making of the Balkan Nations: The Greek Parliament's Tackling of Refugee Settlement and Land Distribution in Thessaly (1906-1907),” Annals of Japan Association for Middle East Studies 26-2(2010): 151-184; “Greece and the Cyprus Dispute as Seen in the Greek Media,” in Y. Leventis, N. Sawayanagi, & Y. Hazama, Crossing over Cyprus: Studies on the Divided Island in the Eastern Mediterranean (Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 2008), 23-49; “Rinen toshiteno Yoroppa” [Europe as an Idea] Gengo to Bunka 11(2015): 243-267; Girishago no katachi [Modern Greek for Novices] Revised Edition(Tokyo: Hakusuisha, 2013); Monogatari kin-gendai girisha no rekishi [Concise History of Modern Greece](Tokyo: Chuo Koron Shinsha, 2012).

Message to students

My favorite poet, Constantine Cavafy, writes in his “Ιθάκη” (Ithaka) as follows:
 
As you set out for Ithaka
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
・・・
・・・
 
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you are destined for.
But do not hurry the journey at all.
・・・
・・・
 
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you would not have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
 
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.
(C.P. Cavafy, Collected Poems. Translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Edited by George Savidis. Revised Edition. Princeton University Press, 1992)
 
Just as Homer’s Odysseus finally travelled back to his home island Ithaka after overcoming his decadelong difficulties, please do not turn your face away from your Ithaka, (i.e. your goal) even though it takes time to arrive there. Everything and everybody you encounter during your journey teaches you something and enriches your life.

Languages spoken

Japanese, English, and modern Greek
Mariko WATANABE
Lecturer (International Public Relations)
 
I was brought up in Tokyo and completed a master’s program at University of Bristol, UK specializing in Management in Education. I worked at Tohoku University in Sendai for about 4 years launching and managing double degree programs with European institutions. I have also been involved in international affairs at the University of Tokyo since 2009. Visiting various countries, I now promote Komaba and welcome promising students from all over the world.

Message to students

Having studied and worked in Hungary, the UK and the US for 10 years, I am certain that international experiences will change your life. It is a huge challenge, but it rewards you with a more enriched everyday life. The Globalization Office can be the first step for you in exploring the possibilities of “Going Global!”

Languages spoken

Japanese, English, Hungarian and conversational Italian
Shoko SASAYAMA
Project Assistant Professor
 
I was born and raised in Kyoto, the historical capital of Japan. I hold a B.A. degree in English from Doshisha University (Japan) and an M.A. degree in TESOL from Sophia University (Japan). After studying at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (USA) for two years as a Fulbright scholar, I joined the Ph.D. program at Georgetown University (USA). I completed my Ph.D. degree in Linguistics at Georgetown in 2015 and just became a member of the Globalization Office at the University of Tokyo as of January 1, 2016.
 
My academic interests include: Second Language Acquisition, Language Education (including Faculty Development), and Educational Assessment. I have taught language courses (English and Japanese) and have been heavily involved in facilitating improvement of language education mainly in Japan and the US through pre-service teacher training, program evaluation, and research related to language education. I love traveling, running, and hiking in my free time.

Message to students

My earliest experience abroad was when I went to the Seychelles as a goodwill ambassador from my elementary school. Though brief, that first time abroad taught me life-long lessons and shaped who I am now. Learning a new language, and living in a different culture, gives us a profound opportunity to broaden our horizons, reflect on ourselves and others, and develop a sense of global community and our own identities within it. I truly hope that many of you will be able to enjoy and benefit from these special moments in your lives, and I am here to support your dreams!

Languages spoken

Japanese and English