Himeji Castle, Himeji, Japan |
About Me:
I am a specialist in modern
Japanese history and society with a focus on the
New Religions of Japan and the Soka Gakkai. I
have a secondary interest on U.S. - Japanese relations
in the Meiji Era (1868-1912) with a special interest on how American
visitors to Japan during this era portrayed Japanese society
in their books and articles. I have also published extensively
on Vermont history. |
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Major areas of research are on the new religions of Japan, Americans visiting Japan during the Meiji Era (1868-1912), economic development in East Asia, and aspects of Vermont history.
New Religions
My major work has focused on the Soka Gakkai, the largest of the New Religions of Japan, not only as a domestic religious and socio-political movement, but also as an international phenomenon which has chapters in 200 countries. Publications include three books on the Soka Gakkai in Japan including The Soka Gakkai Revolution (1994) and individual books on Soka Gakkai International in Canada, Quebec and SE Asia-Australia. There are also chapters on the Soka Gakkai in a number of books including a recent piece in Cheng and Brown, Religious Organizations and Democratization (2006), two chapters in Bryan Wilson, ed., Global Citizens (2001) and in Wolfe, Ed., Global Religious Movements in Regional Context. The best chapter on the Soka Gakkai appears in the book Engaged Buddhism (Queen and King, 1996). Many of my articles on Soka Gakkai and its political ally, the Komeito, have appeared in journal articles in such publications as Asian Survey, The Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, The Southeast Review of Asian Studies, and Nova Religio. I participated in a major symposium at the Henry Jackson School of International Affairs, University of Washington in October 2006 where I presented two papers on the Soka Gakkai, the Komeito and Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party. I have also published a book and several articles and papers on Japan’s Aum Shinrikyo.
Americans in Meiji Japan
My work on Americans in Meiji Japan has focused on the career of American teacher, missionary and writer E. Warren Clark (1849-1907). I have republished his book, Life and Adventure in Japan with a lengthy introduction as well as a book chapter and an article on his life. I also republished a book by Sidney Gulick, The White Peril in the Far East (2003). An article on General Grant’s significant visit to Japan in 1879 was published in the Winter 2007 issue of Education About Asia..
Economic Development
The Library of Congress published my two chapters on the South Korean economy and Japan’s domestic economy in 1992 in South Korea: A Country Study and Japan: A Country Study. I have also published books on politics and economic development in Japan, Taiwan and am working on a text on China. I have also co-edited with Khin Oo a book on the current crisis in Burma (Burma’s Modern Tragedy, 2004).
Other Research and Writing on Asia
I have also written about how modern Japanese text books portray Japan’s involvement in World War II. After teaching at a Japanese university in 1999-2000, I wrote Under the Gaijin Gaze (2001). Khin Oo co-edited Burma’s Modern Tragedy in 2004. I have won two Fulbright awards: 1988 Fulbright Summer Seminar in Korea and Taiwan and a 2006 Fulbright Summer Seminar in China. I am currently Editor of the Southeast Review of Asian Studies, the journal of the SE Chapter of the Association for Asian Studies. I am also founding editor of the Virginia Review of Asian Studies.
Vermont / Virginia History
I have written extensively on Vermont history focusing on the towns of Craftsbury and Greensboro. I founded the now celebrated journal, The Hazen Road Dispatch, the official publication of the Greensboro Historical Society, in 1974 and have contributed articles and reviews for every issue. My short book, Craftsbury: A Brief Social History, was published in 2001. I have had three articles published in Vermont History. I have also contributed to the Virginia Augusta Historical Bulletin. |
