Her scholarship on twentieth century Japanese material and popular culture investigates the intersection of practices and beliefs considered &quot;traditional&quot; with larger constructs of historical modernity, including nationalism, imperialism, capitalism and feminism. Her first book is entitled Prophet Motive: Deguchi Onisaburo, Oomoto and the Rise of New Religions in Imperial Japan (Hawaii, 2008) and her current project, Budding Fortunes, examines ikebana (flower arrangement) as cultural industry and cultural diplomacy in the twentieth century.</p>