Mari Yoshihara

PhD, American Civilization, Brown University (USA)
MA, American Civilization, Brown University (USA)
BA, Liberal Arts (American Studies), University of Tokyo

Born in New York and raised mostly in Japan, I earned my BA at the University of Tokyo and did my graduate work in the United States. After completing my doctorate, I have spent my entire career at the University of Hawaiʻi. After having spent more than half of my life in the United States, I joined the Center for Global Education in 2024 and now split my time between Japan and Hawaiʻi.

With expertise in American Studies, U.S.-East Asian relations, gender studies, and musical cultures, I conduct research, teaching, and writing in both Japanese and English. I am particularly interested in the politics of cultural encounters, exchanges, and conflicts and the workings of race, class, and gender in those dynamics.

My scholarly publications in English include Embracing the East: White Women and American Orientalism (2003); Musicians from a Different Shore: Asians and Asian Americans in Classical Music (2007); and Dearest Lenny: Letters from Japan and the Making of the World Maestro (2019). I also write extensively in the Japanese language, both for academic and general readership. In 2023, I published a memoir about living in/across two languages.

I am currently working on two research projects, one on Asians and Asian Americans in the rapidly changing classical music industry in the U.S. and the other on the culture of piano lessons in Japan.

I am also a struggling amateur classical pianist.

I believe that a solid historical knowledge, broad understanding of diverse contemporary society, and deep language skills and cultural sensibility are all the more crucial in the global age. Encountering norms, values, and practices other than one's own can be a greatly liberating or a deeply unsettling experience—and they are often both. And it is an essential step in understanding one's place in the world and exploring how to live in it. The university is a prime environment for such an exploration, and I hope you are excited about the challenge!