Experience

Wakayama University

• Higher Education
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Pert-time Lecturer

  • Apr 2016 - Present

  Part-time lecturer, teaching "Wakayama Studies for Tourism" for the Tourism Department, a class provided in English for undergraduate students, focused on maritime history with topics including: old whaling in Kumano; the first American encounter with the Japanese in 1791 by crew members of the Lady Washington and the Grace; the Wakayama cannery workers in Terminal Island of the Port of Los Angeles; and the Wakayama pearl divers in Broome, Western Australia. Part-time lecturer, teaching "Wakayama Studies for Tourism" for the Tourism Department, a class provided in English for undergraduate students, focused on maritime history with topics including: old whaling in Kumano; the first American encounter with the Japanese in 1791 by crew members of the Lady Washington and the Grace; the Wakayama cannery workers in Terminal Island of the Port of Los Angeles; and the Wakayama pearl divers in Broome, Western Australia.



Taiji Historical Archives

• Curator of Maritime History

  • Oct 2006 - Present

  Taiji on Distant Shores February 2014 – September 2014Special exhibition at the Ishigaki Memorial Museum, Taiji, Japan, examining the history of the Southern Wakayama fishermen who settled in Southern California, British Colombia, and Western Australia. Sponsored by the Nippon Foundation through a Maritime Museum Network grant and a Japanese Cemetery research grant from the Shire of Broome, WA, Australia. Will be exhibited in part in the Civic Centre in Broome, Western Australia in 2014.Eitaro Eshigaki: The 120th Anniversary of an Artist’s BirthNovember 2013Renovation of the permanent exhibition of the work of artist Eitaro Ishigaki, who immigrated to the US from Taiji, Japan.The Russo-Japanese War and Journalism in the Meiji Era: The Portsmouth Peace TreatyMarch 2012 – February 2014Special exhibition at the Matsuyama City Museum, Ehime, Japan. Consulting curator in charge of acquisition and transportation of artifacts from various owners in the United States, including the New Hampshire Historical Society.Whale Boats: Styles and DesignsDecember 2010 – February 2011Special exhibition at the Taiji Whale Museum, examining the meaning of the unique designs painted on Taiji whale boats. Sponsored by the Nippon Foundation through a Maritime Museum Network grant.The Last Harpooner: The End of Old Whaling, and an Introduction of American and Norwegian Whaling February 2009 – March 2009Special exhibition in collaboration with the New Bedford Whaling Museum and the Sandefjord Whaling Museum, Norway, sponsored by the Nippon Foundation through a Maritime Museum Network grant.Rikugei or Six Types of WhalesJanuary 2009 – December 2009Traveling exhibition to display over 30 original paintings and woodcut prints depicting whales and whaling in the Kumano region, in collaboration with the Toba Sea-Folk Museum, the Kumano Kodo Center, and Mie University.



New Bedford Whaling Museum

• Museums, Historical Sites, and Zoos
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Assistant Curator

  • Nov 2002 - Sep 2006

  Pacific Encounters: Yankee Whalers, Manjiro, and the Opening of Japan April 2004 – April 2005Special exhibition examining the influential legacy of the whaling industry on the opening of diplomatic relations and cultural exchange between the US and Japan, in conjunction with the centennial cerebration of the Japan Society of Boston, sponsored by Toyota Motor Corporation, All Nippon Airways, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in NY, Sumitomo Corporation, Marubeni Corporation, and the Japan Foundation. Portsmouth Historical Society, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, U.S.A.Guest CuratorNovember 2004 – December 2005An Uncommon Commitment to Peace: Portsmouth Peace Treaty of 1905 July 2005 – presentSpecial exhibition at the John Paul Jones House, Portsmouth, NH, examining the causes of the Russo-Japanese War and the peace process that led to the treaty signing on September 5th, 1905 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Sponsored by a grant from the Center for Global Partnership at the Japan Foundation to the Japan-America Society of New Hampshire. The traveling exhibition has been displayed at the New Hampshire State Archives since 2007.Nippon Club, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New York, New York, U.S.A.Guest CuratorMay - September 2005Out to Sea: the Courageous Diplomacy of Three Japanese Castaways May 2005 – September 2005Special exhibition examining the lives of John Manjiro, Joseph Heco, and Jirokichi.



Kendall Whaling Museum

• Curatorial Intern

  • 2000 - 2001