Haruko Iwasaki

Haruko G. Iwasaki worked on popular culture of Early Modern Japan (Edo) into the Meiji period. Her primary focus was on the creative interactions within artistic groups, consisting of writers, poets, artists, actors, patrons, courtesans, each with diverse backgrounds. Related issues include the construction of “egalitarian” space by way of pennames and other disguises, mutual invasion of image and text, and the continuous mutation of popular motifs that moved across genres and disciplines. Before coming to UCSB, Iwasaki taught at Columbia, Princeton, and Harvard. Her key publications include Writing in Circles: Cultural Networks of Edo Gesaku Literature, 1760–1790 (East Asia Monograph Series, 1991) and “Speak, Memory! Edo Netsuke in Their Literary Context.” International Netsuke Society Journal 21(4), Winter 2001.