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), 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.
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        New (2023): An excellent review by Philip Seaton in Monumenta Nipponica 
        Volume 78, Number 1, 2023, pp. 151-156 (Review)
        Quote-worthy:

• ​  "... the authors have, effectively, done an ethnography of Japanese society using a sample of henro pilgrims (156)." 
• "On finishing Pilgrims Until We Die, I was left with the feeling that I had read a highly professional piece of scholarly writing crafted to the highest standards, but in the manner of pilgrims who eschew attention and status and focus instead on the pursuit of integrity and inner truth (156)." 

                   ****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.