Natsuko Akagawa

Dr Natsuko Akagawa is academically trained across the humanities, social sciences, education, and management, holding a PhD and a Master’s in Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies, a Master of Business Administration, a Graduate Diploma of Education, a Diploma of Portuguese Language and Culture (Universidade de Lisboa), and a Bachelor of Arts.

Dr Akagawa is an internationally recognised scholar in heritage, museum, and Asian studies, whose work has been pioneering in the establishment of intangible (living) cultural heritage as a field of international scholarship and in analytically linking heritage and cultural diplomacy. Her research examines how heritage is contested, negotiated, and mobilised across local, national, and global contexts, particularly within colonial, post‑colonial, and transnational settings. Her scholarship is grounded in a comparative East–West perspective, informed by sustained engagement with Asian, European, and global heritage contexts.

She has published extensively with leading international presses and journals and is widely cited for her foundational contributions to intangible cultural heritage, including influential work on authenticity, embodiment, cultural diplomacy and the politics of heritage practice and governance. Her research bridges theory and practice and has shaped heritage policy, museum practice, and international heritage discourse, particularly in relation to Japan and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam), while contributing more broadly to global heritage debates.

In addition to her academic career, Dr Akagawa is deeply engaged with heritage practice. She is an accomplished practitioner of Japanese intangible cultural traditions, including tea ceremony, flower arrangement, traditional martial arts (aikijujutsu), traditional textile dyeing and ceramics, as well as Western classical singing. This practice‑based experience provides an embodied perspective that informs her scholarship on living heritage, authenticity, and the transmission of cultural knowledge.

Research Interests: Intangible (living) heritage | Religion, beliefs, ritual, and heritage | Culinary heritage | Difficult and contested heritage: trauma, emotion, and affect | Borders, space, and migration: transnational communities, memory, displacement, violence | Cultural diplomacy and heritage | Interpretation and representation of heritage through film, text, and narrative | Museums, affect, and interpretation | Heritage, emotion, and cultural tourism | Digital heritage | Colonial, postcolonial, and decolonial heritage: politics, power, and communities | Historic urban and cultural landscapes: identity, memory, and place | Heritage policy and practice in Japan, Asia and Europe.

She is a member of The University of Queensland Human Research Ethics Lower Risk Panel for the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

Research

Dr Akagawa’s scholarship on intangible heritage spans foundational, theoretical, and applied dimensions of the field. She is co‑editor of Intangible Heritage (Routledge, 2009), a pioneering volume internationally recognised as one of the earliest and most influential comprehensive works on the subject and widely used as prescribed reading globally.

She is also the author of Heritage Conservation in Japan’s Cultural Diplomacy: Heritage, National Identity and National Interest (Routledge, 2014/2015), a seminal work that established a pioneering analytical nexus between heritage conservation, cultural diplomacy, and national identity. The book includes a critical examination of how Japan’s diplomatic deployment of heritage influenced global heritage policy and practice and has become a key reference across heritage studies, Asian studies, and international relations.

This body of work is further extended through her co‑edited volume Safeguarding Intangible Heritage (Routledge, 2019), which critically examines the politics and practices of safeguarding living heritage. Across this scholarship, she has traced the development of intangible heritage as both a conceptual framework and a field of practice, with particular attention to the influence of Japanese heritage practice in recognising the importance of embodied skill and practice in relation to material or tangible heritage. More broadly, her research examines how heritage assembles histories, memories, and identities, and how it is articulated through policy, practice, and cultural imaginaries at local, national, and global levels.

Dr Akagawa was an Associate Investigator in the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions, where her work contributed a comparative perspective that extended engagement with emotional histories beyond Europe. Her research in this area examines how emotions mediated cultural encounters between East and West at both personal and political levels in the early modern period, and how these encounters shaped perceptions and performances of heritage through both tangible and intangible elements such as meanings, memories, and identity.

She has held prestigious international research fellowships that reflect the global scope of her scholarship. She was a Research Fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), Leiden University (Netherlands), supported through a competitive EU‑funded fellowship, and a Visiting Research Fellow at the East‑West Centre and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (United States), supported through United States Federal Government funding. These appointments supported internationally collaborative research and contributed to sustained scholarly networks across Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and North America.

International Standing and Global Influence

Dr Akagawa provides international scholarly leadership through senior editorial and publishing roles in high‑impact international scholarship. She is Series Editor for Routledge Research on Museums and Heritage in Asia and serves on the Editorial Boards of the International Journal of Heritage Studies (a leading, peer‑reviewed international journal in heritage studies) and the Journal of the History of Museums (the only international, peer‑reviewed journal devoted exclusively to the history of museums). Through these roles, she contributes to the development of international research agendas, scholarly standards, and sustained global dialogue in heritage and museum studies.

Her standing in the field is further reflected in her extensive peer‑review service for leading international journals, including the International Journal of Heritage Studies, International Journal of Cultural Property, Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, Journal of Cultural Geography, SOJOURN (Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia), Japanese Studies, Asia Pacific Journal of Arts and Cultural Management, Nordic Journal of Human Rights, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Journal of the Institute of Conservation, Museum Management and Curatorship, and Political Psychology, among others. She is also a Designated Book Reviewer for Anthropos, an international anthropology journal founded in 1903 in Germany.

Dr Akagawa’s international standing is reinforced by her professional appointments and engagement with global heritage governance. She is an Expert Member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and a Member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), and previously served as Vice President of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Intangible Cultural Heritage. Through these roles, she contributes to international heritage policy development, expert consultation, and professional practice.

She is regularly invited to deliver keynote, opening, and plenary addresses at major international conferences, museums, and professional forums, reflecting her role in shaping contemporary discussion in heritage research and practice and in connecting scholarship with community, policy, and professional contexts.

Selected Keynote

• Invited Keynote Speaker, In Tangible? Living Heritage and Museums, Museum Europäischer Kulturen, Berlin, Germany
• Invited Keynote Speaker, International Conference on Conservation of Architectural Heritage, online
• Invited Keynote Speaker, Heritage Symposium: Expanding Heritage – The Future of Our Past, National Trust of Australia (Queensland), Brisbane, Australia
• Invited Speaker, BrisAsia Symposium – Belonging, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Brisbane City Council, Brisbane, Australia Cultural Diplomacy in the 21st Century: Cultivating the Seeds of Belonging.
• Invited Distinguished Guest Public Lecture, International Studies Distinguished Guest Forum, Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan
• Invited Distinguished Guest Public Lecture and Masterclass, Intangible Heritage: Beyond Convention, Taiwan National University of the Arts, Taiwan
• Invited Keynote Speaker, European Cultural Forum, European Network of National Cultural Institutes (EUNIC) and Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa), Milan, Italy, Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Crossroads: Vanishing Existence or Protective Measures in Good Time?
• Invited Public Lecture, Waseda University, Japan, Language and Identity.
• Invited Lecture, Department of Japanese Literature, Faculty of Letters, Universitas Hasanuddin, Makassar, Indonesia, Heritage and Embodiment: Japan’s Influence on Global Heritage Discourse.
• Invited Lecture, Architectural History, Urban and Cultural Heritage, The University of Melbourne, Australia, Japan, World Heritage, National Interest and Cultural Diplomacy.
• Invited Seminar and Workshop, Faculty of Urban and Environmental Studies, Soegijapranata Catholic University, Semarang, Indonesia, Urban Heritage and Indonesian Heritage Systems.
• Invited Keynote Speaker, Protecting the Weak: Entangled Processes of Framing, Mobilization and Institutionalisation in East Asia, Goethe‑Universität Frankfurt am Main (with the Institute for Social Research), Frankfurt, Germany, Local, National and International Factors in the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Japan.

Research Translation, Public Engagement, and Societal Contribution

Dr Akagawa’s work contributes to international academic debate while also engaging wider public and professional audiences. She regularly communicates research‑based knowledge through media, cultural institutions, and public forums, supporting a broader understanding of heritage, culture, and living traditions. Through interviews, documentaries, invited public lectures, and collaboration with cultural organisations, she translates complex research into accessible and informed discussion, extending the reach of her scholarship beyond academia.

Selected Media and Public Engagement

• Australian Financial Review: interview and expert commentary: News "The big sting: how a mythical bee halted a gold mine", 13 December 2024
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC News: national television interview,"Japan is serious about its unique Christmas traditions", 25 December 2024
• ABC Radio National (Soul Search): Interviewed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio National, Soul Search, "Exploring religion in Japan", aired online 2024.
• Queensland Department of Education: Invited to deliver three seminars on Japanese History, Japanese Education, and the Japanese tea ceremony. 2024
• Contact, Culinary heritage: Cookbook from 1747, Interviewd and featured in “We tried a 275-year-old dumpling recipe!” The University of Queensland.
• Building Icons 4-part documentary series: ternational broadcast (Channel 9 / global distribution): Interviewed and featured in international documentary program: Episode on Castles, palaces and parliaments and temples, churches and sacred sites: From the producer: “You shared some truly wonderful moments that were invaluable to the stories, and I'd like to thank you personally for persevering on the shoot day. Your insights and contributions have been pivotal in shaping the narrative and ensuring that the series stays true to its vision." The documentary inspires and ignites appreciation for the cultural, historical, and architectural significance of iconic structures. It celebrates innovation and explores the genius behind landmarks that define their era, culture, or nation, revealing the remarkable stories that shaped them.
• The New York Times: interviewed and expert commentary on heritage: El Dorado Carousel, Interviewed by The New York Times, 2020. (NY Times)
• HASS COVID 19 Forum: What can the humanities tell us about COVID-19?,‘Heritage and Pandemics: Impact on Living Heritage’, The University of Queensland.

Education and Community Leadership

Dr Akagawa contributes to education and community leadership through engagement with scholarly associations and education governance. She is a Founding Member and Queensland Representative of the Australian Network for Japanese as a Community Language, supporting national coordination and advocacy for Japanese language education and community‑based language maintenance.

She also served as a Senior External Assessment Panel Member for the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority, contributing to state‑level assessment, curriculum evaluation, and standards setting.