Researcher Database

（Last updated : 2025-06-11 11:42:41）　

SEIFMAN Travis

Department / Course Kinugasa Research Organization

Title / Position Associate Professor

Click to view the Scopus page. The data was downloaded from Scopus API on Jun 23, 2025. via http://api.elsevier.com and http://www.scopus.com .

Other Affiliations
1.	Kinugasa Research Organization Art Research Center

Academic background
1.	2012/09～2019/06	Doctorial Course │ History │ University of California, Santa Barbara │ Completed PhD, History
2.	2009/08～2012/05	Master Course │ Art History │ University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa │ Completed MA, Art History
3.	2006/09～2007/12	Master Course │ Japanese Studies │ School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London │ Completed MA, Japanese Studies
4.	2000/08～2004/05	History & East Asian Studies │ Brandeis University │ Graduated BA, History & East Asian Studies

Business career
1.	2023/04 ～	Eminent Research Associate Professor │ Kinugasa Research Organization, Art Research Center │ Ritsumeikan University
2.	2021/04 ～ 2021/08	Lecturer │ Faculty of Liberal Arts │ Sophia University
3.	2019/09 ～ 2023/03	Project Researcher │ Historiographical Institute │ University of Tokyo
4.	2016/06 ～ 2016/07	Teaching Associate │ Department of History │ University of California, Santa Barbara

Research activities
1.		Association for Asian Studies
2.		Okinawa Bunka Kyokai
3.		Ryukyu-Okinawa History Association

Subject of research
1.	History and culture of early modern Japan
2.	History and culture of the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa)

Research summary
Performing Lūchū I am currently revising my PhD dissertation into a book manuscript. The book discusses the embassies dispatched by the Kingdom of Lūchū (Ryūkyū) to Edo, the seat of the Tokugawa shoguns of Japan, in the 17th-19th centuries, with a particular focus on the visual, material, and performative cultural qualities of the embassies.

Present specialized field
History of arts, Japanese history (Keyword：History of arts, Japanese history)

Papers
1.		Displaying Foreignness for Prestige: Lūchūan Embassy Processions in Early Modern Japan, 1644-1850 │ Crossing Boundaries: Festival and Diplomatic Encounters in the Early Modern World │
2.	2024/08/23	Ugui Royal Portraits not seen since Battle of Okinawa, Recovered and Returned │ Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus │
3.	2024/02/01	A Real Thing that Exists Only in Shuri: Ryukyuan Arts Traditions & Memory at Shurijo Castle Park │ Transposed Memory: Visual Sites of National Recollection in 20th and 21st Century East Asia │
4.	2022/10/02	Exhibition review: Portraits of Ryukyu │ Critical Asian Studies │
5.	2021/03	Research Report on the Current Status and Prospects for Nineteenth-Century Ryukyuan Paintings on Wooden Doors in the Historic Miyara dunchi House │ Journal of Asian Humanities at Kyushu University │ 6,pp.113-127
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Academic conference presentation
1.	2025/03/14	Photography by Terada Kento: Challenging, Imagining, and Performing Gender
2.	2024/08/13	Japan is Not Our Fatherland: Yamazato Eikichi Resisting Reversion from within the Ryukyu Government
3.	2024/03/16	Communication and Cooperation: Logistical Coordination between Seto Inland Sea Towns for the Passage of the Ryukyu Kingdom’s 17th-19th century Embassies to Edo
4.	2023/09/15	The Value of Visual Sources in Digital Archives for Researching the Ryukyu Kingdom's Embassies to Edo
5.	2023/07/23	Visual, Material, and Performance Culture Aspects of the Ryukyu Kingdom's Embassies to Edo
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Home Page
Travis Seifman

E-Mail Address

Department laboratory expense researcher number
80982066

researchmap Researcher code
R000057058