by Rebecca Copeland | Mar 11, 2026 | Japanese Literature
“Pick a topic you love,” my PhD advisor told me. “You’re going to be working on it for years.” At first, I bristled at the advice, thinking he meant I was likely to take a long time finishing my dissertation. Was I really that slow? Later I came to understand. The... 
by Rebecca Copeland | Jan 17, 2024 | Japanese Culture
Colors, Croissants, and Translation Choices I successfully defended my dissertation, Uno Chiyo: The Woman and the Writer, in December 1985. A few months later, I was on my way back to Tokyo, where I would spend the next five years at International Christian... 
by Rebecca Copeland | Nov 22, 2023 | Japanese Culture
Part One: Don’t Take No for an Answer! “You shouldn’t work on a living writer,” some advised me as I struggled to find the subject for my dissertation. A living writer, they argued, was still producing works, their oeuvre yet in progress. I guess they reasoned that... 
by Rebecca Copeland | Dec 21, 2022 | Memories
“Okay. Here’s a listing that might work!” The agent pushed a sheet of paper across the desk to me. “The landlord specifically says he wants to rent to foreigners.” That was refreshing news. My husband, Dennis, and I had been in Tokyo for nearly a week now, trying to... 
by Rebecca Copeland | May 11, 2022 | Japanese Culture
The elevator ride to the ninth floor left me woozy. I was already nervous. What if he turned me down? “Enter,” he barked when I knocked on his office door. I pushed the door open just enough to squeeze through and met his gaze. His eyes, slightly...
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