I’m still kind of embarrassed creating a site with my own name in the address, but if it creates another opportunity to promote my favorite subject, Japanese cinema, as well as let people know more about my work, then I’ll do it. But the least I can do is give it an extra name, honoring one of my favorite characters from Japanese cinema: Tange Sazen, the one-armed, one-eyed ronin most famously played by the great Okochi Denjiro.
This site introduces some of my research on Japanese film as well as offers tidbits of news on Japan and its cinema. I focus mostly on English-language resources, but plan to add a Japanese page or two in the future. I also will soon upload full copies of some of my older articles.
Bio
I teach Japanese cinema and culture at Yale University in the USA. I received a MFA in film studies from Columbia University, a MA in Asian Civilizations from the University of Iowa, and a PhD in Communication Studies from Iowa. I spent nearly 12 years in Japan working for the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival and teaching at Yokohama National University and Meiji Gakuin University. I have published numerous works in English, Japanese and other languages on such topics as Japanese early cinema, contemporary directors, film genre, censorship, Japanese manga, and cinematic representations of minorities. I wrote film reviews for the Daily Yomiuri newspaper for nearly 12 years and select the best ten Japanese films of the year for Eiga geijutsu, one of Japan’s longest running film magazines. My most recent book is on Kitano Takeshi. A slightly out of date CV is available at Yale.