I am an educator and scholar in the intersections of cultural anthropology, East Asian Studies, settler colonial studies and critical heritage studies. I worked with minority and Indigenous groups in urban Japan to revitalize their cultures and organize their communities. Although separated by distance and travel restrictions, I am in a long term engagement with the Sapporo Upopo Hozonkai, an intangible cultural heritage performance group that focuses on revitalizing Ainu song and dance (upopo and rimse) within their community in Northern Japan. I have also assisted in a collaboration between Sapporo Upopo Hozonkai and NYU Shanghai Students to produce a homepage for the performance group.

My research interests include media and performance studies, decolonizing methodology, indigeneity, heritage, representations of race and nation, and Japan’s colonial history with East Asia and the West.