Contributor Bio: Rachel DiNitto

English | Japanese

Rachel DiNitto got her Ph.D. in Modern Japanese Literature from the University of Washington in Seattle and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University’s Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies.  She studied in Japan at International Christian University and Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies (Stanford Center), and was a visiting researcher at Keio University. Professor DiNitto teaches classes on Japanese literature, film, nationalism and contemporary culture, as well as courses on language and translation. She works on the literary and cultural studies of Japan’s prewar (1910s-1930s), and postbubble eras (1990-2000s). In addition to her monograph, Uchida Hyakken: A Critique of Modernity and Militarism in Prewar Japan, publications include articles on depictions of the Asia-Pacific War in the work of manga artist Maruo Suehiro; Kanehara Hitomi, the young, female writer whose controversial novel Snakes and Earrings won Japan’s most prestigious literary award in 2004; and cult director Suzuki Seijun’s return to the cinema in the 1980s. Professor DiNitto is also currently working on a new book project, “Japan’s Lost Decade: National Identity, Popular Culture, Postbubble Youth, and the Fate of Political Imagination in Millennial Japan.” For more on her publications, see her full bio.