Nobuko's main research interests are modern and contemporary Japanese theatre/performance and visual arts from the perspectives of gender/sexuality studies. She researches and teaches widely on Japanese theatre/performance, visual arts, and experimental and popular culture. She is Professor at Kansai University in Japan. Before she moved to Kansai, she was Senior Lecturer in Cultures and Languages, Birkbeck, University of London. She received her PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies from UCLA.
Invited Talks (Selected)
“Girls’ Aesthetics in Japanese Theatre.” Japan Society, London, UK. April, 2016.
"Shunga into Manga?" British Museum, London, UK. November, 2013.
"Kishida Rio, 'the Female Version of Terayama Shūji,' and Her Legacy in Contemporary Japanese Theatre." in "I Am a Terayama Shūji." The Tate Modern, London, UK. March, 2012.
Books
Contemporary Japanese Women's Theatre and Visual Arts: Performing Girls' Aesthetics. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.
Articles in Refereed Journals
"Theatrical Realism in Manga: Performativity of Gender in Minako Narita's Alien Street." Journal of Adaptation in Film & Performance (12:3, 2019): 133-141. pdf
“The Rose of Versailles: Women and Revolution in Girls’ Manga and the Socialist Movement in Japan.” The Journal of Popular Culture (7:1, 2014): 41-63. pdf
"Dossier: History, Memory, Event: A Working Archive." Co-author with Bishnupriya Dutt, Janelle Reinelt, and Shrinkhla Sahai. Theatre Research International (37:2, 2012): 163-183. pdf
"Identity Politics in Women's Performance in Japan" (a part of Identity Politics Forum convened by Elin Diamond) Theatre Research International (37:1, 2012): 68-70. pdf
“Two-dimensional Imagination in Contemporary Japanese Women's Performance.” TDR (T212, 2011): 96-112. pdf
“M. Butterfly: Reconfiguring Gender and Geography.” Doshisha Literature (48, 2006): 85-104. pdf
“Kishida Rio: Tsui no sumika kari no yado, Kawashima Yoshiko den—Jendaa, Nashonariti, Tennōsei.” [Kishida Rio's Final Home/Temporary Lodging, A Life of Kawashima Yoshiko: Gender, Nationality, and the Emperor System.] Engeki-gaku ronshū [Theatre Studies] (43, 2005): 31-46.
Essays in Edited Books
"The Nation as Family: Motherhood and Love in Japan" in Oxford Handbook of Politics and Performance, edited by Shirin M. Rai, Milija Gluhovic, Silvija Jetrovic, and Michael Saward. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021. 623-636. pdf
"Imagining Love in a Neoliberal Japan: Yanagi Miwa's Elevator Girl." In Performance, Feminism and Affect in Neoliberal Times, edited by Elin Diamond, Denise Varney and Candice Amich. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. 51-63. proof pdf
"Japanese Women's Popular Musicals: The Takarazuka Revue." In The Palgrave Handbook of Musical Theatre Producers, edited by Laura MacDonald and William Everett. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. 145-150. pdf
"Theatre of Kishida Rio: Towards Re-signification of 'Home" for Women in Asia." In Women in Asian Performance: Aesthetics and Politics, edited by Arya Madhavan. New York and London: Routledge, 2017. 110-123. proof pdf
“The Takarazuka Revue’s Wind in the Dawn: (De-)nationalization of Japanese Women.” In Theatre and National Identity: Re-Imagining Conceptions of the Nation, edited by Nadine Holdsworth. New York and London: Routledge, 2014. 181-199. pdf
“Reconsideration of Japanese Women’s Bodies: KATHY’s Parody of Singin’ in the Rain.” In Portrayals of Americans on the World Stage: Critical Essays, edited by Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2009. 134-154. pdf
Performance Reviews
“Hiroshima Maiden. Directed by Dan Hurlin.” Theatre Journal (58:4, 2006): 690-692. pdf
“Medea. Directed by Miyagi Satoshi.” Asian Theatre Journal (23, 2006): 407-411. pdf
Book Reviews
“The Ageing Body in Dance: A Cross-Cultural Perspective, edited by Nanako Nakajima and Gabriele Brandstetter.” Theatre Research International (43:3, 2018): 342-343.
“Joyū no tanjō to shūen [The Birth and Death of Actresses] by Yasuko Ikeuchi.” Imeeji & jendaa [Image and Gender] (9, 2009).
Translations from English into Japanese
“Can Eros Be the Basis of Resistance?” [Erosu wa teikō no kyoten to nari uru ka]. Conversation between Mishima Yukio and Terayama Shūji. Co-translator with Franklin Chang. Translation for a retrospective of Shūji Terayama, "Who Can Say That We Should Not Live Like Dogs?" The Tate Modern, London, UK. March, 2012. Programme of Tate Film "Shūji Terayama: Who Can Say That We Should Not Live Like Dogs?" 2012. 19-37.
Katō Michio. The Man Who Sells Memories [Omoide o uru otoko]. Play. Co-translator with Carol Fisher Sorgenfrei. Half a Century of Japanese Theatre, vol. 8. Ed. Tokyo: Japan Playwrights Association, 2007. 221-245.
Iwanami Gō. Introduction to Katō Michio’s The Man Who Sells Memories and Fukuda Tsuneari’s The Seige [Kenrui dasshu]. Co-translator with Carol Fisher Sorgenfrei. Half a Century of Japanese Theatre, vol. 8. Ed. Tokyo: Japan Playwrights Association, 2007. 213-219.
Translations from English into Japanese
Dennehy, Kristine. “Posutokoroniaru nihon no zainichi chōsenjin ni yoru rōdō ‘undō’: Hayafune Chiyo Kyūpora no aru machi oyobi Yan Sogiru Yoru o kakete ni okeru eiga to bungei no hyōshō [Resident Korean Labor ‘Movements’ in Postcolonial Japan: Cinematic and Literary Representations in Hayafune Chiyo’s Foundry Town and Yang So-gil’s All Night].” Ajia Gendai Joseishi [Contemporary Women's History in Asia] (5, 2009): 68-75.
Conference Proceedings
"Girls' Aesthetics in Japanese Theatre." Japan Society Proceedings 2016 (153, 2017). 110-123.
“Neoriberaru shakai ni okeru josei no kyōdōtai: Yanagi Miwa no bijuaru ātsu sakuhin o chūshin ni [Women’s Community in Neoliberal Japan: Case Studies from Yanagi Miwa’s Visual Art Works].” Hikaku nihon-gaku kyōiku kenkyū sentā kenkyū nenpō [Center for Comparative Japanese Studies Annual Bulletin (13, 2017). The Proceedings of the 11th Consortium on Global Perspectives in Japanese Studies “Work/Pastime.” 87-92.
Other
Report. “Amerika no media ni okeru Abe seiken [The Abe Government in American Media].” Shakai Bungaku Tsūshin (80, 2007): 11.
Keynote Addresses:
“Two-dimensional ‘Girls’ Aesthetics’ in a Neoliberal Time: Yanagi Miwa’s Elevator Girl.” International Conference: Representations of the Face in Japanese and Western European Literature and Theatre from the Early Modern Period to the Present. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. December 2018.
Other Invited Presentations
"Neoliberalism and Women's Bodies: From Three-dimensional to Two-dimensional" Panel paper. Symposium, "Contemporary Feminist Stories: Here and Now of Women's Bodies Weaving Texts," The 19th Conference of the Kanto Branch of the English Literary Society of Japan. Online. November 2020.
“Mother and Love in Noda Hideki’s MIWA.” Lecture. Modern and Contemporary Theatre Working Group, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan. December 2019.
"Narita Minako's Alien Street: Performance in Two-Dimensional Manga Space." Panel paper. Symposium, "Adaptation, or How Media Relate in Contemporary Japan," Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Culture, Norwich, UK. June 2018.
“Women’s Community in Neoliberal Japan: Case Studies from Yanagi Miwa’s Visual Art Works.” Panel paper. Consortium for Japanese Studies in a Global Perspective, Center for Comparative Japanese Studies, Ochanomizu University, Tokyo, Japan. December 2016.
“British Theatre Culture.” Lecture. Seminar in British Culture and Society, Department of Cultural Studies, Kanto Gakuin University, Yokohama, Japan. November 2016.
Talk with Toco Nikaido on her company, Miss Revolutionary Idol Berserker, Barbican Centre, London, UK. June 2016.
“Two-Dimensional Imagination in Contemporary Japanese Theatre and Visual Arts.” Lecture. Department of East Asian Studies, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK. March, 2016.
Talk with Shirotama Hitsujiya on her company, Yubiwa Hotel, Aichi Arts Centre, Nagoya, Japan. December 2015.
“The Takarazuka Revue and Girls’ Culture in Japan.” Lecture. Seminar in British Literature, Department of English, Kobe City University of Foreign Studies, Kobe, Japan. July, 2014.
“Introduction to the Takarazuka Revue.” Lecture. Symposium of the Takarazuka Revue, “One Hundred Years of Song and Dance.” The Japan Foundation, London, UK. June 2014.
"Girls' Space, Girls' Time: Case Studies from Contemporary Performance and Visual Arts in Japan." Lecture. Japan Research Center Seminar Series, SOAS, London, UK. October, 2013.
“From Little Boy to Little Girl: Case Studies of Contemporary Japanese Women's Performance.” Lecture. Theatre and Performance Studies Seminar Series, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. February, 2010.
“Yubiwa Hotel’s Lear: Blocking Women’s Rites of Passage.” Panel paper. University of California Multi-Campus Research Group Colloquium on Asian Performance, Irvine, California. January, 2008.
Conference Presentations
“Noda Hideki’s MIWA: (Un)silencing ‘Maternal’ Voices.” International Federation for Theatre Research, Feminist Research Working Group, Shanghai Theatre Academy, Shanghai, China, July 2019.
“Longing for Girls’ Enclave: A Case Study from Contemporary Japanese Women’s Theatre.” Crossroads, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, December 2016.
“Revising Traditions: Emancipation of Women, a Second-Wave Feminist ‘Muse-cal’ in Japan.” International Federation for Theatre Research, Feminist Research Working Group, University of Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden, June, 2016.
“Nagai Ai’s Men Who Try to Make Them Sing: Whose Voice is Heard in ‘Japanese Democracy’?” International Federation for Theatre Research. University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India, July, 2015.
“Japanese Women’s Performance and Neoliberalism.” International Federation for Theatre Research. Institut del Teatre, Barcelona, Spain. July, 2013.
“Women’s Performance and Neoliberalism.” International Federation for Theatre Research, Feminist Working Group, Institut del Teatre, Barcelona, Spain. July, 2013.
“Miwa Yanagi’s Granddaughters: Women’s Space without Temporality.” Performance Research International, Stanford University, Stanford, USA. June 2013.
"Gender and Subcultures: Case Studies from Japan." A Day Symposium "Going Underground? Gender and Subcultures," NorthumbriaUniversity, Newcastle, UK. September, 2012.
"The Takarazuka Revue and Kegawa-zoku: Negotiating Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Japan." British Association for Japanese Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. Presented panel paper and organized panel "Visual Arts in Contemporary Japan." September, 2012.
“Complicit Commerciality in Japan’s Takarazuka Revue.” Performance Research International, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK. June, 2012.
“Theatre and Feminism in Japan.” International Federation for Theatre Research, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan. August, 2011.
“Women’s Liberation Movement in Japan” and “Nation, Gender, Sex.” Warwick-JNU Conference, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. November, 2010.
“Melancholic Identification with the American/Japanese Other: Takarazuka’s Wind in the Dawn: Challenge of Shirasu Jirō, the Samurai Gentleman.” British Association for Japanese Studies, SOAS, London, UK. September, 2010.
“Japanese Women’s Pop-cultural Performance.” International Federation for Theatre Research, Feminist Working Group, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany. July, 2010.
“Takarazuka’s Gone With the Wind: Performing America and the (De)nationalization of Japanese Women's Bodies.” Warwick-JNU Conference, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India. April, 2010.
“Performing America and Nationalization of Japanese Women's Bodies in The Takarazuka Revue.” University of California Multi-campus Workshop on Japanese Arts and Globalizations. Los Angeles, California, USA. October, 2008.
“Reconsideration of Japanese Women’s Bodies: KATHY’s Parody of Singin’ in the Rain.” American Society for Theatre Research, Phoenix, Arizona, USA. November, 2007.
“Carnival without End: Negotiating Subjectivity in Tanaka Mitsu’s Emancipation of Women.” Association for Theatre in Higher Education, New Orleans, USA. Presented panel paper, and organized panel “Cross-cultural Carnivalesque: Inverted Performance in Japan, the US, and China.” July, 2007.
“Looking for Home?: Social Signification of Maid Cafés.” Comparative Drama Conference, Los Angeles, California, USA. March, 2007.
“Takarazuka Revue: From Western Man to Japanese Housewife.” Comparative Drama Conference, Los Angeles, California, USA. March, 2006.
Previous Employment and Education
Senior Lecturer, Cultures and Languages (2017-2018), Birkbeck, University of London, UK
Lecturer, Film, Media and Cultural Studies (2013-2015), Cultures and Languages (2015-2017), Birkbeck, University of London, UK
Lecturer, Performing Arts, Northumbria University, UK (2011-2013)
Newton Postdoctoral Fellow (funded by the Royal Society and the British Academy), Theatre and Performance Studies, the University of Warwick, UK (2009-2011)
Ph.D. in Theatre and Performance Studies, UCLA, USA, 2009
MA in English, Doshisha University, Japan