B.A. Kobe University Faculty of Science Department of Physics (Mar.2006).

Enrolled in the Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies Kyoto University, concurrently assumed Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Research Fellowship for Young Scientists (DC1), completed the above doctoral program in Sep.2011, Ph.D. in Area Studies in Kyoto University (Mar.2013).

After assuming Researcher of Industry-Government-Academia-Collaboration at the Center for African Area Studies Kyoto University, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Research Fellowship for Young Scientists (PD), Institutional Researcher of National Museum of Ethnology, Assistant Professor of Sophia University Faculty of Global Studies, current position since Apr. 2021.

2-613 Wed. 12:30～14:00 or by appointment

Area studies is a discipline that aims at a comprehensive understanding of the ecology, society, and culture of the country or region in question.  What is important in this field is the attitude of sincerely grasping the way of life of the people living in the area and trying to understand them in specific situations.  I have been involved in anthropological research on people with disabilities in Cameroon and Congo in Central Africa, and practical research on the use of forest resources in the African rainforests.  When I say I was conducting research on people with disabilities in Africa, you might think that I have a strong interest in welfare and development policy, but my motivation for doing research is much simpler: I want to know.  The people with disabilities I met in my research were people who were engaged in “normal” daily activities, such as running street vendors in town, farming in the village, and raising children as mothers and fathers. The kind of “suffocation” that we feel when discussing disability and care is not felt so much there. The starting point of my research was to find out why this is so.  Area studies and anthropology are the study of understanding different societies and cultures and recognizing their diversity, but what lies beyond that is the study of how to answer the question, “Why are we the way we are?”.  But beyond that, it is also a way to ask ourselves (our own culture) the same question. I am sure that you will make interesting discoveries when you become immersed in the community and pursue the issues deeply.