Updated on 2026/10/02

写真a

 
NISHIMURA, Keiko
 
Affiliation
Faculty of International Research and Education, School of International Liberal Studies
Job title
Assistant Professor(tenure-track)
Degree
Ph. D in Communication Studies ( University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill )
MA in Japanese Studies ( Sophia University )
BA in English Language and Studies ( Sophia University )

Research Experience

  • 2024.09
    -
    Now

    Waseda University   Graduate School of International Culture and Communication Studies   Assistant Professor

  • 2024.04
    -
    Now

    Waseda University   School of International Liberal Studies   Assistant Professor

  • 2021.12
    -
    2024.11

    Covid-19 and Society   Collaborative project between Waseda University and Stanford University, funded by the Hitachi Global Foundation   Researcher

  • 2023.10
    -
    2024.03

    The University of Tokyo   Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies   Adjunct Instructor

  • 2023.04
    -
    2024.03

    Musashi University   Faculty of Humanities Department of Japanese and East-Asian Comparative Studies   Adjunct Instructor

  • 2022.09
    -
    2024.03

    Musashi University   Adjunct Instructor

  • 2020.04
    -
    2024.03

    Sophia University   Faculty of Liberal Arts Department of Liberal Arts   Adjunct Instructor

  • 2023.09
    -
    2023.12

    Temple University, Japan Campus   Adjunct Instructor

  • 2023.04
    -
    2023.09

    Komazawa University   Faculty of Global Media Studies Department of Global Media   Adjunct Instructor

  • 2023.04
    -
    2023.09

    Hosei University   Faculty of Global and Interdisciplinary Studies Department of Global and Interdisciplinary Studies   Adjunct Instructor

  • 2022.04
    -
    2023.09

    Sophia University   Graduate School of Global Studies, Graduate Program in Global Studies   Adjunct Instructor

  • 2021.04
    -
    2021.09

    Aoyama Gakuin University   School of Cultural and Creative Studies   Adjunct Instructor

  • 2018.08
    -
    2020.12

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill   Department of Communication   Teaching Fellow

  • 2017.07
    -
    2018.06

    Japan Foundation

  • 2014.01
    -
    2017.06

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill   Department of Communication   Teaching Fellow

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Education Background

  • 2013.08
    -
    2021.12

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill   Department of Communication (Ph.D in Communication Studies)  

  • 2010
    -
    2012

    Sophia University   Graduate School of Global Studies   Graduate Program in Global Studies  

  • 2007.04
    -
    2010.03

    Sophia University   Faculty of Foreign Studies   Department of English Language and Studies  

  • 2003.03
    -
    2007.04

    Japan Women's University   Faculty of Human Sciences and Design   Department of Clothing  

Professional Memberships

  • 　
    　
    　

    Society for Social Studies of Science (4S)

  • 　
    　
    　

    Cultural Studies Association (CSA)

  • 　
    　
    　

    International Communication Association (ICA)

  • 　
    　
    　

    Association for Asian Studies (AAS)

Research Areas

  • Area studies / Cultural anthropology and folklore / Sociology of science, history of science and technology / Gender studies

Research Interests

  • Cultural Studies of Technology

  • Japanese Popular Culture

  • Human-Machine Communication

  • Science and Technology Studies

  • Cultural Studies

  • Popular Culture

  • Media Studies

  • Mobile Media

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Awards

  • J. Robert Cox Award for Outstanding Achievement in Scholarship

    2019   Department of Communication, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill  

  • Graduate Paper Prize

    2019   Mid-Atlantic Region/Association for Asian Studies (MARAAS)  

Media Coverage

  • 5 News Investigates: The rise of the robots

    TV or radio program

    Channel 5 (UK)   Channel 5 News  

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRa3oPQ9mUU  

    2018.01

  • Documentary "Rotten Girls"

    Internet

    TUJ Films (dir. Irene Herrera)  

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za04rr7bsZs  

    2012

 

Papers

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Presentations

  • Discourses and Uses of GenAI in Japanese Female Fandom

    Trans-Asian Transcultural Fandom Symposium 2026 

    Presentation date： 2026.05

  • Towards a cross-sectoral platform worker solidarity: A cultural analysis of Amazon Japan Deliveries

     [Invited]

    “Technological Interventions and Work-Life Balance in Low Birth Japan” Workshop 

    Presentation date： 2026.05

  • Comparative Analysis of Platform Urbanisation and Citizenship in Switzerland, Singapore, and Japan

    Keiko Nishimura, Filippo Bignami, Naomi Hanakata, Marco Palma

    2026 American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting 

    Presentation date： 2026.03

  • Labor of Platform Urbanization: Delivery Drivers in Japan

     [Invited]

    Symposium “Tokyo Work and Community “Laborscapes:” Machikoba and Beyond” 

    Presentation date： 2025.11

  • Paradox of ‘trust in science:’ Public contestation and (dis)trust of science during COVID-19

    Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) 2025 

    Presentation date： 2025.09

  • Materialities of a queer romance: Analysis of His Romance of 500 Years (2012)

    Science Fiction Research Association 2025 Conference 

    Presentation date： 2025.07

  • Humanlike robot and inhumane AI: Comparison of robot and AI in Tezuka Osamu

    2025 AAS-in-Asia Association for Asian Studies (AAS) Conference 

    Presentation date： 2025.06

  • 専門家に対する不信感の根拠は何か：政治風刺マンガにおける科学・専門性の表象分析

    科学技術社会論学会第23回年次研究大会 

    Presentation date： 2024.11

  • Representation of expertise in crises-themed comics: Analysis of COVID-19-themed Japanese manga

    Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) 

    Presentation date： 2023.11

  • Animating a Robot: Interaction, Play, and Popular Cultural Context (Keynote)

     [Invited]

    Hybrid symposium “Artificial companions: Fantasies, imaginaries and play” UNSW Sydney and Queensland University of Technology, Australia 

    Presentation date： 2023.09

  • Useful Robots, Useless Robots

     [Invited]

    Symposium “Politics, SF, and Cold War Culture in Japan.” Keio University, Tokyo, Japan 

    Presentation date： 2023.08

  • Language and representation of health, science, and credibility in COVID-19 pandemic: Analysis of COVID-19-themed manga

    XX ISA World Congress of Sociology 

    Presentation date： 2023.06

  • 現代日本のAI・ロボットと倫理:大衆文化と社会的責任

     [Invited]

    武蔵大学東西文化融合史研究会第２回例会「東西の人造人間：古代神話から先端のロボット工学まで」 

    Presentation date： 2022.12

  • Location and Translation of Well-being in SF Prototyping

    Anthropology of Japan in Japan (AJJ) 

    Presentation date： 2022.12

  • Gendering a Machine: Material and Narrative Contexts of the Human-Robot Interaction in BL/GL Manga ジェンダーを与えられた機械：BL/GL漫画におけるヒューマン・ロボット・インタラクションの物理的・物語的文脈”

     [Invited]

    Public Lecture in English at Kanagawa University 

    Presentation date： 2022.11

  • Representations and Experiences of Emotion, Intimacy, and Autonomy in Human-Robot Interaction

    Emotional Machines: The Technological Transformation of Intimacy in Japan (EMTECH) 

    Presentation date： 2022.10

  • Scripting Emotion, Animating Interaction: Designing Interactive Social Scripts with the Japanese Communication Robot Pepper

    Association for Asian Studies (AAS) 

    Presentation date： 2022.03

  • The Strength of a ‘Weak Robot:’ Communication and Relationality in Designing a Human-Robot Interaction

    Building Bridges and Not Walls: Expanding Human-Machine Communication Connections Within HRI at HRI 2021: ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction 

    Presentation date： 2021.03

  • Caring for the Clothed Robots: Techno-intimacy and Socialization of Artificial Life in Contemporary Japan

    American Anthropological Association (AAA) 

    Presentation date： 2019.11

  • Making ‘Useless’ Robots ‘Useful:’ Ambivalence of Utility in Japanese Communication Robots

    Mid-Atlantic Region Association for Asian Studies (MARAAS) 48th Annual Conference 

    Presentation date： 2019.10

  • Robot, Character, and Narrativized Design of Empathy

    Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) 

    Presentation date： 2019.08

  • Production of Intimacy and Ambivalence of Useful/lessness: Narratives of Communication Robots for the Homea

    Society for East Asian Anthropology (SEAA) Regional Conference 

    Presentation date： 2019.08

  • Semiotic Surplus of Sociality: Uniforms for Communication Robots in Japan

    Cultural Studies Association (CSA) Conference 

    Presentation date： 2019.06

  • Politics of Translation and Heterolinguality: Transcultural Debate in Fan-Translations of Creator Interviews Between Japanese- and English-Speaking Fandoms

    Cultural Studies Association (CSA) Conference 

    Presentation date： 2019.05

  • The Affect and Ambivalence of a ‘Useless’ Robot

    Human-Machine Communication (HMC) International Communication Association (ICA) Pre-Conference 

    Presentation date： 2019.05

  • The Affect of Useless Robots

    Association for Asian Studies (AAS) Annual Conference 

    Presentation date： 2019.03

  • Country of Surplus Sociality? Visualizing Semiotic Surplus in Uniforms for Communication Robots in Japan

    UCSB East Asia Center Graduate Conference "Imaging ‘East Asia:’ Constructing Knowledge Through the Visual" 

    Presentation date： 2019.01

  • ‘But what do they actually mean?’ Insecurity of Interpretation, Affective Positionality and Transcultural Debate in Fan-Translations of Creator Interviews Between Japanese- and English-Speaking Fandoms

    Mechademia Minneapolis (Transnational Fandoms) 

    Presentation date： 2018.09

  • On Personification and Characterology of Communication Robots

    Asian Studies Conference Japan (ASCJ) 

    Presentation date： 2018.06

  • The Value and Meaning of a ‘Useless’ Robot: An Ethnographic Study of Japanese Communication Robots

     [Invited]

    DIJ Social Science Study Group, German Institute for Japanese Studies 

    Presentation date： 2018.06

  • Robot, AI or Smart Speakers? What Classification Problems Are Productive Of

     [Invited]

    Symposium: Robots and Artificial Intelligence in Contemporary Japanese Society, Sophia University 

    Presentation date： 2018.06

  • Understanding Pepper’s Character: On Personification and Characterology of Communication Robots

    Mechademia Kyoto (Manga Nexus: Movement, Stillness, Media) 

    Presentation date： 2018.05

  • Picturing AI as Fembot: Politics of Representation, Imagination and Dialogue

    41st Southeastern Women's Studies Association (SEWSA) Conference 

    Presentation date： 2017.03

  • Mobile Sociality of “Passing-by”: The Role of Nintendo’s Street Pass for Tokyo Train Commuters

    Global Fusion 2016: Media and the Global City 

    Presentation date： 2016.10

  • Gynoid: Politics of Representation and Design

    Cultural Typhoon 

    Presentation date： 2016.07

  • Semi-Autonomous Fan Fiction: Examining Japanese Character Bots as Socialbots

    Postconference “Communicating With Machines: The Rising Power of Digital Interlocutors in Our Lives” at International Communication Association (ICA) Annual Conference 

    Presentation date： 2016.06

  • Robotic Public or Democratic Technology?: General Will 2.0 and the Politics of Technology

    International Communication Association (ICA) Annual Conference 

    Presentation date： 2016.06

  • “Passing-by” at the Intersection of Mobility and Sociality (poster presentation)

    International Communication Association (ICA) Annual Conference 

    Presentation date： 2016.06

  • Japanese ‘Fembot’ and the Politics of Representation

    55th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Conference of the Association for Asian Studies (SEC/AAS) 

    Presentation date： 2016.01

  • Digitally Mediated Transient Sociality: The Yamanote Line, Location Aware Technology, and ‘Communication in Passing’

    Association for Asian Studies (AAS) Annual Conference 

    Presentation date： 2015.03

  • Politics of Science Online: Discursive Negotiation of Risk and Uncertainty Regarding Radiation Contamination

    XVIII ISA World Congress of Sociology 

    Presentation date： 2014.07

  • Negotiating the risk of “radiation exposure (hibaku)” on Japanese online discursive space

    Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast Conference (ASPAC) 

    Presentation date： 2014.06

  • Performativity and Desire among Yaoi Fans on Twitter

    Asian Studies Conference Japan (ASCJ) 

    Presentation date： 2013.06

  • Using Digital Archive in a Research Context

     [Invited]

    Opportunities and Challenges of Participatory Digital Archives: Lessons from the March 11, 2011 Great Eastern Japan Disaster 

    Presentation date： 2013.01

  • Intimacy Between Actual and Virtual: Fan Interactions with Character Bots in Japan

    3rd Mechademia Conference 

    Presentation date： 2012.12

  • Youth Singers and Intercultural Communication in Japan

    1st International Pragmatics Conference of the Americas (AMPRA) 

    Presentation date： 2012.10

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Research Projects

  • Representations and Development of Artificial Intelligence: Towards a Renewed Vision of the Future

    Japan Society for the Promotion of Science  Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research

    Project Year :

    2025.04
    -
    2028.03
     

  • Platform Urbanization and Citizenship: Understanding Platform Territories in a Comparative Context

    ETH Zurich (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich/Federal Institute of Technology Zurich)  2024 Consolidation Grant

    Project Year :

    2024.11
    -
    2025.10
     

  • Covid-19 and Society: Comparative Analysis of Risk Communication, Expertise, and Citizenship

    The Hitachi Global Foundation Hitachi Fund Support for Research Related to Infectious Diseases 

    Project Year :

    2021.12
    -
    2024.11
     

  • Building the Future of Sociality: The Culture and Economy of Japanese Communicative Robots

    Japan Foundation  Doctoral Fellowship

    Project Year :

    2017.07
    -
    2018.06
     

Misc

  • Cross-Referential Transmedia Narrative and the Virtual Corporeality of Character/Cast（須川亜紀子「第二章 2.5次元舞台とは何か」『2.5次元文化論 舞台・キャラクター・ファンダム』青土社、2021 翻訳)

    Akiko Sugawa-Shimada, Keiko Nishimura

    Mechademia: Second Arc   2 ( 15 ) 11 - 31  2023

  • The Purehearted Major: On Innocence （小谷真理「第五章 18 無垢の将校—『イノセンス』」『テクノゴシック』株式会社ホーム社、2005 共訳）

    Mari Kotani, Brian Bergstrom, Keiko Nishimura

    Mechademia: Second Arc   14 ( 1 ) 62 - 76  2021

  • Affective Technology in Times of Crisis

    Cultural Anthropology (Commentary in “3.11 Politics in Disaster Japan: Ten Years Later”)    2021.05

  • Choregprahe

    Digital Japan (Contribution to the launch of Digital Japan Research Strand at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures)     20  2018

  • On Two-Dimensional Cute Girls: Virtual Idols（吉田正高「第五章 ヴァーチャル・アイドル」『二次元美少女論―オタクの女神創造史』二見書房、2004 翻訳）

    Yoshida Masataka, Keiko Nishimura

    Media convergence in Japan     144 - 168  2016

  • The Transformation and Diffusion of ʻOtaku’ Stereotypes and the Establishment of ʻAkihabara’ as Place-brand （菊池聡「『おたく』ステレオタイプの変遷と秋葉原ブランド」地域ブランド研究 4 47-78, 2008 翻訳）

    Satoshi Kikuchi, Keiko Nishimura

    Debating otaku in contemporary Japan: Historical perspectives and new horizons     147 - 162  2015

  • Introduction to Otakuology （岡田斗司夫「７ オタク文化論」『オタク学入門』新潮社、2008 翻訳）

    Toshio Okada, Keiko Nishimura

    Debating otaku in contemporary Japan: Historical perspectives and new horizons     89 - 104  2015

  • Birth of ʻOtaku’: Centering on Discourse Dynamics in Manga Burikko （山中智省「『おたく』誕生 : 『漫画ブリッコ』の言説力学を中心に」横浜国大国語研究 27 16-34, 2009 翻訳）

    Tomomi Yamanaka, Keiko Nishimura

    Debating otaku in contemporary Japan: Historical perspectives and new horizons     35 - 50  2015

  • On Exhaustion, Self-censorship, and Affective Community

    Cultural Anthropology (Commentary in “Hot Spots: 3.11 Politics in Disaster Japan”)    2011.07

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Syllabus

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Teaching Experience

  • Materialities of Communication Media

    Waseda University (SILS)  

    2025.04
    -
    Now
     

  • Culture and Communication

    Waseda University (GSICCS)  

    2024.10
    -
    Now
     

  • Culture and Technology

    Waseda University (SILS)  

    2024.10
    -
    Now
     

  • Introduction to Communication Studies

    Waseda University (SILS)  

    2024.04
    -
    Now
     

  • Cultural Diversity in Japan and Beyond

    Waseda University (SILS)  

    2024.04
    -
    Now
     

  • Media and Popular Culture

    Waseda University (SILS)  

    2024.04
    -
    Now
     

  • First Year Seminar B

    Waseda University  

    2024.04
    -
    2024.09
     

  • ITASIA415 Media-Technologies, Machines, and Humanity

    Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo.  

    2023
    -
    2024
     

  • ANT303 Japanese Popular Culture

    Sophia University  

    2022
    -
    2024
     

  • SOZ202 Special Seminar on Contemporary Japanese Culture & Society

    Sophia University  

    2023
    -
    　
     

  • S0240 Topics in Technology & Society/Technology and Society in East Asia

    Musashi University  

    2023
    -
    　
     

  • S0140 Survey of Global Media

    Musashi University  

    2023
    -
    　
     

  • ANTH/ASST2373 Japanese Culture

    Temple University Japan Campus  

    2023
    -
    　
     

  • S0130 Seminar in Visual Cultures

    Musashi University  

    2023
    -
    　
     

  • B0260 Japan in the Modern World

    Musashi University  

    2023
    -
    　
     

  • Cultural and Ethnic Diversity in Japan

    Hosei University  

    2023
    -
    　
     

  • Communication and Technology

    Komazawa University  

    2023
    -
    　
     

  • JS501 Modern Japanese Visual Culture

    Sophia University  

    2023
    -
    　
     

  • B0230 Information Technology and Global Communication

    Musashi University  

    2022
    -
    2023
     

  • ART306 Media Studies

    Sophia University  

    2021
    -
    2023
     

  • ART303 Topics in Japanese Art

    Sophia University  

    2020
    -
    2022
     

  • Modern Japanese Culture/Japanese Popular Culture

    Aoyama Gakuin University  

    2021
    -
    　
     

  • COMM450 Media and Popular Culture

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill  

    2018
    -
    2020
     

  • COMM318 Cultural Diversity

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill  

    2019
    -
    　
     

  • COMM140 Introduction to Media Criticism

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill  

    2016
    -
    2017
     

  • COMM113 Public Speaking

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill  

    2014
    -
    2017
     

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Academic Activities

  • Artificial Intelligence: Representations, Practices, and Implications in Asian Popular Culture

    2025 AAS-in-Asia Association for Asian Studies (AAS) Conference  

    2025.06
    -
    　

  • Robots among People in Japanese Society

    Association for Asian Studies (AAS) Annual Conference  

    2019.03
    -
    　

  • Symposium: Robots and Artificial Intelligence in Contemporary Japanese Society

    Institute of Comparative Culture, Sophia University  

    2018.06
    -
    　

  • They Move: Voice, Body, Machine

    Mechademia (Manga Nexus: Movement, Stillness, Media)  

    2018.05
    -
    　

  • Conference “Feminisms Here and Now: Communicating Alongside | Across | Against”

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Communication  

    2016.12
    -
    　

  • Playing with Gender: Affective Technologies and Social Spaces in Tokyo

    Cultural Typhoon  

    2016.07
    -
    　

  • Examining Democracy 2.0: Unconscious Publics, Political Legitimacy, and Democracy without Deliberation

    International Communication Association (ICA) Annual Conference  

    2016.07
    -
    　

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Internal Special Research Projects

  • Waste, repair and care: materialities of robot lifecycle

    2025   Filippo Bignami, Naomi Clara Hanakata, Marco Palma

    　View Summary

    研究代表者は2025年1月よりETH ZurichのBilateral Research Collaboration with Asia下のConsolidation Grantsである「Platform urbanization and citizenship: Understanding Platform Territories in a comparative context」プロジェクトに参加し、University of applied sciences of Southern Switzerland（SUPSI）またNational University of Singapore（NUS）と共同研究を進めることとなり、本研究のテーマであるロボットのmateriality（物質性）については一度保留することとなったが、広くmaterialityという観点からは、「デジタル・プラットフォームによる都市空間・社会的実践の変容」というテーマで、グローバルに展開されるeコマースなどのデジタル・プラットフォームがいかに物質空間や生活・労働環境、その実践に影響を与えているか、というプラットフォームのmaterialityについての研究にシフトすることとなった。本研究を通じてはAmerican Association of Geographers学会にて発表をし、現在は学術誌にSpecial Issueを提案すべく、編集者の一人として関わっている。また、本研究の継続として三島海雲学術奨励金への応募を行うことができた。こちらでは日本・シンガポールの比較研究にフォーカスして行う予定である。また、デジタル・プラットフォームがもたらす労働形態の変化について、「Tokyo Work and Community “Laborscapes:” Machikoba and Beyond東京の町工場と地域社会：「Laborscapes（労働の風景）」から読み解くコミュニティ、労働、居住性の変容—展覧会・シンポジウム」にて発表を行った。こちらの継続として来年度行われる予定のワークショップ「Work-life Balance, Its Origins, Transformations, and Impact」にて、投稿予定の研究論文「Towards a cross-sectoral worker solidarity: A cultural analysis of Amazon Japan」から発表予定である。

  • 戦後大衆文化におけるロボット・人工知能表象の変遷:ジェンダーの視点から

    2024  

    　View Summary

    研究代表者は2024年4月に早稲田大学に着任したため本予算を用いて研究環境を整備した。まずは2024年度科研費「研究活動スタート支援」に応募し、採択はされなかったものの、頂いたフィードバックを活かして2025年度科研費「若手研究」に応募し採択された。本課題は戦後大衆文化におけるロボット・人工知能(AI)表象の変遷を整理し、実際の技術開発の歴史と重ねることで、これらにまつわる想像力がどのように具体的な開発へと影響したか、また実際の技術がどう表象に影響を与えたかを明らかにすることを目的としている。今年度は手塚治虫作品に絞りロボットとAIの表象を対比する分析を行った。また、いわゆる「手塚AI」と呼ばれる人工知能製作作品について、手塚自身のAI表象から読み取れる立場にもとづいて批評を行った。その結果を査読有り論文誌Asiascape: Digital Asiaへと投稿でき、修正再投稿中である。また、”Artificial Intelligence: Representations, Practices, and Implications in Asian Popular Culture”という題目でAAS-in-Asia学会にてパネル発表を申請し採択された。またジェンダーの視点からはBL作品におけるロボット表象の物理・身体性についての分析を行い、”Materialities of a queer romance: Analysis of His Romance of 500 Years (2012)”と題してScience Fiction Research Association学会での発表が採択された。このように作品ごとの分析は進んでいるが、目的の一つである大規模データベースを利用したマクロな表象分析やジェンダーバイアスの分析などは2025年度に持ち越しとなるため、来年度以降も分析を深めたい。