Research
Recent Research Projects
All staff members are Japan experts with research expertise and training in disciplines like Applied Linguistics, Anthropology, Business Administration, Geography, History, and Political Science, as well Japanese Literature and Cultural Studies. Their research interests include literature and poetics, sociolinguistics, early modern history, traditional performance, marketing, cultural geography, film, comparative aging, tourism, gender studies, art history, work, popular culture, and Japanese cultural interactions with Southeast Asia.
Recent Research Projects
| Project Title | Principal Investigator/Collaborator |
|---|---|
| Acting Like a State: The Politics of Foreign Labor Admission in Japan and Taiwan | Konrad Kalicki |
| The Nation that Never Was: The Politics of Historical Memory in East Asia and Europe | Konrad Kalicki |
| Archiving Traditional Japanese Performance | Lim Beng Choo |
| Home on the Dot: Podcasting as a Learning Tool | Chris McMorran |
| Last Resort: labor, tourism and identity in Japan | Chris McMorran |
| Assessing the impacts of Grade-free Learning | Chris McMorran |
| Assessing the Role and Organization of HRM in Japanese Firms | Hendrik Meyer-Ohle |
| Japanese Retail – Recruitment Activities by Japanese Companies | Hendrik Meyer-Ohle |
| Japanese Interjections: A comparative study of the so-called “filler” tokens in Japanese talk | Emi Morita |
| Japanese Children's Social Interaction and Language Use | Emi Morita |
| On Text and Image: New Directions in Formal and Narrative Analysis of Manga and Comics | Deborah Shamoon |
| An intergenerational approach to sustainable inter-generational understanding | Thang Leng Leng |
| How we care: Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs) as a model of care | Thang Leng Leng |
| An indepth study of the new Regional Comprehensive Care System in Japan | Thang Leng Leng |
| LGBT social movements in Japan and Singapore | Yuen Shu Min |
| Queer migration, transgender studies, medical tourism | Yuen Shu Min |
Undergraduate Research
Current honours students conduct research in areas such as Japanese literature (including manga, anime and light novels), culture, media and art, politics, history, geography, and economics. The tables below list our recent honours students and their research topics. Students may also approach our faculty members if they are interested to assist with their ongoing research projects.
Thesis Topics of Recent Honours Students (2015-2022)
| Thesis Topic | Student | Year of Graduation |
|---|---|---|
| Representing Girls and Romance in Shōjo Manga Across Time and Genres | Amanda Goh Ting Li | 2022 |
| “Omae Dakega Ore No Mitometa Onna Dakara": Hana Yori Dango, Munekyun And Women's Everyday Use of Mass Media | Ang Qing Hui Hanae@Miura Hanae | 2022 |
| An Emerging Local Actor: The Role of Higher Education Institutions in Japan’s Refugee Policy | Dana Lee Si Min | 2022 |
| Rise Of Artists From Japanese Online Music Scene: Opportunities, Perils and Co-Existence With Old Guards | Leong Ching May | 2022 |
| Against And Beyond “Mishima”: Reading Counter-Productivity To Totalisation In Mishima Yukio's Taiyō To Tetsu And Kinjiki | Tan Wei Lin | 2022 |
| Locating the Seiyū: "Flatness" in Modern Japanese Voice Actors' Performativity | Goh Tien Li, Zachary | 2022 |
| Grassroots Diplomacy: The Effect and Effectiveness of the Jet Programme on the Singapore-Japan Relationship | Shaun Tan Tao Guang | 2022 |
| “Illustrating the 'Truth' in Fiction": The Continuity of Hokkaido's Colonial Narratives in Golden Kamuy | Siti Umairah Bte Adnan | 2022 |
| "Problematic" Fans: Japanese and Western Discourses on Morality in Boy's Love | Tiffany Tan Li Ning | 2022 |
| Promoting Inbound Regional Tourism to Japan: Case Studies of Japan Rail Café in Singapore and Taipei | Endure Goh Wei Tong | 2021 |
| Moe Kyara and Marketing: Spending and Database Consumption by Female Consumers | Grace Khoo Jiamin | 2021 |
| Modern Prehistory: A Contemporary Presentation of Japanese Prehistory in Jōmonzine | Ashley Tan Chuang Yue | 2021 |
| The Development Narrative in Akiya Countermeasures | Jyoti Vinod Vasnani | 2021 |
| A Rising Sun of Highly Skilled Immigration: The role of Japanese Policies in Attracting Highly Skilled Migrants | Ang Kang Jie Ray | 2020 |
| Like Moths To a Flame: A Nuanced Exploration of Women and Dangerous Love in Hirugao | Ang Zi Han | 2020 |
| Bridge between Worlds - Contents Tourism in Japan | Celia Leo | 2020 |
| Female Managers: The Kuroko of Japanese Sports - An Analysis of the Bestselling Book Moshi Kôkô Yakyû no Joshi Manêjâ ga Dorakkâ no Manêjimento wo Yondara | Goh Wei Hao Benjamin | 2020 |
| Towards a Society that Respects the Pride of the Ainu: Government Implementation of the 2019 Ainu Policy Promotion Act | Lee Minjia | 2020 |
| Commodifying History: Popular Culture, Collectivized Memory, New Narratives | Pan Junxuan | 2020 |
| Love in the Time of Hirahira: Visualizing Girls and Romance in Akatsuki no Yona | Emilia Tang Yan-Hui | 2019 |
| Under the Petticoat: Differing Perspectives on Mass Commercialisation and Commodification of Lolita Subculture | Kok Xin Yun | 2019 |
| Abdication of Japan's Symbol Emperor: A Synoptic and Cross-National Perspective | Lee Sue Ling, Naomi Hashimoto | 2019 |
| National Internationalisation | Toh Jia Han | 2019 |
| Jazz and Cultural Memory: Retrospective Depictions of Occupation Jazz Culture in Post-war Japan | Vivian Goh Yit Min | 2019 |
| Imagined Boundaries: Grotesque and Liminality in Konjaku Monogatarishu | Zhang Yue | 2019 |
| Underlying Antagonisms: The Overlooked Villain in Chikamatsu's Sewamono | Fransiska Widya Chandra | 2018 |
| Kikokushijo: Not All Who Leave Return Equal | Ismail Zainal | 2018 |
| Criticisms of Patriarchy and Consumerism in Josei Manga: Examining the Genre Shaping Works of Okazaki Kyoko and Anno Moyoco | Joan Quah Mei Yin | 2018 |
| Ainu in Hokkaido and Tourism: To Provide an Understanding on how the Development of Tourism has Affected the Culture, Image and Preservation of Ainu in Hokkaido | Koh Jia Wei, Brenda | 2018 |
| Identity and Ideology in Sakura Katakana Shimbun | Kurohi Rei | 2018 |
| Feminine Destinies: Gender and Sexuality in Torikaebaya Monogatari | Lee Xiu Yi Eunice | 2018 |
| Old Age in the Past, The Past in Old Age: Examining how the Media, State and Individual Coped with the Elderly and Aging in Early Meiji Japan (1872-1878) | Tan Jia Min Sarah | 2018 |
| Exporting Japan: Japanese Perceptions of Overseas Culture Markets | Tan Shu Hui, Linnah | 2018 |
| The Game Isekai Light Novel: A Manifesto for the Digital Age | Yee Zhi Yan, Ian | 2018 |
| Recovery After 3:11: (Dark) Tourism in the Tohoku Region | Chen Mengying | 2017 |
| "Forgive but Never Forget": Examining State Use of War Memories in Singapore and its Effects on Singapore-Japan Relations | Chua Sze Yin Francesca | 2017 |
| A Study in Robosexism: The Gendered Japanese Robot | Ng Ching Peng | 2017 |
| The "Invisible" Homeless Women: A Feminist Perspective | Tan Tong Hui Claudia | 2017 |
| Chinese in the Yokohama Treaty Port: 1859-1878 | Zhou Jiajia | 2017 |
| Obsession and Suppressed Emotions The Construction of Female Ghosts in Kaidan | Karen Ang Yunn Harn | 2016 |
| Beautiful Girls in Frills: Lolita, Female Empowerment and Sexuality in Anime | Low Hsiang Hun Rebecca | 2016 |
| Post-1989 Changes to Japan's Security Policy - Shift Away from Anti-Militarism? | Luo Simei | 2016 |
| Traditional Shopping: A Case Study of Kokai Shotengai's Significance in the Twenty-First Century | Tan Jing Ting | 2016 |
| Japan's "Hollow" Democracy Examining the Decision Making Process of the Abe Administration | Tan Jing Yi Germaine | 2016 |
| Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto and Meiji Migrant Women: In Search of a Transnational Identity | Tan Li Yun Evelyn | 2016 |
| "Re-presentation" over "Representation": Working Through Trauma in Oe Kenzaburo's The Silent Cry | Gan Wei Kiat, Vincent | 2015 |
| Redefining and Recontextualizing Moe: A New Dimension to Sexualized Cuteness | Jeremy Lim Hon Lee | 2015 |
| Imagining the Ideal Working Woman in Japan: A Content Analysis of Nikkei Woman Magazine | Yong Xin Lin Philine | 2015 |
Graduate Research
Current graduate students conduct research in areas such as Japanese literature, gender system, media and politics, environmentalism and religion, and trading companies. The tables below list our graduate students, both past and present, and their research topics.
Thesis Topics and Supervisors of Graduate Students (AY2023-2024)
| Student | Thesis Topic | Supervisor |
|---|---|---|
| Shweta Arora (PhD) | The significance of female consciousness and identity in Yosano Akiko’s novels: A special reference to Rokō no tegami | A/P Deborah Shamoon |
| Chan Hui Hsien (PhD) | Understanding the Need of Smartphones in Enhancing the Quality of Life of Older Japanese in a Super Aging Japan | A/P Thang Leng Leng |
| Robert St John Coulton Crawford (PhD) | 19th Century Kagoshima – A Portrait of a Misunderstood Domain | A/P Lim Beng Choo |
| Foo Zhe Shi Clifton | Deriving Healing from Detail: The Healing Effect of "Hobby" Anime | A/P Deborah Shamoon |
| Goh Tien Li, Zachary | Locating the Seiyū: "Flatness" in Modern Japanese Voice Actors' Performativity | Dr Yuen Shu Min |
| Li Chongjing | The Role of Japan's Post-War Political and Economic Environment in Shaping Japanese SM Films | A/P Deborah Shamoon |
| Lie Kim Ai Natalie | Sites of Identity Formation and Queer Discourse: The Evolution of Post-War Queer Japanese Cinema | A/P Deborah Shamoon |
| Ryan Lim Dao Wei | Peripheral Transmissions: Technologies of Photography in the work of Mao Ishikawa | A/P Deborah Shamoon |
| Malavika Nataraj | Religion and Literature in the Tokugawa Period: A Discussion of the Ugetsu Monogatari within the Framework of Shinto, Buddhist and Confucian Ideals | Dr Scot Hislop |
| Mei Yicong (PhD) | How are the Ainu Language and Culture Restored and Revitalised in Contemporary Hokkaido? | A/P Lim Beng Choo |
| Nur Amirah Binte Amirrudin | Rituals in Japan: A Case Study of Touken Ranbu in Mixed Media and the Objectification of Subjects | A/P Lim Beng Choo |
| Siti Umairah Binte Adnan | Media Representations of Ainu Women in Japanese Pop Culture | A/P Deborah Shamoon |
| Zhang Yue | Transposing the Fantastic into Reality: An Analysis of Setsuwa and Popular Literature in the Heian Period | Dr Scot Hislop |
| Zhou Yichen (PhD) | Speaking into an App or not? Exploring the Relationship between LINE Use and Intergenerational Communication Within Family Context in Aging Urban Japan | A/P Thang Leng Leng |