...like these palm trees that grace the blue sky above the Hearst Castle, I came to Southern California 18 years ago, to take a job offer as assistant professor of anthropology.  

How did I get here?  I was born in Yokohama, Japan, and grew up in the same little house where my family still lives.  I came to the U.S. for the first time as a college student.  Since then, I have lived in McMinnville, OR, Chicago, and Boulder, CO.  I also did stints in Dallas, TX, Columbus, OH, New York, and Chapel Hill, NC.  

...came into my life in the summer after my junior year in college, which I spent cleaning dorm rooms during the day, and reading books from the library at night.  I started Coming of Age in Samoa by Margaret Mead, and was immediately taken by the idea of investigating the lives that are unfamiliar and different than our own. When it was my turn, I didn't go to a far-away place like she did. I went back and studied the life of Japanese housewives, for which I found myself utterly unsuited earlier in life.

...is integral part of what I do as an anthropologist, but my love of storytelling goes far beyond academic writing. My column "Beyond the Paper Screen" appeared on a major newspaper for 18 years, which I'm excited to continue on this website's "Beyond Culture" page.

I am also an expert in AI-generated art, and experimenting with digital storytelling, using AI-generated images, which challenges me to combine words and images to tell richer stories.