Researcher Database

（Last updated : 2025-12-24 12:22:58）　

WELLS Keiko

Department / Course College of Letters International Studies and English Communication Program

Title / Position Professor

Other Affiliations
1.	Graduate School of Letters
2.	Kinugasa Research Organization Institute of International Language and Culture Studies

Academic background
1.		Doctoral Program (2nd Semester) │ Cultural Structure │ Graduate School, Division of Humanities and Social Sciences │ Kobe University │ Unfinished
2.		Doctoral Program (1st Semester) │ English Literature │ Graduate School, Division of Letters │ Tsuda College │ Completed
3.		MA (English and American Literature)
4.	2009 Degree Acquisition	Ph.D (Art, Literature and Culture)
5.		British and American Literature │ Faculty of Arts and Science │ Tsuda College │ Graduated

Business career
1.	2023/04/01 ～	Lecturer │ │ Doshisha University, Graduate School of Global Studies
2.	2022/04/01	Lecturer │ │

Committee and society
1.	2015/01 ～ 2017/12	Encyclopedia of American Studies Editorial Board Member
2.	2015/01 ～ 2015/02	UNIV Press of Colorado \| Utah State Univ. Press Book Reviewer
3.	2003	City University of New York

Research activities
1.		International Ballad Conference
2.		The American Literature Society of Japan
3.		Japan Black Studies Association
4.		The Ballad Society of Japan
5.		The Japanese Association for American Studies
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Subject of research
1.	Study of folksong lyrics from America, including African American songs and lyrics of European tradition
2.	Comparative study of music culture and song lyrics (African-American, Japanese-American, Anglo-American)
3.	Comparative study of Oral Traditions and Cultures
4.	Oral tradition and culture of immigrants who cross the borders of languages and cultures
5.	American Poetry of the 19th century and early 20th
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Research summary
American Studies in the field of literature and oral traditions; Study in American Poetry; Comparative study of folktales and folksongs Keiko Wells is a professor of the Faculty of Letters, Ritsumeikan University, specializing in American and Comparative Literature and Culture. She is Director of the Vernacular Culture Study Group, which belongs to the International Institute of Language and Culture at Ritsumeikan University. Her research interests include song lyrics and folktales as well as poetry and fiction with a focus on religious and psychological aspects of verbal art tradition. She has single-authored 6 books, single-edited 1 book and 1 series of literary documents, co-authored and co-edited 18 books. Her books and articles on journals discuss the topics of African American songs and tales, Anglo American songs and tales, Werewolf and She-wolf legends, Japanese American Buddhist songs, Japanese Medieval Buddhist ballads and tradition, Vernacular culture, and oral literature theory. Her 2014 book on African American Oral Tradition was published in Korea. She received the first Kamei Shunsuke Award in 2011 from the Popular Culture Association of Japan for her work on American popular culture. She has received a series of Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science as well as other research grants and fellowships. She has an MA in the study of Ezra Pound and Noh plays, and a Ph.D. in the study of African-American religious songs.

Research summary(Photo/Image)
1. African American Oral Tradition
3. America in Songs	4. Vernacular Culture in America

Present specialized field
Literature in English, Literature in general, Vernacular literature, Cultural studies and folklore (Keyword：Oral Tradition and Culture (esp. Folksong Lyrics), Literary Folktales, Comparative Folk Culture, American Culture (19th century), American Poetry, Music Culture (African-American, Japanese-American, Anglo-American))

Books
1.	2022/12/24	Introduction to Studies of English Languages and Cultures
2.	2019/12	Minstrel Shows and Songs: An Archival Collection of Early American Books and Documents in 4 volumes and a Commentary booklet
3.	2018/03	Vernacular Culture and Modern Society
4.	2017/04	Shunsuke Kamei, His Oral History │ ,pp.第7章、第8章
5.	2017/04	An Introduction to Vernacular Culture in America: Society, Region, and Tradition
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Papers
1.	2024/10/25	Voices of Two Little Girls Blue: Janis Joplin, Nina Simone, and the Blues │ The Japanese Journal of American Studies │ (35),pp.95-127
2.	2022/12/24	A Short Introduction to Vernacular Literature: What is It and How is It Interesting? │ introduction to Studies of English Languages and Cultures │ ,pp.29-44
3.	2022/03/20	Love Songs that Has Lived for 100 Years: Broadway Musical Lyrics from 1920~30s in the Tradition of Romantic Songs │ Ritsumeikan Studies in Language and Culture │ ,pp.249-265
4.	2021/11	Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Professional Interpreters: What Insights Do We Gain into Oral Communication and Foreign Language Acquisition?" / Introduction │ Ritsumeikan Studies in Language and Culture │ 33 (2),pp.219-220
5.	2021/04/02	世界の耳と心をつなぐ、リボンのような歌を (スティーブン・フォスター歌曲集に寄せて） │ Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts: The Songs of Stephen Foster │
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Academic conference presentation
1.	2021/09/07	'Kuyo' Motif in the Religious Narrative, Oguri
2.	2020/12/19	Exploring the Three Stages of Eliminating Voices, Observed in African American Music Culture
3.	2017/05/26	Variations and Interpretations of the Japanese Folk Religious Ballad, Sanshō-Dayu, or “Princess Anju and Prince Zushiō” (2): The Theatrical Tradition in Ningyō-jōruri (puppet plays) and Kabuki (classical dance-and-music-drama)
4.	2015/10/10	Difficulties of Studying African American Traditional Songs and Further Considerations on Folksong Study Approaches
5.	2014/06/25	Variations and Interpretations of Japanese Folk Religious Ballad, "Princess Anjyu and Prince Zushioh
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Other research achievements
1.	2020/12	Moved by the Songs of African Americans (RADIANT: Ritsumeikan University Research Report 2020-2021)
2.	2020/07/10	Black Music and Songs from Slavery Era to 1910s. (Music Magazine, August 2020.)
3.	2019/09/30	What I think after years of studying song lyrics (Japan Black Studies Association Newsletter No.88)
4.	2019/06/23	Here I come! The first trip to Kosovo of a Japanese: Ja ku jam! Mbresa nga udhëtim i parë i një japonezeje në Kosovë (KultPlus)
5.	2019/05/31	How Does Kosovo Look to a Japanese Woman? (Balkan Insight)
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Works
1.	2025/11/29	From Where and to Where Did Vernacular Voices in Women’s Blues Go? : The Lyrics of Ida Cox and Memphis Minnie
2.	2025/07/31	"What Should She Have Done with the Forbidden Room?: Charles Perrault’s Bluebeard and the Traditional Tale Mr. Fox"
3.	2022/06/15	Retracing the path of African American song tradition：Songs of the Silenced Voices
4.	2020/02/01	Voices of Rembutsu Buddhists in Kona, Hawaii (Hongwanji, Hiroshima-Betsuin)
5.	2019/10/07	The History and Examples of Japanese Buddhist Songs from Early Period of Immigration in Hawaii and the Mainland US, especially in relation to the life of women. (Hongwanji Kagoshima Betsuin)
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Winning science prize
1.	2011/11	Popular Culture Association of Japan Kamei Shunsuke Award (Popular Culture Association of Japan)
2.	2000/09	Fulbright Japan Fulbright Research Grant

Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research -KAKENHI-
1.	2018/04 ～ 2022/03	dy of Minstrel Shows and Early Musicals: Perspectives on Performing Arts Exchange │ Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research(C)

Competitive grants, etc. (exc. KAKENHI)
1.	2001 ～ 2001	(“Japanese American Folksong Literature from Prewar Hawaii and California: library research and field research to collect the songs of early Japanese immigrants; a comparative study of the song text” │ Research by External Competitive Fund │ Fulbright Scholarship

Achievements of joint.Funded research
1.	2021/04/01 ～ 2022/03/31	Study of the Diversity of English Languages and Cultures │ Joint Research inside the organization
2.	2018/09 ～ 2019/03	Violence as a Driving Force of Oral Literature Tradition in Society │ Other grants and subsidies
3.	2017/10 ～ 2017/10	Regional Variations of Halloween Celebration │ Other grants and subsidies
4.	2017/04 ～ 2018/03	Vernacular Culture in Modern Society　(Publishing Grant) │ Other grants and subsidies
5.	2016/04/01 ～ 2018/03/31	Variations and Interpretations of the Japanese Religious Folk Ballad, Sahsho-Dayu, or "Princess Anju and Prince Zushio": History of its Theme Variations in Relation to the Number of Voices involved in the Narrative │ Other grants and subsidies
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Subject
1.	Introduction to the Culture of English-Speaking Regions and Societies

Teaching achievements

●Practical Example of Education Technique

1.	2017/10 ～ 2017/10	Special lecture by an invited lecturer, titled: "Variety of Halloween Celebration in the United States.
2.	2015/09 ～ 2016/01	Invited Dr Lisa Gabbert from Utah State University and co-taught American Studies (folklore and theory) courses.
3.	2014/07	A special lecture "Folksong Revival in the United States" by Fukunaka and Katsube.

●Prepared Textbook and Other Teaching Materials

1.	2017/03	Published a text book on Studying Vernacular Culture

●Other Special Instructions about Teaching Activities

1.	2015/07 ～ 2015/07	How do you communicate yourself in the Wonderland ? : A Study of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Research exchange preferred theme
1.	folksong, folktale, song, poetry, narrative in both social and personal context I would like to work on a project with those who are specialized in literature, folklore, mythology, religious culture, ethnomusicology, children's literature.

Home Page
American Folksong Project

E-Mail Address