This research project will trace the development of Japanese horror manga and American horror comics in the late 20th century and conduct a comparative analysis. It will compare the expressive and formal characteristics of horror comics produced during the formative periods of the genre in both national settings, focusing on Japanese horror manga and American horror comics published before the 1990s.

　This collaborative research focuses on the representation of locality in Japanese literary and film works. We will collectively examine the interaction between regional culture and creative expression.

　This collaborative research project explores how Japanese literature and media from the 1960s to the 2000s have grappled with fragmented realities—realities shaped by social upheavals, political mobilizations, urban and economic transformations, and ecological crises. By tracing how cultural texts mediate experiences of uncertainty, anxiety, and social change, the project highlights the creative strategies through which “reality” itself is imagined, contested, and reconstructed. Bringing together interdisciplinary and intermedial approaches, it seeks to deepen our understanding of how form, genre, and affective experience intersect in times of rupture and transformation.

　This research project aims to digitize three valuable collections of archival material related to the economic history of Japan held at Tohoku University: the Kemuyama village and Imai village document collections located on microfilm at the Economics Department, and the Kotani documents at Tohoku University Library. The project will enable new digital research rooted in collaboration with researchers around the world.

　The aim of this research is to compare and examine the various aspects, memories, and subsequent changes that occurred during the period of high-speed economic growth on a global scale, with the goal of identifying the issues and structures of modern society as it exists today. Additionally, we translate historical materials housed in the archives of Tohoku University Digital Archives into English. By making these materials accessible to researchers worldwide, the project seeks to expand the scope of this research.

　While it is not uncommon for people to have tattoos in Europe, in East Asia, including Japan, there is still a strong aversion to them. The ultimate aim of this project is to clarify the causes and effects of cultural differences in attitudes towards the body, or ‘body consciousness’ but the goal of this proposal is to clarify how these attitudes differ from culture to culture by creating a new list of terms for body expression by utilizing the Tohoku University Digital Archives (ToUDA).

　This project organizes English translations and explanations of the Documents of Hōzawa, a collection of historical documents held at the Department of Japanese History in the Faculty of Arts of Letters. Subsequently, we will disseminate these materials through both digital and physical channels: publication in the university's digital archive (ToUDA) and academic journals, and an exhibition at the library.

　This research investigates alternative approaches to memory studies by examining the transmission of war memories from perspectives that extend beyond the framework of nationalism. It particularly focuses on war trauma, traditionally regarded as personal, and discusses the significance of its sharing with others through the acts of narrative and representation. 

　Metadata is as important as materials in building a digital archive of valuable materials and books. It includes information such as the author, year of publication, and history of the material or book, and provides the basis for its academic value. To enable smoother and more appropriate management, this study will explore the possibility of metadata assignment using generative AI under the framework of an international joint research project.