CONTACT: japanjohn.com (at sign) gmail.com

The following information is meant to be representative, rather than exhaustive.  

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EMPLOYMENT

• Kansai Gaidai University (Hirakata, Japan), Associate Professor of Asian Religion/Philosophy, 2013-present
• Kansai Gaidai University (Hirakata, Japan), Instructor of Asian Religion/Philosophy, 2010-2013
• Antioch University-Intensive Buddhist Studies Program (Kyoto, Japan), Instructor of Japanese Buddhism and Culture, 2009-2010

EDUCATION

• PhD Japanese Studies (Japanese Religious Studies), University of Manchester (U.K.), 2009
• MA Asian Religion, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004
• BA Philosophy, Xavier University, 1995

AWARDS

• President's Global Education Award for the school year 2021/2022

MAJOR RESEARCH GRANTS

• Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Kaken Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (2017-2021). Title: 平成時代の四国遍路における不断の巡礼者と宗教的権威. Full details publicly available here. 
• Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Kaken Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (2014-2017). Title: Themes and Implications of the Heisei Era Shikoku Henro Literature Boom. Full details publicly available here. 
• Japanese Ministry of Education Graduate Student Research Grant (2003-2005)

COURSES TAUGHT

• The Japanese Mind
• Shinto
• Religion in Japan
• Financial Derivatives with a Focus on Japan
• Comparative Studies: The Pursuit of Desire
• Introduction to Japanology (for Japanese)
• Contemporary Japanese Religion
• Independent Study: Comparative Warrior Ethos
• International Business Ethics 
• Introduction to Philosophy
• The History and Ideology of the Japanese Warrior 
• Spiritual Journeys: Power Spots, Mandala Mountains, and Haiku Roads
• Pilgrimage: Journeys in Search of Meaning 
• Money, Religion, and Ethics
• Swords of Salvation: Religion and Violence in Japan
• Japanese Society and Cultural Traditions
• Japanese Buddhist Culture
• Practice and Theory of Buddhism (team taught)
• Field Research in Japan: Selected Topic

PUBLICATIONS AND MAJOR WORKS
"Holes in El Capitan: A Case Study of Ethics and Pilgrimage Culture." Journal of Inquiry and Research. Osaka: Kenkyuronshu vol. 118 (2023): 37-53.

"The Epic Pilgrimage: The Way of the Ascetics of El Capitan." Dublin: International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage. Vol. 10:4 (2022): 78-90.

"The Steepness of the Pilgrim Path: Ascetic Lessons from Japan." In Pilgrimage as Spiritual Practice: A Handbook for Teachers, Wayfarers, and Guides. Edited by Jeffery Bloechl and Andre Brouillette. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. 2022. 

Pilgrims Until We Die: Unending Pilgrimage in Shikoku. Monograph with Ian Reader. Oxford University Press. 2021.
                   ****NOTE: Introduction can be read through google scholar below***

"Heart Sutra Pop: Religious Textual Democratization by a Sexy Vocal Android." Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. ​Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Vol. 33.1. March 2021.

"Vertical Pilgrimage: Japanese Mountain Religious Experience and American Big Wall Climbing" Journal of Inquiry and Research. Osaka: Kenkyuronshu vol. 112 (2020): 91-108.  

"Pilgrimaging Through Time: The Theoretical Implications of Continuing Journeys on the Shikoku Henro." Dublin: International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage. Vol. 8:1 (2020), 51-59.

"The 'Gaijin Henro': Outliers, Discrimination and Time Variability with Pilgrimage in Shikoku." Journal of Inquiry and Research. Osaka: Kenkyuronshu vol. 107 (2018): 1-12. 

"The Way to Gyō: Priestly Asceticism on the Shikoku Henro." The Journal of Japanese Religious Studies. Nagoya: Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture 43/2: 275-305.

"Review: Ascetic Practices in Japanese Religion by Tullio Federico Lobetti," Religious Studies Review  vol. 38(2015): 127-128. 
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"Black Swans in White Clothing: Outliers and Social Scientific Theory Considered Through a Case Study of the Shikoku Henro." Journal of Inquiry and Research. Osaka: Kenkyuronshu vol. 100 (2014): 153-165.  

"Shock Treatment on an Inpatient Island: Finding Anxious Cures on Pilgrimage in Shikoku." The Journal of Intercultural Studies. Osaka: Intercultural Research Institute vol. 38(2013): 27-41.     

“Review: Daoism in the Twentieth Century: Between Eternity and Modernity by David A. Palmer and Xun Liu,” Religious Studies Review  vol. 38(2012): 259. 

"Review of Jun'ichi Isomae's Japanese Mythology: Hermeneutics on Scripture."  Relegere: Studies in Religion and Reception (available online here) vol. 2 (2011): 371-383. 

"Media Transformation, Evangelical Continuity: Enticement for a Japanese Pilgrimage from Woodblocks to Homepages." In Japan and the Internet: Perspectives and Practices. Edited by Yutaka Tsujinaka and Leslie M. Tkach-Kawasaki.  Tsukuba: Center for International, Comparative, and Advanced Japanese Studies (University of Tsukuba). 2011.  

"Pilgrim Leadership Rendered in HTML: Bloggers and the Shikoku Henro."  In Japanese Religions and the Internet: Innovation, Representation, and Authority ( volume link here). Edited by Erica Baffelli, Ian Reader, and  Birgit Staemmler. New York: Routeledge. 2011. 

"Characters on a Page, Characters on a Pilgrimage: Contemporary Memoirs of the Shikoku Henro." Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD (University of Manchester). 2009.  

"White Garments, Gray Notions: Issues of Identity and Motivation in Regard to the Japanese Buddhist Pilgrim." Thesis submitted for the degree of MA (University of Hawaii). 2004.  

NON-ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS
"A Gumby's Guide to Three Person Big-Wall Technique (more than 11,000 views!)"  

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This image collage, constructed with Wordle, demonstrates the frequency of occurrence for certain terms in my PhD thesis.