Self Introduction

[Lori Hitchcock]

Ojama itashimasu.

My name is Lori Hitchcock, and I have just subscribed to the Kinejapan
discussion list.  I currently work as the research assistant of the
Washington Bureau of the Mainichi Newspaper, having just returned from
five years in Japan (Tottori, Osaka).  I hold an M.A. in Japanese
Literature (modern emphasis) from Ohio State University, and will be
returning to school in the Autumn to pursue more specialized study in
East Asian, and particularly, Japanese film.  My research interests in
the past have included Genbaku Bungaku, the role of biography on text,
and my MA thesis was a study of the influence of Edgar Allan Poe on the
works of Akutagawa Ryunosuke.  While in Japan, I also had the
opportunity to lecture on American film, as well as on representations
of Japanese/Japanese culture in American commercial movies (my favorite
to date is "Demolition Man").  In the future, I plan to conduct research
on the role of the audience in film interpretation/reception, Western
analysis and marketing of Asian film, the interrelationship of Japanese
and Chinese (Hong Kong, in particular) films, and Japanese film theory.
The most recent Japanese film I've seen that has really caught my
attention was Kitano Takeshi's "Kids Return."

Through this list, I hope to gain a better idea of the directions that
Japanese film studies are taking both in Japan and around the world.  

Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

Lori Hitchcock