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