Director of Japanese language program Tomoko Takami (高見智子)  Senior Lecturer in Foreign Languages
Teaching is my passion and love. I enjoy working with students, and I believe that every student in a class is unique and contributes to building a learning community. I value collaborative learning in which all participants, the students and the instructor, explore learning together by exchanging knowledge, experiences and engaging in dialogues. I take the learner-centered approach, in which I take the learner’s needs and goals of learning into consideration along with language teaching pedagogy when developing a curriculum. I began teaching Japanese at the University of Pennsylvania in 1996. I have been teaching various courses in beginning and advanced levels of Japanese. I started to teach Japanese for the Professions in 2000, and its course development and business language instruction have become a focus of my research interests. The teaching material I created for the course is a published textbook, “Powering Up Your Japanese Through Case Studies: Intermediate and Advanced Japanese” (2014: the Japan Times). I co-edited the book “Language Education for Social Future: Critical Content-Based Instruction” (2015: Coco Publishing). I have published several academic articles and given numerous presentations and workshops on language pedagogy in different parts of the world, including the United States, Japan, Italy, and Ethiopia.   I am very thankful for receiving the Teacher Award from the American Association of Teachers of Japanese in 2019.

I have been serving several leadership positions in the Japanese language education field: the Founding Chair of Japanese for Specific Purposes Special Interest Group (JSP-SIG) (2007-present), National Japanese Exam Director and a board member (2014-2017), and President-Elect (2021) at the American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ), an AP Japanese Language and Culture Development Committee member (2017-2018) and Co-Chair (2018-2021). In 2022, I am very humbled and honored to serve as President of the American Association of Teachers of Japanese.

Megumu Tamura　(田村芽) Prior to coming to UPenn, I taught at several institutions including Penn State University, Purdue University, and Swarthmore College, as well as in summer course programs at Middlebury College.  My teaching philosophy encompasses the following principles: 1) that students learn the most under the environment where they are challenged and motivated, and then where they achieve; and 2) that the instructor’s role is to create a challenging but rewarding learning environment in which students will gain confidence and become proficient. I believe in the importance of critical thinking in not only language courses, but also in college education in general, and my teaching style that emphasizes discussions reflects this belief.  In order to accomplish these goals, I creatively incorporate a variety of raw and up-to-date materials, such as newspaper articles in current topics and Manga, in my teaching.

Nana Takeda Kolb (コルブ武田奈々) Prior to coming to UPenn, I taught Japanese at Williams College and Mississippi State University. Regardless of the setting, I use my diverse academic and professional experience to enhance instruction. With many years in Japan’s rapidly changing mass media industry, I bring my professional expertise to the creation of current and relevant classroom materials. I also incorporate my long-term experience as a vocal instructor into my classroom instruction, introducing “acting” as a proven teaching tool in university Japanese classes. My research and teaching background have made me comfortable instructing in traditional, online, and hybrid instructional settings. I use a variety of online approaches to increase students’ opportunities to communicate in Japanese with their peers and me. Education extends beyond the classroom, and my philosophy includes addressing the changing needs and requirements of students and the community. I believe instructing Japanese provides students a window into cultural diversity.

Ryo Nakayama (中山諒)My career as a Japanese language teacher began with the Japan Foundation’s J-LEAP (Japanese Language Education Assistant Program), where I worked as an Assistant Teacher at Harding High School in Minnesota. This experience laid the foundation for my passion for teaching Japanese. Subsequently, I served as a Teaching Assistant for beginning and intermediate Japanese courses at the University of Massachusetts Amherst while conducting research on Japanese language pedagogy and educational technology. I also taught intensive Japanese courses at the Middlebury Language Schools during the summer, and in 2022, I joined the University of Pennsylvania as a Japanese language instructor. My teaching philosophy emphasizes student-centered learning. I am committed to exploring innovative educational approaches by incorporating the latest technologies, such as AI and online games, to foster learner autonomy and sustain engagement. I am particularly interested in how AI-driven feedback can enhance learner independence and in developing new forms of communication between AI and learners.

Saki Hirozane (弘實紗季)Prior to joining UPenn, I taught Japanese at Harvard University and Portland State University as well as remote courses at Auburn University and Columbus State University. I have also taught the beginning Japanese to business professionals at the Japan-America Society of Oregon. My goal as an instructor is to create supportive and compassionate learning communities. I am dedicated to guiding students in using the Japanese language in a culturally appropriate manner and fostering a lifelong passion for learning. To achieve this, I teach Japanese within its cultural context. For example, I provide students with opportunities to navigate specific situations in Japanese and help them understand and apply Japanese cultural norms, such as politeness, consideration, and culturally appropriate communication strategies. By guiding students to express themselves in Japanese and practice real-world scenarios, I strive to make the learning process both enjoyable and effective.

Faculty in Japanese Studies Linda H. Chance, Ph.D. (Associate Chair) Associate Professor (Japanese Language and Literature) Ayako Kano, Ph.D. (Graduate Chair) Professor (Japanese Literature, Performance, Gender Studies) David Spafford, Ph.D. (Undergraduate Chair) Associate Professor (Pre-Modern Japanese History) Lewis E. Harrington Lecturer