Research Interests

@I have been conducting research and studies in the area of Japanese early-modern literatures. And@in particular, I have been studying broadly from a historical angle with a focus on the interrelationship of the expression of Japanese language and readers. I received a masterfs as well as a doctorfs degree from Waseda University, School of Letters, Arts and Sciences in Japan. Most of my achievement, together with the subsequent study, is compiled in two books.

@In this report, I would like to explain the outline of my research and studies. My main interest is in analyzing the relationship between the various expressions used in Japanese early-modern literatures and their readers. Therefore, my work is quite different from those biographical studies centered on a certain author. I adopt a method where I find out how the recognition or the sensitivity of readers was formed, using newspapers and magazines as basic materials and broadly following up expressions used in various periods. Additionally, while I grasp various expressions in this manner, I have also assessed and analyzed those outstanding expressions described in Japanese literature.

@At large, my research can be classified in the following groups . @

1.Collection, analysis, and assessment of studies regarding reading activities or readers of Japanese literature.

2.Research and studies discussing the relationship between the expressional characteristics of a certain novel and its readers.

3.Research and studies analyzing various media such as magazines or newspapers, highlighting readers in the process.

4.Research and studies about publishing environment as well as media literacy.

5.Research and studies of reading activities conducted through recognition, preservation, and utilization of local materials.

@Now I would like to explain each of the above methods in detail.

1. Collection, analysis, and assessment of studies regarding reading activities or readers of Japanese literature.

@In Japan, there have not been enough studies about reading activities or readers. Therefore, there has been no activity on collection, arrangement, or assessment of basic data regarding these fields. I have done research and investigation on studies conducted on reading activities in Japan, with a view to Japanese literature, sociology or history relating to the reading activities and discussed broadly the significance or possibility of studying the reading activities. Additionally, I have been editing and publishing an anthology series about studies on reading.

2. Research and studies discussing the relationship between the expressional characteristics of certain novels and their readers.

@Among Japanese literature works, I have taken particular note of those written during the time of naturalism and studied the influence they have on readers, using novels of such writers as Shusei Tokuda or Toson Shimazaki as resources. During this period, descriptive ways to write novels or objective points of view began attracting novelists. However, I do not consider these matters as something only for novelists but I take up these subjects from the perspective of relationship between writers and readers, thus clarifying in details the characteristics of expressions.

@Of course, I have conducted a wide analysis of works of not only this period but also expressions used in the works of contemporary writers such as Haruki Murakami or Natsuki Ikezawa or genres like geducational novelsh or ghigh-minded novelsh.

3. Research and studies analyzing various media such as magazines or newspapers, highlighting readers in the process.

@Readers are not reading only novels in forms of books. Actually they read stories through various media including magazines or newspapers of the same period. Considering this, I have conducted a broad research to explore the minds or feelings of people in the period, by grasping and analyzing the expressions used not only in novels but also in magazines or newspapers where novels appear. I have analyzed articles or expressions seen in general magazines such as gChuokoronh or in womenfs magazines such as gFujingahouh and have discussed what kind of characteristics or value novels have in them.

@With the above-mentioned background, I once worked as a member of an editorial board of electronic version of one of the best general magazines in Japan, hTaiyouh and now I am a member of editorial board of a literary magazine gBungei Kurabuh.

4. Research and studies about publishing environment as well as media literacy.

@Reading is an activity that takes great influence from the environment surrounding it such as publication or education. Therefore, I have held interest on the publication system in modern Japan or the education system of Japanese national language. Especially, I have studied how reading or readers are changing in the recent years with the advent of evermore-sophisticated information devices. With the these points in mind, I have also conducted research of media literacy, with the main focus on Internet or video games in Japan

5. Research and studies of reading conducted by recognition, preservation, and utilization of local materials.

@In my opinion, the culture of reading should not be considered only in terms of large cities. Research activities of Japanese literature have always concentrated on grasping cultural as well as literary history of Japan with the focus on urban area such as the Kanto region or the Kansai region. Materials found in each region is very valuable as they provide us with the reality of reading activities or the spread of information, which otherwise we would never be able to see.

@Consequently, I have adopted various local publications as subject materials and put effort on preserving them. For example, I have also conducted some studies on books on mountains, as Nagano prefecture is famous for many mountain climbing spots.

@As describes above, as a major in Japanese modern-literature, I have studied a culture of reading in Japan over the wide time span using literatures found in various areas as subject materials

Copyright 2005 Atsuhiko Wada All Rights Reserved