Kanae Omura

Faculty Profile

Dr. Kanae Omura is Chair and Associate Professor of General Education & Liberal Arts at University of the West. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on indigenous cultures in Mexico with special focus on the role of ‘arte popular’ in the formation of national identity, and the intercultural relationship between Mexico and Japan through production of ceramic art. She teaches courses on art and anthropology, ethnicity and national identity, and Japanese language and culture.

Licenses & Certificates

• Japanese Language Instructor, Seminar for Japanese Language Instruction, Japan Foundation, Tokyo, Japan, March 1996.
• English/Japanese Language Interpreter-/Translator, International Studies Division, Japan College of Foreign Language, Tokyo, Japan, March 1995.
• Secondary School Teaching Credential: English and Spanish Language, Nanzan University, Nagoya, Japan, March 1994.

Professional Associations

• American Anthropological Association
• Japanese Association of Latin American Study
• The Japanese Society of Ethnology
• Red Internacional de Estudios: Mujeres y Arte Popular

Selected Publications

• Omura, Kanae. “Meztizaje—Race and Ethnicity in Latin America.” Encyclopedia of Latin American Culture. Maruzen Publishing C. Ltd., Tokyo, 2021.
• Omura, Kanae. “From the Sober to the Saturated: Japanese Shunkei Lacquers and Edo Hagoita.” Feminism and Folk Art: Case Studies in Mexico, New Zealand, and Brazil. Lexington Books, 2019. 
• Omura, Kanae. “Graziella Díaz de León Toussaint (1928-2009).” Hamada Shoji’s Perspective on Modernity. Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art, Mashiko, 2012.
• Omura, Kanae. “La revolución mexicana y el concepto de la cultura.” La correspondencia entre Gamio y Boas (1919-1924). Tokyo: Shin-Hyoron, 2007.