Bruce Batten

Background

About Bruce Batten

Bruce Batten is Resident Director of the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies (IUC) in Yokohama, Japan. Bruce grew up in Oregon, USA and as a teenager was both a semifinalist in the national Westinghouse Science Talent Search and a National Merit Scholar. He was educated at the University of Oregon, from which he received a BA with Honors (in Asian Studies) in 1979, and at Stanford University, from which he earned an AM in 1986 and a PhD in 1989 (both in History). Bilingual in English and Japanese, he is a specialist on Japanese history and has published four books (two in Japanese, two in English) on premodern foreign relations and related topics as well as a co-edited volume (in English) on environmental history. Bruce has lived in Tokyo for nearly four decades. For most of that period he was on the faculty at J. F. Oberlin University, where he served as Dean of Graduate Studies and Vice President for International Affairs. In addition to his academic work, he is an avid amateur photographer who specializes in nature photography. Bruce has also worked for over fifteen years as a volunteer at a municipal sports classroom for children with disabilities.