2025 Autumn Conferment of Japanese Decorations on Foreign Nationals: Professor Susan Napier, Goldthwaite Professor of Rhetoric and Japanese, School of Arts and Sciences, Tufts University
November 3, 2025
On November 3, 2025, the Japanese Government announced that Professor Susan Napier, Goldthwaite Professor of Rhetoric and Japanese at the School of Arts and Sciences, Tufts University, will be conferred with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon.
For over 40 years, Professor Napier has been an active specialist in Japanese literature and culture in the United States. She has made particularly significant contributions to the dissemination of Japanese culture and the promotion of academic exchange between Japan and the United States, notably through her pioneering research in anime criticism.
Professor Napier has taught numerous courses and seminars on modern Japanese literature, anime, Japanese film, and popular culture, significantly shaping the development of Japanese studies in university education. Her particular focus on Japanese popular culture, especially anime, is evident in her establishment of groundbreaking seminars, including those dedicated to Hayao Miyazaki. Drawing on her background in literature and cultural studies, Professor Napier has analyzed anime from fresh academic perspectives, presenting them through her extensive papers and books. Her work has been instrumental in laying the foundation for anime studies in the English-speaking world.
For over 40 years, Professor Napier has been an active specialist in Japanese literature and culture in the United States. She has made particularly significant contributions to the dissemination of Japanese culture and the promotion of academic exchange between Japan and the United States, notably through her pioneering research in anime criticism.
Professor Napier has taught numerous courses and seminars on modern Japanese literature, anime, Japanese film, and popular culture, significantly shaping the development of Japanese studies in university education. Her particular focus on Japanese popular culture, especially anime, is evident in her establishment of groundbreaking seminars, including those dedicated to Hayao Miyazaki. Drawing on her background in literature and cultural studies, Professor Napier has analyzed anime from fresh academic perspectives, presenting them through her extensive papers and books. Her work has been instrumental in laying the foundation for anime studies in the English-speaking world.