Research Philosophy

I am a scholar of modern East Asian and Southeast Asian History, specifically focusing on the transnational connections between Japan, Siam/Thailand, and the Dutch East-Indies/Indonesia between 1866 and 1942. My current research project focuses on Japanese migration to and diaspora in Siam and the Dutch East-Indies from the end of the sakoku travel ban in 1866 to the occupation of both countries by Japan in 1942. Based on sources in Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Thai, Dutch, and Malay, I adopt a case study approach comparing how Japanese communities differed in both places through size, livelihoods, and where they settled, why that was, and what that tells us about the nineteenth and twentieth century world order and the place of both East and Southeast Asia.

With my research at the History Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I intend to deconstruct the way we understand important aspects of both East and Southeast Asian history, including but not limited to questions on the construction of national identity, the nature of colonialism, what makes and unmakes East and Southeast Asia, critiques on Eurocentrism in history, as well as the role of Japanese individuals and communities versus the modern myth of the Japanese empire.

My research interests are also broader than that and encompass the nineteenth and early twentieth century across all continents. This is mostly based on my living, working, and research experience in the Netherlands, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, and the United States. I have published and worked on various themes, including pedagogy, critical heritage studies, museum studies, and tensions between regional and national identity.

Please see the ‘Background’, ‘Publications & Activities’, or ‘Curriculum Vitae’ for more information, or do not hesitate to reach out to me should you be interested.